Publishers Weekly #1 Best Seller for 1921.

Sinclair Lewis is the first American to receive a Nobel Price for literature. Main Street was initially awarded the 1921 Pulitzer Price, but the Board of Trustees overturned the jury decision and awarded the prize to Edith Wharton for Age of Innocence.

The novel is an indictment of the 'vacuous respectability' of small town America and an exploration of the conflict between those who strive for intensity and those who are content with a routine existence. Lewis's characters are skillfully drawn and he shows subtle and compelling insights into their psychology. In spite of it's critical stance the initial publication of the book was a political and and social event.

Publishers Weekly #1 Best Seller for 1907.

A fictionalized diary of a missionary kindergarten teacher in Hiroshima, Japan. The story takes place against the backdrop of the Russo-Japanese war. For many Americans the book was a first introduction to Japanese culture.

1895 Best Seller.

Sketches of rural Scottish life based on the authors experiences as a minister in Perthshire.

1874 Best Seller.

In his day E. P. Roe was a bigger seller than Mark Twain.

"In the Opening of a Chestnut Burr, Mr. Roe has made a marked advance upon his two previous stories. He has already exhibited a remarkable power of description, which in this volume he uses with good effect in the scenes of fire and shipwreck. It is thoroughly religious, thoroughly Christian both in tone and teaching." -- Harper's Magazine. (a contemporary review)

1872 Best Seller.

In his day E. P. Roe was a bigger seller than Mark Twain.

A story of the Chicago fire.

"We accord a hearty commendation to this work. The narrative is vigorous, often intense, but rarely if ever melodramatic. Its language is usually no less chaste than forcible and impressive. It betrays a power of invention and description which is not met with every day in the best of writers of popular fiction." -- Dr. Ripley, in the New York Tribune (contemporary review)

1894 Best Seller.

A fictionalised 'autobiography' of the true story of a dog named 'Beautiful Joe'. Joe's abusive original owner savagely mistreated him. The book became very popular and greatly contributed to the worldwide awareness of animal cruelty.

1881 Best Seller.

The first of a series of books about the Pepper children. The story of their impoverished lives with their widowed mother. The book was part of a fantastically popular series of 12.