William Dean Howells (1837-1920), American writer and editor, was an influential critic and an important novelist of the late 19th century.

William Dean Howells's career spanned a period of radical change in American literature; as novelist, critic, and editor, he contributed greatly to those changes. An advocate of honesty and social responsibility in literature, he led the struggle against escapist fantasy and for realistic and morally and politically committed fiction.

Howells was born March 1, 1837, at Martin's Ferry, Ohio. His father was a country printer and journalist who displayed the best American frontier traits--independence, self-reliance, and conscience. William spent scarcely a year in the classroom, but his father's offices afforded a thorough and meaningful education. In Years of My Youth (1916) Howells recalled his earliest training: "I could set type very well, and at ten years and onward till journalism became my university, the printing office was mainly my school...