Overview

The author of this treatise tells us in his preface that it is an endeavor to prove the independent and organic development of American literature. He says he has often heard persons otherwise well informed, speak apologetically, even contemptuously, of their country's literature, as a mere pallid reflection of literary fashions beyond the Atlantic. He then proceeds to explain the origin of this misconception, and declares that our literature has really developed with admirable freedom, energy, and completeness. It has not been dwarfed by those influences, nor have its epochs been cut short by those political and international complications that have so often thwarted mental progress in other lands. It shows the natural unfolding of intellect freed from old-world trammels, yet limited by the necessities of practical life. The aim of the study is evidently to show the intimate connection between our country's literature and history, and the necessity of a knowledge of each in order to interpret the other. The author makes no attempt to give details concerning the lives of American authors, but devotes his work to discovering their position in our general literary history.- Magazine of American History, Volume 25 [1891]

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