Salmagundi (magazine)

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Salmagundi; or The Whim-whams and Opinions of Launcelot Langstaff, Esq. & Others was a satirical magazine published in New York in 1807/08 . It was founded by Washington Irving , his brother William Irving and James Kirke Paulding ; the three also wrote all contributions under numerous changing pseudonyms. Between January 24, 1807 and January 15, 1808, a total of 20 issues of the magazine appeared at irregular intervals.

Content

Originally, the magazine was designed as a parody of another New York magazine, The Town , which was committed to improving morality. In the first issue, Salmagundi's three authors drafted their editorial fiction ; They designed a suitable personality for each pseudonym. In this first issue, the editorial team consists of three more Hagestolzen: “Launcelot Langstaff” acts as the pretended publisher, he transfers the corporate department to “Anthony Evergreen” and “Will Wizard” appears as a theater critic. Since the Irvings and Paulding also shared the pseudonyms, which became more and more numerous over time, the authorship of some articles cannot be established with certainty until today.

In their articles, the three of them made fun of the fashions and social hustle and bustle of New York, especially the city's higher circles. The targets of their ridicule were often well-known personalities across the city, only poorly introduced under false names, so that the initiated New York reading public hardly had any trouble deciphering the allusions. Since the authors were also positioned politically in the extremely confused local politics of New York at the time, they approached their political opponents with particular sharpness. This particularly affected the extensive and influential Livingston family with their patriarch Robert R. Livingston , who are referred to in the Salmagundi pages as the Cockloft Clan and caricatured in almost every issue.

In 1819 Paulding tried to revive the magazine. After eleven numbers he gave up the attempt - now written by himself on his own - again.

expenditure

Salmagundi, 1807-1808

  • Washington Irving: Letters of Jonathan Oldstyle, Gent./Salmagundi . Twayne, Boston 1977, ISBN 0-8057-8509-4 . [= Volume 6 by Henry A. Pochmann et al. (Ed.): The Complete Works of Washington Irving. 30 volumes. University of Wisconsin Press, Madison / Twayne, Boston 1969–1986.]
  • Washington Irving: Salmagundi . RF Fenno & Co, New York 1900 ( digitized from the Internet Archive ).

Salmagundi, Second Series, 1819-1820

  • James Kirke Paulding: Salmagundi: Second Series . 2 volumes. Harper & Brothers, New York 1835 (digital copies at the Internet Archive: Volume 1 , Volume 2 )

Secondary literature

  • Mary Weatherspoon Bowden: Cocklofts and Slang-Whangers: The Historical Sources of Washington Irving’s Salmagundi. In: New York History 61: 2, 1980. pp. 133-160.
  • Mary Weatherspoon Bowden: Washington Irving . Twayne, Boston 1981, pp. 20-28.
  • Bruce Granger: American Essay Serials from Franklin to Irving. University of Tennessee Press, Knoxville 1978.
  • Simone Hagenmeyer: Washington Irving and the periodical essay of the 18th century: The Letters of Jonathan Oldstyle, Salmagundi and The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon as deviating answers to British writing habits. Cuvillier, Göttingen 2000. ISBN 3-89712-997-3
  • Martha Hartzog Stocker: Salmagundi: Problems in Editing the So-Called First Edition (1807-08) . In: PBSA , pp. 141-58.
  • Stanley T. Williams : The Life of Washington Irving . Oxford University Press, New York 1935, Vol. 1, pp. 74-107.