Most popular novels of the Civil War era?

Davis (like Lincoln) did also suspend the writ of habeus corpus in the south so he was no saint when it came to civil liberties.
Lincoln first suspended Habeas Corpus on April 27, 1861. Less than a month later the U. S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Maryland under the leadership of Supreme Court Chief Justice Taney ruled the suspension unconstitutional, stating that only Congress could suspend Habeas Corpus. Lincoln ignored the ruling and even had a prominent newspaperman who editorialized against his Court defiance thrown in jail. The U. S. Congress did not enact a bill authorizing the President to suspend Habeas Corpus until March 1863.

In contrast, Jefferson Davis did not suspend Habeas Corpus until after the Congress enacted a bill authorizing him to do so on February 27, 1862.
 
According to the blog Early American Best Sellers, these were the top selling books in the United States in 1860 along with the nationality of the author:

Seth Jones by Edward Ellis - American:

Adventure story about the frontier. Credited with starting the dime novel craze in America

Ruttlidge by Miriam Coles Harris - American:

An orphaned teenager is sent by her aunt to live with her new guardian at his ancestral home. Described as “the first fully-American Gothic novel”

Lucille by Owen Meredith - British:

A “verse novel” (narrative poetry the length of a novel” that garnered accusations of plagiarism.

Malaeska: The Indian Wife of the White Hunter by Ann Stephens - American:

Stephens often used the pen name Johnathan Slick. She is also credited with beginning the dime novel craze.

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens- British

Silas Marner by George Elliot - British:

Marner is accused of stealing funds from the church while caring for an ill deacon.

East Lynne by Mrs. Henry Wood - British:

An elaborate plot surrounding infidelity and double identities.


 
The Scarlet Letter was a bestseller when it was published in 1850. It was also apparently one of the first mass-produced books in America, with the first mechanized printing of 2,500 volumes selling out in 10 days.

Washington Irving's "The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent." which includes "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "Rip Van Winkle," was very popular. Sir Walter Scott, Lord Byron, and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow spoke very highly of it. American and English readers seemed to have preferred the sentimental tales, particularly "The Broken Heart" and "The Widow and Her Son." The English were blown away by it, with historian William Godwin writing, "Everywhere I find in it the marks of a mind of the utmost elegance and refinement, a thing as you know that I was not exactly prepared to look for in an American."

The source above lists a few entries by James Fenimore Cooper in the 1820s-1840s; one can imagine the boys of the 1830s-1840s reading his adventure tales set in the French and Indian War & the Revolution and having romantic thoughts of battle marching away in 1861.
His "Leatherstocking Tales" was one of the first American books that was also widely read internationally. It along with "The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent." were apparently what convinced the English that Americans could indeed write.
 
East Lynne by Mrs. Henry Wood - British:
In the diary of 1st Lt. Lemuel A. Abbott, Co. E, 10th Vermont Infantry, he mentions reading East Lynne in camp in his September 8 and 9, 1864 entries. When he is finished with it he passes it on to a friend. On a subsequent furlough home after being wounded, he finds the book is being read by friends at home and is much discussed. He considers it a "fine story." It certainly sounds like it was popular. I'm inclined to read it myself now.....😉
 
As noted elsewhere, Victor Hugo's Les Miserables seemed to make a strong impression on some soldiers serving in the Army of Northern Virginia. So much so that a sardonic humor led some of these soldiers to call themselves 'Lee's Miserables.'

Historian J. Tracy Power reflected this in his 1998 book Lee's Miserables: Life in the Army of Northern Virginia from Wilderness to Appomattox, which describes the final desperate year of the war.
 
It's well documented that Lincoln enjoyed the writings of Charles Farrar Browne, an author and lecturer who edited humorous publications in the Civil War era. One of his books Artemus Ward: His Book was first published in 1862. I don't know whether his book sales figures were high relative to other authors, but he obviously had some following among Northern readers.
 
I found a list of books and novels that a Confederate read. It was included in a book someone on the forum had recommended.

To See My Country Free: The Pocket Diaries of Ezekiel Armstrong, Ezekiel P. Miller and Joseph A. Miller "Magnolia Guards" Co. K , 17TH Regiment Mississippi Infantry

But I had to wrap it so I could put it under the tree. I didn't want to get only coals. I hope you can wait until Christmas and I will post his list. One book was 400 pages and the smallest was 60 or 80. I wonder how he got hold of these books.
 
I found a list of books and novels that a Confederate read. It was included in a book someone on the forum had recommended.

To See My Country Free: The Pocket Diaries of Ezekiel Armstrong, Ezekiel P. Miller and Joseph A. Miller "Magnolia Guards" Co. K , 17TH Regiment Mississippi Infantry

But I had to wrap it so I could put it under the tree. I didn't want to get only coals. I hope you can wait until Christmas and I will post his list. One book was 400 pages and the smallest was 60 or 80. I wonder how he got hold of these books.
Counting down the days until Christmas!!! This seems really interesting, please do share when you are able.
 
A lot of books were published in installments (Les Misérables). Many were serialized in magazines (most Dickens). So I would image this would be the sort of thing soldiers in both armies would have passed around and shared. Much easier to managed than a full 400 page book.
 
Of course I have no idea how popular these stories are, but here's an excerpt from the November 21, 1860 issue:
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And then the story picks up where it left off.

The cut off illustrations are from an article about a steamer exploding in Chicago.
 
Of course I have no idea how popular these stories are, but here's an excerpt from the November 21, 1860 issue:
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And then the story picks up where it left off.

The cut off illustrations are from an article about a steamer exploding in Chicago.
The main requirement of these type stories for the heroine always seems to be unsurpassed beauty, be she rich or poor. There must be one or two in which the hero falls in love with a plain girl, but I have yet to come across it....
 
Counting down the days until Christmas!!!
I got to open my present. This book includes journals of two soldiers during the War. One of them listed the books he read during those years. Here is his list with the number of pages per book.

CW Books 1.jpg

CW Books 2.jpg

CW Books 3.jpg


I was able to find a few of these on Google Books. The soldier abbreviated the Titles of a few. I found these but 2 of them I could not find.

Book The elephant Club.JPG


Book The Southern Spy.JPG


Book The Gateways of KNowledge.jpg


Book The Wm B Allen.jpg


{Edited to add link to one book}
Link to Forest Tragedy & Etc that contains short stories.

I'm also reading a book on the Siege of Vicksburg which mentions some of the reading material they had in the trenches. I will try to find the names of those.
 
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