There was one side of the character of Henry James, the man, of which few people knew. Never did a man in need come to him whom he did not offer to help. Years ago, when James was deriving an income of less than $1,500 a year from his writing, a novelist died in England. He died in poverty, leaving two little children absolutely alone in the world. A friend assisted the children and wrote to other literary men asking for help. One literary man, whose income was over $200,000, was appealed to in vain. Among those from whom aid was asked was Henry James. A check for $250, more than a sixth of his whole year’s income, arrived from him by return mail.
Henry James died in London on February 29, 1916.
WILLIAM DEAN HOWELLS
William Dean Howells, a close student of American character and a realist in his writings, is the subject of one of the six intaglio-gravure pictures illustrating “American Novelists.”
WILLIAM DEAN HOWELLS
Monograph Number Two in The Mentor Reading Course
The “Dean of American Letters”—that is what William Dean Howells is called. He is and has been for half a century the literary leader of America, and well he deserves the title! James Russell Lowell said of him that he “is one of the chief honors of our literature.” He has never written a bad sentence, never struck a false note. He is the leading representative of the realistic school of American fiction.
William Dean Howells might with truth be called a “self-made man of letters.” He was born at Martin Ferry, Ohio, on March 1, 1837. His father, William Cooper Howells, was a printer and editor, whose library was large and well chosen for that time. It was in this library that the future novelist picked up most of his education. As usual in a small country town, the regular schooling consisted only of the “three R’s”; but Howells was an omniverous reader. He particularly enjoyed poetry. It is said that even as a small boy he wrote verse, setting it into type himself. Whether this was ever printed is not known; but surely some space in his father’s newspaper must have been found for these productions of his juvenile pen.