A STUDY OF GILBERT IMLAY (1754-1828) : HIS LIFE AND WORKS.

Format:

Book

Thesis/Dissertation

Author/Creator:

FANT, JOSEPH LEWIS, III.

Contributor:

University of Pennsylvania.

Subjects (All):

American literature.

Biography.

0304.

0591.

Local Subjects:

0304.

0591.

Physical Description:

256 pages

Contained In:

Dissertation Abstracts International 46-01A.

System Details:

Mode of access: World Wide Web.

text file

Summary:

In a century and a half, Gilbert Imlay has been the subject of but scant literary interest. Fewer than half a dozen articles--none since 1924--and one master's thesis have been written about a man who was among America's earliest writers; who counted as acquaintances such literary and historical figures as Thomas Paine, Joel Barlow, St. Jean de Crevecoeur, Daniel Boone, General James Wilkinson, and Thomas Cooper; who was involved with the leader of the Girondists, J. P. Brissot, in an intrigue concerning France and her role in America during the fitful final decade of the eighteenth century; and who won but abused the love of one of England's brightest women, Mary Wollstonecraft. Such a man deserves detailed study, and such is the purpose of this dissertation.

The study was in progress for over twenty years, and consisted of research in numerous historical societies, archives, and libraries in the United States as well as in England, France, and on two of the Channel Islands. It undertakes a critical evaluation of Imlay's literary achievement by attempting to uncover previously unknown biographical data that facilitate a more accurate appraisal of his works.

It succeeded in shedding light on the previously unknown years of 1796 to 1801; liberally quotes from discovered documents/records/reviews that are not readily accessible; explicates Imlay's two books and appraises his poetry; discovers an autobiographical strain in his novel; determines his place among early American writers; proves he had no influence in pantisocracy; and most importantly, restores to Imlay the unquestioned authorship of his literary works that had been challenged based on internal evidence.

The poetry in his novel brings nothing new to the art form, but he practices old conventions with facility while producing some eighteenth century verse that is quite good. While neither of his works has any lasting value, there is enough in both to warrant more note than has been taken of either. It is for his association with Mary Wollstonecraft that he has been most remembered, and by which he is destined to be judged in the future.

Notes:

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 46-01, Section: A, page: 0151.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Pennsylvania, 1984.

Local Notes:

School code: 0175.

Access Restriction:

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