GUNTHER, Archibald Clavering, Amer. ican novelist and dramatist: b. Liverpool, Eng land, 25 Oct. 1847; d. New York, 23 Feb. 1907. While he was quite young his parents went to California. There he studied engineering in the State University. For six years he worked as a mining engineer; then for three years (1875-78) the was a stockbroker in San Fran cisco. In the meantime he had been devoting his spare time to literature. Finally he decided to go to New York and try his luck there. But he did not find the publishers anxious to pub lish his novels.
characters though inclining more to be types than real creations, display a certain originality and freshness which are inviting. Gunther was one of the first of American writers to sound the national note. In this he has been followed by many imitators, most of whom have im proved on his English, but few of whom have equalled him in the rapid movement of his characters. His novels include, in addition to those already mentioned,