completed, writers and editors moved on to another task in another place.

So it was that, in 1873, the Johnsonsjourneyed to Manhattan. Their
arrival coincided with Dr. George Ripley’s search for an associate
editor for a revision of the American Cyclopaedz'a, published by Appleton
and Company a decade before. Dr. Ripley, who had founded and led
the Brook Farm experiment for the six years of its existence and later
was, for many years, literary editor of the New York Tribune, was described
by Johnson as a “profound scholar and topnotch editor, an impressive
presence,” and, at times, “a verbal Vesuvius.” He and Charles A.
Dana, who had originated the series, were co-editors. Of Mr. Dana, the
impression given is that of a scholarly, even-tempered, “wide-minded”
man, a rapid, yet accurate thinker, an unerring judge of literary values,
knowledgeable in many fields, and passionately fond of poetry. To
johnson this man, who had been a disciple of Ripley and the trans-
cendental philosophy at Brook Farm, was the “most brilliant journalist”
of his time. Happily, too, Robert Carter who had left the Democrat to
become editor of Appleton’s journal, was now to move from that post to
third position on the staff of the new cyclopaedia. An integrated,
smooth-running organization was assured. Its success was attested by
the kind words of critics.

During long winters in the Granite State, Johnson had originated and
minutely edited a series of famous stories which, because of the book-
trade depression, was held for two years by James R. Osgood and
Company, then released, one book a month, under a separate title but
as a volume of the Little Classics. So well was each received that together
they constituted a valuable property for permanent publishing. Yet,
despite their outstanding success, three reputable New York publishers
admitted that, had they been given the chance, they would not have
risked producing such a series because never in their experience had a
collection of short stories proved profitable. The author replied that
such publishers could improve their profits by learning the difference
“between shoveling and editing.”

The Little Classics did much to enhance their originator’s reputation
and led indirectly to his editing a series of book—length classics which
may well have been the forerunner of present-day pocket editions.
johnson was convinced of a genuine need on the part of many readers,
interested primarily in plot, for condensed versions of the literary
masterpieces. He believed that most novels (Scott’s particularly) could
be reduced nearly one-half, without omitting anything that was
essential to the story.

His first effort, a condensation of several of Sir Walter Scott’s novels,

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