Charles Brockden Brown

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Charles Brockden Brown (January 17, 1771 – February 22, 1810) was an American novelist, historian, and editor of the Early National period.

Brown is regarded by some scholars as the most important American novelist before James Fenimore Cooper. Although Brown was not the first American novelist, as some early criticism claimed, the breadth and complexity of his achievement as a writer in multiple genres (novels, short stories, essays and periodical writings, poetry, historiography, and reviews) makes him a crucial figure in literature of the early Republic. His best-known works include ''Wieland'' and ''Edgar Huntly'', both of which display his characteristic interest in Gothic themes. He has been referred to as the "Father of the American Novel."