Charles Sealsfield was the pseudonym

Pseudonym

A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...

 of Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

n-American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 journalist Carl (or Karl) Anton Postl (3 March 1793 - 26 May 1864), an advocate for a German democracy and author of Romantic novel

Novel

A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....

s with American backgrounds and travelogues.

Biography

He was born at Popice u Znojma (Poppitz) near Znojmo

Znojmo

Znojmo is a city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic, near the border with Lower Austria, connected to Vienna by railway and road . The royal city of Znojmo was founded shortly before 1226 by King Ottokar I on the plains in front of Znojmo Castle...

 in Moravia

Moravia

Moravia is a historical region in Central Europe in the east of the Czech Republic, and one of the former Czech lands, together with Bohemia and Silesia. It takes its name from the Morava River which rises in the northwest of the region...

. His schooling completed, he entered the Knights of the Cross with the Red Star in Prague

Prague

Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...

, where he became a priest. In the autumn of 1822, apparently fleeing the repressive government of Metternich, he fled to the United States, where he assumed the name of Charles Sealsfield. In 1826 he returned to Germany and published a book on America (Die Vereinigten Staaten von Nordamerika). Next he published an outspoken criticism of Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

, published first in German, then adapted in English (Austria as it is, or, sketches of continental courts, by an eye-witness, 1828) which was published anonymously in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

; this book offended the Austrian authorities, making him a wanted man in that country, but its author's identity remained unknown. Meanwhile he had returned to America, where he published his first novel, also in English, Tokeah, or the White Rose (1828; translated in German by Gustav Höcker

Gustav Höcker

Gustav Höcker was a German author and translator of popular historical novels.-Biography:Gustav Höcker was born on 28 September 1832 in a suburb of Eilenburg. His father was a colorist in the textile industry, and his younger brother was Oskar Höcker, who also became a writer...

). He now turned journalist, first in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 and subsequently in Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

 and London, writing accounts of American life as a correspondent for various journals. In 1832 he settled in Switzerland

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

, and in 1860 purchased a small estate near Solothurn

Solothurn

The city of Solothurn is the capital of the Canton of Solothurn in Switzerland. The city also comprises the only municipality of the district of the same name.-Pre-roman settlement:...

. Here he died in May 1864. His will first revealed the fact that he was the former monk, Postl.

It is as a German-language novelist that he is best known. His Tokeah appeared in German under the title Der Legitime und die Republikaner (1838), and was followed by Der Virey und die Aristokraten oder Mexiko im Jahre 1812 (1835), Lebensbilder aus beiden Hemisphären (1835-1837), Sturm-, Land- und Seebilder (1838), Das Kajütenbuch, oder Nationale Charakteristiken (1842). Sealsfield occupies an important position in the development of the German historical novel

Historical novel

According to Encyclopædia Britannica, a historical novel is-Development:An early example of historical prose fiction is Luó Guànzhōng's 14th century Romance of the Three Kingdoms, which covers one of the most important periods of Chinese history and left a lasting impact on Chinese culture.The...

 at a period when Walter Scott

Walter Scott

Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet was a Scottish historical novelist, playwright, and poet, popular throughout much of the world during his time....

's influence was beginning to wane. He endeavoured to widen the scope of historical fiction, to describe great national and political movements, without forfeiting the sympathy of his readers for the individual characters of the story.

In 1844, Theodor Mundt

Theodor Mundt

thumb|200px|Theodor MundtTheodor Mundt was a German critic and novelist. He was a member of the Young Germany group of German writers.-Biography:Born at Potsdam, Mundt studied philology and philosophy at Berlin...

 declared Sealsfield (whose name he had misread as "Seatsfield") the greatest American author. The Boston Daily Advertiser

Boston Daily Advertiser

The Boston Daily Advertiser was the first daily newspaper in Boston, and for many years the only daily paper in Boston.-History:...

and other newspapers commenced a search for the true identity of "Seatsfield," but many believed the whole story to be a hoax. The Knickerbocker

The Knickerbocker

The Knickerbocker, or New-York Monthly Magazine, was a literary magazine of New York City, founded by Charles Fenno Hoffman in 1833, and published until 1865 under various titles, including:...

ran an elaborate satire on the affair in its June 1844 issue.

Sealsfield's Gesammelte Werke (Collected Works) appeared in 18 vols. (1843-1846). A new edition of his complete works in German and English (Sämtliche Werke), chiefly in photographic facsimile, though with new introductions and editorial apparatus) was edited by Sealsfield scholar Karl J. R. Arndt and published by Olms beginning in 1972.

Further reading

• Nanette M Ashby, Charles Sealsfield: The greatest American author: a study of literary piracy and promotion in the 19th century, 1980.

External links

• Biography from the Handbook of Texas Online
• The cabin book; or, sketches of life in Texas by Charles Sealsfield, published 1844, hosted by the Portal to Texas History.
• Writing in a Different Language: The Example of Charles Sealsfield by Donald G. Daviau