Charles Brockden Brown

Reproduction of the original: Arthur Merwin by Charles Brockden Brown

Reproduction of the original: Arthur Merwin by Charles Brockden Brown

Charles Brockden Brown was an American novelist, historian, and editor, who has been recognized as one of the first American novelists and an early proponent of the Gothic romance genre. Brown's works are a combination of his own Romantic imagination and Enlightenment ideals, and are often characterized by elements of the sensational and violent. His work also reflects an interest in the early feminist movement, and frequently draws on Enlightenment-era medical writings by authors like Erasmus Darwin. "Wieland", Brown's most highly regarded novel, is deemed to be the first gothic novel by an American. This epistolary and highly psychological novel details the horrible events that befall siblings Clara and Theodore Wieland and their family. "Memoirs of Carwin the Biloquist" was published in fragments in Brown's Literary Magazine later, and tells the story of Carwin prior to his involvement in "Wieland". This unfinished story clarifies some of the uncertainty surrounding Carwin's character in "Wieland". These two works, Brown's most important, are collected together here in this volume. This edition is printed on premium acid-free paper.

Wieland; or The Transformation: An American Tale by Charles Brockden Brown. Wieland: or, The Transformation: An American Tale, usually simply called Wieland, is the first major work by Charles Brockden Brown. First published in 1798, it distinguishes the true beginning of his career as a writer. Memoirs of Carwin the Biloquist, A fragment, by Charles Brockden Brown. Memoirs of Carwin, the Biloquist begins with Carwin as a young boy, about 14 years old, living on a farm with his father and brother in Pennsylvania. Carwin is evidently different from his family in that he strives to have an education, especially through means of reading books. His father does nothing but discourages this desire, and expects Carwin to settle for a simple life on the farm.

Memoirs of Carwin the Biloquist, A fragment, by Charles Brockden Brown. Memoirs of Carwin, the Biloquist begins with Carwin as a young boy, about 14 years old, living on a farm with his father and brother in Pennsylvania. Carwin is evidently different from his family in that he strives to have an education, especially through means of reading books. His father does nothing but discourages this desire, and expects Carwin to settle for a simple life on the farm. As a way to break away from his father's repression, Carwin continuously sneaks out into the woods at night with books to read by the moonlight. It is on one of these experiences that Carwin hears the echo of his own voice in the valley, giving him the inspiration to learn how to manipulate his voice. After several nights of practice, Carwin has the "power to impersonate" different people. Soon after, Carwin learns of an aunt in Philadelphia that wants to promote his further education, but his father refuses to send him. As an attempt to convince his father, Carwin decides to sneak into his bedroom late at night, impersonate the voice of his dead mother, and have her tell his father to let Carwin go to Philadelphia.

Wieland; or The Transformation: An American Tale by Charles Brockden Brown. Wieland: or, The Transformation: An American Tale, usually simply called Wieland, is the first major work by Charles Brockden Brown. First published in 1798, it distinguishes the true beginning of his career as a writer. Set sometime between the French and Indian War and the American Revolutionary War, Wieland details the horrible events that befall Clara Wieland and her brother Theodore's family. Clara and Theodore's father was a German immigrant who founded his own religion; he came to America just before the American Revolution with the conviction to spread his religion to the indigenous people. When he fails at this task, he believes he has also failed his deity. One night, as he worships in his bare, reclusive temple, he seems to spontaneously combust, after which his health rapidly deteriorates and he dies. His children inherit his property, which is divided equally between them. Theodore marries their childhood friend, Catharine Pleyel, and they have four children.

Charles Brockden Brown (January 17, 1771 - February 22, 1810) was an American novelist, historian, and editor of the Early National period. He is generally regarded by scholars as the most important American novelist before James Fenimore Cooper. He is the most frequently studied and republished practitioner of the "early American novel," or the US novel between 1789 and roughly 1820. Although Brown was not the first American novelist, as some early criticism claimed, the breadth and complexity of his achievement as a writer in multiple genres (novels, short stories, essays and periodical writings of every sort, poetry, historiography, reviews) makes him a crucial figure in US literature and culture of the 1790s and first decade of the 19th century, and a significant public intellectual in the wider Atlantic print culture and public sphere of the era of the French Revolution.

Charles Brockden Brown (January 17, 1771 - February 22, 1810) was an American novelist, historian, and editor of the Early National period. He is generally regarded by scholars as the most important American novelist before James Fenimore Cooper. He is the most frequently studied and republished practitioner of the "early American novel," or the US novel between 1789 and roughly 1820. Although Brown was not the first American novelist, as some early criticism claimed, the breadth and complexity of his achievement as a writer in multiple genres (novels, short stories, essays and periodical writings of every sort, poetry, historiography, reviews) makes him a crucial figure in US literature and culture of the 1790s and first decade of the 19th century, and a significant public intellectual in the wider Atlantic print culture and public sphere of the era of the French Revolution.