Love in the Time of Revolution: Transatlantic Literary Radicalism and Historical Change, 1793-1818

364 Pages·2013·4.561 MB·English

by  Andrew Cayton

Love in the Time of Revolution
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Love
in the Time of
Revolution
Transatlantic Literary
Radicalism and Historical Change,
1793–1818
❦
Andrew Cayton
Published for the
Omohundro Institute of Early American History
and Culture, Williamsburg, Virginia, by the University of
North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill
The Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture is
sponsored jointly by the College of William and Mary and the Colonial Williamsburg
Foundation. On November 15, 1996, the Institute adopted the present name in honor
of a bequest from Malvern H. Omohundro, Jr.
© 2013 The University of North Carolina Press
All rights reserved
Designed by Kimberly Bryant and set in Utopia by Tseng Information Systems, Inc.
Manufactured in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Cayton, Andrew R. L. (Andrew Robert Lee), 1954–
Love in the time of revolution : transatlantic literary radicalism and
historical change, 1793–1818 / Andrew Cayton.
pages cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4696-0750-4 (hardback)
1. English fiction—19th century—History and criticism. 2. Love in literature.
3. American fiction—19th century—History and criticism. 4. Godwin, William, 1756–
1836—Influence. 5. Wollstonecraft, Mary, 1759–1797—Influence. 6. Literature and
society—England—History—19th century. 7. Literature and society—United
States—History—19th century. 8. Politics and literature—England—
History—19th century. 9. Politics and literature—United States—
History—19th century. 10. Radicalism in literature. I. Title.
PR878.L69C39 2013
820.9′3543—dc23
2013002815
The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability
of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on
Library Resources. The University of North Carolina Press has been a member
of the Green Press Initiative since 2003.
17 16 15 14 13(cid:14)5 4 3 2 1
In memory of my grandmother,
IRENE STEPHENS PELLEY
(1902–1993),
in whose kitchen I learned much more
than how to bake a cake
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Contents
List of Illustrations, ix
PROLOGUE / A Revolution in Favor of Love, 1
1 / “Quite Alone in a Crowd,” 12
2 / A “Very Sensible” American, 54
3 / “I Wish to Be Necessary to You,” 91
4 / “We Are . . . Differently Organized,” 115
5 / An “Exchange of Sympathy,” 144
6 / Modern Philosophers, 182
7 / American Commerce, 211
8 / The New Man of Feeling, 239
9 / Love’s “Very Essence Is Liberty,” 270
10 / “The True Key of the Universe Is Love,” 300
EPILOGUE / “The Subject Was of Love,” 329
Acknowledgments, 335
Index, 339
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Illustrations
1 / Mary Wollstonecraft, by John Opie, 3
2 / Catharine Macaulay (née Sawbridge), by Robert Edge Pine, 31
3 / Elizabeth Inchbald, by George Dance, 34
4 / Henry Fuseli, by John Opie, 51
5 / Joel Barlow, by William Dunlap, 66
6 / Thomas Paine, by William Sharp, after George Romney, 70
7 / William Godwin, by James Northcote, 146
8 / Charles Brockden Brown, by William Dunlap, 179
9 / New Morality, by James Gillray, 184
10 / Elihu Hubbard Smith, by James Sharples, 215
11 / Thomas Holcroft; William Godwin, by Thomas Lawrence, 250
12 / Percy Bysshe Shelley, by Amelia Curran, 274
13 / Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, by Richard Rothwell, 301
14 / William Godwin, by Henry William Pickersgill, 330