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Story Bibliography
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The Power of Words: Writers and Publishers Bibliography
Further Reading

Battistini, Robert. "Federalist Decline and Despair on the Pennsylvanian Frontier: Hugh Henry Brackenridge's Modern Chivalry." Pennsylvania Magazine of History & Biography:133:2 (April 2009): 149-166.

Bronner, Simon. Popularizing Pennsylvania: Henry W. Shoemaker and the Progressive Uses of Folklore and History. University Park: Penn State University Press, 1996.

A biography of Pennsylvania’s first great folklorist Henry Shoemaker (1882–1958), a prolific compiler of the songs, folk tales, and regional stories of the Commonwealth’s people in the early decades of the twentieth century.

Clymer, R. Swinburne. George Lippard: His Life And Works. Whitefish, MT: Kessinger Publishing, LLC, 2006.

A detailed biography of the brief and tragic, but industrious life of Philadelphia Gothic novelist George Lippard, an early champion of working-class Americans.

Cody, Michael. Charles Brockden Brown and the Literary Magazine: Cultural Journalism in the Early American Republic. Jefferson, NC: McFarland and Company, Inc., 2004.

In this book, Cody examines the role of early American novelist Charles Brockden Brown and the magazine he published, the Literary Magazine and American Register, in the development of the culture and literature of the new American republic.

Cohn, Jan. Improbable Fiction: The Life of Mary Roberts Rinehart. Pittsburgh : University of Pittsburgh Press, 2005.

In this detailed biography of one of Pittsburgh's most famous writers, Cohn explores Mary Roberts Rinehart’s (1876–1958) literary career, her important contributions to the mystery novel, and her long working relationship with The Saturday Evening Post.

Demarest, David P. From These Hills, From These Valleys: Selected Fiction About Western Pennsylvania. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1976.

Twenty-four highly readable selections from novels and short stories written about western Pennsylvania from the 1760s through the early 1970s, which delve into the region’s historical evolution and its ethnic and racial diversity. Each selection begins with a brief introduction and short biography of the author.

Foner, Eric. Tom Paine and Revolutionary America. New York : Oxford University Press, 1976.

Classic study that explains how Thomas Paine's Common Sense emerged out of the artisanal culture of colonial Philadelphia and that explains Paine's critical role in the awakening of revolutionary ideals throughout the American colonies.

Frasca, Ralph. Benjamin Franklin’s Printing Network: Disseminating Virtue in Early America. Columbia, MO: University of Missouri Press, 2006.

An absorbing exploration of the way Franklin established connections with printers from New England to the West Indies to further his own ambitions asnd to how he helped expand the printing trade, spread political influence, advance the idea of journalism, and disseminate the moral truths he espoused to the widest possible audience.

Gillespie, Angus K. Folklorist of the Coal Fields: George Korson's Life and Work. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1980.

Wonderful biography of Pennsylvania folklorist George Korson, whose five books and many articles documented the folklore and folklife of Pennsylvania’s anthracite and bituminous coal miners.

Gilley, Jennifer and Stephen Burnett. "Deconstructing and Reconstructing Pittsburgh's Man of Steel: Reading Joe Magarac against the Context of the Twentieth Century Steel Industry." Journal of American Folklore 111 (Fall 1998): 392–408.

Though dismissed in the 1950s as fallacious and demeaning, the classic folktale of Pittsburgh steel worker Joe Magarac underwent a significant revival in recent years. In this article, Gilley and Burnett scrutinize the tale's new-found acceptance, its iconography, and its role in Pittsburgh's identity as the Steel City.

Gould, Philip. "Race, Commerce, and the Literature of Yellow Fever in Early National Philadelphia." Early American Literature 35:2 (September 2000): 157–186.

An examination of the increasingly controversial issues of race and citizenship in Philadelphia through the lens of the public literary debate between publisher Mathew Carey and African-American leaders Richard Allen and Absalom Jones following an outbreak of Yellow Fever in 1793.

Grobel, Lawrence, ed.. Talking With Michener. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 1999.

Here, James Michener, one of the most prolific and wide-ranging writers to emerge from World War II, addresses a broad range of issues—from sex and love to sports and politics—across a series of conversations that spanned nearly two decades.

Gutkind, Lee. Lessons In Persuasion: Creative Nonfiction/Pittsburgh Connections. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2000.

A Pittsburgh native and former professor of creative nonfiction writing at the University of Pittsburgh, Gutkind utilizes his personal experiences and expertise in collecting and editing this superb compilation of essays, all written by authors with ties to the city of Pittsburgh.

Hamilton, John Bowen. "Robert Montgomery Bird, Physician and Novelist: A Case for Long-Overdue Recognition." Bulletin of the History of Medicine 44:6 (Winter 1970): 315–331.

An examination of the role that his knowledge as a physician had upon impact on writing of Philadelphian Robert Montgomery Bird, the celebrated novelist and playwright of the early 1800s.

Hill, Susan Colestock. Heart Language: Elsie Singmaster and Her Pennsylvania German Writings. State College : Pennsylvania State University Press, 2009.

This compilation of sixteen of Elsie Singmaster’s most notable short stories, which reflect the history and beliefs of the Pennsylvania German community, includes a detailed biographical sketch of the author.  Born and raised in the Pennsylvania German tradition, Singmaster in the early 1900s was a prolific and internationally renowned children's author and novelist.

Huggins, Nathan Irvin. Harlem Renaissance. New York: Oxford University Press, 2007.

Huggins’s award-winning study brings to life the characters, including Alan Locke and Jesse Redmon Fauset, and the time that infused the creative explosion of African-American culture in Harlem the 1920s.

Jackson, Joseph. Literary Landmarks of Philadelphia. Philadelphia: David McKay Company,, 1939.

A quirky but still interesting collection of short biographies of notable literary figures organized around historical landmarks associated with them in the City of Philadelphia

Jones, Peter. Imagist Poetry. London: Penguin UK, 2002.

Though the Imagist movement didn’t last long, it cast a significant shadow. Jones’s essential introduction to Imagism’s leading voices, including Pennsylvanians Hanna Doolittle and Marianne Moore, deftly examines the ways in which they changed the course of twentieth-century poetry.

Kafer, Peter. Charles Brockden Brown’s Revolution and the Birth of American Gothic. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2004.

An excellent literary biography of Pennsylvania Quaker Charles Brockden Brown, one of the earliest successful novelists in the United States and father of the American Gothic novel. 

Korson, George, ed.. Pennsylvania Songs and Legends. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1949.

A wonderful collection of essays by thirteen writers on subjects ranging from "The Cornplanter Indians" and "Amish Hymns as Folk Music," to "Conestoga Waggoners" and "Folk Songs in an Industrial City," with an introduction and essays on "Coal Miners," by pioneering folklorist George Korson.

Korson, George G. Black Rock: Mining Folklore of the Pennsylvania Dutch. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1960.

This is the last of five books that pioneering folklorist George Korson (1899–1967) published on the history of Pennsylvania folklore, folkways, and music.  Like the others, it richly documents stories told and music played by Pennsylvanians, both named and anonymous, about work and life in the Keystone state.

Lytle, Clyde Francis. Pennsylvania in Song and Story: A Critical Evaluation of the Work of Pennsylvania Writers. Minneapolis, MN: Burgess Publishing Company, 1932.

More than seventy years ago Lytle wrote this book to draw attention to some of the first-rate literature produced by Pennsylvania writers.  It includes biographical information and literary assessments of his contemporaries and their literary predecessors, especially to those native to southeastern Pennsylvania.

Maddox, Marjorie and Jerry Wemple, ed.. Common Wealth: Contemporary Poets on Pennsylvania. State College: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2005.

A rich and diverse collection of poems from more than 100 contemporary poets, all linked by their love of the Keystone State.

Mulford, Carla, ed.. The Cambridge Companion to Benjamin Franklin. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2009.

This anthology of twelve recent essays on Benjamin Franklin address a broad range of topics, including Franklin's religion and his pathbreaking and still celebrated autobiography.

Oberholtzer, Ellis. Literary History of Philadelphia. Philadelphia: George W. Jacobs, 1906.

In this fascinating, highly readable literary history of Philadelphia, Oberholtzer explored more than two hundred years of the city’s innovations in publishing and literature, including the growth and maturation of its printers, writers, and publishers.

Otter, Samuel. Philadelphia Stories: America's Literature of Race and Freedom. New York: Oxford University Press, 2010.

In this very scholarly study written to make Philadelphia crucial to our understanding of American literary history, Otter explains the previously overlooked role that Philadelphia writers between 1790s and 1860 played in the development of an American literature focused on race and freedom.

Pritchard, William H. Updike: America's Man of Letters. Amherst : University of Massachusetts Press, 2005.

A comprehensive literary biography of Pulitzer Prize–winning author John Updike, many of whose greatest novels are set in Berks County, PA.

Remer, Rosalind. Printers and Men of Capital: Philadelphia Book Publishers in the New Republic. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2000.

In this rich history of the printing industry of Philadelphia in the decades following American independence, Remer details the careers of individual printers and the evolution of the publishing industry in what was then the “Athens of America.”

Robacker, Earl F. Pennsylvania German literature: Changing trends from 1683 to 1942. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1943.

In this older but still fascinating study, Robacker documents the history of the writing and publications of Pennsylvania Germans from the earliest colonial settlers through the Pennsylvania German folk revival of the 1920s and 1930s.

Vendler, Helen, ed.. Voices and Visions: The Poet in America. New York : Random House, 1987.

In her companion volume to the fine PBS series, Vendler, a Harvard English professor, put together a compelling group of essays on thirteen leading poets, including Pennsylvanians Wallace Stevens and Marianne Moore.

Ward, Douglas. A Brand New Business: Charles Coolidge Parlin, Curtis Publishing Company, and the Origins of Market Research. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2009.

A rich history of how Philadelphia publisher Cyrus Curtis changed American magazine publishing through his early embrace of market research, color illustrations, and advertising targeted to middle-class readers.


Web Guide

"Benjamin Franklin: Writer and Printer," The Library Company http://www.librarycompany.org/bfwriter/

This comprehensive on-line exhibit by the Library of Company of Philadelphia traces Benjamin Franklin’s career as a writer and printer.

"Exhibitions," The Library Company http://www.librarycompany.org/collections/exhibits/index.htm

Online exhibits including "Philadelphia Gothic: Murders, Mysteries, Monsters, and Mayhem Inspire American Fiction, 1798-1854"; "Pennsylvania German Broadsides: Windows into an American Culture," and "Benjamin Franklin: Writer and Printer."  

"Literary and Cultural Heritage Map of Pennsylvania," Penn State Center for the History of the Book http://www.pabook.libraries.psu.edu/palitmap/litmap.html

Organized geographically this interactive map includes brief biographies of writers of novels, plays, short stories, technical manuals, legislation, and children's literature from across the state of Pennsylvania.

"Modern American Poetry," Department of English, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/index.htm

This rich resource for teaching modern American poetry includes biographies, poems, and other materials related to Pennsylvania poets' Hanna Doolittle, Marianne Moore, and Wallace Stevens.

"Pennsylvania," Poets.Org. http://www.poets.org/state.php/varState/PA

This rich collection of materials and links presented by the Academy of American Poets features brief biographies of important Pennsylvania poets, critical essays, selected bibliographies, and other resources.

"Philadelphia Gothic," The Library Company http://www.librarycompany.org/gothic/

This online exhibit on Philadelphia as the birthplace of the Gothic tradition in American literature looks at the life and works of Philadelphia novelists Charles Brockden Brown, Robert Montgomery Bird, and George Lippard.

"The Art of Licensing," Curtis Publishing http://www.curtispublishing.com

The art gallery link on this website opens into a virtual museum of cover art from The Saturday Evening Post, Country Gentleman, and other Curtis publications, which can be searched and sorted by theme, artist, or year. 

Internet Archive http://www.archive.org/

Already vast and ever-growing, the Internet Archive is an invaluable resource that contains the full text of hundreds of works by Pennsylvania writers in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.  The texts can be viewed and downloaded in a range of formats.

Poetry Foundation http://www.poetryfoundation.org/

Typing "Pennsylvania" in the "Search this Site" box will reveal a rich variety of resources on poetry and poets in the state of Pennsylvania, including biographies, poetry selections, bibliographies, critical essays, audio links, and podcasts.

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