In the Biographical Dictionary and Synopsis of Books Ancient and Modern (1902), Charles Dudley Warner is described as "an American man of letters and novelist." Something of his personality and literary judgment may also be revealed in the descriptions of other prominent American writers, for Warner was the overseeing editor. Ralph Waldo Emerson is described as "an eminent American philosopher, poet, essayist, and lecturer"; Walt Whitman "a celebrated American poet"; and Samuel L. Clemens "a distinguished American humorist."

Warner's minimalist description of Clemens may have its source in a series of misunderstandings and disagreements between Warner and Clemens after the appearance of their collaborative effort, The Gilded Age: A Tale of To-Day (1873), which is Warner's chief claim to fame. For example, a letter dated 1 June 1911 (reprinted in the Twainian, May-June 1965) from Warner's close friend and traveling companion Joseph H. Twichell to A. B. Paine tells that Clemens paid Warner...