19th Century Literature

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What happened in the West during the 19th century was pretty much what you'd expect from a society whose religious and philosophical foundations had been shaken to the root after centuries of overt Christian influence. There were basically three possible responses: to reject Christianity and accept the new humanism wholesale; to try to maintain a balance between the two; or, to maintain complete allegiance to the Christian faith and defend it against the growing number of anti-Christian ideas.

Unfortunately, those in the latter group often reverted to a simple anti-intellectualism that, far from upholding a solid Christian worldview, undermined the faith to which they so desperately clung. Those who didn't go to that extreme often went to another—in their attempt to remain intellectually relevant, many Christian writers and thinkers began to embrace the increasingly unchristian ideas surfacing, and try to collate them with orthodox doctrine. It was a confusing time, and the lines of Christian culture and secular culture began to blur in increasingly bizarre ways.

For one thing, theologians began to adopt the view that science and faith were separate realms, and that each had its own realm of authority on which the other could not infringe. Charles Darwin's theory of general evolution was obviously instrumental in fostering this idea, but other forward strides in practical science like the mechanization of the Industrial Revolution, improvements in medical knowledge, and a growing sense that only what could be observed was "real" were just as influential.

It all went back to Progress, really. The Enlightenment ideal of man's interminable forward movement through the centuries meant that things were getting better, and with things demonstrably getting better it was hard for many to argue. Because many of the philosophical ideas that accompanied scientific progress were rooted in humanism rather than Christianity, people assumed the two were incompatible to some degree, and to be reconciled they had to be separated.

Not everyone was happily devoted to Progress, however. One of the 19th century's dominant literary movements was devoted to the opposite. Romanticism was as much a child of the Enlightenment as scientism, but instead of going forward they grasped Rousseau's idea that man is at his best when at his most natural, and went backward. Or tried—praising nature, deriding civilization and technology, and pursuing free love is easier evoked in poetry than practiced in real life, as its leaders soon discovered. Still, men like Lord Byron, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and Samuel Taylor Coleridge left behind some of the greatest verse ever written.

The Victorians were certainly influenced by Romanticism and the Enlightenment, but they were a little more balanced. Writers like Charles Dickens (possibly the greatest novelist of all time) and William Makepeace Thackeray combined Christian themes, satire, social activism and a heightened aesthetic sense to simultaneously comment on and delight the culture at large. In many ways the novel came into its own during this period, though some of its best practitioners were still 50-100 years in the future.

In the New World a particularly American version of Romanticism took hold. Transcendentalism as espoused by Herman Melville, Walt Whitman, and Henry David Thoreau was less organized than its Continental counterpart. It was also less rooted in Western tradition, at least, in the Classical Western tradition; the Transcendentalists preferred biblical symbolism, particularly the Old Testament with its often unsettling and apocalyptic imagery.

No era can claim a single literary or intellectual trajectory, but each phase in human history has its own zeitgeist, the spirit of the age. For the 19th century it was the final shift of authority away from any Divine source and onto the shoulders of man. There were great Christian writers who tried to stem the tide (Robert Browning, R. L. Dabney, Charles Haddon Spurgeon, and Charles Ryrie come readily to mind), but secular man was having his heyday and mostly prevailed in the public sphere.

Without the 19th century we wouldn't have most of the fiction genres we enjoy now. Mystery and detective fiction, science fiction, fantasy, escapist adventure novels, realistic historical fiction, etc., all came into being between the beginning of the French Republic and the founding of Major League Baseball. Whatever your opinion of the ideas rampant in these works, these are some of the best philosophical treatises, novels, poems, short stories, and essays history has to offer.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he's a husband and father who loves church, good food, and weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur. Read more of his reviews here.

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19th Century Literature

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9th grade (Ages 14-15)

	Alexandre Dumas Three Musketeers Collection Oxford World's Classics by Alexandre Dumas from Oxford University Historical Fiction/Adventure for 9th-12th grade in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
	Anna and the King of Siam by Margaret Landon from HarperCollins Historical fiction for 9th-12th grade in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $12.71
	Ben-Hur Reader's Digest World's Best Reading by Lew Wallace from Reader's Digest for 9th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
	Ben-Hur Dover Thrift Editions by Lew Wallace from Dover Publications for 9th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
	Ben-Hur A Tale of the Christ Signet Classics by Lew Wallace from Signet Classics Historical Fiction for 7th-10th grade in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $8.46
	Ben-Hur A Tale of the Christ by Lew Wallace from Heritage Press Historical Fiction for 7th-10th grade in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
	Ben-Hur by Lew Wallace from Harper & Brothers for 9th-Adult in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
	Ben-Hur Dover Thrift Editions by Lew Wallace from HarperCollins for 9th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $14.44
	Black Arrow A Tale of the Two Roses Scribner Illustrated Classics by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by N.C. Wyeth from Atheneum Historical Fiction for 7th-10th grade in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
	Black Arrow Dover Evergreen Classics by Robert Louis Stevenson from Dover Publications Historical Fiction for 7th-10th grade in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV) $7.64
	Black Arrow by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by N. C. Wyeth from SeaWolf Press Historical Fiction for 7th-10th grade in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
	Black Arrow by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Frances Brundage from Living Book Press Historical Fiction for 7th-10th grade in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
	Captains Courageous Signet Classics by Rudyard Kipling from Signet Classics Nautical Fiction for 7th-10th grade in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $5.06
	Captains Courageous by Rudyard Kipling from Living Book Press Nautical Fiction for 7th-10th grade in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA) $7.64
	Captains Courageous Reader's Digest World's Best Reading by Rudyard Kipling from Reader's Digest Nautical Fiction for 7th-10th grade in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
	Catriona (David Balfour) by Robert Louis Stevenson from Living Book Press for 9th-Adult in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV) $10.16
	David Elginbrod by George MacDonald from CreateSpace for 9th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
	ECL: Black Arrow by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Don Irwin from Classic Press Historical Fiction for 7th-10th grade in Educator Classic Library (Location: VIN-ECL)
	Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott from Bantam Books Historical Fiction for 9th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $5.95
	Ivanhoe Signet Classics by Sir Walter Scott from Signet Classics Historical Fiction for 9th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $5.06
	Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott from Dover Publications Historical Fiction for 9th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
	Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott, Illustrated by Frank E. Schoonover 200th Anniversary from SeaWolf Press Historical Fiction for 9th-Adult in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
	Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott, Illustrated by Edward A. Wilson from Heritage Press Historical Fiction for 9th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
	Ivanhoe Penguin Classics by Sir Walter Scott, edited by Graham Tulloch from Penguin Classics Historical Fiction for 9th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $11.05
	Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott, Illustrated by Edward A. Wilson from Easton Press Historical Fiction for 9th-Adult in Leather Bound Collectible Books (Location: VIN-LEA)
	Ivanhoe Windermere Series 4 by Sir Walter Scott, illustrated by Milo Winter from Rand McNally Historical Fiction for 9th-Adult in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
	Ivanhoe Windermere Series 1 by Sir Walter Scott, illustrated by Milo Winter from Rand McNally Historical Fiction for 9th-Adult in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
	Ivanhoe Windermere Series 2 by Sir Walter Scott, illustrated by Milo Winter from Rand McNally Historical Fiction for 9th-Adult in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
	Ivanhoe Windermere Series 3 by Sir Walter Scott, illustrated by Milo Winter from Rand McNally Historical Fiction for 9th-Adult in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
	Kenilworth Penguin Classics by Sir Walter Scott from Penguin Classics Historical Fiction for 9th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
	Kidnapped Being Memoirs of the Adventures of David Balfour in the Year 1751 Scribner Illustrated Classics by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by N. C. Wyeth from Atheneum Historical Fiction for 7th-10th grade in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV) $11.60 (1 in stock)
	Kidnapped Being Memoirs of the Adventures of David Balfour in the Year 1751 by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by N. C. Wyeth and Graham Oakley from Dilithium Press, Ltd. Historical Fiction for 7th-10th grade in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV) $12.00 (1 in stock)
	Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson from Living Book Press Historical Romance for 9th-Adult in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV) $10.19
	Les Miserables Signet Classics by Victor Hugo from Signet Classics Realistic Fiction for 9th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $5.00 (1 in stock)
	Les Miserables Signet Classics by Victor Hugo, translated by Lee Fahnestock & Norman MacAfee from Signet Classics Realistic Fiction for 9th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $10.19
	Les Miserables Modern Library by Victor Hugo, translated by Julie Rose from Modern Library Realistic Fiction for 9th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $17.00
	Les Miserables by Victor Hugo, translated by Charles Wilbour from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. Realistic Fiction for 9th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $40.80
	Les Miserables by Victor Hugo, translated by Isabel F Hapgood from Fall River Press Realistic Fiction for 9th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
	Les Miserables Penguin Classics by Victor Hugo, translated by Norman Denny from Penguin Classics Realistic Fiction for 9th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
	Les Miserables by Victor Hugo, translated by Lascelles Wraxall and illustrated by Lynd Ward from Heritage Press Realistic Fiction for 9th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
	Les Miserables by Victor Hugo, translated by Christine Donagher from Penguin Classics Realistic Fiction for 9th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $22.95
	Les Miserables (abridged) by Victor Hugo, supplementary materials written by Margaret Brantley from Simon and Schuster Realistic Fiction for 9th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $8.49
	Les Miserables (abridged) Designed to be Read as a Modern Novel by Victor Hugo, translated by Charles E. Wilbour from Book League of America Realistic Fiction for 9th-Adult in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
	Louise de la Valliere Alexandre Dumas Collection #4 by Alexandre Dumas from Oxford University Historical Fiction/Adventure for 9th-12th grade in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $15.95
	Man in the Iron Mask Alexandre Dumas Collection #5 by Alexandre Dumas from Oxford University Historical Fiction/Adventure for 9th-12th grade in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $14.95
	Master of Ballantrae Penguin Classics by Robert Louis Stevenson from Penguin Classics Realistic Fiction for 9th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
	Master of Ballantrae Penguin Classics by Robert Louis Stevenson from SeaWolf Press Realistic Fiction for 9th-Adult in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW) $8.49
	Merry Adventures of Robin Hood Thrushwood Book by Howard Pyle from Grosset & Dunlap Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for 7th-9th grade in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
	Merry Adventures of Robin Hood A Golden Illustrated Classic by Howard Pyle, illustrated by Benvenuti from Golden Press Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for 7th-9th grade in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
	Moby-Dick Signet Classics by Herman Melville from Signet Classics Realistic Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $5.06
	Moby-Dick Everyman's Library by Herman Melville from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. Realistic Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $27.20
	Moby-Dick Reader's Digest World's Best Reading by Herman Melville from Reader's Digest Realistic Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
	Moby-Dick or, The Whale by Herman Melville from Penguin Putnam Realistic Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $14.45
	Moby-Dick Macmillan Classics by Herman Melville, illustrated by Robert Shore from Macmillan Realistic Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
	Moby-Dick or, The Whale Calla Editions by Herman Melville from Dover Publications Realistic Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
	Moby-Dick or, The Whale by Herman Melville from Franklin Library Realistic Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
	Moby-Dick Modern Library by Herman Melville from Modern Library Realistic Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
	Moby-Dick or, The Whale by Herman Melville, illustrated by Boardman Robinson from Easton Press Realistic Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult in Leather Bound Collectible Books (Location: VIN-LEA)
	Prince and the Pauper Signet Classics by Mark Twain from Signet Classics Historical Fiction for 8th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $5.91
	Prince and the Pauper Portland House Illustrated Classics by Mark Twain, illustrated by Franklin Booth from Portland House Historical Fiction for 5th-9th grade in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
	Quo Vadis by Henryk Sienkiewicz, translated by W. S. Kuniczak from Hippocrene Books Historical Fiction for 9th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $21.21
	Quo Vadis by Henryk Sienkiewicz, translated by Jeremiah Curtin from Dover Publications Historical Fiction for 9th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $12.71
	Quo Vadis by Henryk Sienkiewicz, translated by Jeremiah Curtin, introduction by Harold Lamb, illustrated by Salvatore Fiume from Heritage Press Historical Fiction for 9th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
	Ramona by Helen Jackson from Little, Brown & Company for 9th-12th grade in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC) $14.00 (1 in stock)
	Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane from Bantam Books Historical Fiction for 7th-10th grade in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $4.21
	Red Badge of Courage Reader's Digest World's Best Reading by Stephen Crane from Reader's Digest for 7th-10th grade in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
	Red Badge of Courage and An Occurrence at Owl Bridge by Stephen Crane & Ambrose Bierce from SeaWolf Press Historical Fiction for 7th-10th grade in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
	Red Badge of Courage Reader's Digest World's Best Reading by Stephen Crane from Reader's Digest for 7th-10th grade in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
	Short Stories of G. A. Henty Volume One by G. A. Henty from Preston Speed Historical Fiction for 6th-10th grade in G. A. Henty Books (Location: FIC-HEN)
	Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens from Ignatius Press for 8th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
	Talisman by Sir Walter Scott, illustrated by Federico Castellon from Easton Press Historical Fiction for 9th-Adult in Leather Bound Collectible Books (Location: VIN-LEA)
	Three Musketeers Alexandre Dumas Collection #1 by Alexandre Dumas from Oxford University Historical Fiction/Adventure for 9th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $12.95
	Three Musketeers Rainbow Classics by Alexandre Dumas, illustrated by C. Walter Hodges from World Publishing Company Historical Fiction/Adventure for 9th-Adult in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
	Three Musketeers Windermere Readers #20 by Alexandre Dumas, translated by Philip Schuyler Allen 1954 Edition from Rand McNally Historical Fiction/Adventure for 9th-Adult in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
	Three Musketeers Windermere Series 3 by Alexandre Dumas, translated by Philip Schuyler Allen 1954 Edition from Rand McNally Historical Fiction/Adventure for 9th-Adult in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
	Three Musketeers Windermere Series 4 by Alexandre Dumas, translated by Philip Schuyler Allen 1933 printing from Rand McNally Historical Fiction/Adventure for 9th-Adult in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
	Treasure Island Whole Story Series by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Francois Place from Viking Press Action/Adventure for 5th-9th grade in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
	Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Frank Godwin from Reader's Digest for 5th-10th grade in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
	Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Louis Rhead from SeaWolf Press for 5th-9th grade in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW) $8.49
	Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson from Living Book Press for 5th-9th grade in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
	Two Years Before the Mast by Richard Henry Dana from Walter J. Black, Inc. for 9th-Adult in Walter J. Black Classics Club (Location: VIN-LITWJB)
	Two Years Before the Mast A Personal Narrative of Life at Sea by Richard Henry Dana Jr. from Nelson Doubleday, Inc. for 6th-10th grade in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
	Two Years Before the Mast by Richard Henry Dana, illustrated by H.A. Mueller from Heritage Press for 9th-Adult in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
	Two Years Before the Mast Rainbow Classics by Richard Henry Dana, illustrated by Alexander Dobkin from World Publishing Company for 9th-Adult in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
	Two Years Before the Mast by Richard Henry Dana, with period illustrations and a biographical sketch by H.W.L. Dana from Dodd, Mead & Co. for 9th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
	Two Years Before the Mast by Richard Henry Dana, illustrated by Robert Frankenberg from Doubleday & Company for 9th-Adult in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
	White Company Books of Wonder by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (illustrated by N.C. Wyeth) from William Morrow & Company Historical Fiction for 9th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
	White Company by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle from Dover Publications Historical Fiction for 8th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $21.24
	White Company by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Illustrated by N. C. Wyeth 100th Anniversary from SeaWolf Press Historical Fiction for 8th-Adult in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW) $11.01
	White Company by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, illustrated by James Daugherty Historical Fiction for 9th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)

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