ABSTRACT
In 1789, The Power of Sympathy, written in epistolary form, was declared by the Massachusetts Centinel to be "the first American novel this day published". Novels by Hannah Webster Foster, however, and others, had already been published. In any event, its fictional world is thoroughly that of the early American republic. Brown's work tended to appear anonymously, under various initials, or under such names such as "Pollio" or "Columbus". Novels have ever met with a ready reception into the Libraries of the Ladies, but this species of writing hath not been received with universal approbation: Futility is not the only charge brought against it. Any attempt, therefore, to make these studies more advantageous, has at least a claim upon the patience and candour of the publick.
