author

Oscar Wegelin

1876–1970

A pioneering bibliographer and rare-book dealer, he helped map the landscape of early American writing long before the field was widely studied. His work remains especially valued for documenting early American plays, fiction, and poetry.

1 Audiobook

Early American Plays, 1714-1830 A Compilation of the Titles of Plays and Dramatic Poems Written by Authors Born in or Residing in North America Previous to 1830

Early American Plays, 1714-1830 A Compilation of the Titles of Plays and Dramatic Poems Written by Authors Born in or Residing in North America Previous to 1830

by Oscar Wegelin

About the author

Born in 1876, Oscar Wegelin built his career in the rare-book trade and became known as one of the leading bibliographers of early American literature. Archival and library sources describe him as a bookseller, author, and scholar whose work focused on recovering and organizing the record of America's earliest printed writing.

He is best remembered for bibliographies that traced early American plays, fiction, and poetry, along with studies of figures such as William Dunlap and Micah Hawkins. These books were practical research tools, but they also helped later readers and scholars see early American literature as a field worth preserving and studying in its own right.

Wegelin died in 1970. Even today, his name turns up in library catalogs, archival collections, and digital editions because his careful, groundwork-style scholarship still helps readers find texts that might otherwise have been forgotten.