American Fiction
Because fiction illustrates so many aspects of
the past, it can contribute significantly to an understanding of social
history. For times preceding sound recordings and film, it
is a primary source for much of what is known about the way earlier
Americans lived. Many novels, then as now, possess dubious
literary merit, but it can be argued that they constitute
history in and of themselves, providing a contemporary view of
events, circumstances, customs, dress, manners, morals and popular
attitudes of bygone days.
The fiction collection at the American Antiquarian Society
spans the better part of a century, from 1789 through 1876. The
first truly American novel, William Hill Brown's The Power of
Sympathy, was printed in Boston by Isaiah Thomas in 1789.
The essential guide to the genre remains Lyle H. Wright's
three-volume checklist, American Fiction, published in the
nineteen-sixties. Of the nearly 3,000 entries in volume one (1774-1850),
AAS holds over three-quarters. Of a similar number of entries in volume
two (1851-1875), the Society holds over sixty per cent. Even in volume
three, which begins at the end of the Society's time period, the library
holds a high proportion of the titles published in the centennial year.
The student of James Fenimore Cooper will find at AAS
the world's finest collection of Cooper's printed works, from his
first appearance in print with Precaution in 1820, through
approximately 1991. First editions, critical editions, translations,
dramatic adaptations, and collections of illustrations are included,
published both in the United States and abroad. Since 1967, the
Antiquarian Society and Clark University have
co-sponsored the definitive edition of Cooper's works. The
collaboration has proceeded under the leadership of AAS members Kay
S. House and Lance Schachterle,
successors
to the late James Franklin Beard (also a member of the Society). In
an effort to bring this enormous mass of Cooper material under
bibliographical control, staff have re-cataloged the entire collection,
more than 1,300 volumes. These records are now available online.
Also useful to researchers are dozens of twentieth- and
twenty-first-century critical studies, which provide glosses on and
interpretation of
hundreds of authors of great or modest talent.
- Anne C. Moore, Cataloger, North American Imprints Program
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A new online collection of American fiction published between 1851-1875 is
now available at
www.letrs.indiana.edu/
web/w/wright2.
This
collection is based on Lyle Wright's bibliography of American Fiction
(volume 2) and consists of 2,341 texts by 1,150 authors. There are plans
to add more titles by the end of 2002 to complete the collection. More
information about the project, participants, and instructions for
full-text searching are available at the website.
The Writings of James Fenimore Cooper
AAS holds major printed and manuscript resources related to
James
Fenimore Cooper and is a founding and sponsoring institution of The
Writings of James Fenimore Cooper.
For current information on the cataloging status of this and
other AAS collections, choose "Collection Access" below.
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