Dolly And I

Dolly And I is one of Oliver Optic’s many novels for boys, with the Dolly of the title likely being a sister, friend, or other companion of the central narrator whose interactions across the novel provide the structural framework for the wider plot. Optic uses companion focused titles in this manner across portions of his wider catalogue.

Oliver Optic was the pen name of William Taylor Adams, a Massachusetts writer who became one of the most prolific producers of boys’ fiction in mid to late nineteenth century America with more than a hundred novels.

For scholars of nineteenth century American children’s literature or of the wider career of Oliver Optic, the various novels in his catalogue are essential. Many are now in the public domain.