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Unpublished readers' reports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

One of the Leading Novelists of the Race

  • Date:
    • December 4, 1901
  • Creator(s):
    • Wright, John Livingston
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • Colored American Magazine

[Review of The Wife of His Youth]

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

[Review of The Marrow of Tradition]

  • Date:
    • November 1, 1901
  • Creator(s):
    • W. W. H.
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • Modern Culture

[Review of The Marrow of Tradition]

  • Date:
    • January 12, 1902
  • Creator(s):
    • von Ende, Von A.
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • Sonntagsblatt der New-Yorker Staats-Zeitung

Mr. Chesnutt at Work

  • Date:
    • September 4, 1901
  • Creator(s):
    • Thrasher, Max Bennett
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • Boston Evening Transcript

Lewis-Addams Urge 'Jim-Crow Y.'

  • Date:
    • November 17, 1928
  • Creator(s):
    • Smith, Harry C.
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Gazette

The Author of "The Conjure Woman," Charles W. Chesnutt

  • Date:
    • July 1899
  • Creator(s):
    • Shipman, Carolyn
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Critic

Answers Thomas Dixon

  • Date:
    • October 28, 1905
  • Creator(s):
    • Seibel, George
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Pittsburgh Gazette

[Review of The Conjure Woman]

  • Date:
    • May 7, 1899
  • Creator(s):
    • Sanborn, Annie W.
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Daily Pioneer Press

[Review of The Wife of His Youth]

  • Date:
    • January 27, 1900
  • Creator(s):
    • Neidig, William J.
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Wave

[Review of The Conjure Woman]

  • Date:
    • June 1899
  • Creator(s):
    • Morgan, Florence A. H.
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Bookman

Achievements of the Negro Race

  • Date:
    • September 29, 1905
  • Creator(s):
    • Miller, Kelly
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • Voice of the Negro

[Review of The Conjure Woman]

  • Date:
    • July 1, 1899
  • Creator(s):
    • MacArthur, James
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • Outlook

Two New Novelists

  • Date:
    • February 24, 1900
  • Creator(s):
    • Mabie, Hamilton Wright
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Outlook

[Review of The Marrow of Tradition]

  • Date:
    • November 16, 1901
  • Creator(s):
    • Mabie, Hamilton Wright
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Outlook

[Review of The Conjure Woman]

  • Date:
    • April 21, 1899
  • Creator(s):
    • M. L. D.
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • City and State

[Review of Frederick Douglass]

  • Date:
    • January 29, 1900
  • Creator(s):
    • Langhorne, Orra
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • Southern Workman

Negro Authors and Professionals

  • Date:
    • August 12, 1899
  • Creator(s):
    • Landon
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • New York Evening Post

[Review of The Conjure Woman]

  • Date:
    • April 9, 1899
  • Creator(s):
    • Knight, Lucien L.
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Constitution

[Review of The Conjure Woman]

  • Date:
    • May, 1929
  • Creator(s):
    • J. B. H.Hubbell, Jay B.
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • American Literature

A New Delineator of Southern Life

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

Charles W. Chesnutt's Stories

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

An Exemplary Citizen

  • Date:
    • August 1901
  • Creator(s):
    • Howells, William Dean
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The North American Review

Stories of Negro Superstitions

  • Date:
    • June 26, 1899
  • Creator(s):
    • Hart, J. A.
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Argonaut

[Review of Frederick Douglass]

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

Mr. Chesnutt's New Book and Some Others

  • Date:
    • December 16, 1899
  • Creator(s):
    • Hanscom, Alice E.
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • Town Topics

Mr. Chesnutt's New Book and Some Others

  • Date:
    • December 16, 1899
  • Creator(s):
    • Hanscom, Alice E.
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • Town Topics

[Review of The Marrow of Tradition]

  • Date:
    • January 26, 1902
  • Creator(s):
    • Hahn, Charles Curtz
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • Sunday World-Herald

[Review of The Wife of His Youh]

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

[Review of The Conjure Woman]

  • Date:
    • June 1899
  • Creator(s):
    • Earle, Mary Tracey
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • Book Buyer

[Obituary, Charles Waddell Chesnutt]

  • Date:
    • January 1933
  • Creator(s):
    • Du Bois, W. E. B.
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Crisis

Mencken

  • Date:
    • October 1927
  • Creator(s):
    • Du Bois, W. E. B.
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Crisis

Du Bose Heyward's "Mamba's Daughter's" and Republication of Chesnutt's "The Conjure Woman" Makes This "Negro Literature Week"

  • Date:
    • February 2, 1929
  • Creator(s):
    • Davis, Elrick B.
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • Cleveland Press

Chesnutt's Latest Story

  • Date:
    • October 15, 1905
  • Creator(s):
    • Daniels, John
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • Alexander's Magazine

The Colonel's Dream

  • Date:
    • December 1905
  • Creator(s):
    • Daniels, John
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • Alexander's Magazine

The Late Frederick Douglass

  • Date:
    • December 22, 1899
  • Creator(s):
    • Dall, Caroline Healy
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Springfield Daily Republican

A Southern Problem

  • Date:
    • June15, 1901
  • Creator(s):
    • Crawford, John N.
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • Chicago Journal

The Negro as Writer

  • Date:
    • February 1930
  • Creator(s):
    • Chamberlain, John
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Bookman

A New Element in Fiction

  • Date:
    • August 1901
  • Creator(s):
    • Cary, Elisabeth L.
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Book Buyer

[Review of The Conjure Woman]

  • Date:
    • November 25, 1899
  • Creator(s):
    • Bruce, John E.
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Colored American

In Memorium: Charles W. Chesnutt

  • Date:
    • December 1932
  • Creator(s):
    • Brown, Sterling A.
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • Opportunity: Journal of Negro Life

Review of Charles W. Chesnutt's Latest Book with a Brief Appreciation of his Character

  • Date:
    • December 9, 1905
  • Creator(s):
    • Brascher, Nahum D.
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • Cleveland Journal

An Aboriginal Author

  • Date:
    • August 23, 1899
  • Creator(s):
    • Bouve, Pauline C.
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • Boston Evening Transcript

Three American Novels

  • Date:
    • October 29, 1905
  • Creator(s):
    • Bettany, F. G.
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • Sunday Times and Sunday Special

The Colonel's Dream

  • Date:
    • March 1906
  • Creator(s):
    • B. J. R.
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • Book News

[Review of The Wife of His Youth]

  • Date:
    • December 17, 1899
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Illustrated Buffalo Express

[Review of The Wife of His Youth]

  • Date:
    • December 16, 1899
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The St. Louis Globe-Democrat

[Review of The Wife of His Youth]

  • Date:
    • February 2,1900
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Cleveland World

[Review of The Wife of His Youth]

  • Date:
    • January 21, 1900
  • Creator(s):
    • Anonymous
  • Format:
    • periodical
  • Source:
    • The Boston Courier

[Review of The Wife of His Youth]

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

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