Charles Brockden Brown
An item at American Writers Museum
Frustrated with his law career, Charles Brockden Brown turned to the pen to earn a living. He immersed himself in the literary circles of New York and Philadelphia while producing an impressive volume of essays, journalism, serial stories, and book reviews.
Brown's gothic novels delve deeply into religious fanaticism, the supernatural, and madness. In Wieland (1798), what may be a supernatural voice orders a delusional character to murder his family. Brown's dark musings influenced Edgar Allan Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne.
AMERICAN VOICES
An exhibit at American Writers Museum
American writing is distinctive, diverse, and comes in many forms from across the nation. The 100 authors featured here represent the evolution of American writing. Learn more about each writer on the timeline by turning the panels below their portraits. Explore centuries of writing by pulling, turning, and touching the interactive elements on the counter.
This is not meant to be a list of the greatest or most influential writers. Instead, we present authors and works as part of the American story as it grows and changes. Taken together, this rich literary heritage reflects America in all of its complexity: its energy, hope, conflict, disillusionment, and creativity.