The First American Novel

A Puritan rag published this day in history

On January 21st, 1789, the novel The Power of Sympathy by William Hill Brown was published in Boston. The book is widely accepted as the first American novel to be written and published. Before this, it is likely that American publishers were simply publishing European manuscripts.

The Power of Sympathy was written as a series of letters between the various characters and set out to warn the readers of the folly of following one’s sexual passions to their conclusion.

Cost of the novel

In 1789, the cost of a newly printed copy of The Power of Sympathy was nine shillings. At this point, the Congress of the United States had not gotten around to passing legislation regarding the use of coins and decimal currency within the country.

That would not happen until 1792 with the passage of the Mint Act.

The young nation was still using British coins as a staple of their currency at the time.

Nine shillings equates to roughly sixty cents in 2021.

The premise

Today, the book runs around ninety or so pages. Those ninety pages tell a haughty and dry tale of two lovers, Thomas and Harriot, who go against tradition and…