Appleton's Cyclopædia of American Biography

Appleton's Cyclopædia of American Biography was published by D. Appleton & Company in New York between 1887 and 1889, with supplementary volumes added later. Conceived as a comprehensive reference work, the project was edited by James Grant Wilson and John Fiske. It sought to provide detailed biographical accounts of prominent individuals who had shaped American history, including soldiers, statesmen, artists, and explorers, often filling gaps left by previous biographical dictionaries.

The publication is noted for its extensive use of portraits and autograph facsimiles, which aimed to bring a human element to the scholarly entries. While it remains a significant historical resource for researchers, its legacy is complicated by the inclusion of dozens of fabricated biographies—the so-called 'Appleton's ghosts'—written by John Howard Brown. These entries for non-existent figures were cleverly woven into the text, a historical curiosity that has since become a focal point of study for literary historians.