William Dean Howells
William Dean Howells (1837 – 1920) was an American realist author and literary critic. He began his literary career by contributing poetry, short stories, and reviews to magazines including the Atlantic Monthly and Harper's Magazine. As first the assistant editor (1866-71) and later the editor of the Atlantic Monthly (1871-1881), Howells wielded enormous influence over American literary taste. He helped advance the careers of authors such as Mark Twain and Henry James, and became a staunch proponent of American realism. Howells most famous novel is The Rise of Silas Lapham (1885).
By the Center for Digital Research in the Humanities at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, in conjunction with the Center for the Humanities at Washington University in St. Louis.