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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11th grade (Ages 16-17)

	20,000 Leagues Under the Sea Windermere Readers #19 by Jules Verne, translated by Philip Schuyler Allen with a frontispiece by Milo Winter 1956 printing from Rand McNally for 10th-Adult in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC) $10.00 (2 in stock)
	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) $14.95
	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) $7.00
	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) $16.99
	Billy Budd and Other Tales Signet Classics by Herman Melville from Signet Classics Realistic Nautical Fiction for 10th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $4.95
	Billy Budd, Sailor, and Other Stories by Herman Melville from Bantam Books Realistic Nautical Fiction for 10th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $4.95
	Black Tulip by Alexandre Dumas from Living Book Press for 10th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $11.99
	Catriona (David Balfour) by Robert Louis Stevenson from Living Book Press for 9th-Adult in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV) $11.95
	David Elginbrod by George MacDonald from CreateSpace for 9th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
	Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott from Bantam Books Historical Fiction for 9th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
	Ivanhoe Signet Classics by Sir Walter Scott from Signet Classics Historical Fiction for 9th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $5.95
	Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott from Dover Publications Historical Fiction for 9th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $5.95
	Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott from International Collectors Library 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) $14.95
	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) $13.00
	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)
	Jack Nastyface Memoirs of an English Seaman by William Robinson from US Naval Institute Press for 10th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $7.00 (1 in stock)
	Kenilworth Penguin Classics by Sir Walter Scott from Penguin Classics Historical Fiction for 9th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
	Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson from Living Book Press Historical Romance for 9th-Adult in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV) $11.99
	Last Castle by George MacDonald, edited for today's reader by Dan Hamilton from Victor Books for 10th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $8.00 (1 in stock)
	Last Cavalier Being the Adventures of Count Sainte-Hermine in the Age of Napoleon by Alexandre Dumas from Pegasus Books Historical Romance for 10th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
	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) $11.99
	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) $20.00
	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) $42.00
	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) $27.00
	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) $9.99
	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) $6.00 (1 in stock)
	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 Signet Classics by Alexandre Dumas from Signet Classics Historical Fiction/Adventure for 10th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $8.95
	Man in the Iron Mask Signet Classics by Alexandre Dumas from International Collectors Library Historical Fiction/Adventure for 10th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
	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) $8.95
	Moby-Dick Signet Classics by Herman Melville from Signet Classics Realistic Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $5.95
	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) $32.00
	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) $16.00
	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)
	Moby-Dick (abridged) International Collector's Library by Herman Melville from International Collectors Library for 10th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
	Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym by Edgar Allan Poe, illustrated by Rene Clarke from Heritage Press for 10th-Adult in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC) $10.00 (1 in stock)
	Prince and the Pauper Signet Classics by Mark Twain from Signet Classics Historical Fiction for 8th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $5.95
	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) $24.95
	Quo Vadis by Henryk Sienkiewicz, translated by Jeremiah Curtin from Dover Publications Historical Fiction for 9th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $14.95
	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)
	Rob Roy Penguin Classics by Sir Walter Scott from Penguin Classics Historical Fiction for 10th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $15.00
	Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens from Ignatius Press for 8th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
	Talisman International Collector's Library by Sir Walter Scott from International Collectors Library for 10th-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 Signet Classics by Alexandre Dumas from Signet Classics Historical Fiction/Adventure for 10th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $8.95
	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 Everyman's Library by Alexandre Dumas from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. for 10th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $32.00
	Three Musketeers Rainbow Classics by Alexandre Dumas, illustrated by C. Walter Hodges from World Publishing Company Historical Fiction/Adventure for 9th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
	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) $9.00 (1 in stock)
	Three Musketeers Easton Press Library by Alexandre Dumas, illustrated by Edy Legrand from Easton Press for 10th-Adult in Leather Bound Collectible Books (Location: VIN-LEA)
	Three Musketeers Reader's Digest World's Best Reading by Alexandre Dumas, illustrated by Rowland Wheelwright 1999 Edition from Reader's Digest for 10th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
	Three Musketeers Macmillan Classics by Alexandre Dumas, illustrated by James Daugherty 2nd Printing, 1923 from Macmillan for 10th-Adult in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
	Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas, illustrated by Valenti Angelo from Three Sirens Press for 10th-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)
	Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas, translator unknown from Barnes & Noble for 10th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $4.00 (1 in stock)
	Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne, illustrated by Milo Winter from Barnes & Noble for 10th-Adult in Science Fiction (Location: FIC-SCI)
	Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne, translated by Philip Schuyler Allen and illustrated by Joseph Ciardiello from Reader's Digest for 10th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
	Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne, translated by Lewis Page Mercier, with essays by Matthew Booth and David Stuart Davis from Worth Press for 10th-Adult in Science Fiction (Location: FIC-SCI)
	Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea Windermere Series 2 (Cover 1) by Jules Verne, translated by Philip Schuyler Allen and illustrated by Milo Winter from Rand McNally for 10th-Adult in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
	Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea Windermere Series 2 (Cover 2) by Jules Verne, translated by Philip Schuyler Allen and illustrated by Milo Winter from Rand McNally for 10th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
	Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea Windermere Series 3 by Jules Verne, translated by Philip Schuyler Allen and illustrated by Milo Winter from Rand McNally for 10th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
	Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea Windermere Series 4 by Jules Verne, translated by Philip Schuyler Allen 1935 Edition from Rand McNally for 10th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
	Twenty Years After Alexandre Dumas Collection #2 by Alexandre Dumas Reissue from Oxford University Historical Fiction/Adventure for 10th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $16.95
	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 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) $8.00 (1 in stock)
	Vicomte de Bragelonne Alexandre Dumas Collection #3 by Alexandre Dumas from Oxford University Historical Fiction/Adventure for 10th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $15.95
	Waverley Penguin Classics by Sir Walter Scott from Penguin Classics Historical Fiction for 10th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $16.00
	Waverly Novels Complete 36-volume set by Sir Walter Scott 1890s edition from P. F. Collier & Son Co. for 11th-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) $10.36
	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) $10.36 $5.20 (1 in stock)
	White Company by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, illustrated by James Daugherty Historical Fiction for 9th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
	Why Read Moby-Dick? by Nathaniel Philbrick Reprint from Penguin Press for 11th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $8.00 (1 in stock)

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