Transatlantic Romanticism : British and American Art and Literature, 1790-1860

"That the Romantic movement was an international phenomenon is a commonplace, yet to date, historical study of the movement has tended to focus primarily on its national manifestations. This volume offers a new perspective. In thirteen chapters devoted to artists and writers of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, leading scholars of the period examine the international exchanges that were crucial for the rise of Romanticism in England and the United States. In the book's introduction, Andrew Hemingway--building on the theoretical work of Michael Lowy and Robert Sayre--proposes that we need to remobilize the concept of Weltanschauung, or comprehensive worldview, in order to develop the kind of synthetic history of arts and ideas the phenomenon of Romanticism demands. The essays that follow focus on the London and New York art worlds and such key figures as Benjamin West, Thomas Bewick, John Vanderlyn, Washington Allston, John Martin, J.M.W. Turner, Thomas Cole, James Fenimore Cooper, George Catlin, Edgar Allan Poe, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and Herman Melville. Taken together, these essays plot the rise of a romantic anti-capitalist Weltanschauung as well as the dialectic between Romanticism's national and international manifestations."--Publisher's description. Read more... That the Romantic movement was an international phenomenon is a commonplace, yet to date, historical study of the movement has tended to focus primarily on its national manifestations. This volume offers a new perspective. In thirteen chapters devoted to artists and writers of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, leading scholars of the period examine the international exchanges that were crucial for the rise of Romanticism in England and the United States. In the book's introduction, Andrew Hemingway -- building on the theoretical work of Michael Lowy and Robert Sayre -- proposes that we need to remobilize the concept of Weltanschauung, or comprehensive worldview, in order to develop the kind of synthetic history of arts and ideas the phenomenon of Romanticism demands. The essays that follow focus on the London and New York art worlds and such key figures as Benjamin West, Thomas Bewick, John Vanderlyn, Washington Allston, John Martin, J. M. W. Turner, Thomas Cole, James Fenimore Cooper, George Catlin, Edgar Allan Poe, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and Herman Melville. Taken together, these essays plot the rise of a romantic anti-capitalist Weltanschauung as well as the dialectic between Romanticism's national and international manifestations. In addition to the volume editors, contributors include Matthew Beaumont, David Bindman, Leo Costello, Nicholas Grindle, Wayne Franklin, Janet Koenig, William Pressly, Robert Sayre, William Truettner, Dell Upton, and William Vaughan. Introduction : capitalism, nationalism, and the romantic Weltanschauung / Andrew Hemingway -- The city. "The pit of modern art" : practice and ambition in the London art world / William Vaughan -- The urban ecology of art in Antebellum New York / Dell Upton -- Urban convalescence in Lamb, Poe, and Baudelaire / Matthew Beaumont -- History. Sublime and fall : Benjamin West and the politics of the sublime in early nineteenth-century Marylebone / Nicholas Grindle -- Benjamin West's royal chapel at Windsor : who's in charge, the patron or the painter? / William Pressly -- The politics of style : Allston's and Martin's Belshazzars / Andrew Hemingway -- James Fenimore Cooper and American artists in Europe : art, religion, politics / Wayne Franklin -- Landscape. John Martin, Thomas Cole, and deep time / David Bindman -- "Gorgeous, but altogether false" : Turner, Cole, and transatlantic ideas of decline / Leo Costello -- Thomas Cole and transatlantic romanticism / Alan Wallach -- Race. Picturing the murder of Jane McCrea : a critical moment in transatlantic romanticism / William H. Truettner -- The romantic Indian commodified : text and image in George Catlin's Letters and notes (1841) / Robert Woods Sayre -- Romantic racialism and the antislavery novels of Stowe, Hildreth, and Melville / Janet Koenig. Cover 1 Title Page 5 Copyright 6 Contents 7 Acknowledgments 9 Introduction: Capitalism, Nationalism, and the Romantic Weltanschauung 13 I. The City 39 1. “The pit of modern art”: Practice and Ambition in the London Art World 41 2. The Urban Ecology of Art in Antebellum New York 61 3. Urban Convalescence in Lamb, Poe, and Baudelaire 79 II. History 93 4. Sublime and Fall: Benjamin West and the Politics of the Sublime in Early Nineteenth-Century Marylebone 95 5. Benjamin West’s Royal Chapel at Windsor: Who’s in Charge, the Patron or the Painter? 114 6. The Politics of Style: Allston’s and Martin’s Belshazzars Compared 134 7. James Fenimore Cooper and American Artists in Europe: Art, Religion, Politics 156 III. Landscape 181 8. John Martin, Thomas Cole, and Deep Time 183 9. “Gorgeous, but altogether false”: Turner, Cole, and Transatlantic Ideas of Decline 211 10. Thomas Cole and Transatlantic Romanticism 234 IV. Race 255 11. Picturing the Murder of Jane McCrea: A Critical Moment in Transatlantic Romanticism 257 12. The Romantic Indian Commodified: Text and Image in George Catlin’s Letters and Notes (1841) 287 13. Romantic Racialism and the Antislavery Novels of Stowe, Hildreth, and Melville 313 Notes on Contributors 339 Index 343 Color Plates 195 About the Authors 355 Back Cover 356