The Broadway Journal was a short-lived New York City-based newspaper founded by Charles Frederick Briggs and John Bisco in 1844 and was published from January 1845 to January 1846. In its first year, the publication was bought by Edgar Allan Poe, becoming the only periodical he ever owned, though it failed after only a few months under his leadership.
Briggs, previously known as a satire novelist under the pseudonym "Harry Franco", wrote a letter to James Russell Lowell on December 7, 1844, announcing his intentions to start a journal. "The name will be, for the sake of individuality and a-part-from-other-peopleness, the Broadway Journal, or Review, or Chronicle, or Broadway Something". [1] Upon its founding as the Broadway Journal, Briggs handled the editorial duties and solicited for contributors while his business partner John Bisco handled the publishing and financial concerns. [2]
On February 21, 1845, Edgar Allan Poe signed a year-long contract to become an editor of the publication. He also agreed to write at least one page worth of original material per week. He received one-third of the profits as well. [3] Soon, however, Poe's caustic reputation as a critic began to bother Briggs and he intended to get rid of both Poe and Bisco. He was, however, unsuccessful in finding new financial backers when Bisco raised his price. Poe, for a time, considered selling his own portion of the journal to Evert Augustus Duyckinck or Cornelius Mathews. [4] Briggs tried to buy out Bisco, who asked for more money than Briggs was willing to pay. [5] By June, however, Briggs resigned due to financial difficulties and, in October, Bisco sold his part of the newspaper to Poe for $50 (Poe paid with a note endorsed by Horace Greeley). [6] Poe, then, had full editorial control and ownership of the Broadway Journal.
Poe published new versions of many of his works, including "The Masque of the Red Death," "The Oval Portrait," and others. He also continued his role as a literary critic, including accusations of plagiarism against Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. He also used the Broadway Journal for a very public flirtation with Frances Sargent Osgood [7] and to raise money for his never-realized dream of a new magazine to be named The Penn . [8]
Poe was unable to keep the publication financially successful, though he had hoped to turn it around. A loan of $50 from Rufus Wilmot Griswold in October 1845 helped sustain it for a short time. [9] In a November 15, 1845, letter to friend and poet Thomas Holley Chivers he vowed, "I will make a fortune of it yet." [10] Even so, the publication officially ended with a final issue dated January 3, 1846, which included the valedictory:
After taking over full control of the Journal, Poe had asked for the support of friends. Referring to this after its closure, Cornelia Wells Walter of the Boston Evening Transcript wrote a poem:
To trust in friends is but so so
Especially when cash is low;
The Broadway Journal's proved "no go" —
Friends would not pay the pen of POE. [12]
The Broadway Journal attempted to be a more serious intellectual journal compared to others at the time. Because of this, it had a smaller audience and was less financially successful. It emphasized literary reviews but also featured criticism of Art, theater, and music as well as poetry and articles on politics. [13]
Other American journals that Edgar Allan Poe was involved with include:
"The Conqueror Worm" is a poem by Edgar Allan Poe about human mortality and the inevitability of death. It was first published separately in Graham's Magazine in 1843, but quickly became associated with Poe's short story "Ligeia" after Poe added the poem to a revised publication of the story in 1845. In the revised story, the poem is composed by the eponymous Ligeia, and taught to the narrator in the fits of her death throes.
Eliza Poe was an English actress and the mother of the American author Edgar Allan Poe.
"Lenore" is a poem by the American author Edgar Allan Poe. It began as a different poem, "A Paean", and was not published as "Lenore" until 1843.
"Al Aaraaf" is an early poem by American writer Edgar Allan Poe, first published in 1829. It tells of the afterlife in a place called Al Aaraaf, inspired by A'raf as described in the Quran. At 422 lines, it is Poe's longest poem.
"The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar" is a short story by the American author Edgar Allan Poe about a mesmerist who puts a man in a suspended hypnotic state at the moment of death. An example of a tale of suspense and horror, it is also to a certain degree a hoax, as it was published without claiming to be fictional, and many at the time of publication (1845) took it to be a factual account. Poe admitted it to be a work of pure fiction in letters to his correspondents.
"Ligeia" is an early short story by American writer Edgar Allan Poe, first published in 1838. The story follows an unnamed narrator and his wife Ligeia, a beautiful and intelligent raven-haired woman. She falls ill, composes "The Conqueror Worm", and quotes lines attributed to Joseph Glanvill shortly before dying.
Sarah Elmira Royster Shelton was an adolescent sweetheart of Edgar Allan Poe who became engaged to him shortly before his death in 1849.
Charles Frederick Briggs, also called C. F. Briggs, was an American journalist, author and editor, born in Nantucket, Massachusetts. He was also known under the pseudonym "Harry Franco", having written The Adventures of Harry Franco in 1839, which was followed by a series of works dealing more or less humorously with life in New York City.
"The Spectacles" is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe, published in 1844. It is one of Poe's comedy tales.
Sarah Helen Power Whitman was an American poet, essayist, transcendentalist, spiritualist and a romantic interest of Edgar Allan Poe.
"Metzengerstein: A Tale in Imitation of the German" is a short story by American writer and poet Edgar Allan Poe, his first to see print. It was first published in the pages of Philadelphia's Saturday Courier magazine, in 1832. The story follows the young Frederick, the last of the Metzengerstein family, who carries on a long-standing feud with the Berlifitzing family. Suspected of causing a fire that kills the Berlifitzing family patriarch, Frederick becomes intrigued with a previously unnoticed and untamed horse. Metzengerstein is punished for his cruelty when his own home catches fire and the horse carries him into the flame. Part of a Latin hexameter by Martin Luther serves as the story's epigraph: Pestis eram vivus—moriens tua mors ero.
The Conchologist's First Book is an illustrated textbook on conchology issued in 1839, 1840, and 1845. The book was originally printed under Edgar Allan Poe's name. The text was based on Manual of Conchology by Thomas Wyatt, an English author and lecturer.
Graham's Magazine was a nineteenth-century periodical based in Philadelphia established by George Rex Graham and published from 1840 to 1858. It was alternatively referred to as Graham's Lady's and Gentleman's Magazine, Graham's Magazine of Literature and Art, Graham's American Monthly Magazine of Literature and Art, and Graham's Illustrated Magazine of Literature, Romance, Art, and Fashion.
"Eulalie," or "Eulalie — A Song," is a poem by Edgar Allan Poe, first published in the July 1845 issue of The American Review and reprinted shortly thereafter in the August 9, 1845 issue of the Broadway Journal.
The American Review, alternatively known as The American Review: A Whig Journal and The American Whig Review, was a New York City-based monthly periodical that published from 1844 to 1852. Published by Wiley and Putnam, it was edited by George H. Colton (1818–1847), and after his death, beginning with Volume 7, by James Davenport Whelpley. As of Volume 10, July 1849, the proprietors of the journal were Whelpley and John Priestly.
Thomas Dunn English was an American Democratic Party politician from New Jersey who represented the state's 6th congressional district in the House of Representatives from 1891 to 1895. He was also a published author and songwriter, who had a bitter feud with Edgar Allan Poe. Along with Waitman T. Barbe and Danske Dandridge, English was considered a major West Virginia poet of the mid 19th century.
"Bon-Bon" is a comedic short story by Edgar Allan Poe, first published in December 1832 in the Philadelphia Saturday Courier. Originally called "The Bargain Lost", it follows Pierre Bon-Bon, who believes himself a profound philosopher, and his encounter with the Devil. The story's humor is based on the verbal interchange between the two, which satirizes classical philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle. The Devil reveals that he has eaten the souls of many of these philosophers.
William Henry Leonard Poe, often referred to as Henry Poe, was an American sailor, amateur poet and the older brother of Edgar Allan Poe and Rosalie Poe.
The Poets and Poetry of America was a popular anthology of American poetry collected by American literary critic and editor Rufus Wilmot Griswold. It was first published in 1842 and went into several editions throughout the 19th century.
"The Duc de L'Omelette" is a humorous short story by American writer Edgar Allan Poe. It was first published in the Philadelphia Saturday Courier on March 3, 1832, and was subsequently revised a number of times by the author.