The false values of city life found in fashionable New York social circles are contrasted unfavorably with the agrarian utopia of Clarenceville, New York.

"Clarence; or, A Tale of Our Own Times" is a 1830 novel of manners by Catharine Maria Sedgwick. Set in New York City, the narrative follows the travails of a young heiress called Gertrude Clarence arriving on the city's marriage market. The novel provides a rich and authentic insight into American domestic life, full of ingenuity and vibrancy. Catharine Maria Sedgwick (1789 - 1867) was an American novelist and prominent supporter of Republican motherhood whose work is frequently referred to as "domestic fiction". Other notable works by this author include: "Hope Leslie" (1827), "The Linwoods" (1835), "Live and Let Live" (1837). Many vintage books such as this are becoming increasingly scarce and expensive. It is with this in mind that we are republishing this volume now in an affordable, high-quality edition for the enjoyment of modern readers.

The American literary canon has undergone revision and expansion in recent years, and our notions of the 19th-century renaissance have been reevaluated. Mainstream anthologies have been revised to reflect the expanding literary canon, yet resources for readers have remained widely scattered. This book expands earlier definitions of the 19th-century American Renaissance as represented by canonical writers such as Emerson and Poe, covering writers who published popular fiction and dominated the literary marketplace of the day. Included is generous coverage of women writers and writers of color. The volume provides alphabetically arranged entries for more than 70 writers of the period, including Louisa May Alcott, Emily Dickinson, Frederick Douglass, Margaret Fuller, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Henry David Thoreau, Walt Whitman, and many more. Each entry was written by an expert contributor and includes a brief biography, a discussion of major works and themes, a survey of the writer's critical reception, and primary and secondary bibliographies.