A Chance Acquaintance. Illustrated by William L. Sheppard, by

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. Early life and family: 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, the second of eight children. His father was a newspaper editor and printer who moved frequently around Ohio. In 1840, the family settled in Hamilton, Ohio, where his father oversaw a Whig newspaper and followed Swedenborgianism.Their nine years there were the longest period that they stayed in one place. The family had to live frugally, although the young Howells was encouraged by his parents in his literary interests. 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.......... William Sheppard Born: 1833 - Richmond, Virginia Died: 1912 - Richmond, Virginia Born in Richmond, Virginia, William Sheppard was a watercolorist, illustrator, teacher, and painter who first gained attention for designing tobacco labels. He studied in New York City, Paris before 1860, and London and Paris between 1877-1878. He enlisted in the Civil War with the Richmond Howitzers in the Army of Northern Virginia, reaching the rank of engineering officer. It has been written that he devoted most of his spare time to drawing and painting his fellow soldiers, and he is credited for providing valuable visual records of the War from the perspective of a Southerner.After the War, he continued his career as a painter and book illustrator, and as a sculptor, completed a commission, Soldiers and Sailors Monument, ...