In nearly forty years as an editor of literary journals, Francis Fisher Browne sought constantly to advance ideas and to increase the knowledge of the reading masses. His first love was poetry, and the naturalist John Muir said that Browne "knew almost every poet, and could quote their finest pieces as if reading from their books." His major accomplishment was the Dial, which he founded and edited. Based in Chicago, it quickly gained a national readership and held its audience for thirty-three years under Browne. In a letter among Browne's papers John Greenleaf Whittier described the Dial as "the best purely literary journal in America." Browne was tenacious in overcoming obstacles to create his magazine, and he kept the Dial alive by insuring that it remained excellent in content, style, format, and critical standards. Browne's words about the magazine on its twenty-fifth anniversary could be applied to the...