SOURCE: Larson, Laurence M. “Hjalmar Hjorth Boyesen.” In The Changing West and Other Essays, pp. 82-116. Freeport, N.Y.: Books for Libraries Press, 1937.

In the following excerpt, Larson describes Boyesen's progress from amateur to professional as seen in his literature and criticism.

Soon after his interview with Boyesen in July, 1871, W. D. Howells sent him a copy of Hans Christian Andersen's travel story, “A Poet's Bazaar,” to review for the Atlantic. The review was prepared and published in October of the same year. So far as the writer has been able to learn, this was the first contribution submitted by a man of Norwegian birth or blood that had been accepted by the editor of a journal of standing in the American literary world.¹

As was usual in those days, the review was not signed; but only four months later it was followed by a poem, “A Norse...