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1895 Stephen tours the American West and Mexico as a roving re porter for the Bacheller-Johnson Syndicate. He meets author Willa Cather in Lincoln, Nebraska. His experiences out West will inspire two of his best-known stories, “The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky” (1897) and “The Blue Hotel” (1898). Upon his return from Mexico, he settles in Hartwood, New York. Appleton publishes The Red Badge of Courage in October. Cuba, re belling against rule by Spain, declares “Independence or death.” The United States increases its involvement in resolv

ing the Spanish-Cuban conflict. The Black Riders, Crane’s first book of verse, is published.

1896 The Red Badge of Courage receives critical acclaim—Crane wins recognition from Joseph Conrad and H. G. Wells. “The Veteran,” a short story that features the protagonist of The Red Badge of Courage as an old man, is published in McClure’s Magazine in June and collected in The Little Regiment and Other Episodes of the American Civil War. In November, Crane travels to Jacksonville, Florida, as a newspaper correspondent covering the Cuban in surrection against Spain; he tries to book passage on a vessel that will run the blockade of the island. He checks into the St. James Hotel under the name Samuel Carleton and arranges passage to Cuba on the Commodore. He meets Cora Stewart, the well-mannered, literary-minded owner of the Hotel de Dream brothel, who will become his common-law wife. George’s Mother is published.

1897 On January 1, Crane embarks on the Commodore, which sinks on January 2. Crane and three others escape in a dinghy and reach Florida’s east coast on the morning of January 3. On January 7 Crane publishes a newspaper account of the sinking. While recuperating, he composes “The Open Boat,” which re counts the thirty hours spent in the dinghy; the story is first published in the June issue of Scribner’s Magazine. Crane serves as a correspondent during the brief Greco-Turkish War. He and Cora move to England; he is welcomed into the literary circle of Ford Madox Ford and Henry James, and meets Joseph Conrad, who becomes a close friend.

1898 The United States declares war on Spain. Crane returns to the United States to become a war correspondent for the New York World. The Open Boat and Other Stories is published.

1899 In January, Crane returns to England and moves with Cora to Brede Place, an ancient manor in Sussex. The couple exchanges visits with Henry James, the Conrads, Ford, and the Wellses, often at Lamb House, James’s cottage in Rye. While working on his novel The 0’Ruddy, Crane falls ill with tuberculosis. In December, he is debilitated with severe hemorrhaging of the lungs. His second book of verse, War Is Kind, is published, as is The Monster and Other Stories.

1900 Despite his deteriorating health, Crane continues to work on The O’Ruddy and other short pieces. In the spring, while in Badenweiler, Germany, he collapses. Cora checks him into a sanitarium, where he dies on June 5. Wounds in the Rain, a col lection of Cuban war stories, is published after his death, as is Whilomville Stories, a childhood memoir.

1903 The 0’Ruddy, an Irish romance completed after Crane’s death by Robert Barr, is published.

1923—1925 A biography of Crane is published. Willa Cather and H. L. Mencken are among the writers who create introduc tions to a new twelve-volume collection of Crane’s work.

1950—1970 Author John Berryman’s biography and R. W Stallman’s anthology of Crane’s best work are published, as is a complete edition of his works by the University Press of Virginia. Crane is generally recognized as one of the major forces in modern American literature.

INTRODUCTION

STEPHEN CRANE SAID TO THE UNIVERSE

I

Sometimes, the most profound of awakenings come wrapped in the quietest of moments.

Early in April 1893, a struggling young writer embarked on a strange journey to tend to an uncomfortable task. He had been invited to an uptown party. He hoped to cultivate the patronage of its host, whose prominence in American letters