William Dean Howells (March 1, 1837 – May 11, 1920) was an American realist novelist, literary critic, and playwright, nicknamed “The Dean of American Letters”. He was particularly known for his tenure as editor of The Atlantic Monthly, as well as for his own prolific writings, including the Christmas story “Christmas Every Day” and the novels The Rise of Silas Lapham and A Traveler from Altruria.
William Dean Howells was born on March 1, 1837, in Martinsville, Ohio (now known as Martins Ferry, Ohio), to William Cooper Howells and Mary Dean Howells,[1] the second of eight children. His father was a newspaper editor and printer who moved frequently around Ohio. Howells was encouraged by his parents in his literary interests.[5] He began at an early age to help his father with typesetting and printing work, a job known at the time as a printer’s devil. In 1852, his father arranged to have one of his poems published in the Ohio State Journal without telling him.
In 1860 Howells wrote Life of Abraham Lincoln and subsequently gained a consulship in Venice. He married Elinor Mead on Christmas Eve 1862 at the American embassy in Paris.