Stories by American Authors (Volume 4)

H. C. (Henry Cuyler) Bunner

1855–1896

A sharp, witty voice of late 19th-century New York, this American writer brought humor, satire, and city life together in poems, stories, and sketches. He is especially remembered for his work with Puck, where his lively style helped shape one of the era’s best-known comic magazines.

John William De Forest

1826–1906

A sharp observer of American life, he helped shape literary realism and wrote one of the Civil War’s most admired novels. He is also remembered for popularizing the idea of the “Great American Novel.”

Mary Hallock Foote

1847–1938

A gifted illustrator turned novelist, she brought the mining camps and rough-edged settlements of the American West to life with unusual realism and warmth. Her stories draw on years spent in western mining communities, giving them both vivid detail and a strong sense of place.

Nathaniel Parker Willis

1806–1867

A leading magazine writer of his era, he mixed poetry, travel writing, and lively social sketches with a journalist’s eye for what readers wanted next. His career linked him to major literary figures of 19th-century America, including Edgar Allan Poe and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.