The Edgar Lee Masters Page

( 1868-1950 )
Major Works
Masters, the author of essays, biographies, poems, plays and fiction, was versatile and prolific, but none of his fifty-odd works enjoyed the popularity and acclaim of his Spoon River Anthology, which is even available in at least one mass circulation paperback. Some of his works are being handsomely reprinted by The University of Illinois Press, and these will be noted below.
A Book of Verses ( 1898 ).
Maximilian: A Play in Five Acts ( 1902 ).
The New Star Chamber and Other Essays ( 1904 ). These essays are the fruit of Masters' studies in American history.
The Blood of the Prophets ( 1905 ).
Althea: A Play ( 1907 ).
The Trifler: A Play ( 1908 ).
The Leaves of the Tree: A Play ( 1909 ).
Songs and Sonnets ( 1910 ).
Eileen: A Play ( 1910 ).
The Locket: A Play ( 1910 ).
The Bread of Idleness: A Play ( 1911 ).
Spoon River Anthology ( 1915; 1916 ). [ Newly ] Edited and with an Introduction and Annotations by John E. Hallwas. Illinois, 1992.
Excellent and indispensable. Selections On-line.
Songs and Satires ( 1916 ).
The Great Valley ( 1916 ).
Toward the Gulf ( 1918 ). Page Images
Starved Rock ( 1919 ).
MItch Miller ( 1920 ). A novel.
Domesday Book ( 1920 ).
The Open Sea ( 1921 ).
Children of the Market Place ( 1922 ). A novel.
Skeeters Kirby: A Novel ( 1923 ).
The Nuptial Flight ( 1923 ).
Mirage ( 1924 ). A novel.
The New Spoon River ( 1924 ). Reprinted by Buccaneer Books, 1993.
Selected Poems ( 1925 ).
Lee: A Dramatic Poem ( 1926 ).
Kit O'Brien ( 1927 ). A novel.
Levy Mayer and the New Industrial Era ( 1927 ).
Jack Kelso: A Dramatic Poem ( 1928 ).
The Fate of the Jury: An Epilogue to Domesday Book ( 1929 ).
Lichee Nuts ( 1930 ).
Gettysburg, Manila, Acoma ( 1930 ).
Lincoln, The Man ( 1931 ).
Godbey: A Dramatic Poem ( 1931 ).
The Serpent in the Wilderness ( 1933 ).
The Tale of Chicago ( 1933 ).
Dramatic Duologues: Four Short Plays in Verse ( 1934 ).
Richmond: A Dramatic Poem ( 1934 ).
Invisible Landscapes ( 1935 ).
Vachel Lindsay: A Poet in America ( 1935 ).
Poems of People ( 1936 ).
Across Spoon River: An Autobiography ( 1936 ). [ New printing ] With an Introduction by Ronald Primeau. Illinois, 1991.
The Golden Fleece of California ( 1936 ).
Whitman ( 1937 ).
The Tide of Time ( 1937 ). A novel.
The New World ( 1937 ).
Mark Twain: A Portrait ( 1938 ).
More People ( 1939 ).
Illinois Poems ( 1941 ).
Along the Illinois ( 1942 ).
The Sangamon ( 1942 ). [ New printing ] With an Introduction by Charles E. Burgess. Illinois, 1988. About Masters's region in Illinois, this book was originally written as part of the famous 'Rivers of America' series.
The Enduring River: Edgar Lee Masters' Uncollected Spoon River Poems. Selected and with an introduction by Herbert K. Russell. Southern Illinois, 1991.
About Masters
Hilary Masters, Last Stands : Notes from Memory. Godine, 1982.
Ronald Primeau, Beyond Spoon River: The Legacy of Edgar Lee Masters. Texas, 1981.
John H. Wrenn and Margaret M. Wrenn, Edgar Lee Masters. Twayne, 1983.
Edgar Lee Masters from Modern American Poets.
Back to American Literature II