Nast's Illustrated Almanac. 1872

John Hay is the editor behind The Britannica Library of Great American Writing - Volume II. He has a keen eye for American literature, bringing together significant voices in the genre.

Mark Twain, born Samuel Langhorne Clemens, was a prolific American author and humorist. Twain is best known for his novels Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884), which has been called "the Great American Novel", and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876). He is extensively quoted. Twain was a friend to presidents, artists, industrialists, and European royalty. ([Source][1].) [1]:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Twain

Thomas Nast (September 27, 1840 – December 7, 1902) was a German-born American caricaturist and editorial cartoonist often considered to be the "Father of the American Cartoon". He was a critic of Democratic Representative "Boss" Tweed and the Tammany Hall Democratic party political machine. Among his notable works were the creation of the modern version of Santa Claus (based on the traditional German figures of Sankt Nikolaus and Weihnachtsmann) and the political symbol of the elephant for the...

William Shakespeare (baptised 26 April 1564 – died 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and "the Bard of Avon." His surviving works comprise 38–39 plays (depending on classification), 154 sonnets, and several other poems, and have been translated into every major living language and performed more often than those of any other playw...