| Book Review | The American Historical Review, 105.5

You have not been recognized as a subscriber to the AHR online. About 193 words from this article are provided below; about 469 words remain.

If you are a individual member of the American Historical Association, you may:: • login here if you have already registered for online access.; • Or if you're already logged in register your subscription.
• Set up your online account for the first time. AHA members can go to the AHA individual membership section to locate their member numbers.
If you are not a member of the American Historical Association, you can:: • Join the AHA and receive many member benefits including print and electronic issues of the American Historical Review.
• Purchase a research pass to gain two hour access to the entire History Cooperative web site. You will have full access to current issues of the American Historical Review (104.3-present). Note: the Research Pass does not provide access to JSTOR's holdings of the American Historical Review.
Instititutions can:: • Subscribe to this journal and receive print and electronic issues.
• Activate your existing subscription so that we recognize your IP number ranges.

| Book Review | The American Historical Review, 105.5 | The History Cooperative

Book Review

Canada and the United States

Gilman M. Ostrander. Republic of Letters: The American Intellectual Community, 1776–1865. Madison, Wis.: Madison House. 1999. Pp. xvi, 379. $35.95.

This posthumously published work by the intellectual historian Gilman M. Ostrander provides a readable survey of the development of intellectual elites in America between the revolutionary era and the Civil War. Providing both anecdotal and statistical evidence for the rise of literary and intellectual institutions—and the numerous figures who both shaped and were shaped by them—Ostrander surveys the growth of American colleges, which trained students "for membership in an immortal Republic of Letters that encompassed men of learning in all civilized societies" (p. 13). The book then covers the rise of belletristic writing and the growth of cultural institutions (e.g., publishing houses, newspapers, journals, social and literary associations like Joseph Dennie's Tuesday Club or Boston's elitist Saturday Club, collegiate societies, academic networks, and political groups) in Philadelphia, New York City, "Brahmin" Boston, and the South. Indeed, the book's provincial structure reflects Ostrander's sense that by the mid-nineteenth century, America was culturally a "parochial confederation" (p. 44) united only by the liberal arts college. . . .

There are about 469 more words in this article. Please log in (or, if you are not yet an authorized user, please go to the User Setup page) to gain full access rights. Or if you're already logged in register your subscription.