Charles Brockden Brown and the Literary Magazine

From 1803 to 1807, Charles Brockden Brown served as editor and chief contributor to the Literary Magazine, and American Register, a popular Philadelphia miscellany. His position allowed him to observe and comment upon life in the United States and transatlantic world during the nineteenth century’s first decade.
This book considers how Brown’s Literary Magazine contributed to the development of cultural cohesiveness and political stability in the young United States. It explores the intellectual and cultural setting in which this Philadelphia miscellany was published, the political writing that appears in what Brown claimed was a politically neutral venue, and the social and cultural criticism that attempts to guide the development of the American character. During his twenty years as an author, he participated in disseminating texts of cultural and literary worth. Brown’s essays and reviews assisted in the establishment of reading habits in America and influenced the public reception of the early American press.

Michael Cody is an English Professor at East Tennessee State University. He lives in Johnson City, Tennessee.

Michael Cody
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 213
Bibliographic Info: notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2004
pISBN: 978-0-7864-1784-1
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments      vii
Introduction      1
ONE “The Task of an Editor”      11
TWO The Republic and the Liberal Individual      37
THREE The Mockingbird, the Mirror, and the Makings of an American Character and Culture      81
FOUR Fragments of Fiction      127
Afterword      155
Notes      161
Bibliography      189
Index      197

“provides a richly explored cultural history…highly recommended”—Choice.