1897 printing (the sixth edition, revised and enlarged) of the 1891 copyrighted text. The author is credited as Professor of Rhetoric and English Composition in Columbia College (University?); formerly Associate Professor of English in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Carpenter claims that the exigency of his text is the fact that most students learn more easily from the comments the instructor makes because her/his examples are familiar to the student and s/he uses literature that is more relevant to the students than what is usually found in texts. Each section contains a fairly detailed exercise that includes explanations, examples and systematic exercises for the students. The exercises often emphasize correcting errors. The chapters cover words, sentences, paragraphs, whole compositions, qualities of style (clearness, force, elegance). Barrett Wendell is credited as a primary influence. Wendell, McElroy, A. S. Hill, David Salmon, and Genung are referenced. The Schultz Archive only includes brief excerpts, but they are good quality.