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Unpublished readers' reports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 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 29, 1900
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • Friends' Intelligencer

Charles W. Chesnutt's Books

  • Date:
    • February 1, 1902
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Appeal

New Novels

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

[Review of The House Behind the Cedars]

  • Date:
    • March 7, 1901
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Advance

[Review of The House Behind the Cedars]

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

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

[Review of The House Behind the Cedars]

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

[Review of The Conjure Woman]

  • Date:
    • June 1899
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Book Buyer

[Review of The Conjure Woman]

  • Date:
    • June 1899
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Bookman

[Review of The Conjure Woman]

  • Date:
    • June 24, 1899
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Literary World

[Review of The Conjure Woman]

  • Date:
    • April 27, 1899
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Interior

Plantation Tales

  • Date:
    • April 9, 1899
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Morning Times

[Review of The Conjure Woman]

  • Date:
    • April 24, 1899
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Indianapolis Journal

[Review of The Conjure Woman]

  • Date:
    • April 10, 1899
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Portland Daily Advertiser

[Review of The Conjure Woman]

  • Date:
    • September 10, 1899
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Sunday Times-Union and Citizen

[Review of The Conjure Woman]

  • Date:
    • July 1899
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Critic

Two New Books by Charles W. Chesnutt

  • Date:
    • December 10, 1899
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Plain Dealer Sunday Magazine

[Review of The Conjure Woman]

  • Date:
    • April 23, 1899
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Nashville American

[Review of The Conjure Woman]

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

[Review of The Conjure Woman]

  • Date:
    • April 1929
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Crisis

Among the Superstitious

  • Date:
    • August 1899
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • Current Literature

[Review of The Conjure Woman]

  • Date:
    • May 11, 1899
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Christian Register

Some Recent Light Novels

  • Date:
    • April 2, 1899
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • Philadelphia Times

[Review of The Conjure Woman]

  • Date:
    • April 10, 1899
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Cincinnati Times-Star

[Review of The Conjure Woman]

  • Date:
    • May 1899
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Southern Workman

[Review of The Conjure Woman]

  • Date:
    • June 1, 1899
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Nation

[Review of The Conjure Woman]

  • Date:
    • 4 May 1899
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • Public Ledger

[Review of The Conjure Woman]

  • Date:
    • June 10, 1899
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Evening Express

[Review of The Conjure Woman]

  • Date:
    • June 12, 1899
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Daily Inter Ocean

[Review of The Conjure Woman]

  • Date:
    • April 10, 1899
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Daily Inter Ocean

"The Conjure Woman"

  • Date:
    • June 20, 1899
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Commercial Advertiser

[Review of The Conjure Woman]

  • Date:
    • July 9, 1899
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • St. Louis Democrat

[Mr. Charles W. Chesnutt]

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

[Review of The Conjure Woman]

  • Date:
    • Apr. 30, 1899
  • Creator(s):
    • Anon.
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Springfield Sunday Republican

Conjure Woman Reviews

  • Date:
    • April 15, 1899
  • Creator(s):
    • Anon.
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • New York Times

Mr. Charles W. Chestnut, Esq.

  • Date:
    • July 15, 1899
  • Creator(s):
    • Anon.
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The [Cleveland] Gazette

[Review of The Marrow of Tradition]

  • Date:
    • January 18, 1902
  • Creator(s):
    • Alexander, Charles
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Freeman

[Review of The Marrow of Tradition]

  • Date:
    • May 23, 1903
  • Creator(s):
    • Alexander, Charles
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Cleveland Journal

[Review of The Marrow of Tradition]

  • Date:
    • August 22, 1903
  • Creator(s):
    • Alexander, Charles
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Cleveland Journal

[Review of Frederick Douglass]

  • Date:
    • October 26, 1901
  • Creator(s):
    • Alexander, Charles
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Freeman

"The Conjure Woman," Etc.

  • Date:
    • April 22, 1899
  • Creator(s):
    • Alexander, Charles
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Freeman

[Review of The Wife of His Youth]

  • Date:
    • February 1900
  • Creator(s):
    • A. M. B.
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Southern Workman

[Review of The House Behind the Cedars]

  • Date:
    • December 1900
  • Creator(s):
    • A. E. H.
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • Chautauquan

[Review of The Wife of His Youth]

  • Date:
    • December 24, 1899
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Cleveland Leader

[Review of The Wife of His Youth]

  • Date:
    • November 14, 1899
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Evening Express

[Review of Frederick Douglass]

  • Date:
    • January 13, 1900
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • New York Times Book Review

[Review of Frederick Douglass]

  • Date:
    • January 18, 1900
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • Book News

Race Problems in the South, The Argonaut, May 5, 1902

  • Date:
    • May 5, 1902
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Argonaut

Bottom Pagination