AUSTIN, JANE G. (1831-1894), b. Worcester, Mass. Novelist of early colonial
New England. Standish of Standish, Betty Alden, Dr. Le Baron and his
Daughters, A Nameless Nobleman, David Alden's Daughter, and Other
Stories of Colonial Times.
BACHELLER, IRVING (1859- ), b. Pierrepont, N. Y. Novelist. Eben
Holden, D'ri and I, Darrel of the Blessed Isles.
BANCROFT, GEORGE (1800-1891), b. Worcester, Mass. Historian, diplomatist. History of the United States, from the Discovery of the Continent to the Establishment of the Constitution in 1789, 6 vols. History of the Formation of the Constitution of the United States, 2 vols. Covers the period to the inauguration of Washington. The volumes on the Revolutionary War and the formation of the Constitution are the best part of the work. While Bancroft's improved methods of research among original authorities almost entitle him to be called the founder of the new American school of historical writing, yet the best critics do not to-day consider his work scientific. They regard it more as an apotheosis of democracy, written by a man who loved truth intensely, who shirked no drudgery in original investigations, but who shows the strong bias of the days of Andrew Jackson in the tendency to believe that what democracy does is almost necessarily right.
BANGS, JOHN KENDRICK (1862- ), b. Yonkers, N. Y. Humorist. House-Boat on the Styx, The Idiot at Home, A Rebellious Heroine.
BARR, AMELIA E. (1831- ), b. Ulverston, Lancashire, Eng. Anglo-American novelist. A Bow of Orange Ribbon, Jan Vedder's Wife, A Daughter of Fife, and Between Two Loves.
BATES, ARLO (1850- ), b. East Machias, Me. Educator, author. Under the
Beech Tree (poems), Talks on the Study of Literature.
BEDOTT, WIDOW. See WHITCHER, FRANCES.
BEECHER, HENRY WARD (1813-1887), b. Litchfield, Conn. Congregational clergyman, widely popular as a preacher and lecturer. Delivered noted anti-slavery lectures in England. Some of his published works are Eyes and Ears, Life Thoughts, Star Papers, Yale Lectures on Preaching.
"BILLINGS, JOSH." See SHAW, HENRY WHEELER.
BOKER, GEO. H. (1823-1890), b. Philadelphia, Pa. Dramatist, poet, diplomat. Francesca da Rimini, Dirge for a Soldier.