"The subject of this sketch is Mr. William Worthen Appleton, the third generation of a famous American publishing house, but the circumstances compel me to try for something more. And this for the reason that Mr. Appleton lived to see a typical American transformation. When he was admitted to his father's and grandfather's firm, in 1868, book publishing, like most American businesses, was a success of personal initiative and private enterprise. When he died, fifty-five years later, although individual energy and ability were as valuable as ever, something large and impersonal had arisen that no individual could absolutely control. He understood that, with the wisdom of all those great hearts who know that nothing is created alone and who desire only that the thing created shall be greater than they and more durable than the days of a man." Grant Martin Overton (1887-1930) was the author of a number of books, including Women Who Make Our Novels and Why Authors Go Wrong: and Other Explanations.