Of the Writings of Charles Brockden Brown, 1783-1822

Last updated: 9/07/2007

A Comprehensive Bibliography

of the Writings of Charles Brockden Brown, 1783-1822

Introduction

I. Publications

II. Unpublished Manuscripts:

A. Letters

A.1. Manuscript Collections for Letters

B. Manuscript Poems

C. Other Writings in Manuscript

III. Items Removed from Initial Weber Bibliography and Determinations of Authorship for Items not by Brown.

IV. Abbreviations and Works Cited

Introduction

This bibliography is a comprehensive effort, collectively undertaken by a team of scholars, to provide a listing of the writings of Charles Brockden Brown. It lists the initial publications or manuscripts of all Brown’s known writings, and revises and updates earlier attempts at bibliographies, notably those of Charles E. Bennett (1974, 1976) and Alfred Weber (1961, 1987, 1992, 2003). The bibliography’s goal is to provide a listing of Brown’s writings that will be as complete as possible, within the limits imposed by the question of attributing anonymous periodical texts. It serves as the basis for the ongoing Charles Brockden Brown Scholarly Edition, and as a general bibliography to be updated and revised in response to new scholarship.

The bibliography’s initial version was the “Preliminary and Chronological Bibliography of…Uncollected Writings” first developed in 2000 for the early stages of the Scholarly Edition by Alfred Weber and Wolfgang Schäfer, and subsequently revised and emended by Fritz Fleischmann (2001-03). We modify Weber-Schäfer-Fleischmann (WSF) in several ways, most fundamentally by aiming to include all of Brown’s known writings, from his 1783 manuscript notes on reading Hume to the posthumous publication of his essay series “The Scribbler” in 1822. WSF listed only so-called “uncollected” writings, understood as periodical pieces, letters, and certain other publications and manuscripts that had not been previously edited or republished in modern form in the Kent State Bicentennial edition of the novels and related writings (1977-87), the Allen-Dunlap biographical miscellany (1811-1815) or other twentieth-century sources, e.g. the Warfel “Rhapsodist” collection (1943) or the Clark biography (1952).

In the absence of any attempt at a comprehensive bibliography after Bennett (1974), and in the absence of any widely available comprehensive bibliography of any sort, the Scholarly Edition project generated the need for and the collective desire to develop a bibliography that provides: a) a reliable and widely accessible listing of the entirety of Brown’s writings; and b) a scholarly bibliography that can be maintained and updated to reflect new findings and evolving scholarly consensus on the attribution of anonymous publications.

Numbering System and Organization:

The numbering system for the publications first proposed by Weber is retained here: item numbers indicate year of publication, followed by a hyphen and five digits indicating month + first page of text. Thus the item number for “The Rhapsodist, no. I” is 1789-08464: the text appeared in 1789, in August (08), beginning on page 464. Letters and manuscript poetry are numbered consecutively, separate from the publications, while other manuscripts are numbered by year + item (e.g. 1798-1 for the Wieland notebook).

This numbering system is not perfect: it allows the rare possibility of identical numbers for different texts, for example in the case of the six “Communications” from October, 1808. These items are distinguished by adding letters to the identical item numbers (e.g. 1808-10003a, 1808-10003b, etc.). On the other hand, this system has the advantage of allowing entries to be added and removed without changing identifiers for surrounding items.

A lesser problem is that this system separates the writings into several numbering schemes: the primary system for the publications, then subsystems for three categories of manuscripts. Eventually the Scholarly Edition editors will unify the numbering schemes, but for the time being we continue with the separate schemes inherited from earlier stages of the project.

Attribution:

Brown’s extensive anonymous periodical publications and editorial work on three magazines filled with his own writing make it impossible to pretend to definitive attribution for many items; thus a comprehensive Brown bibliography necessarily remains open to change. As Sydney Krause observed in 1966 (29), there will never be a last word in Brown bibliography on this level, and Brown presents certain challenges in this respect. Nevertheless, the cumulative knowledge of the scholarly tradition has clarified and continues to clarify the status of a great number of items, such that inclusion in this bibliography signifies that an item is indisputably by Brown, or that previous scholarship and the Scholarly Edition editors ascribe it to Brown with a high degree of confidence.

To indicate a distinction between items in these two categories, a letter “A” (indisputable) or “B” (high degree of confidence) marks each item. Brown’s periodical writing also includes a range of hybrid texts in which Brown excerpts, summarizes, and otherwise creatively edits and shapes other works while adding his own implicit or explicit commentary and contextual framing within each particular magazine issue. However, given the very large number of A-B texts and new levels of availability of Brown’s magazines in the digital age (large numbers of readers can now explore the variety of texts in Brown’s magazines for themselves), the Scholarly Edition will select only A-B texts for the bibliography and its six-volume print edition. Subsequent digital versions of the Scholarly Edition will be able to include texts that are probable but debatable, as well as hybrid and other texts that may help the reader explore the full range of Brown’s editorial work.

Additions, Deletions, and other Changes:

Additions, deletions, and substantial changes to the initial WSF bibliography are tracked by the editors. Deletions from the initial bibliography, and new determinations of authorship for items not by Brown are moved to section III, with brief rationales. Since some of these deleted texts have received scholarly commentary as Brown’s work, because some will require future discussion, and because their identification may be useful in other ways, we list deletions with relevant information rather than simply eliminating the item.

In order to incorporate new information, the bibliography will be updated periodically throughout the duration of the Scholarly Edition project.

Editorial Contacts:

The bibliography is a collective project that welcomes contributions and corrections. To contact us with relevant information, please email Philip Barnard () or Mark Kamrath ().

Finally, note that while this bibliography lists republications and different versions of texts published under Brown’s supervision (however desultory) during his own lifetime or for the first time in the Allen-Dunlap biography or other periodicals in the years following Brown’s death (e.g. serialized portions of the novels, as well as their first publication in book form), it does not extend to republications after Allen-Dunlap or in England. Items identified in this bibliography thus constitute the earliest versions and, for editorial purposes, in virtually all cases, the copy-texts of Brown’s writings.

Philip Barnard

August, 2007

Contributors:

Barnard, Philip (University of Kansas)

Battistini, Robert (Franklin & Marshall College)

Burnham, Michelle (Santa Clara University)

Cody, Michael (Eastern Tennessee State University)

Ellis, Scott (Southern Connecticut State University)

Fleischmann, Fritz (Babson College)

Gardner, Jared (Ohio State University)

Holmes, John (Franciscan University)

Kamrath, Mark (University of Central Florida)

Schäfer, Wolfgang (Universität Tübingen)

Scheiding, Oliver (Universität Mainz)

Shapiro, Stephen (Warwick University)

Verhoeven, Wil (University of Groningen)

Waterman, Bryan (New York University)

Weber, Alfred (formerly Universität Tübingen)

White, Edward (University of Florida)

I: PUBLICATIONS

1788

1788-05427 "Utrum horum Mavis, elige" [a poem]. The American Magazine, Containing a Miscellaneous Collection of Original and Other Valuable Essays in Prose and Verse, and Calculated Both for Instruction and Amusement I.6 (May 1788), 427-428. B.

[Attributed in Kennedy (1945), 350A-351H; reprinted as anonymous in E.H. Smith (1793), 222-226).]

1788-07594 "An Address to the Ladies, by their best friend Sincerity" [a poem]. The American Magazine I.8 (July 1788), 594. B.

[Identified by the magazine’s editor as a companion piece to “Utrum horum Mavis, elige,” 1788-05427, by same author]

1789

1789-02000 Inscription for General Washington's Tomb Stone" [a poem]." The State Gazette of North Carolina (Feb. 23, 1789). A.

[Reprinted Warfel (1949, 32-33), and Clark (1952, 46)]

1789-08464 "The Rhapsodist. No. I." The Columbian Magazine [Philadelphia, 1786-90] 3.8 (August 1789), 464-467. Signed "B." A.

[Continued in 1789-09537, -10587, -11661]

1789-09537 "The Rhapsodist. No. II." The Columbian Magazine 3.9 (September 1789), 537-541. Signed "R." A.

1789-10587 "The Rhapsodist. No. III." The Columbian Magazine 3.10 (October 1789), 587-601. Signed “O.” A.

1789-11661 "The Rhapsodist. No. IV." The Columbian Magazine 3.11 (November 1789), 661-665. Signed "W." A.

1791

1791-04002 "Sonnet: Written after Hearing a Song by three Sisters" [a poem]. General Advertiser (April 25, 1791), 2. Signed "HENRY." B.

1791-05018 "To Ella" [a poem]. Gazette of the United States (May 14, 1791), 18. B.

1791-06067 "The Smile: Sonnet to Caroline" [a poem]. Gazette of the United States, (June 25, 1791), 67. Signed "HENRY." B.

1791-07094 "Song" [a poem]. Gazette of the United States, (July 20, 1791), 94. Signed “HENRY.” B.

1792

1792-03365 "Sonnet" [a poem]. Gazette of the United States (March 14, 1792), 365. Signed "HENRY." B.

1792-07047 "Sonnet to Flora" [a poem]. Lady’s Magazine I (June 1792), 47-8. B.

1792-08146 "Constancy. Addressed to Miss P---s" [a poem]. The Lady's Magazine, and Repository of Entertaining Knowledge (August 1792), 146. Signed "Castalio." [Written 1789.] B.

1792-09188 "Verses --- on miss S - - - a" [a poem]. Lady’s Magazine I (Sept. 1792), 188. B.

1792-12045 "An Elegy Addressed to Miss P - - - -" [a poem]. Lady’s' Magazine II (Dec. 1792), 45. [Written 1789.] B.

1793

1793-04001 “On the PROFESSION of the LAW.” The Hartford American Mercury VIII:465 (April 1, 1793), 1. Signed “W.” B

[reprinted as 1798-03165]

1797

1797-01003 [Review of] John Blair Linn, Bourville Castle; or, the Gallic Orphan.” New York Minerva, Jan. 18, 1797, 3. B.

[“probable” attribution to Brown in Dunlap (1833), 305; and Duyckinck (1875), 680]

1798

1798-02001 "The Man at Home. No. I." The Weekly Magazine of Original Essays, Fugitive Pieces, and Interesting Intelligence I.1 (Feb. 3, 1798), 1-4. A.

[Continued in 1798-02033. -02065, -02099, -03133, -03167, -03193, -03225, -03257, -04289, -04320, 04352, -04383.]

1798-02033 "The Man at Home. No. II." Weekly Magazine I.2 (Feb. 10, 1798), 33-37. A.

1798-02065 "The Man at Home. No. III." Weekly Magazine I.3 (Feb. 17, 1798), 65-67. A.

1798-02099 "The Man at Home. No.IV." Weekly Magazine I.4 (Feb. 24, 1798), 99-103. A.

1798-03133 “The Man at Home. No. V.” Weekly Magazine I.5 (March 3, 1798), 133-136. A.

1798-03165 "Essay on the Profession of the Law." Weekly Magazine I.6 (March 10, 1798), 165-167. Signed "W." B.

[reprinted from 1793-04001]

1798-03167 “The Man at Home. No. VI.” Weekly Magazine I.6 (March 10, 1798), 167-170. A.

1798-03193 "The Man at Home. No. VII.” Weekly Magazine I.7 (March 17,1798), 193-195. A.

1798-03198 “The Rights of Women. A Dialogue.” Weekly Magazine 1.7 (March 17, 1798), 198-200. [First installment of periodical version of Alcuin.] A.

1798-03202 "Notice of a New Work. &c. To the Editor of the Weekly Magazine." Weekly Magazine I.7 (March 17, 1798), 202. Signed "Speratus." A.

[Advertisement for Sky-Walk]

1798-03225 "The Man at Home. No. VIII." Weekly Magazine I.8 (March 24, 1798), 225-226. A.

1798-03228 “Extract from the ‘Sky-Walk.’“ Weekly Magazine 1.8 (March 24, 1798), 228-231. A.

1798-03231 “The Rights of Women. A Dialogue.” Weekly Magazine 1.8 (March 24, 1798), 231-235. A.

1798-03257 "The Man at Home, No. IX." Weekly Magazine I.9 (March 31, 1798), 257-261. A.

1798-03271 “The Rights of Women. A Dialogue.” Weekly Magazine 1.9 (March 31, 1798), 271-274. A.

1798-04000 Alcuin: A Dialogue. New York: T. & J. Swords, 1798. A.

[Title page indicates May, but volume was published 27 April, 1798].

1798-04289 "The Man at Home, No. X." Weekly Magazine I.10 (April 7, 1798), 289-291. A.

1798-04299 “The Rights of Women. A Dialogue. Part II.” Weekly Magazine I.10 (April 7, 1798), 299-302. A.

1798-04318 [untitled] “A.Z. requests to be informed…” Weekly Magazine I.10 (April 7, 1798), 318. A.

[response to query concerning title of Sky-Walk]

1798-04320 "The Man at Home, No. XI." Weekly Magazine I.11 (April 14, 1798), 320-323. A.

[reprinted as 1806-12448, “Pestilence and Bad Government Compared”]

1798-04323 "On Theatres." Weekly Magazine I.11 (April 14, 1798), 323324. Signed "Philo." [Reprinted in 1806-12400.] B.

1798-04326 "Sudden Impulses." Weekly Magazine I.11 (April 14, 1798), 326-328. Signed "Constance."

1798-04352 "The Man at Home, No, XII." Weekly Magazine I.12 (April 21, 1798), 352-355. A.

1798-04364 "A Series of Original Letters – Letter I.“ Weekly Magazine I.12 (April 21, 1798), 364-365. A.

[Continued in 1798-04389. -05008, -05046, -05069, -05103, -06135.]

1798-04357 "On the Effects of Theatric Exhibitions." Weekly Magazine I.12 (April 21, 1798), 357360. Signed "Philo." A.

1798-04360 "On the Effects of Theatric Representations.“ Weekly Magazine 1.12 (April 21, 1798), 360-362. Signed “W.“ A.

1798-04389 "A Series of Original Letters. – Letter II.“ Weekly Magazine 1.13 (April 28, 1798), 389-391. A.

1798-04391 "A Series of Original Letters. – Letter III.“ Weekly Magazine 1.13 (April 28, 1798). 391-393. A.

1798-04383 "The Man at Home, No. XIII." Weekly Magazine I.13 (April 28, 1798), 383-386. A.

1798-05006 "Review of Count Rumford‘s Essays. Essay I." Weekly Magazine II.14 (May 5, 1798), 68. Signed "Philo." B.

[reprinted in 1799-05132. Four other installments 1798-05035, -05063, -05097, -06129.]

1798-05008 "A Series of Original Letters [Nos. 4-5].” Weekly Magazine II.14 (May 5, 1798), 8-12. A.

1798-05035 "Review. Count Rumford‘s Second Essay." Weekly Magazine II.15 (May 12, 1798), 3537. Signed "Philo." B.

[Reprinted in 1799-06229]

1798-05038 “On Scheming.” Weekly Magazine II.15 (May 12, 1798), 38-39. Signed “Philo.” B.

1798-05046 "A Series of Original Letters. – Letter VI." Weekly Magazine II.15 (May 12, 1798), 46-47. A.

1798-05065 "Review. Count Rumford‘s Third Essay." Weekly Magazine II.16 (May 19, 1798), 6567. Signed "Philo." A.

[Continued in 1798-05097; Reprinted in 1799-07299]

1798-05069 "A Series of Original Letters. – Letter VII." Weekly Magazine II.16 (May 19, 1798), 69-71. A.

1798-05071 "A Lesson on Sensibility." Weekly Magazine II.16 (May 19,1798), 71-76. Signed "A.Z." A.

1798-05097 “Review. Count Rumford‘s Third Essay." Weekly Magazine II.17 (May 26, 1798), 9799. Signed "Philo." B.

[Reprinted in 1799-07299.]

1798-05100 "The Schemer. – No. XI." Weekly Magazine II.17 (May 26, 1798), 100-101. B.