William Dean Howells letter to Mr. Underwood

Collection

Identifier: MSS 0099-F0818

Staff Only

Scope and Content Note

One letter handwritten by William Dean Howells to Mr. Underwood, dated September 22, 1874, in which Howells declines to serve on a book committee.

Dates

Creation: 1874 September 22

Creator

Howells, William Dean, 1837-1920 (Person)

Language of Materials

Materials entirely in English.

Access Restrictions

The collection is open for research.

Terms Governing Use and Reproduction

Use of materials from this collection beyond the exceptions provided for in the Fair Use and Educational Use clauses of the U.S. Copyright Law may violate federal law. Permission to publish or reproduce is required from the copyright holder. Please contact Special Collections, University of Delaware Library, http://library.udel.edu/spec/askspec/

William Dean Howells (1837-1920)

American author, editor, and critic, William Dean Howells was born on March 1, 1837, in Martin's Ferry, Ohio, and died May 11, 1920, in New York, New York.

Howells was an editor for over forty years, beginning work as writer and/or editor for several Ohio journals and newspapers. In 1861 President Lincoln arranged Howells's appointment as the United States Consul to Venice, Italy, which he continued until 1865. During this tenure he authored of the column "Letter from Venice." In 1866 he began as an assistant editor for Atlantic Monthly, becoming its chief editor in 1871 and continue as such until 1881. He joined Harper's Monthly (New York City) in 1886, where he was the author of the column "Editor's Study" (1886-1891) and later the column "Editor's Easy Chair" (1900-1920).

In addition to editing, Howells wrote poetry, novels, short fiction, biographies, plays, essays and criticism, travel narratives, as well as autobiographies and reminiscences. He was as a lecturer in Italian literature at Harvard University from 1869-71 and a founding sponsor of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). In addition to honorary degrees granted by Harvard University, Yale University, Oxford University, Columbia University, Princeton University, and Adelbert College, Howells received the Gold Medal for fiction (now known as the Howells Medal) from the National Institute of Arts and Letters in 1915.

"William Dean Howells." Contemporary Authors Online (reproduced in Biography Resource Center). http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/BioRC (accessed April 2008).