k published by
Bellaires & Co., London; but to my mind that is too slight, too
theoretical, and too enamored of the artificial French school to be
of practical value to the amateur. Far better, as working guides, are
the frequent fragmentary articles on the short story, many of them by
successful short story writers, published in current periodicals, to
which I am considerably indebted. But my greatest obligation is to a
course in "The Art of the Short Story"--the first university course
ever offered in that subject--conducted at the University of Chicago
in 1896 by Dr. E. H. Lewis.

C. R. B.

CHICAGO, August 1, 1900.

INTRODUCTION

The short story was first recognized as a distinct class of
literature in 1842, when Poe's criticism of Hawthorne[1] called
attention to the new form of fiction. Short story writing had,
however, been practiced for many years before that: perhaps the
narratives of Homer and the tales of the first books of the Bible
may be considered as the first examples; certainly the short story
is closely associated in its early history with narrative poems,
allegorical tales, and mouth-to-mouth traditions, and it can be
traced surely to the _fabliaux_ of the thirteenth century. Later
writers aided in its development: Mallory's "Morte D'Arthur" and
Caxton's popularization of old romances marked a further progress;
and some of the work of Defoe and Addison would almost stand the
modern tests. But the short story as we know it to-day is a product
of the nineteenth century; and it owes its position in literature, if
not its very existence, to the work of Irving, Hawthorne, and Poe.
They first recognized its possibilities and employed it seriously;
and the art and genius which they put into their tales assured the
short story a permanent place in literature. They differed in subject
matter and style, but they recognized the same requirements and
limitations; and the canons which they established then obtain
to-day.

The modern short story is essentially an American product; and our
masters of its art have established precedents for literary workers
of the old world. In England, Stevenson, Kipling and Haggard are
considered the originators of the modern short story; and Zola,
de Maupassant, Daudet and Paul Marguerite in France, Tolstoi in
Russia, and other famous foreign authors have their claims for
consideration; but all of them, admittedly or not, are but disciples
of the earlier American t