In this collection of the BEST AMERICAN HUMOROUS SHORT-STORIES, Alexander Jessup, that experienced anthologist, has made a genuine contribution to the study of the genius of America. No one can read his inclusions by Edgar Allan Poe, Edward Everett Hale, George W. Cable, Mark Twain, H.C. Bunner, Bret Harte, O. Henry, George Randolph Chester, and numerous others, without realizing how productive our country has been in the medium of the humorous short story—peculiarly, an American medium. Along with stories properly accepted as classics, Mr. Jessup has as consistently included stories of the highest merit by authors not as well known. As a result, his anthology is richly complete in the sense of being truly representative.