A century of American literature and the lives and portraits of our favorite authors

Front matter

REPRESENTATIVES OF AMERICAN LITERATURE.

'i

A CENTURY -AMERICAN LITERATURE

PART 1. Great Poets of America, .33

'* 2. Our Most Noted Novelists, 165

" 3. Fai\[ous "Women Novelists, . .218

" 4. Representative Womex Poets of Ameuica, .... 252

. " 5. Well-known Essayists, Critics and Sketch Writers, . . . 271

" 6. Great American Historians and Biographers, . . . . 311

" 7. Our National IIuiMorists, ....;.... 345

" 8. Popular Writers foPw Young People, 380

" 9. Noted Journalists and INIagazine Contributors, .... 401

" 10. Great Orators and Popular I^ecturers, 433

" 11. Famous Women Orators and Reformers, !''•'

" 12. Miscellaneous Masterpieces and Choice (Jems, .... 400

." 13, The Ten Greatest Books of the World

Produced in the 19th Century, '"j^'

14 Amfimcan Literature at the Closk of the CENTruv

55'

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.

Our obligation to the fullowinp: publishers is respectfully and gratefully acknowledged, since, without the courtesies and assistance of these publishers and a number of the living authors, it would have been impossible to issue this volume.

Copyright selections from the following authors are used by the permission of and special arrangement with MESSRS. HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN & CO., their authorized publishers :— Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry W. Longfellow, Ohver Wendell Holmes, James Russell Lowell, Bayard Taylor, Maurice Thompson, Colonel John Hay, Bret Harte, William Dean Howells, Edward Bellamy, Charles Egbert Craddock (Miss Murfree), Elizabeth Stuart l^helps (Ward), Octave Thanet (Miss French), Alice Gary, Phoebe Cary, Charles Dudley Warner, E. C. Stedman. James Parton, John Fiske and Sarah Jane Lippincott.

TO THE CENTURY CO., we are indebted for selections from Richard Watson Gilder, James Whitcomb Riley and Francis Richard Stockton.

TO CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SOA^S, for extracts from Eugene Field.

TO HARPER (f- BROTHERS, for selections from Will Carleton, General Lew Wallace, W. D. Howells, Thomas Nelson Pa^e, John L. Motley, Charles FoUen Adams and Lyman Abbott.

TO ROBERTS BROTHERS, for selections from Edward Everett Hale, Helen Hunt Jackson, Louise Chandler Moulton and Louisa M. Alcott.

TO ORANGE, JUDD & CO., for extracts from Edward Eggleston.

TO DODD, MEAD <& CO., for selections from E. P. Roe, Marion Harland (Mrs. Terhune), AmeUa E. Barr and Martha Finley.

TO D. APR LET ON & CO., for Wm. Cullen Bryant and John Bach McMaster.

TO MACMILLAN& CO., for F. Marion Crawford.

^0 HORACE L. TRAUBEL, Executor, for Walt Whitman.

TO ESTES & LAURIAT, for Gail Hamilton (Mary Abigail DodgeY

TO LITTLE, BROWN & CO., for Francis Parkman.

TO FUNK & WAGNALLS, for Josiah Allen's Wife (Miss HoUey).

TO LEE & SHEPARD, for Yawcob Strauss (Charles Follen Adams), Oliver Optic (William T. /idams) and Mary A. Livermore.

TO J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO., for Bill Nye (Edgar Wilson Nye).

TO GEORGE ROUTLEDGE & SONS, for Unck Remus (Joel C. Harris).

TO TICKNOR & CO., for Julian Hawthorne.

TO PORTER & CO ATE S, for Edward EDis and Horatio Alger.

TO WILLIAM F. GILL & CO., for Whitelaw Reid.

TO C. H HUD GINS & CO., for Henry W. Grady.

TO THE " COSMOPOLITAN MAGAZINE:' for Julian Hawthorne.

TO T. B. PETERSON & BROS., for Frances Hodgson Burnett.

TO JAS. E. OSGOOD rf- CO., for Jane Goodwin Austin.

TO GEO. R. SHEPARD, for Thomas Wentworth Higginson.

TO J. LEWIS STACKPOLE, for John L. Motley.

Besides the above, we are under special obligation to a number of authors who kindly furnished, W answer to our request, selections which they considered representative of their writings.

THE DISTINCTIVE PURPOSE AND PLAN OF THIS VOLUME.

HIS work has been designed an d prepared with a view to presenting an outline of American literati re in such a manner a* to stimulate a love for good reading and especially to encourage the study of the lives and writings of our American authors. The plan of this work is unique and original, and possesses certain helpful and interesting features, which — so far as we are aware — have been contemplated by no other single volume.

The first and main purpose of the work is to present to our American homes a mass of wholesome, varied and well-selected reading matter. In this respect it is substantially a volume for the family. America is pre-eminently a country of liomes. These homes are the schools of citizenship, and — next to the Bible, which is the foundation of our morals and laws — we need those books which at once entertain and instruct, and, at the same time, stimulate patriotism and pride for our native land.

demand. Four-fifths of our space is devoted ex- Nearly all other volumes of selections are made The reason for this is obvious. Foreign publications until within the last lew years have been free of copyright restrictions. Anything might be chosen and copied from them while American authors were protected by law from such outrages. Consequently, American material under forty-t\yo years of age could not be used without the consent of the owner of the copyright. The expense and the difficulty of obtaining these permissions were too great^to warrant compilers and publishers in using American material. The constantly growing demand, however, for a work of this class has encouraged the publishers of this

This book seeks to meet this clusively to American literature. up chiefly from foreign authors.

.^ THE DISTINCTIVE PUKPOSE AND PLAN OF TPIIS VOLUME.

volume to undertake the task. The publishers of the works from which these selections are made and many living authors represented have been corresponded with, and it is only through the joint courtesy and co-operation of these many publishers and authors that the production of this volume has been made possible. Due acknowledgment will be found elsewhere. In a number of instances the selections have been made by the authors themselves, who have also rendered other valuable assistance in supplying data and photographs.

The second distinctive point of merit in the plan of the work is the hiograpliical feature^ which gives the story of each author's life separately, treating them both personally and as writers. Longfellow remarked in " Hyperion " — " If you once understand the character of an autlior the comprehension of his writings becomes easy." He might have gone further and stated that when we have once read the life of an author his writings become the more interesting. Goethe assures us that " Every author portrays himself in his works even though it be against his will." The pati'iarch in the Scriptures had the same thought in his mind when he exclaimed " Oh ! that mine enemy had written a book." Human nature remains the same. Any book takes on a new phase of value and interest to us the moment w^e know the story of the writer, whether we agi-ee with his statements and theories or not. These biographical sketches, which in every case are placed immediately before the selections from an author, give, in addition to the story of his life, a list of the principal books he has written, and the dates of publication, together with comments on his literary style and in many instances reviews of his best known works This, with the selections which follow, established that necessary bond of sympathy and relationship which should exist in the mind of the reader between every author and his writings. Furthermore, under this arrangement the biography of each author and the selections from his works compose a complete and independent chapter in the volume, so that the writer may betaken up and studied or read alone, or in connection with others in the |)articular class to which he belongs.

This brings us to the third point of classification. Othei" volumes of selections — where they have been classified at all — have usually placed selections of similar character together under the various heads of Narrative and Descriptive, Moral and Religious, Historical, etc. On the contrary, it has appeared to us the better plan in the consti'uction of this volume to classify the autliors, rather than, by dividing their selections, scatter the children of one parent in many different quarters. There has been no small difficulty in doing this in the cases of some of our versatile writers. Emerson, for instance, with his poetry, philosophy and essays, and Holmes, with his wit and humor, his essays, his novels and his poetry. Where should they be placed ? Summing them up, we find their writings — whether written in stanzas of metred lines or all the way across the page, and wdiether they talked philosojDliy or indulged in humor — were predominated by the spirit of poetry. Therefore, with their varied brood, Emerson and Holmes were taken off to the " Poet's Corner," which is made all the richer and more enjoyable by the variety of their gems of prose. Hence our classifications and groupings are as Poets, Novelists, Historians, Journalists, Humorists, Essayists, Critics, Orators, etc., placing each author in the department to which he most belongs, enabling the reader to read and compare him in his best element with others of the same class.

THE DISTINCTIVE PURPOSE AND PLAN OF THIS VOLUME.

., ''Great Poets of America,'' comprises twenty of our most famous and ,vriters of verse. The work necessarily begins with that immortal "Sevei

Part L, popular wr±i.v^j.^ wx Y^^lo^^. Ant/ wuiiv iicuco^cimj uti^uis wun iiiai immoriai "oeven Stars" of poesy in the galaxy of our literary heavens — Bryant, Poe, Longfellow, Emerson, AVhittier, Holmes and Lowell. Succeeding these are those of lesser magnitude, many of whom are still living and some who have won fame in other fields of litei'ature which divides honors with their poetry.

The remaining twelve parts of the book treat in similar manner about ninetv-five additional authors, embracing noted novelists, representative women poets of America ; essayists, critics and sketch writers ; great American histoi-ians and biogra})hers ; our national humorists; popular writers for young jieople ; noted journalists and magazine contributors ; great orators and po})ular lecturers ; famous women orators and reformers, and miscellaneous masterpieces from many American autliors whose fame rests largely upon one or two productions. The work appropriately closes with a department of over one hundred and fifty pages of English literature, comprising the lives and best writings of the most famous English, Scotch and Lish authors, whose names and works are household words in America, and without which no volume of literature in the language would be com})lete. Thus, it will be seen that in this volume the whole field of Amei'ican letters, with the best from the greatest of British authors, has been gleaned to make the work the best and most representative of our literature possible within the scope of a single volume.

In making a list of authors in whom the public were sufficiently interested to entitle them to a place in a work like this, naturally they were found to be entirely too numerous to be all included in one book. The absence of many good names from the volume is, therefore, explained by the fact that the editor has been driven to the necessity of selecting, first, those whom he deemed pre-eminently prominent, and, after that, making room for those who best represent a certain class or particular phase of our litei'ature.

To those autliors who have so kindly responded to our requests for courtesies, and whose names do not appear, the above explanation is offered. The omission was imperative in order that those treated might be allowed sufficient space to make the work as complete and representative as might be reasonably expected.

Special attention has been given to illustrations. We have inserted portraits of all the authors whose photographs we could obtain, and have, also, given views of the homes and studies of many. A large number of special drawings have also beea made to illustrate the text of selections. The whole number of portraits and other illustrations amount to over three hundred, all of which are strictly illustrative of the authors or their Avritings. None are put in as mere ornaments. We have, furthermore, taken particular care to arrange a number of special groups, })lacing those authors which belong in one class or division of a class together on a page. One group on a page represents our greatest poets; another, well-known western poets; another, famous historians; another, writers for young i)eople_; another, American humorists, etc. These groups are all arranged by artists in various designs of ornamental setting. In many cases we have also had sjiecial designs made by artists for commemorative and historic pictures of famous authoi-s. These drawings set forth in a pictorial form leading scenes in the life and labors of the author represented.

LIST OF PORTRAITS

MADE EXPRESSLY FOE, THIS VOLUME.

ARRANGED ALPHABETICALLY.

Abbott, Lyman.

Adams, Charles Follen (Yawcob Strauss).

Adams, William T. (Oliver Optic).

Alcott, A. Bronson.

Alcott, Louisa M.

Alger, Horatio, Jr.

Aldrich, Thomas Bailey.

Anthony, Susan B.

Austin, Alfred.

Austin, Jane Goodwin.

Bancroft, George H.

Barr, Amelia E.

Beecher, Henry Ward.

Bellamy, Edward.

Bryant, William CuUen.

Burdette, Robert J.

Burnett, Francis Hodgson,

Cable, George W.

Carleton, Will.

Cary, Alice.

Gary, Phoebe.

Clay, Henry.

Clemens, Samuel L. (Mark Twain).

Cooper, James Feniniore.

Craddock, Charles Egbert (Mrs. Murfree).

Crawford, F. Marion.

Dana, Charles A.

Davis, Richard Harding.

Depew, Chauncey M.

Dickinson, Anna.

Eggleston, Edward, Ellis, Edward S.

Emerson, Ralph Waldo,

Everett, Edward.

Field, Eugene.

Finley, Martha.

French, Alice (Octave Thanet).

Fuller, Margaret.

Gilder, Richard Watson.

Gough, John B.

Grady, Henry W.

Greeley, Horace.

Hale, Edward Everett.

Halstead, Murat.

Harris, Joel Chandler.

Harte, Bret.

Hawthorne, Nathaniel.

Hawthorne, Julian.

Hay, Col. John.

Henry, Patrick.

Higginson, Thomas Wentworth.

Holmes, Oliver Wendell.

Howells. William Dean.

Howe, Julia Ward.

Irving, Washington.

Jackson, Helen Hunt,

Larcom. Lucy.

Tjippincotr, Sara Jane (Grace Greenwood).

Livermore, Mary A.

Lockwnod, Belva Ann.

Longl'cllow, Henry W.

Lowell, James Russell,

LIST OF PORTRAITS MADE EXPRESSLY FOR THIS VOLUME.

Mabie, Hamilton W.

McMaster, John B.

Miller, Joaquin.

Mitchell, Donald G. (Ik :\Iarvel).

Motley, John L.

Moulton, Louise Chandler.

Nye, Edgar Wilson (Bill Nye).

Page, Thomas Nelson.

Parton, James.

Phillips, Wendell.

Pitt, William.

Poe, Edgar A.

Prescott, William H.

Reid, Whitelaw.

Riley, James Whitcomb.

Roe, Edward Payson.

Shaw, Albert.

Shaw, Henry W. (Josh Billings).

Sigourney, Lydia H.

Smith, Elizabeth Oakes.

Stedman, Edmund Clarence.

Stanton, Elizabeth Cady.

Stockton, Frank.

Stoddard, Richard Henry.

Stowe, Harriet Beecher.

Terhunc, Mary Virginia (Maiioii Harland).

Thoreau, Henry D.

Wallace, General Lew.

Ward, Elizabeth Stuart Phelps.

Warner, Chas. Dudley.

Watterson. Henry W

Webster. Daniei.

Whitman, Walt.

Whittier, John G

Wilbnvl, Franc.-s E

Willis, Nathaniel R

FULL-PAGE GROUPS

AND SPECIAL DESIGNS.

EDG^R Allan Poe — His Home, Monument, etc.

Interior op Longfellow's Home, Cambridge, Mass.

Ralph Waldo Emerson — His Brook Farm Friends, eto.

John Gl. Whittier — His Home and Birthplace.

Oliver Wendell Holmes — His Birthplace and Study.

James Russell Lowell in His Study.

Nathaniel Hawthorne — His Birthplace, Wayside Inn, Eia

The New Congressional Library.

Six Great American Poets.

Well-known American Poets.

Well-known Western Poets.

Six Typical American Novelists.

Popular American Novelists.

Noted Women Novelists.

Women Poets op America.

Distinguished Essayists and Literary Critics.

Great American Historians and Biogr-^-phers.

Our National Humorists.

Popular Writers for Young People.

Noted American Journalists and Magazine Contributors.

Great American Orators and Popular Lecturers.

Famous Women Orators and Reformers.

Distinguished Authors op the Greatest Books of the Nineteenth Century.

Great American Writers at the Close op the Nineteenth Century.

I

Table Of Contents

WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT.

An Author at Fourteen

The Influence of his Father