1. Augusta Jane Evans (1835)

Novelist

A nineteenth-century southern writer, she published nine novels, including Inez (1850), Beulah (1859), Macaria (1863), St. Elmo (1866), and Vashti (1869). She is known for her sentimental, Victorian literary style...

2. Richard George Adams (1920)

Novelist

British author who is best known for his classic 1972 novel Watership Down. The work, modeled on Virgil's Aeneid, focuses on the epic journey of a group of anthropomorphised rabbits.

3. Hannah Webster Foster (1758)

Novelist

An American author of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, she is most remembered for her first novel, The Coquette; or, The History of Eliza Wharton, which she published...

4. Vuk Stefanovic Karadzic (1787)

Novelist

Remembered for reforming the Serbian language and collecting dozens of Serbian folk stories and songs, this famous linguist and Serbian dictionary writer published nearly forty works over the course of...

5. Catharine Sedgwick  (1789)

Novelist

American writer known for her "domestic fiction" and her novel Hope Leslie.

6. George Daniel (1789)

Novelist

Early nineteenth-century English novelist, poet, playwright, and collector of books. His literary works include The Disagreeable Surprise (farcical play) and Merrie England in the Olden Time (essays and anecdotes).

7. James Fenimore Cooper (1789)

Novelist

An American writer known for his historical tales of Indian and frontier life, he is particularly famous for his Leatherstocking series. Cooper's Leatherstocking hero, Natty Bumppo, was also the protagonist...

8. Friedrich Robert Faehlmann (1970)

Novelist

Estonian philologist who was active in the first half of the Nineteenth Century. An Estonian cultural enthusiast, he popularized Estonian folklore.

9. Paul Lacroix (1970)

Novelist

Remembered best for his 1847, co-written cultural work Le Moyen Age et la Renaissance, this nineteenth-century French writer also penned a series of books outlining the history of prostitution and...

10. Alexandre Herculano (1970)

Novelist

Historian and writer who published the first Portuguese historical novel, Eurico the Presbyter, in 1844. His other works of historical fiction include The Monastic and The Fool.

11. Ann Sophia Stephens (1810)

Novelist

A 19th-century American novelist and magazine editor, she is known for creating the dime novel genre. Her best-known works include Maleaska, the Indian Wife of the White Hunter (1860) and...

12. Herman Melville (1819)

Novelist

A towering figure in American literature, Melville is the author of several seafaring tales, including "Billy Budd, Sailor," "Typee," and "Moby-Dick." He is also famous for shorter works such as...

13. Thomas Mayne Reid (1818)

Novelist

An Irish-born American fiction writer, he is known for such adventure novels as The Rifle Rangers, The Desert Home, and The Scalp Hunters. Over the course of his career, he...

14. Mary Jane Holmes (1825)

Novelist

The American writer of nearly forty novels and many short stories, she is known for works such as Tempest and Sunshine; The English Orphans; Lena Rivers; and Mildred.

15. Charles Dudley Warner (1829)

Novelist

An American essayist and novelist, he is best known for The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today, a work that he co-authored with Mark Twain. His other works include Baddeck,...

16. Leo Tolstoy (1828)

Novelist

Nineteenth-century Russian author whose most famous works of realism are his epic novels, War and Peace (1869) and Anna Karenina (1877). His other works include autobiographical novels, novellas, essays, and...

17. Edward S. Ellis (1840)

Novelist

The American author of the Deerfoot novels, he is also known for works such as The Steam Man of the Prairies and Seth Jones. After writing fiction for three decades,...

18. Mary Tappan Wright (1851)

Novelist

An American fiction writer, she is best known for her 1902 novel, Aliens, which presents a portrait of the racially-divided American South. Her other works include a 1904 novel entitled...

19. Robert Grant (1852)

Novelist

A late 19th-century and early 20th-century American author, he is known for such novels as The Confessions of a Frivolous Girl (1880), An Average Man (1884), and The Orchid (1905)....

20. Karlis Milenbahs (1970)

Novelist

A Latvian author and linguist, he is credited with over fifty scholarly articles. His greatest accomplishment was his Latvian-German dictionary.

21. Alexander Chekhov (1855)

Novelist

A late 19th-century Russian fiction writer and essayist, he was the older brother of the famous playwright, Anton Chekhov. The elder Chekhov wrote under several pseudonyms and published works in magazines...

22. Henry Blake Fuller (1857)

Novelist

An American novelist and short story writer, he is best known for the controversial 1919 work, Bertram Cope's Year, which subtly addresses homosexual themes. His other works include Under the...

23. Gertrude Atherton (1857)

Novelist

An American fiction writer and essayist, she is particularly known for her 1923 best-selling novel, Black Oxen. She also published a popular book series on the social history of California.

24. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859)

Novelist

Scottish author of the legendary Sherlock Holmes detective novels. He also created the lesser- known character, Professor Challenger, and in addition to detective stories, wrote poetry, plays, and science-fiction works.

25. Alice Moore Hubbard (1970)

Novelist

An American author and feminist, she is best known for titles such as Woman's Work (1908) and The Basis of Marriage (1910). She co-wrote her 1906 work, Justinian and Theodora,...

26. WW Jacobs (1863)

Novelist

Best for his 1902 short story "The Monkey's Paw," Jacobs also penned popular novels such as A Master of Craft.

27. Aleko Konstantinov (1863)

Novelist

A Bulgarian author famous for creating the popular "Bay Ganyo" character, he is also known for his 1894 work To Chicago and Back.

28. Richard Harding Davis (1864)

Novelist

Fiction writer and journalist who was the first American war correspondent to cover the Spanish-American War, the Second Boer War, and the First World War.

29. Thomas Dixon (1864)

Novelist

An American minister, lawyer, and author, he is best known for his 1905 novel, The Clansman. His other famous works include The Fall of a Nation and The Leopard's Spots.

30. O Henry (1862)

Novelist

Author whose famous, witty short stories often have surprise endings. His best-known works include The Gift of the Magi, The Ransom of Red Chief, and The Cop and the Anthem....

31. Gene Stratton-Porter (1863)

Novelist

Naturalist, photographer, and author whose popular novel, A Girl of the Limberlost, was adapted into a film. Her other novels include The Harvester (1911), Michael O'Halloran (1915), and The Keeper...

32. HG Wells (1866)

Novelist

British author of The Time Machine, The Invisible Man, and The War of the Worlds. He is sometimes called The Father of Science Fiction.

33. Robert W. Chambers (1865)

Novelist

An American writer of horror, fantasy, and science fiction books, he is best known for In the Quarter and The King in Yellow. His other works include The Maker of...

34. Israel Zangwill (1864)

Novelist

An English novelist, playwright, and humorist, he is best known for his 1908 play, The Melting Pot, which focuses on a Russian-Jewish immigrant family named the Quixanos. He is also...

35. Gilbert Patten (1970)

Novelist

An American novelist famous for his pulp and mystery stories, he notably created the character of Frank Merriwell, who was the hero of more than two hundred dime novels. His...

36. Alberto Masferrer (1868)

Novelist

A Salvadoran essayist and journalist, he is particularly known as the developer of a philosophy known as "vitalismo," which holds that all people, regardless of social standing, gender, or race,...

37. Heinrich Mann (1970)

Novelist

Famous for Der Untertan, Professor Unrat, and other socially-themed novels of the early 20th Century, Mann went into exile in France, Portugal, and the United States during the Nazi regime's...

38. Arthur Train (1970)

Novelist

An American thriller writer and lawyer, he is remembered for his novels of courtroom intrigue and for his famous attorney character, Mr Ephraim Tutt. His published works include Tut, Tut!...

39. GK Chesterton (1874)

Novelist

Author who wrote the Father Brown mystery books and such Christian apologetic works as Orthodoxy (1908) and The Everlasting Man (1925). Over the course of his literary career, he wrote...

40. James Truslow Adams (1878)

Novelist

Remembered best for his 1921 Pulitzer Prize-winning historical work The Founding of New England, Adams also penned the two-volume work The March of Democracy; the bestselling book Epic of America;...

41. Ole Edvart Rolvaag (1970)

Novelist

A 20th-century, Norwegian-American author who chronicled the lives of fellow settlers of the Dakota territory, he is best known for his award-winning historical novel, Giants in the Earth.

42. Dorothy Canfield Fisher (1879)

Novelist

An influential educational reformer and bestselling author, she published such novels as Understood Betsy (1917) and Seasoned Timber (1939). An advocate of the Montessori Method of education, she published several...

43. Mait Metsanurk (1970)

Novelist

Early twentieth-century writer who was one of the foremost members of the neo-realist school of Estonian literature. His prose works include Taavet Soovere elu ja surm and Jumalata; his plays...

44. Owen Johnson (1878)

Novelist

An American writer most famous for his stories and novels about the character of Dink Stover, he published such popular titles as The Prodigious Hickey and The Tennessee Shad.

45. Shmuley Boteach (1966)

Novelist

An Orthodox rabbi and author, he became known to the public following the 1999 release of his work, Kosher Sex: A Recipe for Passion and Intimacy. His other works include...

46. HL Mencken (1880)

Novelist

American author who wrote The American Language, a study of how the English language is spoken in the United States. As a journalist, he worked for The Baltimore Sun, The...

47. William McFee (1970)

Novelist

An early twentieth-century English author, he is best known for his imaginative sea stories. His most famous works include Captain Macedoine's Daughter and Casuals at Sea.

48. Arthur B. Reeve (1880)

Novelist

A popular American mystery writer, he is most famous for his detective series featuring Professor Craig Kennedy. He also wrote several screenplays, including The Exploits of Elaine (1914).

49. Munshi Premchand (1880)

Novelist

Indian author most well known for his modernist Hindustani literature and often called "Upanyas Samrat" (Emperor among Novelists). Some of his works include Kishna and Roothi Rani.

50. PG Wodehouse (1881)

Novelist

Best remembered for his novels and short stories featuring Blandings Castle settings and the famous Jeeves character, this early 20th-century British author and humorist also wrote over a dozen plays...