Authorized Images Famous Authors Seen Through Antique and Vintage Postcards: James Fenimore Cooper, Edgar Allan Poe, William Cullen Bryant

In any census of the pioneers of American literature, these three will always have a position of honour. Cooper's Leatherstocking novels (e.g., Last of the Mohicans) were the first USA fictions to find a wide readership in Europe. Poe's reputation took longer to build, but posthumously his star rose considerably, forcing his compatriots to pay greater attention to his work and applaud his genius. Bryant is less read now than he was-but his influence once was huge-not merely in the world of books, but in changing the face of his beloved New York City (think Bryant Park or the Metropolitan Museum of Art, both of which he created). Pioneering postcards of all three men were plentiful and are on abundant display in this volume, with explanatory text and informative captions.