"It is a disgrace to the literary character of this nation that so little is known of the works of Richard Henry Dana, who as a poet and as a novelist is worthy to be ranked with any living writer in the English language. For himself he can afford to 'bide his time,' but it is a loss as well as a dishonour to the people that The Buccaneer and Paul Felton and his other productions are not more read. In the preface to the only and very imperfect edition of his prose works that has been published he says, 'To be liked of those whose hearts and minds I esteem would be unspeakable comfort to me, and would open sympathies with them in my nature, which lie deep in the immortal part of me, and which, therefore, though beginning in time, will doubtless live on in eternity.' To such he commends himself, and by such, so far as he is known, he is appreciated; but for more than ten years, owing to our system of literary piracy, which by giving all foreign works to American publishers without copy-money shuts out the native author from competition, there has not been a set of his poems, tales, or essays in the market, and the great mass even of intelligent readers know nothing about them."
Fortunately, even as Griswold's book was in publication, a new edition of Dana's works was in press, and we have managed to find a copy of it here.
Poems and Prose Writings. By Richard Henry Dana. In two volumes. New York: Baker and Scribner, 1850.
Volume I. —This volume contains almost all the works on which Griswold based his judgment above. The novels are short; we should probably call them "novellas" today.
Volume II. Essays.
Here is a collection from seventeen years earlier, which of course is missing the later pieces.
Poems and Prose Writings. By Richard H. Dana. Philadelphia: Marshall, Clark, and Co., 1833.
J. W. De Forest
Kate Beaumont, by J. W. De Forest. With illustrations. Boston: James R. Osgood and Company, 1872. —Small type in two columns, but an excellent scan.
The Wetherel Affair. J. W. De Forest. New York: Sheldon and Company, 1873. —Google Books misreads the date as 1878, owing to a poor scan of the title page. We are certain about the date 1873 because we have a copy of this edition (which is the first) before us now, bound in a volume with two American editions of novels by Dumas, making a very thick book marked "Miscellaneous Novels" on the spine.
"Wetherel Affair, The, by J. W. De Forest. (1873.) The scene of this story is laid in America in the present century. Judge Jabez Wetherel, a rich old man of stern religious principles, is mysteriously murdered in his library at his country-seat in Connecticut, while rewriting his will; and the document is stolen. There is no clue to the murderer, though some suspicion rests upon the victim's nephew Edward, who has been too gay and worldly to suit the old-fashioned ideas of his uncle, who has consequently disinherited him. Previous to the murder, and contrary to his uncle's wishes, Edward has become engaged to Nestoria Bernard, a lovely young girl who is visiting at Judge Wetherel's house. Nestoria is the daughter of a missionary in Persia, and has returned home to complete her education; Edward was a fellow passenger with her on the homeward voyage, during which he fell in love with her, attracted by her innocence and charm. On the night of the tragedy Nestoria catches a glimpse of the murderer, and is impressed with the dreadful belief that it is her lover who has committed the deed." —Library of the World's Best Literature, vol. 30. The rest of the synopsis reveals the entire plot; if you wish, you may read it here.