ANN ARBOR, Mich., May 28, 2003 - Early American Fiction (1789-1875) has grown by 25 years with the addition of dozens of rare early American novels and short stories. The collection is the most comprehensive view of American fiction of the period and the only web-based resource for most of the works. When complete, it will hold more than 750 full-text first editions, all fully searchable. The ProQuest Information and Learning database formerly covered 1789 to 1850. ProQuest Information and Learning is a unit of ProQuest Company (NYSE: PQE).

Works in the collection helped to define American literature and forge a cultural identity for the nation. The source books come from the Special Collections held in the Alderman Library of the University of Virginia. They range from the earliest American novels, such as the rare copy of Susanna Rowson's Charlotte, through Henry James' A Passionate Pilgrim and Other Tales. Other classic works include: Edgar Allen Poe's Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque, Mark Twain's Innocents Abroad, Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom’s Cabin and Herman Melville's Moby Dick.

Users will find high-profile works by major authors alongside rarities by lesser-known figures, 140 authors in all when complete, providing context and historical reference points, and serving growing scholarly interest in the period. Fifteen novels by Mary Jane Holmes are available, including Lena Rivers (1856). The collection holds the first American novel, William Hill Brown's The Power of Sympathy, and the first published novel by an African-American writer, William Wells Brown's Clotelle. The best known female American slave autobiography is included: Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl: Written by Herself  by Harriet Jacobs. Other writers include Bret Harte, Louisa May Alcott, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Washington Irving and Caroline M. Kirkland.

Kirkland (1801-1864) may be less celebrated today than her peers, but the Pinckney, Michigan, housewife's satirical 1839 account of life on the frontier led to a career as a New York writer and editor after Poe gave it a favorable review. It was a fortuitous development as the Kirkland family had been forced to leave Pinckney after being ostracized by the neighbors Kirkland satirized in her essays.

Complete, up-to-date author biographies commissioned for the database and author portraits are included. All works are 99.995% accurate full texts in high resolution preservation-quality color images. All are searchable by keyword, phrase, title, keyword and author. Searches may be limited by gender of the author or publication details of the work, allowing users to trace themes in the work of woman novelists, for example, or the writings of a particular region or period.

The comprehensive table of contents is arranged alphabetically by author and title, accessible for searching and browsing, as well as directly linked to the full-text and images of the works.  In addition to full-text transcription, every page is available as a color facsimile, allowing users to explore the source volumes themselves via illustrations, typography, bindings, design and construction.

Early American Fiction (1789-1875) is available to all institutions that subscribe to Literature Online or as a stand-alone purchase. Free trials are available. Libraries may receive more information by contacting their account representative at 1-800-521-0600, ext. 3183 or 3452 (outside the U.S., call +44-1-223-215-512) or pqsales@il.proquest.com. Editors may call 1-800-521-0600, ext. 6489 or email pr@il.proquest.com.

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