Samuel Langhorne Clemens was born in 1835 and is far better known by his pen name; Mark Twain. An American author and humorist of the first order he is perhaps most famous for his novels, The Adventures Of Tom Sawyer, written in 1876, and its sequel, The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn, written in 1885 and often described with that mythic line - "the Great American Novel." Twain grew up in Hannibal, Missouri, which would later provide the backdrop

Part of a remarkably talented family, Henry James is regarded as one of the most important American writers of the nineteenth century. Although he is best known for novels such as The Wings of the Dove and The Portrait of a Lady, James was also a renowned essayist. This volume collects a series of essays about James' extensive travels in Italy, which were written and revised by the author over a period of 40 years.