The Corporate Forms of Antebellum US Literature

In writing The Corporate Forms of Antebellum US Literature (2026), Peter Jaros examined closely historical legal and literary texts to tell the story of the corporation in antebellum US law, literature, and culture. His new book unfolds a rich and varied corporate imaginary that both illuminates the prehistory of today's corporations and captures forgotten and unrealized conceptions of personhood, politics, and collectivity. Centering on an era during which both person and corporation were contested terms, Jaros shows how a seemingly instrumental legal category spurred reflection on human identity, mortality and immortality, slavery and freedom, and the possibilities of social and political belonging. Peter Jaros, professor of English at Franklin & Marshall College, is the author of The Corporate Forms of Antebellum US Literature (Oxford University Press, 2026). His work has appeared in journals including American Literary History, J19, Early American Literature, and The Eighteenth Century: Theory and Interpretation, as well as edited collections on law and literature. He recently served on the leadership team of “Reckoning with Lancaster,” a community-engaged humanities project at Franklin & Marshall funded by the Mellon Foundation and focused on issues of justice.