1904 in literature

Events

• January - Mark Twain begins dictating his autobiography

• September - Mark Twain purchases a home at 21 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York.

• The Cherry Orchard[?], a drama by Anton Chekov

• The first volume of Jean-Christophe[?] is published. The ten-volume history of the development of a musician of genius, written by Romain Rolland, will be completed in 1912 and earn its author the Nobel Prize.

• Nostromo[?] by Joseph Conrad is published. In 2001, the book would be one of four books by Conrad to be on the list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century as selected by the editorial board of the American Modern Library.

• The Golden Bowl[?] by Henry James is published. In 2001, the book would be one of three books by James to be on the list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century as selected by the editorial board of the American Modern Library.

New Books

• Ashes[?] - Stefan Zeromski[?]
• The Cherry Orchard[?] - Anton Chekhov
• The Common Lot[?] - Robert Herrick
• The Divine Fire[?] - May Sinclair[?]
• A Dog's Tale[?] - Mark Twain
• A Drama in Livonia[?] - Jules Verne
• Ghost Stories of an Antiquary[?] - M.R. James
• Ghost Stories[?] - James Montague[?]
• The Golden Bowl[?] - Henry James
• The Green Eye of Goona[?] - Arthur Morrison[?]
• Green Mansions[?] - W.H. Hudson[?]
• Hadrian the Seventh[?] - Frederick Rolfe
• The Island Pharisees[?] - John Galsworthy
• A Journey In Search of Christmas[?] - Owen Wister[?]
• The Late Mattia Pascal[?] - Luigi Pirandello
• Marcus and Faustina[?] - John R. Carling[?]
• Master of the World[?] - Jules Verne
• The Napoleon of Notting Hill[?] - G. K. Chesterton
• Nostromo[?] - Joseph Conrad
• Peter Camenzind[?] - Hermann Hesse
• Philosophy 4[?] - Owen Wister[?]
• The Prodigal Son[?] - Hall Caine
• The Sea-Wolf[?] - Jack London
• The Tale of Benjamin Bunny[?] - Beatrix Potter
• Theophano, The Crusade of the Tenth Century[?] - Frederic Harrison

Births

• January 31 - John O'Hara, novelist (+ 1970)
• February 1 - S. J. Perelman[?], humorist, author
• February 4 - MacKinlay Kantor[?], historian (+ 1977)
• March 26 - Joseph Campbell, author and expert on mythology
• May 6 - Harry Martinson, swedish author, winner of the Nobel Prize in literature
• July 13 - Pablo Neruda, poet
• November 28 - Nancy Mitford, English novelist and biographer (+ 1973)

Deaths

• May 5 - Mór Jókai[?], Hungarian writer
• June 5 - Olivia Langdon Clemens[?], wife of Mark Twain
• July 14 - Anton Chekhov, Russian playwright and short story writer
• August 22 - Kate Chopin, author

Awards

• Nobel Prize for Literature: Frédéric Mistral, José Echegaray y Eizaguirre[?]