American Prose (Barnes & Noble Digital Library): Selections With Critical Introductions By Various Writers

The editor of this 1898 anthology asserts that prose is the natural form of American expression. He proves his thesis with a collection of classic writings by Cotton Mather, Thomas Paine, Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, Washington Irving, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and more—with commentary by George Santayana, William Dean Howells, among others.