WHARTON, EDITH (1862- ), b. New York, N. Y. Essayist, novelist. Her fiction deals largely with modern society problems. She treats subtle psychological questions with especial skill in the short story. _The Valley of Decision_, _Crucial Instances_, _The House of Mirth_, _The Fruit of the Tree_, _Italian Backgrounds._ WHIPPLE, EDWIN PERCY (1819-1886), b. Gloucester, Mass. Critic, essayist. _Essays and Reviews_, _American Literature and Other Papers_, _Recollections of Eminent Men._ WHITCHER, FRANCES ("Widow Bedott") (1811-1852), b. Whitestown, N. Y. Humorist. _The Widow Bedott Papers._ WHITNEY, ADELINE BUTTON TRAIN (1824-1906), b. Boston, Mass. Poet, novelist, and writer of juvenile stories. _Faith Gartney's Girlhood, We Girls, Boys at Chequasset, Summer in Leslie Goldthwaite's Life, Poems._ WIGGIN, KATE DOUGLAS (Mrs. Riggs) (1857- ), b. Philadelphia, Pa. Novelist and writer on kindergarten subjects. Author of _The Bird's Christmas Carol, Timothy's Quest, Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, Penelope's Progress, A Cathedral Courtship._ Pathos, humor, and sympathy for the poor, the weak, and the helpless are characteristic qualities of her work. There are few better children's stories than the first two mentioned. WILLIAMS, ROGER (1604?-1683), b. probably in London. Founder of Rhode Island. The first great preacher of "soul liberty" in America. _The Bloody Tenent of Persecution for Cause of Conscience Discussed_, _The Bloody Tenent yet More Bloody_. WILLIS, N.P. (1806-1867), b. Portland, Maine. Traveler, prose writer, poet, editor. While his work has proved ephemeral, he taught many writers of his day the necessity of artistic finish in their prose. His prose _Letters from under a Bridge_, and his poems, _Parrhasius_ and _Unseen Spirits_, may be mentioned. WINSOR, JUSTIN (1831-1897), b. Boston, Mass. Librarian at Harvard, historian, editor of _Narrative and Critical History of America_. Author of _The Mississippi Basin: the Struggle in America between England and France, 1697-1763_; _The Westward Movement, 1763-1798_; _Reader's Handbook of the American Revolution_, _Christopher Columbus_. WINTER, WILLIAM (1836- ), b. Gloucester, Mass. Dramatic editor of the New York _Tribune_ from 1865 to 1909. Edited numbers of plays. Author of _Shakespeare's England_, _Gray Days and Gold_, _Life and Art of Edwin Booth_, _Wanderers_ (poems). WINTHROP, THEODORE (1828-1861), b. New Haven, Conn. Novelist. His best story, _John Brent_, contains some of his western experiences. WISTER, OWEN (1860- ), b. Philadelphia, Pa. Lawyer and novelist. Gives realistic pictures of the middle West. _New Swiss Family Robinson, The Dragon of Wantley, Red Men and White, Lin McLean, Lady Baltimore_, and _The Virginian_. WOODBERRY, GEO. E. (1855- ), b. Beverly, Mass. Educator, author of excellent biographies of Poe, Hawthorne, and Emerson. _America in Literature_, _Poems_.