The Rise of Silas Lapham, Volume 12

William Dean Howells

Indiana University Press, 1971 - Fiction - 402 pages

First published in book form in 1885, this timeless epic of a self-made man was the first important novel to center on the American businessman. Howells's Silas Lapham is a man of conscience who realizes his folly, but who is also an ambitious man who lets his aspirations lead him to hazard his fortune and his family's happiness for status in a society that would never accept him. Copyright © Libri GmbH. All rights reserved.

Contents

• The Rise of Silas Lapham: 3
• Synopsis The Rise of Silas: 368
• Textual Notes: 389

About the author

William Dean Howells was born in Martin's Ferry, Ohio on March 1, 1837. He dropped out of school to work as a typesetter and a printer's apprentice. He taught himself through intensive reading and the study of Spanish, French, Latin, and German. He wrote a campaign biography of Abraham Lincoln in 1860. Lincoln appointed him U.S. consul in Venice, Italy in 1861 as a reward. After returning to the U.S. several years later, he became an assistant editor for The Atlantic Monthly, later becoming editor from 1871 to 1881. He also wrote columns for Harper's New Monthly Magazine and occasional pieces for The North American Review. As an editor and critic, he was a proponent of American realism. Although he wrote over a 100 books in various genres including novels, poems, literary criticism, plays, memoirs, and travel narratives, he is best known for his realistic fiction. His novels include A Modern Instance, The Rise of Silas Lapham, A Hazard of New Fortunes, The Undiscovered Country, A Chance Acquaintance, An Imperative Duty, Annie Kilburn, and The Coast of Bohemia. He received several honorary degrees from universities as well as a Gold Medal for fiction (later renamed after him as the Howells Medal) from the National Institute of Arts and Letters. He died from pneumonia on May 11, 1920.

Bibliographic information

• Title: The Rise of Silas Lapham, Volume 12; Bantam literature; His A selected edition, v. 12; Volume 12 of Howells, William D.: [Selected edition]; Volume 12 of Selected ed; Volume 12 of Selected edition, William Dean Howells; Volume 12 of Selected works, William Dean Howells; Volume 12 of Selections, William Dean Howells; The Rise of Silas Lapham, William Dean Howells; Volume 12 of Works, William Dean Howells
• Author: William Dean Howells
• Editor: Walter J. Meserve
• Contributor: Walter J. Meserve
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: Indiana University Press, 1971
• Original from: the University of California
• Digitized: May 29, 2008
• ISBN: 0253350166, 9780253350169
• Length: 402 pages
• Subjects: Fiction / City Life; Fiction / Classics; Fiction / Historical / General; Fiction / Literary