The token

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The Token , from 1838 The Token and Atlantic Souvenir , was a literary almanac that appeared annually in Boston between 1828 and 1842. Itis important to American literary history because it featured many of Nathaniel Hawthorne's short stories.

Illustration from the token for the year 1830

content

The Token was founded in 1828 by Samuel Griswold Goodrich , who initially acted as both editor and publisher. With the exception of the second volume (the 1829 yearbook), for which Nathaniel Parker Willis was responsible, Goodrich published all volumes up to the end of the token in 1842.

The token was one of numerous "gift books " ( gift book or keepsake ) that became popular at the time and were given away for Christmas, New Year or a birthday. They were modeled on the European almanacs of the muses , but were primarily, if not exclusively, aimed at a female audience. They should be at least as decorative as they are edifying and thus combined poems, essays and stories with mostly very lovely and sentimental illustrations. The token stood out from the multitude of such publications due to the high literary quality of its texts, in addition to Hawthorne, among others, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Catharine Maria Sedgwick published here . In 1832 the token merged with The Atlantic Souvenir , one of its main competitors, and from 1838 was called The Token and Atlantic Souvenir . The later years in particular were often published by pirated printers , so that at least ten different editions can be distinguished for the 1838 year.

literature

Vintages

If available, digital copies of the Internet Archive are linked:

Secondary literature

  • The Token - Kapitel in Ward, Trent, et al .: The Cambridge History of English and American Literature in 18 Volumes (Volume XVI). GP Putnam's Sons, New York and Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1907–1921.
  • Kristina Huff: Souvenirs of America: American Gift Books, 1825-1840 . Unpublished master's thesis, University of Missouri-Columbia 2006.
  • Seymour L. Gross : Hawthorne's Income from 'The Token'. In: Studies in Bibliography 8, 1956. pp. 236-238.

Web links

Commons : The Token and Atlantic Souvenir  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
  • The Token (1828–1842) - Pat Pflieger's private website, whichaims toprovide comprehensive bibliographic documentation of the token .