Reviews

Unpublished readers' reports

For forty years (1891-1931), Chesnutt submitted fiction to the Boston publishing firm Houghton Mifflin for possible publication. The readers' reports were, of course, evaluations of the literary merits and commercial prospects of submissions. The original documents, now held at the Houghton library, Harvard University, provide a window into how Chesnutt's fiction was read at the firm. The readers' reports have been all but ignored until very recently. Although Chesnutt interacted with numerous publishers in his career, his ongoing interest in publishing with Houghton Mifflin—despite recurrent rejections—is striking. For an extended analysis of these documents, see Antje Anderson, Stephanie P. Browner, Lauren Millhorn, and Kenneth M. Price, "Houghton Mifflin Readers' Reports and the Shape of Charles W. Chesnutt's Literary Career," New England Quarterly 98, no. 4 (December 2025), 490-532.

Readers' reports

Published contemporary reviews of Chesnutt's works

The following section offers the most complete collection of contemporary reviews of Chesnutt to be found anywhere. We will supplement this collection further as more reviews are located, and we are grateful when users alert us to missing items.

During his lifetime, Chesnutt's works earned publication notices and reviews in a wide variety of newspapers and magazines. Our collection includes reviews published in city newspapers, regional magazines, and national outlets. The collection includes materials from the Black press as well as the White press.

In the late 1990s John M. Freiermuth, then a graduate student in the Department of English, University of North Carolina, Greensboro, collected a large batch of reviews and offered them to project co-editor Stephanie Browner for use on the initial version of the Chesnutt Archive. Since then many more reviews have been located thanks to the increasing availability of historic periodicals through online databases. Samantha Gilmore of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln has led the effort to discover and document more reviews, an effort that has vastly increased our ability to study Chesnutt’s early reception.

You can find reviews for specific Chesnutt works here, or browse all reviews below.

Pagination

312 results

[Review of The Colonel's Dream]

  • Date:
    • January 13, 1906
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • THE ATHENÆUM

[Review of The Colonel's Dream]

  • Date:
    • October 11, 1906
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • Life

[Review of The Colonel's Dream

  • Date:
    • November 21, 1905
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • Boston Evening Transcript

[Review of The Colonel's Dream]

  • Date:
    • Sepember 30, 1905
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Chicago Evening Post

[Review of The House Behind the Cedars]

  • Date:
    • November 25, 1900
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Worcester Spy

[Review of The Colonel's Dream

  • Date:
    • September 30, 1905
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Outlook

[Review of The Colonel's Dream]

  • Date:
    • October 5, 1905
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Independent

[Review of The House Behind the Cedars]

  • Date:
    • November 28, 1900
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • Zion's Herald

The Conjure Woman, a Book to be Read

  • Date:
    • April 9, 1899
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Plain Dealer Sunday Magazine

[Review of The Conjure Woman]

  • Date:
    • April 1, 1899
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Cambridge Tribune

A New Afro-American Humorist

  • Date:
    • March 31, 1899
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Philadelphia Record

[Review of The Conjure Woman]

  • Date:
    • April 3, 1899
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Nebraska State Journal

[Review of The Conjure Woman]

  • Date:
    • April 30, 1899
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • San Francisco Chronicle

"The Conjure Woman"

  • Date:
    • April 29, 1899
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The St. Paul Dispatch

"The Conjure Woman—Truth is Stranger than Fiction"

  • Date:
    • April 30, 1899
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The News and Observer

"The Conjure Woman"

  • Date:
    • Apr. 15, 1899
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • Boston Beacon

"The Conjure Woman"

  • Date:
    • April 23, 1899
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The St. Paul Globe

Hoodooed

  • Date:
    • April 15, 1899
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Baltimore Sun

[Review of The Conjure Woman]

  • Date:
    • April 15, 1899
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • Outlook

[Review of The Conjure Woman]

  • Date:
    • October 1898
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Bookman

A Difficult Theme

  • Date:
    • November 21, 1900
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • Boston Journal

An Issue in the Race Problem

  • Date:
    • November 11, 1900
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • Detroit Free Press

[Review of Frederick Douglass]

  • Date:
    • Dec. 24, 1899
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Springfield Sunday Republican

Two Americans

  • Date:
    • December 24, 1899
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Providence Sunday Journal

[Review of Frederick Douglass]

  • Date:
    • December 16, 1899
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • Time and the Hour

[Review of Frederick Douglass]

  • Date:
    • January 4, 1900
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • City and State

[Review of Frederick Douglass]

  • Date:
    • December 9, 1899
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Buffalo Enquirer

[Review of Frederick Douglass]

  • Date:
    • December 10, 1899
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Illustrated Buffalo Express

Another Beacon Biography

  • Date:
    • December 25, 1899
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Chicago Chronicle

[Review of Frederick Douglass]

  • Date:
    • January 6, 1900
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Chicago Record

[Review of Frederick Douglass]

  • Date:
    • December 16, 1899
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

[Review of Frederick Douglass]

  • Date:
    • March 1900
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • Book Reviews

[Review of Frederick Douglass]

  • Date:
    • February 1900
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • Book Reviews

[Review of Frederick Douglass]

  • Date:
    • January, 1900
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The American Monthly Review of Reviews

[Review of Frederick Douglass]

  • Date:
    • March 1900
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • Cram's Magazine

[Review of Frederick Douglass]

  • Date:
    • February 3, 1900
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Churchman

Life of Frederick Douglass

  • Date:
    • December 10, 1899
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Denver Republican

[Review of Frederick Douglass]

  • Date:
    • March 15, 1900
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Christian Endeavor World

[Review of Frederick Douglass]

  • Date:
    • December 19, 1899
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Washington Times

The New Books by Mr. Chesnutt

  • Date:
    • December 15, 1899
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Index

[Review of Frederick Douglass]

  • Date:
    • April 1900
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Critic

[Review of Frederick Douglass]

  • Date:
    • December 30, 1899
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Living Age

Biography in miniature

  • Date:
    • February 1, 1900
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Dial

[Review of Frederick Douglass]

  • Date:
    • January 27, 1900
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Colored American

[Review of Frederick Douglass]

  • Date:
    • December 30, 1899
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Outlook

[Review of Frederick Douglass]

  • Date:
    • February 3, 1900
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Standard Union

American Biographies for Busy Men

  • Date:
    • December 17, 1899
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • Los Angeles Times

[Review of The House Behind the Cedars]

  • Date:
    • December 12, 1900
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • New York Press

An Unfortunate Heroine

  • Date:
    • December 15, 1900
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • New York Times Saturday Review of Books and Art

[Review of The House Behind the Cedars]

  • Date:
    • December 13, 1900
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • Public Ledger

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