Rawlings (U. of the West of England, Bristol, UK) has collected a wide body of material that share the common theme of defining the nascent genre of American literature, from 1776-1900. 155
essays are included, written by and about many American authors, grouped chronologically. Royall Tyler, Charles Brockden Brown, James Kirke Paulding, and Edgar Allan Poe are among the authors
included before 1850 (in v.1). Essays written after 1850 (in v.2) discuss the work of authors that include James Fenimore Cooper, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Harriet Beecher Stowe, as well as
non-American works, such as Middlemarch (as discussed by Henry James) and the work of Ivan Turg矇nieff. The third volume, with essays from 1876-1900, includes such topics as the value of novels,
southern novels, realistic fiction, and the works of Mark Twain. Introductory essays to each volume consider themes that include the great American novel, and reception of American literature.
Rawlings has annotated the essays, most of which were originally published in literary magazines many by anonymous authors and provides an alphabetical list of authors and index in v.3.
Distributed by Ashgate. Annotation 穢2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
