The works of Joseph Holt Ingraham are an interesting and occasionally fascinating glimpse into what America wanted to read and would pay for during the twenty-five-year period from 1835 to 1860. As one of the best-selling authors in the United States in the mid 1800s, Ingraham was one of the few American authors to make a living from writing at that time, his works outselling those of Edgar Allan Poe and other better-known authors. Ingraham was a travel writer, a novelist, a magazinist, and, for the last thirteen years of his life, a minister as well. In all areas of his careers he wrote with energy and an eye to details, particularly details of setting. The judgment of history confirms him as a minor writer, however, quite possibly because he wrote too much and planned his work too little.

Named for his prosperous grandfather, Ingraham was born to James Milk...