Critics and general readers highly regarded the poetry and prose of Nathaniel Parker Willis (1806-1867) during the American Renaissance of creative literature in the decades before the Civil War. As an editor and frequent contributor to one of the young nation's most successful and elegant literary magazines, "The New-York Mirror", Willis achieved an international reputation for his witty and worldly tales and letters. This new edition collects outstanding examples of Willis' short fiction written at the peak of his abilities. This scholarly edition of important short fiction by N.P. Willis includes a general introduction and many short essays describing literary and historical contexts that provide information for the modern reader. This is the first in the University of Akron Press' Critical Editions in "Early American Literature" series.