Bestsellers in Nineteenth Century America seeks to produce for students novels, poems and other printed material that sold extremely well when they first appeared in the United States. Many of the most famous American works of the nineteenth century that we know today — such as Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick — were not widely read when they first appeared. This collection seeks to offer its readers a glimpse at the literature that lit up the literary horizon when the works were first published, leading to insights on key cultural aspects of the nineteenth-century United States and its literary culture.

Paul Gutjahr is a professor of English at Indiana University.

1. Charlotte Temple: A Tale of Truth (1791), entire work; 2. The Life of Washington; with Curious Anecdotes, Equally Honorable to Himself and Exemplary to His Young Countrymen (1800), selections; 3. American Tract Society, entire works; 4. Awful Disclosures (1836), selections; 5. The Illustrated Self-Instructor in Phrenology and Physiology (1840), selections; 6. Treatise on Domestic Economy (1841), selections; 7. The Quaker City: Or, the Monks of Monk Hall (1845), selections; 8. Evangeline, A Tale of Acadie (1849), entire work; 9. Reveries of a Bachelor: Or, A Book of the Heart (1850), selections; 10. Uncle Tom’s Cabin; Or Life Among the Lowly (1852), selections; 11. Ten Nights in a Bar-Room, and What I Saw There (1854), entire work; 12. Malaeska; The Indian Wife of the White Hunter (1860), entire work; 13. Ragged Dick, or, Street Life in New York with the Boot-Blacks (1868), entire work; 14. Little Women, or, Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy (1868), selections; 15. The Gates Ajar (1868), entire work; 16. “The Luck of Roaring Camp” (1868), entire work “John Jenkins, Or, the Smoker Reformed” (1871), entire work; 17. Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1880), selections; 18. The Hidden Hand: or, Capitola the Madcap (1888), selections; 19. In His Steps: “What Would Jesus Do” (1896), selections.

“This volume is outstanding. Expertly curated, with just the right combination of range and depth, it belongs on the shelf of any serious student of nineteenth-century popular print culture.” –William Gleason, Professor, Department of English, Princeton University

“Gutjahr offers a generous selection of texts, by turns pious and provocative, each of which offers a glimpse into the complex and colorful world of nineteenth-century popular culture. Scholars and students alike will find it invaluable.” –Leon Jackson, Associate Professor of English, University of South Carolina