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=                        John_Lawson_Stoddard                        =
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                            Introduction
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John Lawson Stoddard (April 24, 1850 - June 5, 1931) was an American
lecturer, author and photographer. He was a pioneer in the use of the
stereopticon or magic lantern, adding photographs to his popular
lectures about his travels around the world. Because he published
books related to his travels, he is credited with developing the genre
of travelogues.

In 1935, Daniel Crane Taylor wrote, "Stoddard's rise to fame was
spectacular and unprecedented in the annals of American entertainers.
No American lecturer, musician or actor has ever won so large a
following in so short a time. From his second season, almost every
lecture was sold out…He filled Daly's Theatre, one of the largest in
New York, fifty times a season for ten years. …This would mean that
Stoddard alone drew approximately one hundred thousand persons in New
York each year."


                             Early life
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Stoddard was born in Brookline, Massachusetts to a wealthy family. He
was the son of Sarah Lothrop and Lewis Tappan Stoddard.

He was educated at private schools in Boston. He attended Williams
College, graduating with an A.B. in 1871. At Williams he was a member
of the fraternity Delta Psi (aka St. Anthony Hall). He studied
theology at Yale Divinity School for two years, but left before he
graduated.


                               Career
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During the 1873-1874 academic year, Stoddard taught the classics at
Boston Latin School. Between 1874 and 1876, Stoddard began traveling
around the world, mostly to Constantinople, Egypt, Greece, and
Palestine. After two years of traveling, he returned to teaching.

In 1879, Stoddard turned his travel experiences into a series of
popular lectures delivered throughout North America. He pioneered the
used of the stereopticon, also known as the magic lantern, which gave
his lectures the "gimmick" of a visual component--the black and white
photographs Stoddard took on his travels. His lectures were so popular
that he soon became a household name. Stoddard also continued to
travel and gather new content for his programs, going to as he said,
"nearly every part of the habitable globe." He would return to the
United States in the winter, providing lectures in major cities on
cities, life, and scenery of the Italian Lakes, Milan, Paris, the
Orient, Rome, and even the United States. The demand for his lectures
was so high that in New York City alone, he would give fifty sold-out
presentations each season.

Stoddard began publishing books, including 'Red-Letter Days Abroad' in
1884, 'Glimpses of the World' in 1892, and 'Portfolio of Photographs'
which was issued in sixteen weekly installments starting in 1894 In
1897, he was invited to lecture before the U.S. Congress. However,
there was not enough room in chambers, so he scheduled a private
lecture for the representatives and their wives at the Columbia
Theatre. As one writer noted, "The Theatre filled to capacity."

In April 1897, Stoddard retired from the lecture circuit a
multi-millionaire at the age of 47. His lectures were published in
book form as 'John L. Stoddard's Lectures' with ten volumes from 1897
to 1898, and five supplements in 1901. The books include many
photographs taken by Stoddard. In 1910, he selected the content for
'The Stoddard Library; A Thousand Hours of Entertainment with the
World's Great Writers' (12 volumes), with an accompanying handbook
published in 1915.

During World War I, then ex-pat Stoddard's sympathies lay with the
Central Powers, leading to his writing propaganda pamphlets which were
published by the German-American Defense Committee in Germany and the
United States. In 1914, he opened 'An American to Americans: John L.
Stoddard Noted Author-Traveler Tells the Truth about Germany and the
War in Europe' with, "Dear Friends Across the Sea: I fear you have
been misinformed about the present war. News must have reached you
almost entirely from French and English sources. How incorrect news
can be I know from personal experience." He goes on to explain that
"every achievement of the Germans or Austrians was ignored or
minimized." He also maintains that the war was not started by Emperor
William and Germany's military, but by the Russians. He proclaims, "It
is a people's war.… They are fighting for their very existence,
threatened and surrounded by a world of foes."

In 1922 after his conversion to Catholicism, he became a realist in
religion, publishing 'Rebuilding a Lost Faith, by an American
Agnostic', a famous work of apologetics. Thereafter, he devoted his
time to religious study and writing.

Stoddard was a proponent of the restoration of the Jews to Israel. In
Volume 2 of his 'Lectures' he told the Jews, “You are a people without
a country; there is a country without a people. Be united. Fulfill the
dreams of your old poets and patriarchs. Go back, go back to the land
of Abraham.” In 1891, Stoddard is also believed to be the first person
to refer to the Jews as "a country without a nation," a phrase that
would later become popular with Zionists in Europe. Stoddard's
"Palestine lecture was very popular, delivered by a very popular man…
[whose] career was at a zenith."


Books
=======
* '[https://hdl.handle.net/2027/uc2.ark:/13960/t9377831d Red Letter
Days Abroad]' (1884)
* 'Scenic America' (1890)
*
'[https://hdl.handle.net/2027/dul1.ark:/13960/t64546x9v?urlappend=%3Bseq=7
Glimpses of the world; a Portfolio of Photographs].'(1892)
* '[https://hdl.handle.net/2027/ucbk.ark:/28722/h2kv2s Portfolio of
photographs: of Famous Scenes, Cities, and Paintings]' (1893)
* 'Napoléon: from Corsica to St. Helena' (1894)

* '[https://hdl.handle.net/2027/yul.12282477_000_00 A Trip Around the
World with John L. Stoddard: a Collection of Photo-Engravings]' (1894)
* '[https://hdl.handle.net/2027/coo.31924028715757 Portfolio of
Photographs of Our Country and Our Neighbors]' (1894)
* 'Portfolio of Photographs - Photographic View of the Entire World of
Nature and Art' (1894)
* 'Portfolio Colonial... des Possessions et Dépendances
Françaises'.(1895)
* '[https://hdl.handle.net/2027/coo.31924062664549 Scenic America, the
Beauties of the Western Hemisphere]' (1897)

* '[https://hdl.handle.net/2027/nnc1.ar52130592 Athens-Venice:
Illustrated and Embellished with one-hundred and twenty-one
Reproductions of Photographs]' (1897)
* '[https://hdl.handle.net/2027/loc.ark:/13960/t9n30qg24 China:
Illustrated and Embellished with one-hundred and twenty-two
Reproductions of Photographs]' (1897)
* [https://hdl.handle.net/2027/loc.ark:/13960/t6834p78r Egypt:
'Illustrated and Embellished with one-hundred and nineteen
Reproductions of Photographs'] (1897)
* [https://hdl.handle.net/2027/loc.ark:/13960/t4rj54r4k India:
'Illustrated and Embellished with one-hundred and twelve Reproductions
of Photographs'] (1897)
* '[https://hdl.handle.net/2027/njp.32101054570955 Japan: Illustrated
and Embellished with one-hundred and thirty-eight Reproductions of
Photographs]' (1897)
* 'Jerusalem: Illustrated and Embellished with one-hundred and
twenty-one Reproductions of Photographs' (1897)
* '[https://hdl.handle.net/2027/gri.ark:/13960/t5db8zh53 Norway:
Illustrated and Embellished with one-hundred and twenty-eight
Reproductions of Photographs]' (1897)
* '[https://hdl.handle.net/2027/loc.ark:/13960/t9q24rv47 Switzerland:
Illustrated and Embellished with one-hundred and twenty-one
Reproductions of Photographs]' (1897)
* '[https://hdl.handle.net/2027/njp.32101072905522 The Passion Play:
Illustrated and Embellished with one-hundred and nineteen
Reproductions of Photographs]' (1897)
* [https://hdl.handle.net/2027/nyp.33433044950123 'John L. Stoddard
Lectures, v. 1 Norway, Switzerland, Athens, Venice'] (1897).
* [https://hdl.handle.net/2027/nyp.33433061762302 'John L. Stoddard
Lectures, v. 2 Constantinople, Jerusalem, Egypt'](1897).
* [https://hdl.handle.net/2027/nyp.33433061762294 'John L. Stoddard
Lectures, v. 3 Japan I, Japan II, China'] (1897).
* [https://hdl.handle.net/2027/nyp.33433061762286 'John L. Stoddard
Lectures, v. 4 India I, India II, The Passion Play'] (1897).
* [https://hdl.handle.net/2027/nyp.33433061762278 'John L. Stoddard
Lectures, v. 5 Paris, La Belle France, Spain'] (1897).
* [https://hdl.handle.net/2027/nyp.33433061762260 'John L. Stoddard
Lectures, v. 6 Berlin, Vienna, St. Petersburg, Moscow'] (1898).
* [https://hdl.handle.net/2027/nyp.33433061762252 'John L. Stoddard
Lectures, v. 7 The Rhine, Belgium, Holland, Mexico'] (1898).
* [https://hdl.handle.net/2027/nyp.33433061762245 'John L. Stoddard
Lectures, v. 8 Florence, Naples, Rome'] (1898).
* [https://hdl.handle.net/2027/nyp.33433061762237 'John L. Stoddard
Lectures, v. 9 Scotland, England, London'] (1898).
* [https://hdl.handle.net/2027/nyp.33433061762229 'John L. Stoddard
Lectures, v. 10 Southern California, Grand Cañon of the Colorado
River, Yellowstone National Park'] (1898).
* 'From the Atlantic to the Pacific' (1899)
* 'Famous Parks and Buildings of America' (1899)
* [https://hdl.handle.net/2027/nyp.33433061762211 'John L. Stoddard
Lectures Supplementary volumes: no. 1 / v. 11: Ireland I, Ireland II.
Denmark. Sweden'] (1901).
* [https://hdl.handle.net/2027/nyp.33433061762203 'John L. Stoddard
Lectures Supplementary volumes: no. 2 / v. 12: Canada I. Canada II,
Malta. Gibraltar'] (1901)'.'
* [https://hdl.handle.net/2027/nyp.33433061762195 'John L. Stoddard
Lectures Supplementary volumes: no. 3 / v. 13: South Tyrol. Around
Lake Garda. The Dolomites'] (1901).
* [https://hdl.handle.net/2027/nyp.33433061762187 'John L. Stoddard
Lectures Supplementary volumes: no. 4 / v. 14: Sicily. Genoa. A drive
through the Engadine'] (1901).
* 'John L. Stoddard Lectures Supplementary volumes: no. 5 / v. 15:
Lake Como. The upper Danube. Bohemia' (1901).
*
[https://chestofbooks.com/travel/england/gibraltar/John-Stoddard-Lectures/index.html
'Gibraltar 1-6'] (1901).
* 'Beautiful Scenes of America' (1902)
* 'Beautiful Scenes of America from Battery Park to the Golden Gate'
* 'Rebuilding a Lost Faith, by an American Agnostic' (1922)
* 'The Stoddard Library; A Thousand Hours of Entertainment with the
World's Great Writers, 12 volumes' (1910),
* 'The Stoddard Library' 'Handbook' (1915).
* 'Christ and the Critics' (2 vols., 1926-27)
* [https://hdl.handle.net/2027/nyp.33433075838379 'Poems'] (1913)
* [https://hdl.handle.net/2027/loc.ark:/13960/t5bc4vw50 'Poems on Lake
Como'] (1914)
* [https://hdl.handle.net/2027/uc1.$b153361 'Rebuilding a Lost Faith']
(1921)
* 'Twelve Years in the Catholic Church' (1930)


Pamphlets
===========
* [https://hdl.handle.net/2027/nnc2.ark:/13960/t6m06qf19 'An American
to Americans: John L. Stoddard Noted Author-Traveler Tells the Truth
about Germany and the War in Europe'] (1914)
* 'Why Is It?' (1915)
* 'Amerikas Stellung zum Weltkriege' (1915)
* Wilson oder Hughes?(1916)
* 'Was sollen wir mit Wilson tun?'
* 'America and Germany' (1916)
* 'La Decadence de l'Angleterre' (1917)


Translations
==============
* Felder, Hilarin. 'Christ and the Critics, Volume 1'. translation of
'Jesus Christus' (1924)
* Prat, Fernand. 'The Theology of Saint Paul, Volume 1' (1926)
* Prat, Fernand. 'The Theology of Saint Paul, Volume 2' (1927)
* Baunard, Louis'. The Evening of Life' (1930)
* Batiffol, Pierre. 'Saint Gregory the Great' (1930)
* Verkade, Willibrord. 'Yesterdays of an Artist-Monk' (1930)


                          Popular culture
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In F. Scot Fitzgerald's 'The Great Gatsby', 'John L Stoddard's
Lectures' are in Gatsby's library. One literary critic notes, "The
'Stoddard Lectures' serve as a literary backdrop to the performance of
Jay Gatsby, who had never read them, who had never cut the pages, but
who staged his production elaborately and well, going as far as to buy
not only real books but also the right kind of real books."


                           Personal life
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Stoddard married Mary Brown of Bangor, Maine on December 24, 1877. She
was the daughter of Dr. William H. Brown who was the mayor of Bangor.
They had a son in 1883, Lothrop Stoddard. After some five years, the
couple became estranged. When he retired from the lecture circuit in
1897, Stoddard moved to New York City. They divorced in 1900. He
married Ida M. O'Donnell of Barnesville, Ohio on August 15, 1901.

After his second marriage, Stoddard moved to the Austrian Tyrol.
Around 1906, he moved to Lake Como in Italy. In 1914, he moved to a
villa near Merano, South Tyrol, Italy.

In 1917, Stoddard nearly died from typhus, leading him back to
religion. Raised a protestant, Stoddard was an agnostic for more than
thirty years before converting, along with his wife, to Roman
Catholicism in 1922.

During his later life, Stoddard used his fortune to support his
adopted home of Merano. He contributed to building a secondary school
and to a home for homeless youth, now used as a rehabilitation center.

Stoddard died in 1931 at his villa near Merano, Italy at the age of
81.


                          Further reading
======================================================================
* 'John L. Stoddard' by D. Crane Taylor (1935).
* 'The Politics and Art of John L. Stoddard' by Michaelene Cox
(Lexington Books, 2015).


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