38 



AMERICAN MEN OF LETTERS 



[38 



TABLE I 



Distribution of iooo American Literati Born Prior to 1851, by 



Period of Birth l 



lution till about 1820. After that time the absolute num- 

 ber declined, though not at a uniform rate. The full sig- 

 nificance of the change is brought out in Table II, which 

 shows the relative number of men of letters born in each 

 decade. 



From Table II it appears that before 1771 there were 

 born on the average in each decade ten literary people 

 per million of white population. This number gradually 

 increased until, during the years 1 791-1800, there were 

 produced twenty-three authors per million. This birth- 

 rate remained practically constant during the two succeed- 

 ing decades. Then there was an abrupt change. In the 

 period 1821-30 the relative number of men of letters born 

 was less than sixty per cent of what it had been in the 

 previous decade. This decline continued steadily, till in 

 the last decade recorded the relative number of literati born 

 was less than thirty per cent of the number born in the 

 period of maximum fecundity.* 



1 There are two colored literati on the roll. They are included in all 

 studies except those summarized in Tables II, VIII, and XIV, where 

 some ratio of white literati to white population is considered. The 

 fact of this exclusion is in each case plainly indicated in discussion of 

 the table. 



2 It must be born in mind that, in all probability, the period of 

 maximum literary productivity of an author is normally between forty 

 and sixty years after his birth. Thus the literary birth-rate indicates 

 roughly the amount of literary activity a half-century later. 



