Tattletown_ (October, 1860, _Godey’s_) and _City Relations; or, the Newmans’ Summer at Clovernook_ (November, 1861, _Godey’s_). The work of Alice Bradley Haven Neal is of somewhat similar texture. Her book, _The Gossips of Rivertown, with Sketches in Prose and Verse_ (1850) indicates her field, as does the single title, _The Third-Class Hotel_ (December, 1861, _Godey’s_). Perhaps the most representative figure of this school is Eliza Leslie (1787–1858), who as “Miss Leslie” was one of the most frequent contributors to the magazines of the 1830’s, 1840’s and 1850’s. One of her best stories is _The Watkinson Evening_ (December, 1846, _Godey’s Lady’s Book_), included in the present volume; others are _The Batson Cottage_ (November, 1846, _Godey’s Lady’s Book_) and _Juliet Irwin; or, the Carriage People_ (June, 1847, _Godey’s Lady’s Book_). One of her chief collections of stories is _Pencil Sketches_ (1833–1837). “Miss Leslie,” wrote Edgar Allan Poe, “is celebrated for the homely naturalness of her stories and for the broad satire of her comic style.” She was the editor of _The Gift_ one of the best annuals of the time, and in that position perhaps exerted her chief influence on American literature When one has read three or four representative stories by these seven authors one can grasp them all. Their titles as a rule strike the keynote. These writers, except “the Widow Bedott,” are perhaps sentimentalists rather than humorists in intention, but read in the light of later days their apparent serious delineations of the frolics and foibles of their time take on a highly humorous aspect. George Pope Morris (1802–1864) was one of the founders of _The New York Mirror_, and for a time its editor. He is best known as the author of the poem, _Woodman, Spare That Tree_, and other poems and songs. _The Little Frenchman and His Water Lots_ (1839), the first story in the present volume, is selected not because Morris was especially prominent in the field of the short story or humorous prose but because of this single story’s representative character. Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849) follows with _The Angel of the Odd_ (October, 1844, _Columbian Magazine_), perhaps the best of his humorous stories. _The System of Dr. Tarr and Prof. Fether_ (November, 1845, _Graham’s Magazine_) may be rated higher, but it is not essentially a humorous story. Rather it is incisive satire, with too biting an undercurrent to pass muster in the company of the genial in literature. Poe’s humorous stories as a whole have tended to belittle rather than increase his fame, many of them verging on the inane. There are some, however, which are at least excellent fooling; few more than that.