Herber Rowland's compelling study of nineteenth-century American reviews of Andersen's work suggests, he had, in more intangible ways, long been present in Longfellow's "mighty country." American readers loved Andersen, if not for the right reasons. Longfellow began reading him in periodicals such as the Literary World and Godey's Lady's Book. His favorite Andersen story was "The Constant Tin Soldier," though he throroughly disliked Mary Howitt's "slipshod" translation, an opinion not shared, as Rowland shows, by most American reviewers.
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