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Unpublished readers' reports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 Wife of His Youth]

  • Date:
    • March 1, 1900
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Congregationalist

[Review of The Wife of His Youth]

  • Date:
    • March 12, 1900
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Argonaut

[Review of Frederick Douglass]

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

[Review of The Wife of His Youh]

  • Date:
    • March 17, 1900
  • Creator(s):
    • Gilder, Jeannette L.
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • Harper's Bazaar

[Review of Frederick Douglass]

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

[Review of Frederick Douglass]

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

[Review of The Wife of His Youth]

  • Date:
    • April 12, 1900
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Christian Endeavor World

[Review of Frederick Douglass]

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

[Review of The Wife of His Youth]

  • Date:
    • June 1900
  • Creator(s):
    • Wells, Benjamin W.
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Forum.

Charles W. Chesnutt's Stories

  • Date:
    • June 1900
  • Creator(s):
    • Howells, William Dean
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • Current Literature

A Year's Best Books

  • Date:
    • June 30, 1900
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • New York Times Review of Books

[Review of The Wife of His Youth]

  • Date:
    • July 14, 1900
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Colored American

[Review of The Wife of His Youth]

  • Date:
    • July 21, 1900
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Courier–Journal

A New Delineator of Southern Life

  • Date:
    • July 1900
  • Creator(s):
    • Hudson, William
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • Self Culture Magazine

[Review of The Wife of His Youth]

  • Date:
    • August 1900
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Methodist Magazine and Review

[Review of The Conjure Woman]

  • Date:
    • September 1900
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Independent

Short-Hand in North Carolina

  • Date:
    • October 27, 1900
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • Charlotte Observer

[Mr. Charles W. Chesnutt]

  • Date:
    • October 29, 1900
  • Creator(s):
    • Anon.
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • Current Literature

Charles W. Chesnutt's Color Line Novel, "The House Behind the Cedars"

  • Date:
    • October 31, 1900
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • Boston Evening Transcript

Race Problem in a Novel

  • Date:
    • November 10, 1900
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Chicago Daily Tribune

An Issue in the Race Problem

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

The Mixture of Blood

  • Date:
    • November 11, 1900
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Denver Times

New Novels

  • Date:
    • November 11, 1900
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Illustrated Buffalo Express

A Story of Love and Race Prejudice

  • Date:
    • November 16, 1900
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Philadelphia Record

[Review of The Wife of His Youth]

  • Date:
    • November 17, 1900
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Colored American

[Review of The House Behind the Cedars]

  • Date:
    • November 18, 1900
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Providence Sunday Journal

A Difficult Theme

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

[Review of The House Behind the Cedars]

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

The House Behind the Cedars

  • Date:
    • 25 Nov 1900
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Bulletin

[Review of The House Behind the Cedars]

  • Date:
    • November 27, 1900
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • Peoria Evening Star

[Review of The House Behind the Cedars]

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

[Review of Frederick Douglass]

  • Date:
    • November 1900
  • Creator(s):
    • Hapgood, Hutchins
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • Bookman

[Review of The House Behind the Cedars]

  • Date:
    • December 1, 1900
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Chicago Banker

[Review of The House Behind the Cedars]

  • Date:
    • December 1, 1900
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Congregationalist

[Review of The House Behind the Cedars]

  • Date:
    • December 1, 1900
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Living Age

[Review of The House Behind the Cedars]

  • Date:
    • December 1, 1900
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Churchman

A Negro's Book

  • Date:
    • December 2, 1900
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Pittsburg Post

[Review of The House Behind the Cedars]

  • Date:
    • December 4, 1900
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • Lowell Daily Courier

[Review of The House Behind the Cedars]

  • Date:
    • December 4, 1900
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Holyoke Daily Transcript

In the Realm of Fiction

  • Date:
    • December 6, 1900
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Watchman

[Review of The Wife of His Youth]

  • Date:
    • December 8, 1900
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Congregationalist

[Review of The House Behind the Cedars]

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

[Review of The House Behind the Cedars]

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

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 22, 1900
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Wave

Our Review Table

  • Date:
    • December 22, 1900
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Tuskegee Student

[Review of The House Behind the Cedars]

  • Date:
    • December 22, 1900
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Freeman

[Review of The House Behind the Cedars Reviews]

  • Date:
    • December 25, 1900
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Leavenworth Times

The House Behind the Cedars

  • Date:
    • December 29, 1900
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • Boston Courier

[Review of The House Behind the Cedars]

  • Date:
    • December 29, 1900
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • Friends' Intelligencer

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