Budd's volume on Mark Twain is the most comprehensive collection of criticism ever assembled for the period from 1867 to 1910, the year of Twain's death. It covers not only Twain's books but also his periodical publications and lecture performances, aspects of his career too often neglected. Among the writers and critics represented in this volume are William Dean Howells, Oliver Wendell Holmes, George Ade, Brander Matthews, Hamilton W. Mabie, Henry Van Dyke, and Josh Billings.