# Edgar Masters

## Biography

Edgar Lee Masters was an American poet, lawyer, biographer, and dramatist, best known for his landmark work, *Spoon River Anthology*. Born on August 23, 1868, in Garnett, Kansas, he spent his formative years in Lewistown and Petersburg, Illinois, towns that heavily influenced his literary imagination. Although he harbored early literary ambitions, he initially followed his father's footsteps into law, becoming admitted to the bar in 1891. Masters moved to Chicago in 1892 and built a successful legal practice, even partnering with renowned attorney Clarence Darrow for eight years.

His literary breakthrough arrived with *Spoon River Anthology*, a collection of free-verse epitaphs spoken by the deceased residents of a fictional Illinois town, serialized in 1914-1915 and published as a complete edition in 1915. The collection achieved immense success, capturing the complexities and hidden lives of small-town America. While Masters published numerous other works, including poetry, novels, and biographies of figures like Abraham Lincoln and Mark Twain, none achieved the same critical and popular acclaim as his *Anthology*. He died on March 5, 1950, in Melrose Park, Pennsylvania, and was buried in Petersburg, Illinois.

## Books

- [Spoon River Anthology](https://samolit.com/books/96548)