In 1894 the success of The Prisoner of Zcnda, by an English author, Anthony hope Hawkins, drew the attention of American writers to the possibilities of the romantic novel. The reading public had tired of psychology and dialect, and was only too glad to welcome tales of adventure and of love, which were all the more acceptable because their themes were in direct contrast with the commonplace civilization of the day. Winston Churchill, Mary Johnston, Charles Major, Maurice Thompson, S. Weir Mitchell, Paul Leicester Ford, and many less known writ ers wrote historical romances, of which hundreds of thousands of copies sold within incredibly short periods. The beginning of the twentieth century was marked by the introduction of the novel dealing with the individual who is in re volt against existing social conditions. Although this perhaps is not yet a clearly defined depart ment of fiction, U»lca voted Bread (1900), by Rob ert Grant, A Singular Life (1S95), by Elizabeth Stuart Phelps, and A Gentleman from Indiana (1900), by Booth Tarkington, are all novels which show the same general tendency to empha size individualism.
In turning from fiction to poetry one is struck with the dearth of really important names. There have been any number of versifiers whose lyrics are musical and commonplace; but E. C. Stedman, R. IT. Stoddard, T. B. Aldrich, Rich ard Watson Gilder, H. C. Dinner, Richard Ilovey, and Madison Cawein are almost the only ones whose poetry has risen in the slightest de gree above the ordinary level.
In historical composition there has been a marked inclination to follow the example set by the English historian, J. R. Green, and not only to weigh carefully the dramatic events of politi cal history, hut also to study with equal thor oughness the character of the people themselves. This tendency has been especially evident in the works of John Fiske,John Bach McMaster,Wood row Wilson, and Edward Eggleston, all of whom have added much to our knowledge of conditions and men at the beginnings of our national and in the elaborate researches of Justin Winsor. Other historical writers of importance are James Ford Rhodes, the historian of the Civil War, and William M. Sloane, the author of a monu
mental biography of Napoleon.
Literary criticism has had many representa tives; but. since James Russell Lowell's death, American literature has found no one fitted to succeed him. The best known critics who en joyed a certain amount of authority in the de cade ending with the year 1900, were William Dean Howells, Henry James, Hamilton W. Slabie, Brander Matthew's, George E. Woodber•y, Harry Thurston Peck, and William C. Brownell. Re cent criticism, however, has been distinguished by the note of individual preference which is at times almost emotional, and by the absence of definite and unalterable aesthetic standards, such as those which characterized the work of Sainte Beuve in France and of Matthew Arnold in Eng land.
In conclusion, the most important develop ments since 1870 may he summed up as being New England's loss of literary supremacy; the wide distribution of literary activity; the de cline of the essay as a recognized medium of purely literary expression; the predominance of light fiction; and an unparalleled increase in the number of books, newspapers, magazines, and other periodicals.
Bmt.marairirv. For the best account of Colo nial and Revolutionary literature, consult: Tyler, History of American Literature, 4 vols. (New York, 1878-97) ; for a good general survey, Rich ardson, A incl./can Literatti•e (New York. 1887 88) ; Nichol, A merieun Literature (Edinburgh, ( 1882 ) ; Wendell, t Literary History of (New York, 1901) ; C. Noble, Studies in Ameri can Literature (New York, 1898) ; Katherine Lee Bates, Literature (New York, 1898) ; for poetry, Stedman, Poets of Amer ire (Boston, 1885) ; Stedman, A n American An thology (New York, 1901) ; for prose, Car penter, American Prose (New York, 1898) ; for anthologies of prose and verse, Stedman and Mitchinson, Library of American Literature (New York, 1888-90) ; Duyckinek, ryelopa'dia of A merle(' n Literature (New York, 1865). The best series of monographs on American authors is the American Men of Letters Series (Bos ton). A valuable handbook is Whitcomb, Chronological Outlines of American Literature (New York, 1894).