born Jan. 17, 1771, Philadelphia, Pa., U.S.
died Feb. 22, 1810, Philadelphia
U.S. writer.
Brown left his law studies to devote himself to writing. His gothic novels in American settings were the first in a tradition later adapted by Edgar Allan Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne . Wieland (1798), his best-known work, shows the ease with which mental balance is lost when common sense is confronted with the uncanny. His writings reflect a thoughtful liberalism while exploiting horror and terror. He has been called the "father of the American novel."