"In the small state of Massachusetts sits its capital, Boston. Famed seat of learning, of culture, of history, and a beacon for the ages. Here, in this volume, authors of the stature of Willa Cather, Washington Irving, H P Lovecraft and more set carefully crafted characters into narratives set in this glistening city in ways that trouble, explore and bring new understanding as to why this city is such a draw for authors and their stories down the ages. 1 - Stories Set in Boston - An Introduction2 - The Devil and Tom Walker by Washington Irving3 - David Swan by Nathaniel Hawthorne4 - A Wagner Matinee by Willa Catha5 - Pickman's Model by H P Lovecraft6 - Peter Rugg, The Missing Man - Part 1 by William Austin7 - Peter Rugg, The Missing Man - Part 2 by William Austin"
"From the very earliest days New England, first as a colony then as many of the founding states of America, has seemed genteel, almost reserved in its ambitions and the way it presents itself to the world. This volume will disavow you of that notion in short order. The imaginations and pens of such luminaries as Washington Irving, Willa Cather, H P Lovecraft, Sarah Orne Jewett and others bring many views and experiences from this small region of the United States.
1 - Stories Set in New England - An Introduction
2 - Herbert West - Re-Animator - Part 1 by H P Lovecraft
3 - Herbert West - Re-Animator - Part 2 by H P Lovecraft
4 - The Devil and Tom Walker by Washington Irving
5 - In Dark New England Days by Sarah Orne Jewett
6 - How I Killed a Bear by Charles Dudley Warner
7 - A Far Away Melody by Mary E Wilkins Freeman
8 - A Wagner Matinee by Willa Catha
9 - The Romance of Certain Old Clothes by Henry James
10 - David Swan by Nathaniel Hawthorne
11 - A New England Nun by Mary E Wilkins Freeman
12 - Young Goodman Brown by Nathaniel Hawthorne
13 - The Gray Man by Sarah Orne Jewett
14 - Pickman's Model by H P Lovecraft
15 - Peter Rugg, The Missing Man - Part 1 by William Austin
16 - Peter Rugg, The Missing Man - Part 2 by William Austin"
"William Austin was born on 2nd March 1778 in Lunenburg, Massachusetts. After being educated at Harvard College, Austin served as the Unitarian chaplain onboard the USS Constitution from 1799 but resigned a year later after they captured a French ship and his share of salvage proceedings was $200. He now gained the acquaintance of one of the Founding Fathers, Alexander Hamilton, who helped him begin his legal studies at London's Lincoln's Inn. Whilst there he began his literary career by producing a well-regarded series of 'Letters from London', which described and detailed the politics and personalities of the times. Returning to America, Austin was active in local Boston politics and served in the state senate representing Middlesex during the early 1820s.Although he was a frequent contributor to local periodicals on various subjects from Unitarian theology to chemistry to legal history, nothing quite approached the popularity of 'Peter Rugg: The Missing Man'. This story and its sequels, constructed as long letters, were originally published in the New England Galaxy periodical between 1824 and 1827. So credible was his writing premise that they were accepted as a factual recounting of local legends rather than Austin's fiction.William Austin died on 27th June 1841."
