Chapter I: Front Matter

Library of the Best American Literature

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│ Punctuation has been standardized. │
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│ off by similar quote marks. The inner quotations have been │
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│ Characters in small caps have been replaced by all caps. │
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│ Non-printable characteristics have been given the following │
│ Italic text: --> _text_ │
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│ This book was written in a period when many words had │
│ not become standardized in their spelling. Words may have │
│ multiple spelling variations or inconsistent hyphenation in │
│ the text. These have been left unchanged unless indicated │
│ with a Transcriber’s Note. │
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│ number and are shown immediately below the paragraph in which │
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│ Transcriber’s Notes are used when making corrections to the │
│ text or to provide additional information for the modern │
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Illustration: REPRESENTATIVES OF AMERICAN LITERATURE.

LIBRARY
OF THE
Best American Literature

CONTAINING

The Lives of our Authors in Story Form
Their PORTRAITS, their HOMES, and their PERSONAL TRAITS
How they Worked and What they Wrote

Choice Selections from Eminent Writers

EMBRACING

GREAT AMERICAN POETS AND
NOVELISTS, FOREMOST WOMEN IN AMERICAN LETTERS,
DISTINGUISHED CRITICS AND ESSAYISTS, OUR NATIONAL HUMORISTS,
NOTED JOURNALISTS AND MAGAZINE CONTRIBUTORS, POPULAR
WRITERS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE, GREAT ORATORS
AND PUBLIC LECTURERS

ELEGANTLY ILLUSTRATED WITH HALF TONE PORTRAITS

AND PHOTOGRAPHS OF AUTHORS’ HOMES, TOGETHER WITH
MANY OTHER ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE TEXT

MONARCH BOOK COMPANY,
Successors to and formerly L. P. MILLER & CO.,
CHICAGO, ILL. PHILADELPHIA, PA.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1897, by
W. E. SCULL,
in the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.
_All rights reserved._

ALL PERSONS ARE WARNED NOT TO INFRINGE UPON OUR COPYRIGHT
BY USING EITHER THE MATTER OR THE PICTURES IN THIS VOLUME.

LITERATURE OF AMERICA.