Cooper. "The aboriginal Indian vision" ; "An original conception of the life of man" ; The red and the white ; A paradise for bachelors ; The lesson of nature ; Romance as New World epic

Poe. The secret soul of man ; The power of words ; The haunted palace of art ; The pleasures of imagination ; "Dream delivers us to dream" ; The ultimate romance

Hawthorne. In search of the buried life ; The dark blossom of romance ; Redemption through art ; Fire or ice ; Saints and assassins

Melville. "Marianna's face" ; A portrait of the artist as devil ; The education of a romancer ; "Aren't it all sham?"

James. A rich passion for extremes ; Newman's moon-borne Madonna ; The "darkest abyss of romance" ; Reflections in a golden bowl.