Here William Dean Howells has written down the interesting facts of his life up to the time he went abroad as U. S. consul; and not only the facts , but also the early impressions and numerous influences which went to mold the man and the writer. Born in 1837 , at Martin's Ferry , Ohio , of mingled Welsh, German, English and Irish stock, the young son of a printer and publisher could set type almost from babyhood. Love of reading supplemented irregular schooling. He tells of his first efforts at writing, of the broad religious tolerant spirit in his father's home , of his first experience of politics and the abolitionist movement. The family moved later to Dayton, and the young printer – for he worked hard to help his father – found a new interest here in the theater. In later chapters he pictures the life at the State Capital, Columbus, over a half century ago , with its political and social interests, and describes his own youthful enthusiasms. Here he aided his father in reporting the sessions of the legislature. When the family moved again to Ashtabula, young Howells varied his printing labors with the study of foreign languages. As a reporter for the Cincinnati Gazette and later for the Ohio State Journal he knew and revered the prominent journalists of the Middle West. This chronicling of his early literary successes and his first entrance into the Atlantic Monthly's charmed circle show the future author with his feet firmly set on his life's road.
