Mary Stuart Smith

Mary Stuart Harrison Smith (née Harrison; alternate spelling, Mary Stewart Smith; 10 February 1834 - 8 December 1917) was an American author and translator. Her Virginia Cookery Book was representative of the regional style referred to as "Old Virginia".

Smith was born at the University of Virginia, 10 February, 1834. She was the second daughter of Professor Gessner Harrison and his wife, Eliza Lewis Carter Tucker. Her teachers included private tutors, and she studied Latin, German, French, Italian, and Greek.

She became the wife of Francis H. Smith (d. July 5, 1982), professor of natural philosophy, in 1853, and continued to reside in the University of Virginia. After the American Civil War was over, she returned to writing. Besides original articles, her translations from the German for leading periodicals and publishing houses form a long list. From E. Werner, she translated "A Hero of the Pen," "Hermann," "Good Luck," "What the Spring Brought," "St. Michael," "A Judgment of God" and "Beacon Lights." Her translations from other German writers were "Lieschen " "The Fairy of the Alps," "The Bailifl'sMaid," "Gold Elsie," "Old Ma'amselle's Secret," "The Owl House," "The Lady With the Rubies," "Serapis," "The Bride of the Nile," "Lace," by Paul Lindau, and others. She was thought by eminent critics to have an especial gift for translating German poetry, as for instance her "Chidhe" in the Overland Monthly.

Some of Smith's books for children were translations from the German or adaptations from the French. Among the former are "The Canary Bird, and Other Stories," and "Jack the Breton Boy." From original work and French suggestion may be noted "How Lillie Spent Her Day," and "Little May and Her Lost A" Of her original books, "Heirs of the Kingdom" was published in Nashville, for which a prize of US$300 was awarded by a select committee. "Lang Syne, or the Wards of Mt. Vernon" was published on the occasion of the Washington Centennial, held in New York in April, 1887.

Smith made innumerable contributions of practical articles to "Harper's Bazar," some to the "American Agriculturist," "Good Housekeeping," and other periodicals. Of this sort of literature her "Virginia Cookery Book" (New York) was notable; so also was her "Art of Housekeeping" (New York), which first appeared as a series of papers written for the New York "Fashion Bazar." Her series of "Letters from a Lady in New York" was published in the "Religious Herald." Some of her good work has been in the form of review articles for the " Southern Review," the "Southern Methodist Quarterly" and the "Church Review." She translated from the French "The Salon of Mine. Necker." Some of her best review articles were: "Askaros Kassis Karis," "Robert Emmet" "Queen Louisa of Prussia," "John of Barneveldt," "What the Swallows Sang," "The Women of the Revolution," "The Women of the Southern Confederacy," "Madame de Stael and Her Parents," "The Necker Family," "Madam Recamier," "Mary and Martha Washington," and "The Virginia Gentlewoman of the Olden Time."