If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. |
|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
The Paucity of pre-20th Century American Authors
For some time now, as I started building a database for my library (using
Paradox with interlinked tables (one for authors, the other for books), I was amazed to find how few writers actually managed to die before the end of the 19th Century. In the list below, 23 died before January 1, 1900, and another two managed not to see out the year 1900. I admit the list is limited to authors whose works I have in my possession, and not by way of anthology. Franklin, Benjamin 1706 1790 Paine, Thomas 1737 1809 Poe, Edgar Allan 1809 1849 Cooper, James Fenimore 1789 1851 Irving, Washington 1783 1859 Thoreau, Henry David 1817 1862 Hawthorne, Nathaniel 1804 1864 Willis [Parton], Sara Payson [Fanny Fern] 1811 1872 Bryant, William Cullen 1794 1878 Abbott, Jacob 1803 1879 Dana, Richard Henry 1815 1882 Emerson, Ralph Waldo 1803 1882 Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth 1807 1882 Dickinson, Emily 1830 1886 Alcott, Louisa May 1832 1888 Lowell, James Russell 1819 1891 Melville, Herman 1819 1891 Whitman, Walt 1819 1892 Whittier, John Greenleaf 1807 1892 Parkman, Francis 1823 1893 Holmes, Oliver Wendell 1809 1894 Field, Eugene 1850 1895 Stowe, Harriet Beecher 1811 1896 Crane, Stephen 1871 1900 Warner, Charles Dudley 1829 1900 I know that there are others, e.g., Cotton Mather, Anne Bradstreet, Roger Winthrop, all of whom were essayists or journal keepers, and Mary Rowlandson and others like her who wrote captivity narratives, and that there were other fiction writers and poets, e.g., William Brown Hill (1765-1793), author of the first American novel - The Power of Sympathy (which was about incest and adultery), Hannah Webster Foster (1758-1840), who may hold the honors for the second American novel - The Coquette (which was about seduction and moral fall), Susanna Rowson (1762 -1824), Sarah Wentworth Morton (1754-1846) (a poet whose sister was the subject matter for Brown's novel), but all in all, they are very few indeed. Even Joel Chandler Harris survived to 1908. And the Victorian era romance novelists that my mother collected seemed to follow the longevity of the Queen herself and to a woman died in the 20th century. I acknowledge that many who survived into the 20th century are still considered 19th century writers, e.g., Bret Harte (d. 1902) Kate Chopin (d. 1904), Lew Wallace (d. 1905), Bierce Ambrose (disappeared 1914), but very quickly one has to start asking were those that survived longer really 19th century writers. As it is, I am struck by the paucity of the numbers, even when supplemented by authors that 90% - make that 98% - of Americans have never heard of. At the same time I look to my as yet unindexed English authors, but from the expanse of the wall covered with British books, it is clear that no such apparent dearth of writing affected the English in this period, let alone the Irish writers, who usually exported themselves to London for better pay. Is this vacuum that I perceive real? Were American novelists that rare in the 19th century? Francis A. Miniter |
Ads |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
Published novelists, yes, in the earlier part of the 19th century. Until around
the Civil War, it was much much cheaper for publishers to reprint British fiction (for which they seldom paid royalties) than to take on an American author. When copyright loopholes were closed and leveled the playing field a bit (sorry, I don't have the date), there was a surge in book publications by US fiction writers. Fancis A. Miniter writes: Is this vacuum that I perceive real? Were American novelists that rare in the 19th century? Bob Print Matters! Used & Rare Books http://www.abebooks.com/home/printmat |
#3
|
|||
|
|||
Is this vacuum that I perceive real? Were American novelists that rare in the 19th century? Can't resist (my first post ever). Interesting subject, and very nice compilation in the initial post. First of all, off the top of my head, I have to add two more. (Although you comment on novelists, the list encompasses other writers). - George Bancroft - widely published popular historian - Margaret Fuller As I understand it, British authors were widely read here (many of them of course were quite understandably upset about pirated editions in which they didn't get compensated by American publishers). The reading public in the 18th century was still tied to Britain culturally and not open to native authors. And thus publishers banked on proven commodities. It wasn't until mid-century when American authors were openly calling for support of an American voice (wasn't Emerson quite outspoken on this?) So I think you are right. There was a vacuum, or rather, the space was filled with British writers. dave |
#4
|
|||
|
|||
"Francis A. Miniter" wrote in message
... Is this vacuum that I perceive real? Were American novelists that rare in the 19th century? Have you looked at Lyle Wright's 3-volume *American Fiction*? Hundred and hundreds of pre-1900 American novelists. For just the period 1851-75, he's got 1,450 authors! That part is available online here with full text: http://www.letrs.indiana.edu/web/w/wright2/ A couple years ago I picked up quite a rare mid-19/c American novel: Mary C. Edgar, *A Catholic Story, or Four Months' Residence in the House of a Convert from Protestantism* (Philadelphia: M. Ethian, 1845), not in Library of Congress; not in Wright, *American Fiction 1774-1850*; not in Menendez, *The Roads to Rome: An Annotated Bibliography*, chap. 5 "Novels of Conversion"; not in Menendez, *The Catholic Novel: An Annotated Bibliography*. Only three other copies located: British Library, Harvard Divinity School Library, St. Charles Borromeo Seminary Library (Philadelphia). One of the gems of my collection. William M. Klimon http://www.catholicbookcollector.com |
#5
|
|||
|
|||
William M. Klimon wrote:
"Francis A. Miniter" wrote in message ... Is this vacuum that I perceive real? Were American novelists that rare in the 19th century? Have you looked at Lyle Wright's 3-volume *American Fiction*? Hundred and hundreds of pre-1900 American novelists. For just the period 1851-75, he's got 1,450 authors! That part is available online here with full text: http://www.letrs.indiana.edu/web/w/wright2/ A couple years ago I picked up quite a rare mid-19/c American novel: Mary C. Edgar, *A Catholic Story, or Four Months' Residence in the House of a Convert from Protestantism* (Philadelphia: M. Ethian, 1845), not in Library of Congress; not in Wright, *American Fiction 1774-1850*; not in Menendez, *The Roads to Rome: An Annotated Bibliography*, chap. 5 "Novels of Conversion"; not in Menendez, *The Catholic Novel: An Annotated Bibliography*. Only three other copies located: British Library, Harvard Divinity School Library, St. Charles Borromeo Seminary Library (Philadelphia). One of the gems of my collection. William M. Klimon http://www.catholicbookcollector.com Thank you. I was unaware of the resource. I will look into it further. I have already bookmarked the link you cited. Your mention of the Mary Edgar book reminded me that I had never found out anything about a strange book I have - "Whatever is, is Right" by A. B. Child (1860). Wright does not mention him, so I went to the Library of Congress website from which I learned that he lived from 1813 - 1879. While the Libary of Congress has two of his books, it does not have this book. Coincidentally, however, there is now one copy that I could locate through Addall.com - a copy listed on Alibris, but in rather sad condition. (Mine at least is good to very good.) So at least I have made some progress on one of my question marks from all this. Francis A. Miniter |
#6
|
|||
|
|||
In general, yes there was a dearth of US writers in this time period. But,
don't forget the popular novelists. The writers you listed are all literary writers, and there was a highly fertile area of publishing in the Dime Novels (and Blood and Thunder tales). Also you've left out Charles B. Brown. And the other Brown, whose first name I can't recall. ... He wrote literally the first novel in the US. There were few native US writers from the very early 19th century in part because of the copyright laws, but also because of population. If you assume that "x" percent of the population will become published, professional writers; "x" of a nation the size of England during those years yields a far larger number than "x" of the population of the US during those same years. I forget exactly what the population was, but it was in the very low millions. I recall from my American Literature survey classes as an English major that American Literature didn't really develop until what is commonly called "The American Renaissance," roughly about 1820. And as for writers straddling different centuries; what matters most is what years they were most productive and active as writers. Forget about their birth and death dates, look at the publication dates of their works. "Francis A. Miniter" wrote in message ... For some time now, as I started building a database for my library (using Paradox with interlinked tables (one for authors, the other for books), I was amazed to find how few writers actually managed to die before the end of the 19th Century. In the list below, 23 died before January 1, 1900, and another two managed not to see out the year 1900. I admit the list is limited to authors whose works I have in my possession, and not by way of anthology. Franklin, Benjamin 1706 1790 Paine, Thomas 1737 1809 Poe, Edgar Allan 1809 1849 Cooper, James Fenimore 1789 1851 Irving, Washington 1783 1859 Thoreau, Henry David 1817 1862 Hawthorne, Nathaniel 1804 1864 Willis [Parton], Sara Payson [Fanny Fern] 1811 1872 Bryant, William Cullen 1794 1878 Abbott, Jacob 1803 1879 Dana, Richard Henry 1815 1882 Emerson, Ralph Waldo 1803 1882 Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth 1807 1882 Dickinson, Emily 1830 1886 Alcott, Louisa May 1832 1888 Lowell, James Russell 1819 1891 Melville, Herman 1819 1891 Whitman, Walt 1819 1892 Whittier, John Greenleaf 1807 1892 Parkman, Francis 1823 1893 Holmes, Oliver Wendell 1809 1894 Field, Eugene 1850 1895 Stowe, Harriet Beecher 1811 1896 Crane, Stephen 1871 1900 Warner, Charles Dudley 1829 1900 I know that there are others, e.g., Cotton Mather, Anne Bradstreet, Roger Winthrop, all of whom were essayists or journal keepers, and Mary Rowlandson and others like her who wrote captivity narratives, and that there were other fiction writers and poets, e.g., William Brown Hill (1765-1793), author of the first American novel - The Power of Sympathy (which was about incest and adultery), Hannah Webster Foster (1758-1840), who may hold the honors for the second American novel - The Coquette (which was about seduction and moral fall), Susanna Rowson (1762 -1824), Sarah Wentworth Morton (1754-1846) (a poet whose sister was the subject matter for Brown's novel), but all in all, they are very few indeed. Even Joel Chandler Harris survived to 1908. And the Victorian era romance novelists that my mother collected seemed to follow the longevity of the Queen herself and to a woman died in the 20th century. I acknowledge that many who survived into the 20th century are still considered 19th century writers, e.g., Bret Harte (d. 1902) Kate Chopin (d. 1904), Lew Wallace (d. 1905), Bierce Ambrose (disappeared 1914), but very quickly one has to start asking were those that survived longer really 19th century writers. As it is, I am struck by the paucity of the numbers, even when supplemented by authors that 90% - make that 98% - of Americans have never heard of. At the same time I look to my as yet unindexed English authors, but from the expanse of the wall covered with British books, it is clear that no such apparent dearth of writing affected the English in this period, let alone the Irish writers, who usually exported themselves to London for better pay. Is this vacuum that I perceive real? Were American novelists that rare in the 19th century? Francis A. Miniter |
#7
|
|||
|
|||
I'm surprised at how many interesting American spiritual writers there were in
that period. And it seems as a response notes, that vacuum you mention was for more literary novelists. What some novelists created also was for more of a spiritual aim, rather than a "worldly" literary one. Basically, greatness and utility in writers is ultimately a matter of taste. Perhaps the authors you've listed have the greatest collector's value. -- Robert Pearson http://www.rspearson.com/ ParaMind Brainstorming Software http://www.paramind.net |
#8
|
|||
|
|||
In "Francis A. Miniter" writes:
As it is, I am struck by the paucity of the numbers, even when supplemented by authors that 90% - make that 98% - of Americans have never heard of. At the I could add a couple more off the top of my head: Charles Brockden Brown (Wieland, Arthur Mervyn, etc.) 1771-1810 William Gilmore Simms (The Yemassee, etc., and lots of bad poetry) 1806-1870 Did you list Cooper? Melville? Is this vacuum that I perceive real? Were American novelists that rare in the 19th century? I don't know. -- Jonathan Baker | Hanuca, Xmas, & Saturnalia all begin on 25th of | the Winter Solstice Month. Which came first? Us. Web page http://www.panix.com/~jjbaker |
#9
|
|||
|
|||
In . net "Nobody" writes:
writers, and there was a highly fertile area of publishing in the Dime Novels (and Blood and Thunder tales). Right. Horatio Alger 1832-1899. I saw his room on Harvard Yard once, visiting a high-school friend. There was a list posted with all previous denizens of the room. -- Jonathan Baker | Hanuca, Xmas, & Saturnalia all begin on 25th of | the Winter Solstice Month. Which came first? Us. Web page http://www.panix.com/~jjbaker |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Set Of 4 Early American Coin Silver Buttons, Mid Century Modern Signed Copper Bird Sculpture , Signed Taxco Sterling Black Onyx Sailfish Cufflinks | Danny Ross | General | 0 | May 20th 04 12:11 AM |
rec.collecting.books FAQ | Hardy-Boys.net | Books | 0 | May 9th 04 08:39 PM |
News about American Memorabilia and PSA | Richard | Autographs | 8 | March 25th 04 12:49 PM |
[FAQ] rec.collecting.books FAQ | Mike Berro | Books | 0 | December 26th 03 08:18 PM |