Miller, Dewitt, 1857-1911

This might be J. DeWitt Miller, who was also a correspondent of Horace Howard Furness, Jr.

Dewitt Miller was a book collector, lecturer, and critic. He compiled these scrapbooks about the theatrical production of the novel, Trilby, which became one of the best-selling books of the nineteenth century. The novel's villain, Svengali, is a demonic hypnotist who seduces, defiles, and deifies the innocent heroine, Trilby. Millions of readers in England and America were entranced by the exotic and dangerous sexuality of the novel's theme, and soon quick-thinking entrepreneurs exploited the book's success by producing an array of Trilby merchandise.

(Jahu) Dewitt Miller (1857-1911) was an American lecturer and book collector.

Miller was a popular lecturer on the lyceum circuit in the late nineteenth century. He was also an avid book collector and amassed a large private library. In 1902, his collection was donated to the National Park Seminary, a girls' finishing school in Forest Glen, Maryland. A separate Miller Library building was built to house the collection. The library was sold and dispersed around 1942 when the United States Army acquired the property and the Seminary was closed.