This title presents an intellectual life of a major figure who has traditionally been seen as an anti-intellectual 'child of nature'. Individual chapters of this book examine Henry's education, his legal career, his use of books to improve his speaking style, his relationship to the antislavery movement, and much more.

"In 1887 a twenty-one-year-old newspaperman named George Nellis (1865-1948) rode a bicycle from Herkimer, New York, to San Francisco in seventy-two days, surpassing the transcontinental bicycle record by several weeks. He averaged fifty miles a day pedalling a fifty-two-inch, high-wheeled Columbia Expert "ordinary" bicycle with a tubular steel frame and hard rubber tires, and he lost twenty-three pounds in the process." "Drawing on Nellis's letters...

Provides an invaluable look at Thomas Jefferson's intellectual and literary life, focusing on the books and ideas that exerted the most profound influence on him, including "Aesop's Fables," "Robinson Crusoe," and works by the great writers of classical antiquity.

Explores key dimensions of Edgar Allan Poe's work and life. Contributions provide a series of new perspectives on one of the most enigmatic and controversial American writers. The essays, specially tailored to the needs of undergraduates, examine all of Poe's major writings, his poetry, short stories, and criticism, and place his work in a variety of literary, cultural, and political contexts. The volume features a detailed chronology and a comprehensive...