The Business of Literary Circles in Nineteenth-Century America - (Nineteenth-Century Major Lives and Letters) by D Dowling (Paperback)

About the Book

David Dowling explores the economics of professional authorship--the contiguity between business practice and aesthetic principle--in the most significant literary circles of the American nineteenth century. This comprehensive study ranges from Irving's Knickerbockers, Emerson's Transcendentalists, and Garrison's abolitionists to the popular serial fiction writers for Robert Bonner's New York Ledger--to unearth surprising convergences between such seemingly disparate circles.

Book Synopsis

This comprehensive study ranges from Irving's Knickerbockers, Emerson's Transcendentalists, and Garrison's abolitionists to the popular serial fiction writers for Robert Bonner's New York Ledger to unearth surprising convergences between such seemingly disparate circles.

Review Quotes

"An important analysis of literary coteries in the United States, Dowling's book is the first to provide a firm sense of what precisely they offered, besides mutual support, to their members. He demonstrates persuasively that they were formed from the exigencies of the literary marketplace and allowed participants to face it in more powerful and confident ways. And, as an added plus, his prose is as richly compelling as his subjects. An important book for students of American literature and print culture, and of American Studies generally." - Philip Gura, William S. Newman Distinguished Professor of American Literature and Culture, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

About the Author

DAVID DOWLING Lecturer in the Department of English at the University of Iowa, USA. He is the author of Capital Letters: Authorship in the Antebellum Literary Market.