By Robert W. Morrell

Freethought In The United States, A Descriptive Bibliography. By Marshall G. Brown and Gordon Stein. Greenwood Press, Westport and London. 

Even among the students of social movements there is a wide measure of ignorance as to the extent and influence of the Freethought movement particularly in the second half of the 19th century. This ignorance arises, I suspect, from the fact that few libraries hold extensive collections of freethought material. The reason for this is not too difficult to understand, for freethought was essentially an artisan or working-class movement; it was highly controversial, and many booksellers would not stock and sell its literature. Publications tended to be sold at meetings, indoor and outdoor, and was essentially of a use variety in that it was read with great attention. Many free-thinkers built up good libraries, but most such collections were disposed of by their families; sons and daughters often held their parents’ views but lacked their enthusiasm for “the cause.” 

There is another reason why freethought publications were not publicly collected, they were, and are, highly controversial. The various religious sects dominated education, particularly higher education at university level. The freethought publications advanced arguments that the religious found, and find, very difficult if not impossible to answer. In many cases though their authors did not have degrees after their names and could be ordinary working folk, they presented careful and scholarly arguments which stood out to the core of elaborate but essentially rubbish theology. Many of the old freethought works still present arguments which apply with the old force against current religious superstitions, and so the religious who controlled education – even in places like the United States where religion was not officially established – sought to prevent such literature circulating and through being held in libraries made available to those who might not make any effort to attend freethought gatherings. 

The neglect of collecting has led to a neglect of recording, and so a field full of promise has in large measure been ignored by possible collectors and bibliographers. This new book, then, while not being the first of its sort, is certainly the most comprehensive to have appeared as yet. It is sectionalised by date progression in chapters, each chapter being prefaced by a short but very detailed and scholarly introduction. Over 542 titles are described, for the most part listings being given in the form of author, title, publisher and date of the first edition, when known. The difficulties such a compilation presented to the authors can only really be appreciated by someone who has sought to collect freethought. 

There is an appendix on ethnic freethought in the United States, an area which is certain to repay further study, another on Canadian freethought„ yet another on theses and dissertations, and one on Freethought Collections in American libraries, There are title, name and subject indexes. This is an invaluable book – Paine collectors will find much in it of interest, but not the Catalogue of the Gimbel collection (this has enough freethought in it to justify its inclusion – the collection is mentioned in the appendix on freethought collections in American libraries). 

This work, as its title indicates, is restricted to United States freethought, though it does take an excursion into Canada. One of the authors, Dr. Stein is now working on a similar volume devoted to British Freethought„ a much needed work. When completed it will join this volume as an invaluable tool for all interested in freethought. Freethought in the United States is a book which should be in all libraries which cater for social and political studies – and theology, while those who have an urge to collect will find it a splendid introduction to a much neglected field (many titles have their British counterparts). Finally, one point of specific Paine interest in this volume is that the papers of Richard Carlyle are preserved in the Huntington Library at San Marino, California. How one wishes they had been kept over here.