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, the
_Gentleman'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 the verses of J. H. Ingraham and C. West
Thomson.
Elwood Walter began and Edmund Morris continued the _Ariel_, a
fortnightly literary journal, first issued from No. 71 Market Street,
May 5, 1827.
The _Philadelphia Monthly Journal of Medicine and Surgery_ was published
by R. H. Small and edited by Dr. N. R. Smith from June, 1827, until
February, 1828.
The _Friend_, a weekly periodical begun October 13, 1827, was published
in the interest of the Orthodox Quakers.
The _Philadelphia 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).
The _Ladies' Literary Port Folio_ was 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, the _Journal 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."
The _Banner of the Constitution_ was 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."
The _Protestant Episcopalian and Church Register_ was "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 the _Banner of the Cross_.
_Godey's Lady's Book_ was the chief financial success among the
Philadelphia magazines, and, after the _Port 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 the _Lady's Book_ was 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, in Boston,
the _Ladies' Magazine_. When that magazine was united in 1837 with
_Godey'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 the _Ladies' Garland_, published by John
Libby, April 15, 1837-June, 1838.
The _Herald 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.
The _Presbyterian_ was begun February 16, 1831.
The _Lutheran Observer_ was also commenced in 1831. It was a
continuation of the _Lutheran Intelligencer_, founded in March, 1826,
which was the first Lutheran periodical issued in America.
The _Philadelphia Liberalist_, edited by Rev. Zelotes Fuller, was issued
weekly after June 9, 1832.
The _Atlantic Journal and Friend of Knowledge_ was 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 the _Atlantic Journal_
appeared.
The _Cholera 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 the _Polyanthus_.
The _North American Quarterly Magazine_ was 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 sad
story 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
the _North 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 Bulwer stole 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 only
_justice to the poet_ to say, was in _every_ respect 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 the _whole plot_,
even the names of characters, _were all taken from this most grand and
sublime poem_" (Autobiography of Jane Fairfield, p. 90).
The _North American Quarterly Magazine_ ceased 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 the _Saturday Bulletin_, 1830-32, _Littell's
Museum_, _Walsh's National Gazette_ and the _Daily Express_. The
magazine reprinted standard works and published original reviews and
literary notes.
The _American Lancet_, edited by F. S. Beattie, began February 23, 1833,
and was published fortnightly by Turner and Son.
The _Spy 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.
The _Advocate of Science and Annals of Natural History_ was conducted by
W. P. Gibbons, 1834-5.
The _Gentleman's Vade-Mecum, or the Sporting and Dramatic
Companion_, January 1, 1835-June 25, 1836, contained original dramas and
musical compositions, fast heats and pictures of celebrated racers.
Charles Alexander, its publisher, sold it to Louis A. Godey, Joseph C.
Neal and Morton McMichael, who made out of it the _Saturday News and
Literary Gazette_, which began its course July 2, 1836, and ultimately
became a part of the _Saturday Evening Post_. The editor of both
publications was Joseph Clay Neal (1807-1847), who also edited the
_Pennsylvanian_, a Democratic daily newspaper, from 1831 to 1844,
succeeding James Gordon Bennett in the editorial chair. At the time of
his death he owned the _Saturday Gazette_, which he and Morton McMichael
had established. His "Charcoal Sketches" (Philadelphia, 1837), which
Charles Dickens republished in London, were originally contributed to
the _Pennsylvanian_ under 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 the _Saturday Gazette_. She
was generally known as "Cousin Alice," and under this name assumed
editorial charge of the _Gazette_ after her husband's death.
The _Radical Reformer and Workingman's Advocate_ was published weekly
after June 13, 1835, by Thomas Bro., at No. 124 South Front Street. In
October it was issued fortnightly.
The _Botanic Sentinel and Literary Gazette_ (August 12, 1835-June 15,
1840), published weekly by J. Coates.
The _Independent 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 Album_ was 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 the
_Vade-Mecum_, issued this magazine also.
The _Eclectic Journal of Medicine_ (November, 1836-October, 1840) was
published monthly by Barrington and Haswell, and edited by John Bell.
_Saturday Chronicle_ was published weekly by Matthias and Taylor,
Number 84 South Second Street, from 1836 until 1840.
The _Weekly Messenger_ was published from 1836 to 1848.
Adam Waldie built up a lumbering weekly journal, January 6, 1837, which
he called _Waldie's Literary Omnibus_. This carry-all was devoted to
"news, books entire, sketches, reviews, tales, and miscellaneous
intelligence."
The _Philadelphia 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.
The _American Journal of Homoeopathy_, a bi-monthly publication, was
begun August, 1838, by W. L. J. Kiderlen & Co.
The _United States Magazine and Democratic Review_ was started some time
in 1838 and published until 1840.
GRAHAM'S MAGAZINE.
"My name has figured, I assure you, on the covers of Graham and Godey,
making as respectable an appearance, for aught I could see, as any of
the canonized bead-roll with which it was associated."
So Holgrave tells Miss Phoebe 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 of _Atkinson's Casket_, when, in 1841, William E.
Burton, the actor, came to him with the request that he should buy the
_Gentleman'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 the _Gentleman's Magazine_ was
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 service
rendered by Poe to the new magazine, which, now combined with the
_Casket_, 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.
MY DEAR SOPHIA:--I wished to write to you before I left home, but
in the hurry of those last hours I had no time, and instead of
delicate sentiments could only send you gross plum-cake, which I
must hope you received. We are most delightfully situated here in
every respect, surrounded with kind and sympathizing friends, yet
allowed by them to be as quiet and retired as we choose; but it is
always a pleasure to know you can have society if you wish for it,
by walking a few steps beyond your own door.
We live in a little chamber on the third story, quite low enough to
be an attic, so that we feel classical in our environment; and we
have one of the sweetest and most motherly of Quaker women to
anticipate all our wants, and make us comfortable outwardly as we
are blest inwardly. James's prospects are as good as an author's
_ought_ to be, and I begin to fear we shall not have the
satisfaction of being so _very_ poor after all. But we are, in
spite of this disappointment of our expectations, the happiest of
mortals or spirits, and cling to the skirts of every passing hour,
although we know the next will bring us still more joy.
Your most happy and affectionate
MARIA LOWELL.
"Nathaniel Hawthorne and his Wife," Vol. I, p. 283.
The house so happily described, and in which Lowell so pleasantly lived
while he wrote for _Graham's_ and won a high place on its "canonized
bead-roll," was the old house, still standing at the northeast corner of
Fourth and Arch Streets, which had been built for the residence of
William Smith, editor of the _American Magazine_ (1757-8).
Griswold introduced James Fenimore Cooper to Mr. Graham in the editorial
sanctum, and Graham bought from him his lives of the naval commanders,
and engaged him to write a serial story. Cooper wrote "The Isles of the
Gulf," afterward known as "Jack Tier," and received eighteen hundred
dollars for it; "though," says Graham, "the money might as well have
been thrown into the sea, for it never brought me a new subscriber."
Longfellow's "Spanish Student" appeared for the first time in _Graham's
Magazine_, and Longfellow also contributed "Nuremberg" (June, 1844),
"The Arsenal at Springfield" (May, 1844), "Dante's Divina Commedia"
(June, 1850), "Childhood" (March, 1844), "Belfry of Bruges" (Vol. 22).
Poe published here "The Murders of the Rue Morgue," three chapters on
Autography (Nov., Dec., 1841-Jan., 1842), a review of Horne's "Orion"
(March, 1844), "Dreamland" (June, 1844), "To Helen," "Israfel," "A Few
Words about Brainard," "Life in Death," "The Mask of the Red Death"
(May, 1842), numerous reviews of new books, and "The Conqueror Worm"
(Vol. 22).
After Griswold left the _Magazine_ Mr. Graham assumed more of the
literary management, and engaged E. P. Whipple to write the editorial
reviews of the more important books, which he continued to do until
1854.
Nathaniel Hawthorne included many of his early contributions to this
magazine in his "Twice-Told Tales." "The Earth's Holocaust" appeared in
May, 1844.
George D. Prentice wrote verses. "Fanny Forester" (Mrs. Judson) sent
some brilliant sketches, and Phoebe and Alice Cary, and Grace
Greenwood were faithful correspondents. From the South came verses and
prose tales by William Gilmore Simms. Other captain jewels in Graham's
carcanet were the gifts of Miss Sedgwick, Frances S. Osgood, N. P.
Willis ("it was very comfortable that there should have been a Willis"),
James K. Paulding, Park Benjamin, W. W. Story, Geo. W. Bethune, Mary
Lockhart Lawson, Charles Fenno Hoffman, Alfred B. Street and Albert
Pike.
Among the Philadelphians who rendered frequent aid to the editor were
Joseph C. Neal, Richard Penn Smith, Dr. J. K. Mitchell, Robert Morris
and Thomas Dunn English, the author of "Ben Bolt," who would seem to
have tasted the fountain of eternal youth, and has gone to Congress in
1890 a jolly, thriving candidate.
William Henry Herbert (Frank Forester) furnished a number of sporting
sketches and other articles.
The circulation of _Graham's Magazine_ when at the top of popularity was
thirty-five or thirty-seven thousand. Mr. Graham sold out in 1848, but
bought back the property in 1849. He finally parted with it in 1854.
Washington Irving alone, among the far-shining men of letters in the
country, had no connection with _Graham's_. The _Knickerbocker Magazine_
of New York found place for all that the facility of his pen could
create, and guarded jealously the productions of their "crack writer."
_Graham's Magazine_ began with volume eighteen, being the addition of
the ten volumes of Atkinson's _Casket_, and the seven volumes of
Burton's _Gentleman's Magazine_. This first volume, 1841, contained
Poe's "Descent into a Maelstrom" and his "Murders in the Rue Morgue."
The twenty-first volume, 1842, presents the name of Rufus W. Griswold
upon the cover. The thirtieth volume was edited by Graham alone; the
thirty-second by Graham and Robert T. Conrad; the thirty-fifth by
Graham, Joseph R. Chandler and Bayard Taylor; the fiftieth by Charles
Godfrey Leland. On the first of January, 1859, _Graham's Magazine_
became the _American Monthly_.
On March 15, 1838, John Greenleaf Whittier became editor of the
_Pennsylvania Freeman_, published at 31 North Fifth Street. He was
successor to Benjamin Lundy.
Graham's particular patent of nobility is the fact that he was the first
of American publishers to pay fair prices to American authors.
The _Lady's Amaranth_ was another venture of 1838, and was issued from
No. 274 Market Street.
Adam Waldie was the publisher of the _American Phrenological Journal and
Miscellany_, begun in November, 1838.
The _Philadelphia Reporter_ was called into being in 1838, at No. 45
North Sixth Street, but no physic could prolong its sickly days, and it
was discontinued in a few months' time.
The _Christian Observer_ was a weekly Presbyterian journal commenced in
1838, and was for many years published from No. 134 Chestnut Street.
The _Baptist Record_ was a religious publication continued from 1838 to
1857.
The _American Phrenological Journal_ was issued from No. 46 Carpenter
Street from 1838 to 1841.
The _Farmer's Cabinet_, devoted to agriculture, was published from 1838
to 1850.
The _Ladies' Companion_ was published by Orrin Rodgers for two years
following 1838.
Rodgers also published the _Medico-Chirurgical Review_, about 1838. Its
life, however, was short.
_Peterson's Ladies' National Magazine_.--It was George R. Graham who
first suggested to his friend, Charles J. Peterson, then editor of the
_Saturday Evening Post_, the publication of a fashion journal, patterned
upon the popular French periodicals. _Peterson's Magazine_ is now (1891)
in its fiftieth year, and is still the best and most popular publication
of its class. Its circulation has been as high as one hundred and
sixty-five thousand. It is to-day a stock company, of which Mrs. C. J.
Peterson is President. The same glittering row of writers who
contributed to _Graham's_ helped also in the making of _Peterson's_.
Frances Hodgson Burnett published her first story, "Ethel's Sir
Lancelot," in _Peterson's_ for November, 1868. The story filled five
pages. Mrs. Frank Leslie thinks that Mrs. Burnett's first literary work
was for Frank Leslie in 1867 or 1868, and that she received her first
check in payment for an article in _Frank Leslie's Magazine_. Mrs.
Leslie says that Mrs. Burnett was then living in Knoxville with her
brother who was a civil engineer.
Mr. Peterson died March 4, 1887. The following editorial note appeared
in _The Philadelphia Inquirer_ of Monday, March 7, 1887:
CHARLES J. PETERSON.