Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

See the University of Virginia Library’s use policy.

Preferred Citation

Papers of Charles Brockden Brown, Accession #6349, etc., Special Collections, University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.

Acquisition Information

6349 and 6349-a were deposited by Clifton Waller Barrett on April 16, 1960, and made gifts on December 30, 1966. 6349-b was a gift of Roger E. Stoddards on November 10, 1972.

Biographical/Historical Information

Charles Brockden Brown was born to a Quaker family in Philadelphia on 17 January 1771. His father was a merchant, descended from a family whose Quaker roots can be traced to the seventeenth century. His maternal ancestors, the Armitts, shared a similar heritage. The family business failed, although Brown's father managed to support his large family, probably through establishing new business activities in real estate.

From about the age of eleven to sixteen, Brown studied under the tutelage of Robert Proud at the Friends Latin School in Philadelphia, and after leaving it he went to work in the Philadelphia law office of Alexander Wilcocks, without having attended college. The legal profession seems to have held little attraction for Brown, but he formed deep friendships at this time, particularly with William Wood Wilkins and Joseph Bringhurst, both of whom shared Brown's literary interests. The three of them were active in the Belles Lettres Club of Philadelphia, which was formed in 1786 and lasted until 1793. When Wilkins, who had gone on to complete his legal education, died in 1795, Brown lost his closest tie to the profession of law. By then Brown had already declined to complete his own education as a lawyer, and the reason for this decision implies much about him as a writer.

Brown had begun experimenting with the writing of literature even while he studied law. In 1789 a handful of his essays, "The Rhapsodist," were published in Columbian Magazine in Philadelphia, and, after abandoning the law a few years later, he dabbled in poetry and fiction. In 1797 he finished a novel called "Sky-Walk." Although he never published it and the manuscript has been lost, parts of it appeared in Edgar Huntly. However, in 1798, he began having his work published at a remarkable pace. During this year, he brought out a portion of Arthur Mervyn, which appeared in the Weekly Magazine (Philadelphia), as well as two complete works, Wieland and Alcuin.

In 1801 Brown had two more novels published, Clara Howard and Jane Talbot. Relative to his previous novels, both these works are less imaginative in their plot structures, and both rely more heavily on the epistolary form. Additionally, neither one employs the kind of bizarre devices, such as ventriloquism or sleepwalking, that Brown had used heavily in earlier fiction.

From 1803 to 1805 Brown also published serially in the Literary Magazine "Memoirs of Carwin the Biloquist." The textual history of this uncompleted story is complex, but apparently the bulk of it was written in 1798 while Wieland was in the process of publication. With additional segments probably written when Brown needed material for the Literary Magazine, the text of "Memoirs of Carwin the Biloquist" appeared during 1803 through March 1805.

The year 1803 saw Brown expending his energies in writings other than fiction. In addition to beginning his association with the Literary Magazine and American Register, Brown departed from Quaker pacifism to write a pamphlet urging the taking of the Louisiana territory, by force if necessary, and opposing Jefferson's policies, which led to the territory's purchase. Brown seems to have achieved popularity in the writing of pamphlets that eluded him as a novelist. His work An Address to the Government of the United States, on the Cession of Louisiana to the French was quickly reprinted, although in a shortened version. Soon after, Brown published a second pamphlet, which like the first attacked Jefferson's policies toward the Louisiana territory.

Toward the end of 1807, Brown introduced a new periodical to replace the Literary Magazine. The journal was entitled the American Register, or General Repository of History, Politics, and Science, and Brown edited five volumes. Although the pages of this journal included literary topics, such as poetry (including Brown's own) and reviews of British and American literature, the main emphasis now reflected Brown's political and historical interests. Essentially, the Register was what its name implied. It kept a record of laws and state papers, but it also gave written accounts of contemporary events, such as a report on the duel between Hamilton and Burr. If most of Brown's remaining literary efforts were devoted to the publication of this journal and the writing of his "Geography," he still had time for one more political pamphlet, a document published in 1809, entitled An Address to the Congress of the United States, on the Utility and Justice of Restrictions upon Foreign Commerce. This publication reflects Brown's continuing interest in public affairs as his career moved toward its end. Once more, his political position placed him in confrontation with Jefferson, this time on the issue of the embargo that had been placed in an attempt to deal with the war then in progress between England and France. Brown, as did many people with mercantile interests, adamantly opposed the embargo.

Brown died in 1810 and was buried in Philadelphia, in the Friends Burial Ground.

Scope and Content

The collection consists chiefly of research material assembled by Daniel E. Kennedy for his projected biography of Brown. These include his commentary on William Dunlap's "Life of Charles Brockden Brown" and miscellaneous notes and annotations on Brown; manuscript copies of other material related to Brown particularly a copy of an article from "Littell's Living Age," 1844, and a copy of Brown's death notice; and a resolution by the Friends of Philadelphia concerning Brown's expulsion for marriage to a non-member by a "hireling minister."

The collection also contains three letters from Brown to William Wood Wilkins and one letter from Wilkins about their friendship, 1790-1793, and a letter to his brother James Brown about Wilkins's death, 1795; a postscript on a 1798 letter from Maria Templeton to Maria NIcholson mentioning yellow fever in Philadelphia; letters to lawyers William P. Beers and John Elihu Hall on literary matters, 1800, 1806; a letter to Mary Linn urging her to cultivate her mind, 1802; and a letter to John B. Romeyn on family matters after the death of his father-in-law, 1808.

In addition there are four letters to his widow Elizabeth, 1812 and n.d. from her brother-in-law William Keese on a financial matter, her son William Linn Brown on a trip to England and a friend Eliza Kane on social matters.

Miscellaneous papers include diplomas of John Blair Linn, 1795-1897 and William Linn Brown, 1821; a bond signed by Elizabeth Linn Brown, 1810; inventories and appraisals of the estates of Charles Brockden Brown, 1810, and Elihu Hubbard Smith, 1799; three receipts to Charles Brockden Brown and Charles Brockden Brown, Jr., 1806, 1821, 1830; the will of Elizabeth Armitt, 1798; a passport of William Linn Brown signed by James Buchanan, 1846; a newsclipping regarding William Linn Brown, 1846; and photographs of the [tombstone?] of Charles Brockden Brown.

Arrangement

The collection is divided into three series: Series I: Literary Manuscripts; Series II: Correspondence; and Series III: Miscellaneous Papers of the Brown and Linn Families.