Brown’s Literary Afterlife

Abstract

Charles Brockden Brown’s stature among elite writers in English during the Romantic era was significant from his death in 1810 until the late nineteenth century, though it was initially far more robust abroad than at home. In the United States during the first two decades after Brown’s death, his work tended to be treated with a certain critical condescension or outright neglect. Meanwhile, his major novels saw several reissues in England before 1820, during which time they drew the fascination and praise of now-canonical authors. In the end, with this mark made on transatlantic literary culture, an enriched understanding of Brown and his literary importance made the return trip, resulting in Brown’s elevated stature among later generations of American writers. This chapter moves back and forth across the Atlantic to reimagine the circulation of ideas, influences, and aesthetic norms that first framed Brown’s work for a transatlantic readership.