American literary masters

This volume offers a concise yet insightful survey of nineteen American writers who shaped the nation’s literary scene from the early nineteenth century onward. By focusing on authors whose most influential works appeared before 1860, the author presents a clear picture of the period’s evolving voice. The essays are organized in short, focused sections—a structure inspired by contemporary French criticism—that makes each portrait easy to follow and compare.

The opening study turns to Washington Irving, tracing his Scotch‑English roots, childhood in a bustling New York household, and the modest schooling that preceded his self‑directed literary training. It follows his brief legal apprenticeship, his adventurous travels across the Mediterranean, and the daring humor of his early “Jonathan Oldstyle” pieces that signaled his shift from law to letters. Listeners will gain a vivid sense of how Irving’s personal history and restless curiosity sparked the storytelling style that would come to define early American prose.