Charles Brockden Brown
Charles Brockden Brown, 1771-1810, American
novelist.
Brown came from a Quaker family. After studying and briefly
practicing law in Philadelphia, he published his first novel,
Wieland (1798). This Gothic novel tells a story of
insanity and apparent divine retribution: the hero's father is
killed by spontaneous combustion, apparently divine punishment;
and Wieland later murders his wife, his children, and ultimately
himself. Other novels came in quick succession, including Ormond
(1799), Edgar
Huntly (1799), and Arthur Mervyn (1799-1800).
