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[One of the New York]

About This Item

  • Title: [One of the New York]
  • Date: 21 April 1858
  • Creator(s): Walt Whitman
  • Whitman Archive ID: per.01299
  • Source: Brooklyn Daily Times, 21 April 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 Jamie DeRousse Jason Stacy Stephanie Blalock Karie Cobb
  • Cite this page: Whitman, Walt. "[One of the New York]." The Walt Whitman Archive. Gen. ed. Matt Cohen, Ed Folsom, & Kenneth M. Price. Accessed 16 July 2024. <http://www.whitmanarchive.org>.
  • Source File: per.01299.xml (TEI)
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☞One of the New York papers, of a superior literary character, has a sneering allusion to the taste of the Southern States, as follows:

LITERATURE AT THE SOUTH.—The South-Side Democrat, in an article on American Literature, says that in every parlor, boudoir and reading-room the “last new novel” of Sylvanus Cobb1 or Mrs. Emma Southworth2 may be seen, “done” in immaculate style of bindery and typographical execution.

Well, we don’t know why the Southerners shouldn’t indulge in this sort of literary aliment. There will be quite as much good come from it, as from feeding on Byron,3 Bulwer,4 and half the rest of the race of dilletanti poets and sketch-writers now “recognized” in the United States.

Notes:

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2.  [back]

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4. Edward Bulwer-Lytton (1803–1873), was an English writer and politician. His novel The Caxtons: A Family Picture (1849) was a breakout hit at the time. Whitman once accused Lytton of plagiarizing a book titled Zicci, stating it was the exact same as the novel Zanoni. Both novels, however, were written by Lytton. Whitman described the controversy in a number of Aurora editorials. See "The Great Bamboozle!—A Plot Discovered!" (March 28, 1842), and "More Humbug" (April 4, 1842). [back]

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