"This new edition of Arthur Mervyn far exceeds any previous version of this remarkable American novel. Through exhaustive archival research, the editors have produced a reliable text constructed within the intellectual, cultural, political, and religious contexts of a society informing Brown's efforts to capture and preserve the formation of the early republic for generations of readers and cultural historians. This vital text is essential reading for anyone interested in the origins of the United States."
—Emory Elliott, University Professor, University of California-Riverside
Reviews:
"This new edition of Arthur Mervyn far exceeds any previous version of this remarkable American novel. Through exhaustive archival research, the editors have produced a reliable text constructed within the intellectual, cultural, political, and religious contexts of a society informing Brown's efforts to capture and preserve the formation of the early republic for generations of readers and cultural historians. This vital text is essential reading for anyone interested in the origins of the United States."
—Emory Elliott, University Professor, University of California-Riverside
Contents:
Acknowledgments
Introduction
A Note on the Text
Arthur Mervyn; or, Memoirs of the Year 1793
Related Texts:
A. By Charles Brockden Brown:
1. "Walstein's School of History. From the German of
Krants of Gotha" (August–September 1799)
2. "The Difference between History and Romance"
(April 1800)
3. Two Statements on the Modern Novel:
a) "Romances" (January 1805)
b) Excerpt from "Terrific Novels" (April 1805)
4. "The Man at Home—No. XI" (April 1798)
5. "Portrait of an Emigrant" (June 1799)
6. "What Is a JEW?" (November 1800)
7. Excerpts from "On the Consequences of Abolishing the
Slave Trade to the West Indian Colonies"
(November 1805)
B. Literary and Cultural Context:
8. William Birch, "Plan of the City of Philadelphia" (1800)
9. William Godwin, excerpts from Enquiry Concerning
Political Justice (1793)
10. Mary Wollstonecraft, excerpts from Letters Written
during a Short Residence in Sweden, Norway, and
Denmark (1796)
11. Laurence Sterne, excerpt from A Sentimental Journey
through France and Italy (1768)
12. Mathew Carey, excerpts from A Short Account of the
Malignant Fever, Lately Prevalent in Philadelphia (1793)
13. Absalom Jones and Richard Allen, excerpt from A Narrative
of the Proceedings of the Black People during the Late Awful
Calamity in Philadelphia in the Year 1793 (1794)
14. Three Abolitionist Addresses from Brown's Circle:
a) Theodore Dwight, excerpts from An Oration
(May 1794)
b) Elihu Hubbard Smith, excerpts from A Discourse
(April 1798)
c) Samuel Miller, excerpts from A Discourse
(April 1797)
15. Two Perspectives on Slavery from The Monthly Magazine:
a) "H.L.," excerpt from "Thoughts on the Probable
Termination of Negro Slavery in the United States of
America" (February 1800)
b) William Eton, excerpts from "Interesting Account of
the Character and Political State of the Modern Greeks"
(May 1800)
16. Benjamin Nones vs. the Gazette:
a) "An Observer," excerpts from "For the Gazette of the
United States" (August 5, 1800)
b) Benjamin Nones, "To the Printer of the Gazette of
the U.S." (August 13, 1800)
17. Lydia Maria Child, excerpts from Isaac T. Hopper:
A True Life (1853)
Bibliography and Works Cited
About the Authors:
Philip Barnard is Professor in the Department of English at the University of Kansas.
Stephen Shapiro is Professor in the Department of English and Comparative Literary Studies at the University of Warwick.