Edgar Evertson Saltus

Edgar Evertson Saltus (born Oct. 8, 1855, New York City—died July 31, 1921, New York City) was one of the few U.S. novelists who adopted the sophisticated cynicism, art-for-art’s-sake credo, and other mannerisms of the European school of Decadents. In his time his novels were popular for their wit and for their shocking, erotic incidents. Educated at Yale and abroad, Saltus took a law degree at Columbia College in 1880 but never practiced. He wrote...