WATERMAN LILY ORMSBY (1834-1908) was an American newspaper reporter. Born on December 8, 1834 in New York City, he was the son of Waterman Lily Ormsby, Sr. (died 1883), an American engraver and inv...view moreWATERMAN LILY ORMSBY (1834-1908) was an American newspaper reporter. Born on December 8, 1834 in New York City, he was the son of Waterman Lily Ormsby, Sr. (died 1883), an American engraver and inventor who founded the Continental Bank Note Company. Ormsby Jr. was a reporter for several New York newspapers, including the Herald, World, Times and the York Sun. In 1858, he was assigned by the New York Herald to ride the entire trip on the first westbound Butterfield Overland Mail Company stagecoach, an overland trip that spanned 24 days; he recounted his experiences in a series of articles for the paper, which were later also published posthumously in a book in 1942. Ormsby joined the continental Bank Note Company around 1870, where he remained for 14 years. In 1885 he began a new career as a stenographer for the city magistrates court, and worked there for 23 years. He and his wife Eliza Croly Ormsby had four children, two of whom also became court stenographers. Ormsby died in New York City on April 28, 1908, aged 73.
LYLE HENRY WRIGHT (1903-1979) was a librarian at the Huntington Library in San Marino, California. He is best-known for creating a bibliography of American fiction from the years 1851-1875, published as American Fiction 1851-1875: A Contribution Toward a Bibliography in 1957, which is widely considered to be the most comprehensive bibliography of American adult fiction of the 18th and 19th centuries.view less