A History of American Literature — Reading Notes

Boynton’s Selective Method and Its Evidence

The preface explicitly subordinates minor authors to focus on 'major writers or groups' and 'one or two cardinal works by each.' This is not a neutral survey but a curated argument about intellectual history. In the Longfellow section, Boynton does not list all poems but dwells on a few—'Excelsior,' 'The Bridge,' 'Seaweed'—to demonstrate the poet's blending of native and foreign material. He quotes Longfellow's letter about 'the national ballad' being 'a virgin soil here in New England,' then immediately notes that the poet's collection 'Ballads and Other Poems' was 'crowded by the introduction of poems from the German and Swedish and Danish.' The method is to let primary sources—letters, poems, publication details—carry the interpretive weight.

The Longfellow Case: National vs. European Impulses

Boynton devotes considerable space to Longfellow's vacillation between American themes and European influences. He cites a letter where Longfellow writes, 'A national literature is the expression of national character and thought; and as our character and modes of thought do not differ essentially from those of England, our literature cannot.' Boynton then contrasts this with Longfellow's earlier enthusiasm for native ballads. The analysis of 'The Bridge' is particularly precise: Boynton notes the bridge 'over the Charles River between Boston and Cambridge' is authentically American, yet the simile of moonlight as 'a golden goblet falling and sinking into the sea' alludes to Schiller's 'König von Thule.' This close reading supports Boynton's broader claim that Longfellow's work represents a 'representative combination of native and foreign material.'

Chronological Charts and Pedagogical Apparatus

The book includes three chronological graphs (at pages 90, 413, and 486) and two maps, as noted in the front matter. These visual aids are part of a pedagogical design that also includes chapter-end 'topics and problems for study' and book lists summarizing each author's output, available editions, and critical material. The appendix characterizes 'the American periodicals which have been most significant in stimulating American authorship.' This apparatus suggests the book was intended for classroom use, aligning with Boynton's position at the University of Chicago. The preface thanks 'the many university classes who have stimulated its preparation,' reinforcing that the work is shaped by an academic context.

Readers should approach Boynton's history as an argument rather than an encyclopedia. His selection of authors and works is driven by a thesis about American intellectual development, and his use of letters and close reading is meant to support that thesis. The pedagogical features—charts, study topics, bibliographies—are integral to the book's design, not afterthoughts. For a full understanding, one should examine how Boynton applies his method to other authors beyond Longfellow, and whether his selective approach holds up across the entire span of American literature.

Reading Boynton’s account of Longfellow turning from native ballads to foreign sources, I recalled sitting with my grandfather’s old anthology, tracing the same hesitation in myself—wanting to write of home, yet reaching for distant voices. The Unbearable Bassington — Themes and Context stirred that same ache, the quiet pull between belonging and escape, unresolved. Both left me simply sitting, remembering.