Nineteenth-Century American Periodicals Criticism
The nineteenth century marked a transformative era for American periodicals, reflecting the nation's rapid cultural and geographical expansion. This period saw the rise of a diverse range of publications, facilitated by technological advancements in printing and a growing literacy rate. Early influential periodicals like Joseph Dennie's Port Folio set a precedent by blending politics and literature to appeal to a broad audience, paving the way for what Frank Luther Mott identified as the "Golden Age of Magazines," spanning 1825 to the 1860s. This era saw an explosion of publications, with George R. Graham's Graham's Magazine and Knickerbocker Magazine offering quality literary content and featuring authors like Washington Irving and Nathaniel Hawthorne, as discussed in General Periodicals in the Era of Expansion.
By the mid-century, American magazines, such as Harper's New Monthly Magazine and Atlantic Monthly, became cultural staples, featuring serialized novels and robust social debates. The South's notable Southern Literary Messenger, edited by Edgar Allan Poe, contributed significantly to the literary standards of the time, a fact complemented by Southern Magazines. Meanwhile, women's magazines like Godey's Lady's Book, noted in The Magazines and Their Editors, defined Victorian standards of femininity and inspired numerous similar publications.
The post-Civil War era saw further diversification in periodicals, with technological advances bolstering the industry. The rise of local color fiction in publications like Scribner's Monthly and The Century, under editors like R. W. Gilder, catered to postwar America's longing for regional identity and social harmony, a shift examined by Local Color and the Rise of the American Magazine. Meanwhile, Ladies' Home Journal emerged as a significant force in women's publishing, revolutionizing targeted advertising under Edward Bok's leadership, as highlighted in Birth of the Big Six. This period established the foundation for the rich tapestry of modern American periodicals, characterized by a blend of staple general interest magazines and specialized publications addressing diverse audiences across the nation.
Contents
- Representative Works
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Criticism: Overviews, Chronology, And Development
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General Periodicals in the Era of Expansion
(summary)
In the following excerpt, Mott surveys developments in the American periodical from 1825 to mid-century, with special focus on women's magazines and literary weeklies.
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Innovation and Expansion in Coverage
(summary)
In the following excerpt, Wood concentrates on changes in American magazine publishing between 1850 and the 1870s as national concepts of audience, literature, and social responsibility began to coalesce in the United States.
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How the General Magazines Began
(summary)
In the following excerpt, Tebbel recounts the rise of the general magazine between 1825 and 1850 and the importance of new periodicals as forums for political debate during this period.
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Local Color and the Rise of the American Magazine
(summary)
In the following essay, King discusses the post-Civil War growth of local color fiction in the pages of American magazines. The emergence of the American magazine after the Civil War provided for many young writers access to the reading public and afforded them the opportunity and encouragement necessary for their development. Also the more established authors were in a better position to negotiate publication of separate full-length, hard-back books after their works had found an audience in the journals. Yet authors paid a price for magazine publication: compromises were extracted from those who chose this route to literary fame.
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Rise of the General Magazines
(summary)
In the following excerpt, Tebbel and Zuckerman highlight the ascent of general magazines in post-1825 America. The critics focus on the political impact of new periodicals such as Harper's and the Atlantic at mid-century.
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General Periodicals in the Era of Expansion
(summary)
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Criticism: Literary Periodicals
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Literary Types and Judgments
(summary)
In the following excerpts, Mott evaluates the literature and literary criticism that appeared in American magazines from 1850 through the 1880s.
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Poe's Vision of His Ideal Magazine
(summary)
In the following essay, Simpson probes Edgar Allan Poe's attempts to establish a viable literary magazine in mid nineteenth-century America.
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Hawthorne and the Periodical Tale: From Popular Lore to Art
(summary)
In the following essay, Mathews considers Nathaniel Hawthorne's awareness of the American magazine-reading public in composing his short stories.
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Literary Types and Judgments
(summary)
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Criticism: Regional Periodicals
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Southern Magazines
(summary)
In the following essay, Hubbell documents the history of magazine publication in the nineteenth-century American South.
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Romance or Realism? Western Periodical Literature: 1893-1902
(summary)
In the following essay, Marovitz assesses western-themed popular literature that appeared in four late nineteenth-century American periodicals.
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Simms's Monthly Magazine: the Southern and Western Monthly Magazine and Review.
(summary)
In the following essay, Tomlinson recounts the editorial agenda and brief publication history of Simm's Monthly Magazine, edited by the well-known southern writer William Gilmore Simms.
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Art and Letters: An Illustrated Periodical of Nineteenth-Century New Orleans
(summary)
In the following essay, Bonner discusses the brief lifespan of the New Orleans periodical Arts and Letters.
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Southern Magazines
(summary)
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Criticism: Women's Magazines And Gender Issues
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The Magazines and Their Editors
(summary)
In the following essay, Thompson discusses the many magazines for women in pre-Civil War America.
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Another Dilemma of an Intellectual in the Old South: Caroline Gilman, the Peculiar Institution, and Greater Rights for Women in the Rose Magazines
(summary)
In the following essay, Bakker examines the “gentle feminism” and sentimentalized support for slavery in Caroline Howard Gilman's weeklies of the 1830s.
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Birth of the Big Six
(summary)
In the following essay, portions of which were published in 1989, Zuckerman discusses the major American women's magazines of the late nineteenth century.
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The Magazines and Their Editors
(summary)
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Criticism: Minority Periodicals
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In Retrospect
(summary)
In the following essay, Bullock summarizes the development of African-American periodicals between 1838 and 1909.
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American Indian Newspapers, 1828 to the Civil War
(summary)
In the following excerpt, the Murphys examine the history of Native American news periodicals and their representation of Indian life prior to the Civil War. The survey of American Indian newspapers that starts here opens with an account of early-day press efforts, presenting their development in the context of the social forces that initially prompted the papers and eventually stifled them. Following a general overview, the chapter focuses closely on the first publications, including the Cherokee Phoenix, and then looks at several other pre-Civil War publications of the Five Civilized Tribes.
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The 48ers and the Politics of the German Labor Movement in Chicago during the Civil War Era: Community Formation and the Rise of a Labor Press
(summary)
In the following essay, an earlier version of which was presented in 1988, Jentz describes the pivotal role of the leftist German-language press in the mid nineteenth-century American labor movement.
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In Retrospect
(summary)
- Further Reading