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[Harper's Monthly Magazine]

About This Item

  • Title: [Harper's Monthly Magazine]
  • Date: 20 September 1858
  • Creator(s): Walt Whitman
  • Whitman Archive ID: per.01137
  • Source: Brooklyn Daily Times, 20 September 1858: 2. Our transcription is based on a digital image of a microfilm scan of the original issue. Microfilm of original issue held at Pennsylvania State University Libraries. For a description of the editorial rationale behind our treatment of the journalism, see our statement of editorial policy.
  • Editorial note: This piece is unsigned, as was the case for most of Whitman's journalism. However, this editorial is part of a series of texts that deal with a coherent theme that has been identified by the Whitman Archive journalism team as likely authored by Whitman. This decision is based on a combination of historical and (auto)biographical accounts, similarity to contemporary Whitman writings, a history of scholarly attribution, extant clippings retained by Whitman, computational stylometric analysis, and, in some cases, manuscript evidence in Whitman’s hand.
  • Contributors to digital file: Kaylen Michaelis Thara Michaelis Brandi Faulkner Stefan Schöberlein Karie Cobb
  • Cite this page: Whitman, Walt. "[Harper's Monthly Magazine]." The Walt Whitman Archive. Gen. ed. Matt Cohen, Ed Folsom, & Kenneth M. Price. Accessed 17 July 2024. <http://www.whitmanarchive.org>.
  • Source File: per.01137.xml (TEI)
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HARPER’S MONTHLY MAGAZINE1 is too well known as the leading and most widely circulated publication of the kind in the Union, to require extended notice. Had we not seen the October No., just out, we should have questioned the possibility of improving on former numbers. Thackeray’s2 Virginians, a large instalment of which is given, grows in interest as the story proceeds. The narratives of travel are written with surpassing ability, giving the reader almost as clear an idea of the countries described as if he visited them. The tales and fugitive sketches are well written and interesting, the jokes exquisite and fresh, and the editorial chapter in the best style of magazine-writing, and always on an interesting and popular topic. All the fault we find with Harper’s Monthly is, that it does not come out often enough. We would gladly welcome such a visitor every week, instead of monthly, if such a collection of first class reading matter could be brought together in a shorter space of time.

Notes:

1.  [back]

2. William Thackeray (1811–1863) was an English satirical author and illustrator. Whitman summarized his assessment of Thackery when asked by Horace Traubel late in life as follows: "I have read Vanity Fair and liked it: it seemed to me a considerable story of its kind—to have its own peculiar value. But Thackeray as a whole did not cast his sinker very deep though he's none the worse for that" (With Walt Whitman in Camden, Monday, October 29, 1888). [back]

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