"They are based upon considerable study of these authors, are highly appreciative in tone, and show a perceptivity of American humor which is yet a rarity among Englishmen." _SALEM TIMES_, Mass.: "No writer in England was, in all respects, better qualified to write a book on American Humorists than Haweis." _CHRISTIAN JOURNAL_, Toronto: "We have been specially amused with the chapter on poor Artemus Ward, which we read on a railway journey. We fear our fellow-passengers would think something ailed us, for laugh we did, in spite of all attempts to preserve a sedate appearance." _OCCIDENT_, San Francisco: "This book is pleasant reading, with sparkle enough in it--as the writer is himself a wit--to cure one of the 'blues.'" _DANBURY NEWS_, Conn.: "Mr. Haweis gives a brief bibliographical sketch of each writer mentioned in the book, an analysis of his style, and classifies each into a distinct type from the others. He presents copious extracts from their works, making an entertaining book." _CENTRAL BAPTIST_, St. Louis: "A perusal of this volume will give the reader a more correct idea of the character discussed than he would probably get from reading their biographies. The lecture is analytical, penetrative, terse, incisive, and candid. The book is worth its price, and will amply repay reading." _SCHOOL JOURNAL_, New York: "Terse and brief as the soul of wit itself." _INDIANAPOLIS SENTINEL_, Indiana: "It presents, in fine setting, the wit and wisdom of Washington Irving, Oliver W. Holmes, James R. Lowell, Artemus Ward, Mark Twain, and Bret Harte, and does it _con amore_." _THE MAIL_, Toronto, Ont.: "Rev. H. R. Haweis is a writer too well-known to need commendation at our hands for, at least, his literary style. The general result is that not a page repels us and not a sentence tires. We find ourselves drawn pleasantly along in just the way we want to go; all our favorite points remembered, all our own pet phrases praised, and the good things of each writer brought forward to refresh one's memory. In fine, the book is a most agreeable companion." _LUTHERAN OBSERVER_, Philadelphia: "The peculiar style, the mental character, and the secret of success, of each of these prominent writers, are presented with great clearness and discrimination." IV. Lives of Illustrious Shoemakers. _WESTERN CHRISTIAN ADVOCATE_, Cincinnati: "When we first took up this volume we were surprised that anybody should attempt to make a book with precisely this form and title. But as we read its pages we were far more surprised to find them replete with interest and instruction. It should be sold by the scores of thousands." _PRESBYTERIAN OBSERVER_, Baltimore: "The writer of this book well understands how to write biography--a gift vouchsafed only to a few." _NEW YORK HERALD_: