Paulding and Verplanck wrote for the magazine, signing their articles "P." and "V."
William Darlington (1782-1863), Pennsylvanian, after whom was named the Darlingtonica California (a species of pitcher-plant), went to India as ship's surgeon in 1806, and published in theAnalectic Magazinea sketch of his voyage called "Letters from Calcutta."
TheAnalecticcontains a number of valuable portraits. The first lithograph ever made in America is in this magazine for July 1819. It represents a woodland scene—a flowing stream and a single house upon the bank. It was made by Bass Otis, who followed the suggestions of Judge Cooper and Dr. Brown, of Alabama. The drawing was made upon a stone from Munich, presented to the American Philosophical Society by Mr. Thomas Dobson, of Philadelphia. TheAnalectic Magazinewas finally converted into theLiterary Gazetteand died one year later (December, 1821).[21]
TheTicklerwas edited by George Helmbold, and was first issued, September 16, 1807, under the pen-name of "Toby Scratch 'Em." It had for its motto:
"Curst be the verse, how well soe'er it flow,That tends to make one worthy man my foe,Give virtue scandal, innocence a fear,Or from the soft-eyed virgin steal a tear."—Pope.
It was to be issued every Wednesday morning, at the price of four dollars per annum, from 131 South Front Street. The first volume of fifty-two numbers was not completed until February 8, 1809. Helmbold enlisted in the army and was promoted to a lieutenancy at Lundy's Lane. After the war he kept the Minerva Tavern at Sixth and Sansom Streets. He afterward edited theIndependent Balance.
TheTrangram, or Fashionable Trifler, by "Christopher Crag, Esq., his Grandmother and Uncle," was published in Philadelphia by George E. Blake in 1809. It foreshadowed its wit and its satire in its introductory parody ofMacbeth:
"How now, ye cunning, sharp and secret wags,What is't ye do?A deed with a double name."
In the first number was an address by "The Publisher to the Purchaser.... The conductors of this paper, being a kind of whimsical and negligent gentry of easy habits and inconstant disposition, its continuation will not so much depend upon the patronage that may be given to it as upon their own humours and caprices. It is, as Johnson says of its title—'Trangram—an odd, intricately-contrived thing,' and, therefore, in its appearance will be as irregular in its size or proportions as unequal, and in its pecuniary value as unstated, though always as reasonable, as any other oddly-contrived thing ever was, or is, or ought to be." The publisher, George Blake, was a Yorkshireman and a music dealer in South Fifth Street. He told William Duane that the editors were Mordecai M. Noah, Alexander F. Coxe, a son of Tench Coxe, and in 1814 a member of the bar, and a third person "whose name he seemed unwilling to mention" (Duane). Only three numbers were printed, the triple team quarrelled, and the publication ceased.
Mordecai Noah was born in Philadelphia, July 14, 1785. After his removal to New York, about 1816, he became the owner or editor of a number of magazines and newspapers.
TheTrangramis full of local gossip and scandal cleverly concealed. Andrew Hamilton figures in it as "Dapper Dumpling." J. N. Barker, the author of "Superstition," is "Billy Mushroom." Joseph Dennie is nicknamed "Oliver Crank." William Warren is dubbed "the tun-bellied manager."
The account of a walk through the city streets ends with "the description of the defence of his friend would doubtless have continued until we reached the end of our journey had we not by this time arrived, where mathematicians never could arrive, at the Square Circle,"—that is, at Centre Square, Broad and Market Streets.
The third number, February 1, 1810, contains accounts of "Jeremy Corsica" (Jerome Bonaparte) and his visit to Philadelphia, and to "Bangilore" (Baltimore), and his acquaintance with Miss "Cornelia Pattypan," or Patterson.
TheBeacon, erected and supported by Lucidantus and his Thirteen Friends, was published by W. Brown, and began its course Wednesday, Nov. 27, 1811. It aimed to surpassThe Spirit of the Reviews, theDramatic Censorand thePort Folio, but it is believed to have made only two numbers. The purpose of the magazine was defined in the second number, December 11, 1811: "We propose to develop to our readers the machinery and composition of our Philadelphia Society."
TheLuncheonwas a monthly satirical paper "boiled for people about six feet high by Simon Pure." Its first appearance was in July, 1815. The second number contained an abusive article upon William McCorkle. In January, 1816, Lewis P. Franks, the editor of theLuncheon, confessed himself the author of the libel and declared that the alleged biography of McCorkle was false, and that the journal would be discontinued.
TheIndependent Balancewas published weekly by "Democritus the Younger, a lineal descendant of the Laughing Philosopher." It was established, March 20, 1817, by George Helmbold, the first editor of theTicklerand late of the United States Army.
The second volume had a vignette of a sportsman shooting a bird, with the motto:
"Whene'er we court the tuneful nine,Or plainer prose suits our design,Then fools may sneer and critics frownAt every corner of the town,—Condemn our paper or commend;One aim is ours, our chiefest end:With well-poised gun and surest eyesTo shoot at Folly as it flies."
Helmbold died in Philadelphia, December 28, 1821. The magazine, after passing through several hands, finally became the property of L.P. Franks, who published it at "No. 1 Paradise Alley, back of 171 Market Street, between Fourth and Fifth Streets." At this time it was edited by "Simon Spunkey, Esq., duly commissioned and sworn regulator, weigh-master and Inspector General." Its motto proclaimed its purpose to anatomize the wise man's folly as plain as way to parish church:
"I claim as large a charter as the windTo blow on whom I please."
TheCritic, by Geoffrey Juvenile, Esq., No. 1, January 29, 1820.
Every number of theCriticcontains some quip or satire at the expense of James Kirke Paulding, and his "Backwoodsman" is particularly levelled at. Paulding is dubbed "The Cabbage Bard," and the caustic reviewer proceeds to write: "Wehada Dennie and a Clifton, yet the classical elegance of the one has not availed to preserve his countrymen from being intoxicated by the quaintness and affectation of the Salmagundi school, and the purity and wit of the other have as little proved powerful to save his work from being deserted for the bathos and silliness of the 'Backwoodsman.' I remember them both. In private life they united qualities which are seldom found together, brilliancy of conversation and modesty of deportment. In their writings they were chaste without being tame, and elevated without being extravagant. Alas! I little thought to have lived until their light should be hidden by a cloud of delirious bats who had left their native obscurity and madly rushed to uncongenial day, vermin which are likely to be of direful omen to our country unless the land be speedily cleansed of them."
The greatness of Philadelphia is the inspiration and the pride of theCritic. "Having often heard Philadelphia called the 'Athens of the United States,' 'the birthplace of American literature,' I was naturally delighted at the prospect of a visit to so celebrated a city" (p. 14). And again: "Philadelphia with all its faults and follies is, in a literary and scientific point of view, the first city of the Empire" (p. 20). TheCriticfired its last arrow May 10, 1820.
Dennie'sPort Foliocontinued to be the admiration and the despair of contemporary editors and authors. In 1821 appeared thePost-Chaise Companion or Magazine of Wit. By Carlo Convivio Socio, Junior Fellow of the Royal Academy of Humorists. It was begun in January, 1821, and was issued from 15 North Front Street. In its first "leader" it deprecated comparison with the favorites of the hour: "With the venerable Mr. Oldschool, who for almost twenty years has delighted or instructed the 'mind of desultory man,' I would not presume to enter into a competition, still less should it be provoked with the profound labours of the editor of theAnalectic Magazineand his host of 'the most eminent literary men' who promised to eclipse the dissertations of the famous Northern lights" (p. 3).
The little paper contains a long article on Mr. Kean's acting (pages 37-51).
ThePhiladelphia Medical Museumwas conducted by John Redman Coxe for five years, from 1805 to 1810, and was published by A. Bartram.
TheEye, by Obadiah Optic, was published every Thursday by John W. Scott, from January to December, 1808, at three dollars a year. It was filled with odd, historical and alliterative articles.
ThePhiladelphia Repertory, a weekly literary journal, was published in 1810 by Dennis Hart.
TheEclectic Repertory and Analytic Review, Medical and Philosophical, was commenced in October, 1811, and continued until October, 1820. It was published quarterly, and edited by an association of physicians, and published by T. Dobson and Son.
It was continued in January, 1821, as theJournal of Foreign Medical Science and Literature, conducted by S. Emlen, Jr., and William Price, and published by Eliakim Littell. It finally ceased October, 1824.
TheFreemason's Magazine and General Miscellanywas published from 1810-1812 (?). It was edited by George Richards, a school-master and clergyman of the Revolution. He was the author of "An Historical Discourse on the Death of General Washington" (Portsmouth, 1800), and of a number of patriotic poems of the Revolution.
Robert Walshbegan, in 1811, the publication of the first quarterly that was issued in the United States. It was theAmerican Review of History, of Politics, and General Repository of Literature and State Papers, and was published for two years, in four volumes, by Farrand and Nichols.
Walsh was born in Baltimore in 1784. He was educated in Catholic schools in Baltimore, and at the Jesuit College at Georgetown. While at college, in 1796, he delivered a political address before General Washington. He began the practice of law in Philadelphia. In 1817-18 he edited theAmerican Register.
TheNational Gazette, a daily newspaper,was established by him in Philadelphia in 1819, and his connection with it did not cease until he sold it, in 1836, to William Fry.
ThePhiladelphia Registerhad been a weekly paper, the title of which was changed, in 1819, to theNational Recorder. It was founded in 1818 by E. Littell and S. Norris Henry. In July, 1821, it changed its name for the second time, and became theSaturday Magazine. De Quincey's "Confessions of an English Opium Eater" and the essays of Charles Lamb were published for the first time in America in the pages of theSaturday Magazine. In the following year (1822) the magazine became a monthly publication, and was called theMuseum of Foreign Literature and Science. In this year (1822) it was edited by Robert Walsh. Toward the close of 1823 the proprietor gave notice that Mr. Walsh was no longer connected with theMuseum. It was then conducted by Eliakim and Squier Littell. In 1843 the publication office was removed to New York, and the magazine was called theEclectic Museum of Foreign Literature and Science. Littell had no connection with the magazine in this phase of its history. Hewent to Boston, and in 1844 establishedLittell's Living Age, of which he remained the proprietor until his death, May 17, 1870.
After retiring from the editorial chair of theMuseum, Walsh successfully resuscitated theAmerican Quarterly Review, which he published from March, 1827, to 1837.
TheReviewwas published by Carey, Lea and Carey. It appeared in March, June, September and December. Each number contained two hundred and fifty pages, and the subscription price was five dollars per annum. Some of Walsh's original works had met with approval in England. His "Letter on the Genius and Disposition of the French Government" passed through four editions in England, and was commended by Lord Jeffrey in theEdinburgh Review(Vol. XVI, p. 1). TheAmerican Quarterly Reviewdid not share the same happy fate. TheMonthly Reviewsaid of it, "It is as dull a work of the kind as any that we know of. It is heavier even than theWestminsterwhen burthened by the lucubrations of Jeremy Bentham." Neal, inBlackwood's(XVI, 634), sarcastically styled Walsh "The Jupiter of the American Olympus."
Walsh was United States Consul at Paris from 1845-1851, and remained in France until his death, February 7, 1859.
Joseph Delaplaine, in April, 1812, respectfully solicited the patronage of the public to theEmporium of Arts and Sciences, "conducted by John Redman Coxe, M.D., professor of chemistry in the University of Pennsylvania." The magazine was published monthly, beginning in May, 1812. It made three volumes, but two volumes only were published in Philadelphia. The second volume was conducted by Thomas Cooper, who, in 1813, removed the magazine to Carlisle, Pennsylvania, where it was printed by Kimber and Richardson.
TheReligious Remembrancerwas begun by John Welwood Scott on the 4th of September, 1813. It was the first religious weekly published in the United States, and was three years in advance of Willis'sBoston Recorder.
Two children's papers publishing about this time were: theJuvenile Magazine—Religious, Moral, and Entertaining Pieces in Prose and Verse, "compiled by Arthur Donaldson," Philadelphia, 1811, published monthly, twelveand a half cents per number. TheJuvenile Port Folio, a weekly miscellany, was published by Thomas G. Condie, Jr., 22 Carter's Alley, in 1813.
A French weekly was started in 1815,L'Abeille Americaine, Journal Historique, Politique, et Litteraire a Philadelphie, A. J. Blocquerst, 130 South Fifth Street. Matthew Carey took subscriptions for the work, which continued several years.
TheParterre: by a Trio(Cora and Charles Chandler), 1816, printed by Probasco and Justice, 350 North Second Street. This worthless little weekly was begun June 15, 1816, and ended June 28, 1817.
TheAmerican Register, or Summary Review of History, Politics and Literature—Phila.: Thos. Dobson, 1817-1818—made two volumes.
TheAmerican Medical Recorderappeared in 1818, supported by a number of physicians. It was a quarterly publication. The title was changed in 1824 to theMedical Recorder of Original Papers and Intelligence on Medicine and Surgery. It was merged in 1829 into theAmerican Journal of the American Sciences.
TheLadies' and Gentlemen's Weekly LiteraryMuseum and Musical Magazinewas a weekly publication begun, January 1, 1819, by H. C. Lewis, No. 164 South Eleventh Street.
Washington Irving's first literary adventure was the publication ofSalmagundi. It was begun in New York, January 14, 1807, by Irving and James Kirke Paulding. The origin of the venture is not quite clear, but it was an outcome of the alert and gay society in New York, of which Brevoort and Paulding and the Irvings were conspicuous members.
Mr. Paulding said of the enterprise, "It was when fairly initiated into the mysteries of the town that Washington Irving and myself commenced the publication ofSalmagundi, an irregular issue, the object of which was to ridicule the follies and foibles of the fashionable world. Though we had not anticipated anything beyond a local circulation, the work soon took a wider sphere; gradually extended throughout the United States, and acquired great popularity. It was, I believe, the first of its kind in this country; produced numerous similar publications, none of which, however, extended beyond a few numbers andformed somewhat of an era in our literature. It reached two volumes, and we could easily have continued it indefinitely, but the publisher, with that liberality so characteristic of these modern Mæcenases, declined to concede to us a share of the profits, which had become considerable, and the work was abruptly discontinued. It was one of those productions of youth that wise men—or those who think themselves wise—are very apt to be ashamed of when they grow old."
In 1819 Paulding attempted to reviveSalmagundi, and a "second series" was published fortnightly in Philadelphia, 108 Chestnut Street, by Moses Thomas, from May 30, 1819, to August 19, 1820. Evert A. Duyckinck, in his preface to the latest issue of the first series, writes, "Some ten years or more after the conclusion ofSalmagundi, Paulding ventured alone upon a second series. Washington Irving was in Europe, and the muse of Pindar Cockloft was silent. It was a dangerous undertaking, for the very essence of aSalmagundiis the combination of choice ingredients—a product of many minds.... Yet it contains many delightful pages."
The publication is referred to by Paulding in a letter to Washington Irving, January 20, 1820: "I must now make two or three explanations concerning myself and proceedings. Hearing last winter from William Irving that you had finally declined coming home, and finding my leisure time a little heavy, I set to work and prepared several numbers of a continuation of our old joint production. At that time and subsequently, until Gouverneur Kemble brought your first number [of the Sketch Book] down to Washington with him, I was entirely ignorant that you contemplated anything of the kind. But for an accidental delay my first number would have got the start of yours. As it happened, however, it had the appearance of taking the field against you, a thing which neither my head nor heart will sanction. I believe my work has not done you any harm in the way of rivalship, for it has been soundly abused by many persons and compared with the first part with many degrading expressions. It has sold tolerably, but I shall discontinue it shortly, as I begin to grow tired, and I believe the public has got the start of me. It was owing toMoses that I did not commence an entire new work."
The reputation of the periodical in Fashion's choicest circle is hinted at in Halleck's "Fanny:"
"And though by no means abas bleu, she hadFor literature a most becoming passion;Had skimm'd the latest novels, good and bad,And read the Croakers, when they were in fashion;And Dr. Chalmers' Sermons, of a Sunday;And Wordsworth's Cabinet, andthe new Salmagundi."
In closing his introduction to the new series, Paulding alluded gracefully and affectionately to his tried and generous friend and former fellow-worker, Washington Irving. "The reader will not fail of hearing, in good time, all about the worthy Cockloft family; the learned Jeremy, and the young ladies who are still young in spite of the lapse of ten years and more. Above a dozen years are past since we first introduced these excellent souls to our readers, and in that time many a gentle tie has been broken, and many friends separated, some of them forever. Among those we most loved and admired, we have to regret the long absence of one who was ayethe delight of his friends, and who, if he were with us, would add such charms of wit and gayety to this little work that the young and the aged would pore over it with equal delight."
The Protestant Episcopal Church established theEpiscopal Magazinein January, 1820. It was conducted by Rev. C. H. Wharton and Rev. George Boyd. The former editor, Charles Henry Wharton, was born in St. Mary's County, Maryland, June 5, 1748. Notley Hall, the family estate, was presented to the family by Lord Baltimore. Wharton was educated in Jesuit schools and ordained a deacon and a priest of the Roman Catholic Church. In the last years of the Revolution he was chaplain to the Roman Catholics in Worcester, England, to whom, in 1784, after joining the Church of England, he addressed his celebrated "Letter." He was a member of the American Philosophical Society, and for a short time President of Columbia College. In 1813-14 he was co-editor with Dr. Abercrombie of theQuarterly Theological Magazine and Religious Repository.
TheEpiscopal Magazinewas published by S. Potter & Co. and printed by J. Maxwell.
TheRural Magazine and Literary Evening Fireside, a monthly publication by Richards and Caleb Johnson, was begun in January, 1820. Its purpose was to give correct views of the science of agriculture. It also contained articles on slavery, a sketch of Benezet, etc. But the farmers were not inclined to write out their ideas of agriculture, and the bucolic journal, after binding its monthly sheaves into a single volume, asked its owncongé.
Nathaniel Chapman was the only begetter of theAmerican Journal of the Medical Sciences, which, in its seventy years of history, has known the touch of so many skilful editorial hands. Chapman issued it as a quarterly from the publishing house of M. Carey and Son. It was then called thePhiladelphia Journal of the Medical Sciences.
In 1825 Dr. Williams P. Dewees and John D. Godman were associated with Dr. Chapman in the editorship. Dr. Isaac Hays was added to the staff in February, 1827, and in November the name of the magazine was changed to theAmerican Journal of the Medical Sciences, and Dr. Isaac Hays became sole editor, to be in turn succeeded by his son, Dr.I. Minis Hays. The history of its changes and extension would take us far beyond the chronological boundary of this book. Nearly every physician of note in America has contributed at some time to its pages, and nearly every notable triumph of American medicine has found fitting record somewhere in its multitudinous numbers.
TheReformerwas a monthly religious and ethical publication issued in 1820.
Robert S. Coffin, who had written popular verses under the name of the "Boston Bard" while a compositor in the office of theVillage Record, at West Chester, Pa., came to Philadelphia in 1821 and began a literary paper, which he called theBee. Not more than two hundred subscribers were secured, and Coffin sold the unsuccessful paper to Charles Alexander, who had formerly been employed upon Poulson'sDaily Advertiser. On the 4th of August, 1821, Atkinson and Alexander, in the office once occupied by Benjamin Franklin, back of No. 53 Market Street, began the publication of the PhiladelphiaSaturday Evening Post. T. Cottrell Clarke was appointed editor. He retired in 1826 and founded theLadies'Album, a weekly literary paper, which ultimately merged into thePennsylvania Inquirer. Morton McMichael succeeded Clarke in the editorial chair of thePost, and, when he too resigned, became the first editor of theSaturday Courier. Other editors of thePostat various times were Benjamin Mathias, founder of theSaturday Chronicle, Charles J. Peterson, Rufus W. Griswold, H. Hastings Weld and Henry Peterson. ThePosthad few important rivals among the family newspapers and it absorbed a number of the young literary journals. TheSaturday News, theSaturday Bulletinand theSaturday Chroniclewere merged into thePost. Mrs. Henry Wood's early novels, written in her obscure days before the time of "East Lynne," were published in it.
TheEpiscopal Recorder, established in 1822, and edited by Rev. B. B. Smith, Bishop of the P. E. Church in the United States, has always admitted into its pages articles by leading clergymen of whatever sect or creed.
TheErin, a weekly paper containing Irish news, was published in August, 1822, by Hart & Co., No. 117 South Fifth Street.
Rev. G. T. Bedell, who had established theEpiscopal Recorder, was also the editor of thePhiladelphia Recorder(1823), likewise a religious weekly published in the interest of the Protestant Episcopal Church.
TheArcadian, a literary periodical, of the year 1823, was published by A. Potter and Co.
TheAmerican Monthly Magazine, January, 1824, to June, 1824, was edited by James McHenry and published by Job Palmer.
TheMedical Review and Analectic Journalwas edited by Dr. John Eberle and Dr. George McClellan and published quarterly between June, 1824, and August, 1826.
TheÆsculapian Registerwas published from June 17, 1824, to December 8, 1834. Several physicians united in its editorship, and R. Desilver, of 110 Walnut Street, was its publisher; its motto: "Ars longa, vita brevis."
TheAmerican Sunday School Magazine(1824-1831) was the first Sunday-school-teacher's journal issued in America.
La Corbeille, a weekly journal published in 1824. The editor was a gallant Cavalier, who warns the ladies in the first number that novelreading "induces a sickly diathesis of the mind, or mental marasmus."
In June, 1824, there were published in Philadelphia thePort Folio, theMuseum, theAmerican Monthlyand nine other magazines, four religious, three medical and two political. It was in this year thatBlackwood's Magazinecongratulated America on Charles Robert Leslie's success in art.
TheReformer, published in 1824, by Theophilus R. Gates, aimed to "expose the clerical schemes and pompous undertakings of the present day under the pretence of religion, and to show that they are irreconcilable with the spirit and principle of the Gospel."
TheChristianwas a weekly paper of 1824.
ThePhiladelphian, a large folio sheet, containing religious articles, was founded in May, 1825, by S. B. Ludlow, and published weekly at No. 59 Locust Street. William F. Geddes and Dr. Ezra Styles Ely were among its editors.
TheNorth American Medical and Surgical Journal, January, 1826, to October, 1831, was published quarterly.
TheAlbum and Ladies Weekly Gazette, begun June 7, 1826, by T. C. Clarke, changed its name to thePhiladelphia Album and Ladies' Literary Port Folio, and was edited by Robert Morris after consolidation with theLadies' Literary Port Folio.
TheCasket, Flowers of Literature, Wit and Sentimentwas a magazine published in newspaper form. It was made out of theSaturday Evening Post, and was first issued by Samuel Coate Atkinson, at No. 36 Carter's Alley, January 1, 1827. Elizabeth Margaret Chandler (1807-1834) won a prize for the "Slave Ship" offered by the proprietor of theCasket.
Charles Alexander, the well-known publisher, solicited William E. Burton to establish a literary journal in Philadelphia, and Burton, who was sympathetic yet dogmatic, possessed of excellent literary taste, but never more positive than when in error, founded in July, 1837, theGentleman's Magazine. The fifth and sixth volumes, 1839, were conducted by Burton and by Poe. The seventh volume, 1840, was conducted by George R. Graham. The poetry of Burton's was painfully bad, redeemed only in the faintest degree by theverses of J. H. Ingraham and C. West Thomson.
Elwood Walter began and Edmund Morris continued theAriel, a fortnightly literary journal, first issued from No. 71 Market Street, May 5, 1827.
ThePhiladelphia Monthly Journal of Medicine and Surgerywas published by R. H. Small and edited by Dr. N. R. Smith from June, 1827, until February, 1828.
TheFriend, a weekly periodical begun October 13, 1827, was published in the interest of the Orthodox Quakers.
ThePhiladelphia Monthly Magazine, October, 1827-September, 1829; published by J. Dobson, 108 Chestnut Street. The magazine was projected by Dr. Isaac Clarkson Snowden. It was to give information on the fine arts, sciences and literature, and contained frequent articles on American literature. Snowden was born at Princeton, 31st of December, 1791. He studied at the University of Pennsylvania, and lived in Bucks County in ill-health. He conceived the plan of the magazine in the spring of 1827. At his death the magazine passed into the hands of B. R.Evans and was enlarged eight pages. A series of good articles began November, 1828, and ran through five numbers, on the History of Literature in Pennsylvania, by R. P. S. (Richard Penn Smith).
TheLadies' Literary Port Foliowas begun December 10, 1828. It was published in quarto form by Thomas C. Clarke, No. 67 Arcade.
An association of physicians published every fortnight after September 9, 1829, theJournal of Health. Henry H. Porter, at No. 108 Chestnut Street, was the publisher of this sixteen page magazine, whose motto was "Health—the poor man's riches, the rich man's bliss."
TheBanner of the Constitutionwas a weekly journal of New York City, from December, 1829, to May, 1831. In the latter month it was transferred to Philadelphia, because, as the editor explained, "As Pennsylvania is without a single paper bold enough to speak out the language of truth in the strong terms befitting the actual crisis of affairs, we have resolved to transfer our establishment to Philadelphia and to resume our old position on the field of battle."
TheProtestant Episcopalian and Church Registerwas "devoted to the interests of religion in the Protestant Episcopal Church." It was begun in January, 1830, became the property of John S. Littell in 1838, and on January 5, 1839, appeared in a fresh guise as theBanner of the Cross.
Godey's Lady's Bookwas the chief financial success among the Philadelphia magazines, and, after thePort Folio, enlisted the services of the greatest number of the best writers. The circulation, largely due to its popular colored fashion plates, increased to 150,000 a month. It was begun in July, 1830, by Louis A. Godey, who continued to direct his continuously prosperous journal until 1877. Some of the earliest compositions of Longfellow, Holmes, Poe, Bayard Taylor, Lydia H. Sigourney, Frances Osgood and Harriet Beecher Stowe appeared in this magazine.
For many years theLady's Bookwas edited by Sarah Josepha Hale. She was born in Newport, New Hampshire, 24th October, 1788, and died in Philadelphia 30th April, 1879. From 1828 to 1837 she edited, inBoston, theLadies' Magazine. When that magazine was united in 1837 withGodey's Lady's Book, Mrs. Hale became editor of the latter periodical, and made her home in Philadelphia in 1841. She was the originator of the Seamen's Aid Society. She organized the fair whereby the fund for the completion of the Bunker Hill monument was raised. It was through her zealous insistence that Thanksgiving Day was made a national holiday. She published many books in prose and verse, and some fugitive poems, "Mary's Lamb," "It Snows," and "The Light of Home," that were everywhere known.
Another ladies' magazine was theLadies' Garland, published by John Libby, April 15, 1837-June, 1838.
TheHerald of Truth, a liberal religious weekly, was published by M. T. C. Gould, No. 6 North Eighth Street, for a short time after January, 1831.
ThePresbyterianwas begun February 16, 1831.
TheLutheran Observerwas also commenced in 1831. It was a continuation of theLutheran Intelligencer, founded in March, 1826, whichwas the first Lutheran periodical issued in America.
ThePhiladelphia Liberalist, edited by Rev. Zelotes Fuller, was issued weekly after June 9, 1832.
TheAtlantic Journal and Friend of Knowledgewas edited in Philadelphia in 1832 by Constantine Samuel Rafinesque. The editor was a celebrated botanist, who was born in Constantinople in 1784, and died in Philadelphia, September 14, 1842. His father had been a Philadelphia merchant. Rafinesque became professor of botany in Transylvania University, Lexington, Ky. Eight numbers only of theAtlantic Journalappeared.
TheCholera Gazette, July 11, 1832-November 21, 1832, a weekly paper, was published by Carey, Lea and Blanchard. It was edited by George Washington Dickson, a popular negro minstrel, who published in New York, in 1839, another weekly called thePolyanthus.
TheNorth American Quarterly Magazinewas begun in Philadelphia, in 1833, by Sumner Lincoln Fairfield, the author of "The Cities of the Plain." Fairfield was born in Warwick, Mass., June 25, 1803. The sadstory of his life of sickness and distress was told by his wife (Jane Frazee) in 1846. She collected the money that made the existence of the magazine possible, and her pertinacity and courage kept the magazine alive for five years. Concerning the origin of the enterprise she writes:
"I returned to my home after having obtained the number of eight signatures, amounting to forty dollars. My husband took little notice of my success for a time. I paid the house rent and secured the comforts of a home. Each day I set apart for my visits five or six hours. In this way I soon laid aside the means sufficient to issue the first number of theNorth American Quarterly Magazine. When I had accumulated the sum of seven hundred dollars I gave it into the hands of Mr. Fairfield. He seemed amazed at my success. He found a dwelling to rent on Tenth, near Chestnut Street. To this pleasant abode we immediately repaired. In a very short time the work was out, and once more my heart rejoiced" (Autobiography of Jane Fairfield, p. 97).
Fairfield always contended that Bulwerstole from him the plot of his "Last Days of Pompeii." The story as told by Mrs. Fairfield is as follows: "His great poem, 'The Last Night of Pompeii,' was finished in 1830, and soon after its publication my husband sent copies to England, to Bulwer. He also wrote him a very long letter, but never received either an acknowledgment of the poem or the letter. Bulwer's novel of a similar title appeared about two years afterward, and, it is onlyjustice to the poetto say, was ineveryrespect an entire and most flagrant plagiarism. The Argument, the Introduction of the Two Lovers, Converted Christians, Forebodings of the Destruction, The Picture of Pompeii in Ruins, The Forum of Pompeii, The Manners and Morals of Campania Portrayed, Diomede, the Praetor, The Night Storm, Vesuvius Threatening, Dialogue of the Christians—the scenes of thewhole plot, even the names of characters,were all taken from this most grand and sublime poem" (Autobiography of Jane Fairfield, p. 90).
TheNorth American Quarterly Magazineceased in 1838.
Waldie's Select Circulating Library, furnishing the best popular literature, price five dollars for fifty-two numbers, containing matter equal to fifty London duodecimo volumes; printed and published weekly by Adam Waldie, No. 6 North Eighth Street, Philadelphia. It was begun January 15, 1833, and was edited by John Jay Smith (1798-1881). Smith had been the editor of theSaturday Bulletin, 1830-32,Littell's Museum,Walsh's National Gazetteand theDaily Express. The magazine reprinted standard works and published original reviews and literary notes.
TheAmerican Lancet, edited by F. S. Beattie, began February 23, 1833, and was published fortnightly by Turner and Son.
TheSpy in Philadelphia and Spirit of the Age, a weekly journal advocating purity in politics, censured the vices of the time for a few weeks after July 6, 1833.
TheAdvocate of Science and Annals of Natural Historywas conducted by W. P. Gibbons, 1834-5.
TheGentleman's Vade-Mecum, or the Sporting and Dramatic Companion, January 1, 1835-June 25, 1836, contained original dramas and musical compositions, fast heats and picturesof celebrated racers. Charles Alexander, its publisher, sold it to Louis A. Godey, Joseph C. Neal and Morton McMichael, who made out of it theSaturday News and Literary Gazette, which began its course July 2, 1836, and ultimately became a part of theSaturday Evening Post. The editor of both publications was Joseph Clay Neal (1807-1847), who also edited thePennsylvanian, a Democratic daily newspaper, from 1831 to 1844, succeeding James Gordon Bennett in the editorial chair. At the time of his death he owned theSaturday Gazette, which he and Morton McMichael had established. His "Charcoal Sketches" (Philadelphia, 1837), which Charles Dickens republished in London, were originally contributed to thePennsylvanianunder the title, "City Worthies." His wife, Alice Bradley Haven (1828-1863), contributed, while a school-girl, several sketches under the name of Alice G. Lee to theSaturday Gazette. She was generally known as "Cousin Alice," and under this name assumed editorial charge of theGazetteafter her husband's death.
TheRadical Reformer and Workingman's Advocatewas published weekly after June 13,1835, by Thomas Bro., at No. 124 South Front Street. In October it was issued fortnightly.
TheBotanic Sentinel and Literary Gazette(August 12, 1835-June 15, 1840), published weekly by J. Coates.
TheIndependent Weekly Press, "upholding the right of free discussion, given to us by our God and guarded by the laws of our country," was published December 5, 1835. It hoped and intended to be a literary paper, but the quality of its literature is inferior even to that of its infantile contemporaries.
Every Bodie's Albumwas a monthly miscellany of "humorous tales, essays, anecdotes and facetiæ," and the other symptoms of albuminous fever. It was begun July 1, 1836. It was a large magazine, containing a number of absurd engravings. Charles Alexander, the publisher of theVade-Mecum, issued this magazine also.
TheEclectic Journal of Medicine(November, 1836-October, 1840) was published monthly by Barrington and Haswell, and edited by John Bell.
Saturday Chroniclewas published weeklyby Matthias and Taylor, Number 84 South Second Street, from 1836 until 1840.
TheWeekly Messengerwas published from 1836 to 1848.
Adam Waldie built up a lumbering weekly journal, January 6, 1837, which he calledWaldie's Literary Omnibus. This carry-all was devoted to "news, books entire, sketches, reviews, tales, and miscellaneous intelligence."
ThePhiladelphia Visitor and Parlor Companion, a fortnightly journal, published from March, 1837, by W. B. Rogers, Number 49 Chestnut Street, and edited by H. N. Moore, was filled with toys of fashion and shreds of social folly.
TheAmerican Journal of Homœopathy, a bi-monthly publication, was begun August, 1838, by W. L. J. Kiderlen & Co.
TheUnited States Magazine and Democratic Reviewwas started some time in 1838 and published until 1840.
"My name has figured, I assure you, on the covers of Graham and Godey, making as respectable an appearance, for aught Icould see, as any of the canonized bead-roll with which it was associated."
So Holgrave tells Miss Phœbe Pyncheon in the "House of Seven Gables," and voices Hawthorne's and New England's appreciation of the merit and supremacy of the two Philadelphia magazines which in the middle of this century engaged the services and elicited the abilities of the best American writers.
Mr. George R. Graham, whose name was once known wherever books were read in America, and whose intimate relations with American literature seemed "too intrinse t'unloose," has quite outlived the memories of his countrymen. Few are aware that the generous and able publisher who gave employment to young James Russell Lowell, who awarded the prize for the "Gold-Bug" to Edgar Allan Poe, and who was almost the first to pay American authors for their work, is still living in Orange, New Jersey. He has outlived health and fortune as well as fame. And now, rich only in memory, and the precious store of reminiscences of nearly four-score years, he lies in the Memorial Hospital at Orange contentedly awaiting the end, neither anxious to go nor eager to remain.
His few personal wants and the necessary comforts of his age are fully provided by Mr. George W. Childs, whose liberal hand, prompted by his generous heart, never wearies in doing deeds of generosity.
Mr. Graham has told me in detail the story of his magazine. He was the owner and editor ofAtkinson's Casket, when, in 1841, William E. Burton, the actor, came to him with the request that he should buy theGentleman's Magazine, of which Burton had been the proprietor for four years. Burton explained that money was needed for his new theatre, that the magazine must be sold, that it numbered thirty-five hundred subscribers, and that it would be sold outright for thirty-five hundred dollars. Graham, who at that time had fifteen hundred subscribers to his own magazine, accepted the offer, and theGentleman's Magazinewas transferred to him. "There is one thing more," said Burton, "I want you to take care of my young editor." That "young editor," who in this manner entered the employ of George Graham, was Edgar Allan Poe. Mr. Graham bears clear and willing testimony to the efficient servicerendered by Poe to the new magazine, which, now combined with theCasket, took the name of its new owner. He found little in Poe's conduct to reprove, nor does he remember any cause beyond envy and malice for Griswold's truculent slanders. A quarrel of an hour led to Poe's dismissal, but the friendly relations between the wayward poet and his former employer remained unsevered. From New York, Poe sent Graham the manuscript of a story for which he asked and received fifty dollars. The story remained unpublished for a year, when Poe again appeared in the editorial room and begged for the return of the manuscript, that he might try with it for the prize of one hundred dollars offered for the best prose tale. Graham showed his "love and friending" for the author by surrendering the story, and the judges awarded to Edgar Poe the prize for the "Gold-Bug."
After the dismissal of Poe, the magazine, still under Graham's management, was edited by Ann Stephens and Charles J. Peterson, until Rufus Wilmot Griswold sat in the responsible chair. James Russell Lowell was a subordinate editor of the magazine as early as 1843,and in April of that year communicated to Nathaniel Hawthorne the desire of the editor, Edgar Allan Poe, that he too should become a contributor. In 1845 Lowell was married and continued to reside with his wife in Philadelphia. The following letter was the first written by Mrs. Lowell from Philadelphia to her friend Mrs. Hawthorne:
Philadelphia, Jan. 16, 1845.