Please to turn your attention to Twentieth Century Authors, and its First Supplement. The authors are Stanley J. Kunitz and Howard Haycraft. These are incredible references. Much better researched than that infallible source, always with insightful commentary.

The other day as I was cleaning these crappy old books about books, authors, etc. I wondered if there was a second supplement. There is not. But in searching bookfinder for Kunitz, I discovered three others that he’d written: English Authors 1000-1900, British Authors of the 19th Century, and American Authors 1600-1900.

American Authors arrived today.

You’ll remember in Miss Missy’s School, Gilbert is found of quoting famous people, but he never tells us who said what. The Companion Book does, and includes a bit about each person. He quotes Abigail Adams, “Learning is not attained by chance, it must be sought for…” but I was never happy with my treatment of her in The Companion. I suppose I could have done more research but I didn’t.

Anyway– I opened the package, read the Preface, and randomly flipped to a page. Abigail Adams. She gets an entire page! One of 846. That’s pretty good for someone who never published anything. It is her letters, published more than twenty years after her death, that place her among American Authors.

FYI. I ordered these and three others from Alibris.com. They ranged in price from $1.45 to $2.99. Plus shipping.