MATTHEWS, ALBERT. Early Plays at Harvard. _Nation_, Vol. LXXXVIII, p. 295. 1909. NEIDIG, W. J. The First Play in America. _Nation_, Vol. LXXXVIII, p. 86. 1909. QUINN, ARTHUR H. The Early Drama, 1756-1860. Cambridge History of American Literature, Vol. I, Bk. II, chap. ii. TOPICS AND PROBLEMS The best available sources of material are the collection of A. H. Quinn, which contains three of the plays mentioned in detail, and the first volume of the collection of M. J. Moses, which contains all four, and a half dozen more from the early period. * * * * * There is no need of suggesting specific topics in connection with the different plays. Each one may be read with reference to its story content--the kind of plot, of characters, of scenes, of episodes--or with reference to the skill with which it was written--the construction, the characterization, the supply of motives for action, the dialogue, the prose or verse style--or with reference to the personality of the author and the "signs of the times"--the purpose of the play, the moral, intellectual, and æsthetic character and prejudices of the author. * * * * * If the student is working toward a report--written or oral--he will arrive at a satisfactory result only as he limits himself to one very definite subdivision and presents his findings in detail. CHAPTER VIII CHARLES BROCKDEN BROWN The first professional man of letters in America, and the last of note who was born before the Revolution, was Charles Brockden Brown. His short life, from 1771 to 1810, was almost exactly contemporary with the productive middle half of Freneau's long career. That he earned his living by his pen is a matter of incidental interest in American literary history; the more important facts are that he looms large in the chronicles of the American novel and that he was a factor in the development of the American periodical.