Transcriber's Note: Inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the original document have been preserved. Obvious typographical errors have been corrected. Italic text is denoted by _underscores_. The spellings of General McClellan and Fort McHenry have been normalized. The Table of Contents for this volume refers to chapters ultimately published in a subsequent volume. Those chapter listings (IV to VII) are retained for information. AMERICA [Illustration: _Cathedral Woods, Intervale, N. H._] _EDITION ARTISTIQUE_ The World's Famous Places and Peoples AMERICA BY JOEL COOK In Six Volumes Volume I. MERRILL AND BAKER New York London THIS EDITION ARTISTIQUE OF THE WORLD'S FAMOUS PLACES AND PEOPLES IS LIMITED TO ONE THOUSAND NUMBERED AND REGISTERED COPIES, OF WHICH THIS COPY IS NO. ____ Copyright, Henry T. Coates & Co., 1900 INTRODUCTION. The American is naturally proud of his country, its substantial growth and wonderful development, and of the rapid strides it is making among the foremost nations of the world. No matter how far elsewhere the American citizen may have travelled, he cannot know too much of the United States, its grand attractions and charming environment. Though this great and vigorous nation is young, yet it has a history that is full of interest, and a literature giving a most absorbing story of rapid growth and patriotic progress, replete with romance, poetry and a unique folklore.