Prescott, Catherine Hickling, parentage and character, 15, 16; rearing of son, 16. Prescott, Colonel William, 13, 14, 43. Prescott, John, 18. Prescott, Oliver, 14. Prescott, Susan Amory, 50, 93; marriage to Prescott, 42, 43; character, 43; letters to, 104, 105, 111. Prescott, William, birth and career, 14; characteristics of, 15, 82, 83; home, 14, 15; illness of, 17; removal to Boston, 17, 18; quoted, 67; death, 82. PRESCOTT, William Hickling, literary importance of, 12; birth of, 15; his first teachers, 16; traits as a boy, 16, 17; prepares for college, 18, 19; his tastes in reading, 19, 20; amusements, 20, 21, 22; candidate for Harvard, 22; letter to father about examination, 25, 26; enters college, 27; his studies and ideals, 27; love of pleasure, 28; laxity of conduct, 28, 29, 30; accident, 31; loss of eye, 31; effect on character, 32; magnanimity, 32; returns to college, 32; dislike for mathematics, 33; commencement poem, 33, 34; election to Phi Beta Kappa, 34; studies law, 34; second illness and temporary blindness, 34, 35; sails for Azores, 35, 36; third illness, 36; first visit to London, 36, 37; visits Paris and Italy, 37, 38; returns to England, 38; sails for home, 38; anxiety regarding career, 39, 40; vicarious reading, 40, 41; first attempts at composition, 41, 42, 46; marriage, 42, 43; resolves to become a man of letters, 44; studies languages, 45, 46, 47; interest in Spanish, 47, 48; drift toward historical composition, 49, 50; perplexity in choosing subject, 50, 51, 52; decides upon _Ferdinand and Isabella_, 52, 53; difficulties of task, 54, 55; time of preparation and composition, 55, 56, 62, 66; his methods, of work, 56, 57, 58, 59, 61; his memory, 33, 57, 58, 59; his mode of life, 59, 60, 61, 62; death of daughter, 62, 63, 73; contributes to periodicals, 64, 65; completes _Ferdinand and Isabella_, 66; search for publisher, 66, 67; terms of contract, 67; success of book, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 95; criticisms, 69, 70, 71; theological studies and beliefs, 73, 74; begins Mexican researches, 74, 75, 76, 77; correspondence with Irving, 75; writes _Conquest of Mexico_, 78, 79; contract with the Harpers, 79, 80; honours conferred upon, 80, 81; writes _Conquest of Peru_, 81, 82, 84; reception of book, 85, 86; death of father, 82; opinion of American critics, 85; period of inactivity, 83, 86; political views, 89, 90; entertainment of friends, 91, 92, 93; his boyish ways, 93; his tactlessness, 93; his Yankeeisms, 94; preparations for _Philip_