ter,
correspondent, and editor. He read continually in boyhood, and taught
himself to read six languages. As the result of a campaign life of
Lincoln, he was appointed U.S. consul at Venice and lived there, 1861-5.
After a year on the staff of the _Nation_, he became assistant editor of
the _Atlantic Monthly_, 1866-72, and editor, 1872-81. Later, he became an
editorial writer for _Harper's Magazine_, 1886-91, and finally writer of
the "Editor's Easy Chair," for the same magazine.

Although Mr. Howells did not go to college, he received many honorary
higher degrees, and was offered professorships by three Universities
(including that which had been held by Longfellow and Lowell at Harvard);
but he refused these, not considering himself fitted for such work. In
his editorial capacity he gave much advice and help to authors who
afterward became famous. He died in 1920.

SUGGESTIONS FOR READING

1. For just appraisement of Mr. Howells, it is necessary to be familiar
with the facts of his life, and with his theories of fiction. For his
life the two autobiographical books _Years of My Youth_ and _My Literary
Passions_ are most valuable. After reading these, it is possible to see
the large use of autobiographical material in the novels.

2. It is interesting to group the books of Howells according to the
sources of the material: (1) those growing out of his early life in Ohio;
(2) those growing out of his life abroad; (3) those growing out of his
life in Boston and New York. This last class might well be subdivided
into those written before he came under the influence of Tolstoi and
those written after. The turning-point is in _A Hazard of New Fortunes_.
Does Mr. Howells's interest in sociological problems add to or lessen the
final value of his work?

3. The realism of Howells set a standard for American literature, the
effect of which has not yet passed. Study his theories of fiction
(_Criticism and Fiction_, and _Literature and Life_) and consider the
good and bad effects of his work upon the development of the novel.

4. Use the following quotation from Van Wyck Brooks, on Howells's
"panoramic theory" of the novel as a test of his work:

To make a work of art, it is necessary to take a piece out of life
and round it off; and, so long as the piece is perfectly rounded off
and complete in itself, so long as the chosen group of characters
are perfectly proportioned in relation to one another, ther