Most college textbooks are disposable, but it makes sense to hang on to these anthologies, as they are endlessly fascinating for dipping into from time to time. I suppose much of what is in this Volume 1 is probably available on Project Gutenberg, but there is something reassuring about having it between two covers. ( )

This is the first volume of a compilation of important and representative selection of American literature from the Colonial Period to the Transcendentalists and other mid-19th century writers. All the usual suspects are here: The Mayflower Compact, a selection from Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography, Thomas Paine's Common Sense, The Declaration of Independence, selections from The Federalist Papers, Washington Irving, James Fenimore Cooper, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, selections from Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin and Frederick Douglass' Narrative, speeches by Abraham Lincoln including the Gettysburg Address, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Edgar Allan Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville and Walt Whitman. What I have is the Sixth Edition dating from 1985. I'm not sure if this is one of my old college texts or just something I picked up on a used bookstore. I can't imagine reading this massive book from cover to cover as an anthology. Including the Index, it's 1,797 papers of almost onion skin paper you can practically see through in eye-sight killing font. There might be better books that suit its purpose, such as The Norton Anthology of American Literature, that are even better choices. This is more a reference book for me than a collection to read through. And considering all the works are in the public domain, well, not much value added. ( )

This is the first volume of an outstanding textbook for American literature. Selections are preceded by essays There is even a short selection from "Native American Heritage." ( )