Orion (1840s magazine)

Last updated

Orion
Cover of "The Orion a Monthly Magazine of Literature and Art 1843-12".png
Cover of the December 1843 issue
Editor William Carey Richards
CategoriesLiterary magazine
FrequencyMonthly
Format Octavo
FounderWilliam Carey Richards
First issueMarch 1842;182 years ago (1842-03)
Final issueAugust 1844;179 years ago (1844-08)
CountryUnited States
Based in Penfield, Georgia (later, Charleston, South Carolina)
LanguageEnglish
OCLC 8738489

Orion was an American literary magazine founded by William Carey Richards in March 1842.

Contents

History

Richards started Orion while living in Penfield, Georgia, with the intention of fostering the growth of literature produced in the South. [1] He distinguished the magazine from merely one dedicated to Southern literature, explaining: [2]

[We] will not say southern literature, for we have a decided distaste for such local expressions, as if literature were of different characters in the South and in the North. It is the same every where except in degree and tone, and its advancement, its elevation in the South, is the proper object of our desires and efforts.

It was named for the Orion constellation at the suggestion of William Tappan Thompson, later an editor. [3] The first issue of the magazine, published in March 1842, resembled the typography and appearance of the Knickerbocker , published around the same time, though Richards denied any intentional emulation. [4]

The magazine, not affiliated with any particular denomination or religious group, aimed to uplift literary standards in the South. Within its sixty-four pages it featured a diversity of literary works, with contributions from prominent writers hailing from both the South and North, such as William Gilmore Simms. Richards' family, including his wife Cornelia Richards, his brother Thomas Addison Richards, and his sister, also contributed to the magazine. [5]

Richards took on various roles in addition to being editor, contributing literary criticism, essays, humour and poetry. [5]

Seeking to expand the magazine's reach and influence, he relocated the magazine to Charleston, South Carolina in early 1844. However, despite these efforts, the magazine ceased publication after just six months there, ending in August 1844. [6]

Legacy

Although criticized by some contemporaries, Orion overall received praise for its typographic quality, content, and Richard's contributions. Its significance lied in Richards's efforts to foster literature in the South and being the first of his contributions in that vein, such as his later magazine ventures the Southern Literary Gazette and the Schoolfellow . [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Humpty Dumpty</span> Nursery rhyme character

Humpty Dumpty is a character in an English nursery rhyme, probably originally a riddle and one of the best known in the English-speaking world. He is typically portrayed as an anthropomorphic egg, though he is not explicitly described as such. The first recorded versions of the rhyme date from late eighteenth-century England and the tune from 1870 in James William Elliott's National Nursery Rhymes and Nursery Songs. Its origins are obscure, and several theories have been advanced to suggest original meanings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Little magazine</span> Magazine produced without a motive of profit

In the United States, a little magazine is a magazine genre consisting of "artistic work which for reasons of commercial expediency is not acceptable to the money-minded periodicals or presses", according to a 1942 study by Frederick J. Hoffman, a professor of English. While George Plimpton disagreed with the diminutive connotations of "little", the name "little magazine" is widely accepted for such magazines. A little magazine is not necessarily a literary magazine, because while the majority of such magazines are literary in nature, containing poetry and fiction, a significant proportion of such magazines are not. Some have encompassed the full range of the arts, and others have grown from zine roots.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Gilmore Simms</span> American writer and politician (1806–1870)

William Gilmore Simms was a poet, novelist, politician and historian from the American South. His writings achieved great prominence during the 19th century, with Edgar Allan Poe pronouncing him the best novelist America had ever produced. He is still known among literary scholars as a major force in antebellum Southern literature. He is also remembered for his strong support of slavery and for his opposition to Uncle Tom's Cabin, in response to which he wrote reviews and the pro-slavery novel The Sword and the Distaff (1854). During his literary career he served as editor of several journals and newspapers and he also served in the South Carolina House of Representatives.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Pierpont</span> American poet, lawyer, and merchant

John Pierpont was an American poet, who was also successively a teacher, lawyer, merchant, and Unitarian minister. His poem The Airs of Palestine made him one of the best-known poets in the U.S. in his day. He was the grandfather of J. P. Morgan.

<i>Southern Literary Messenger</i>

The Southern Literary Messenger was a periodical published in Richmond, Virginia, from August 1834 to June 1864, and from 1939 to 1945. Each issue carried a subtitle of "Devoted to Every Department of Literature and the Fine Arts" or some variation thereof and included poetry, fiction, nonfiction, reviews, and historical notes. It was founded by Thomas Willis White, who served as publisher and occasional editor until his death, in 1843.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southern United States literature</span> American literature about the Southern United States; literature by writers from that region

Southern United States literature consists of American literature written about the Southern United States or by writers from the region. Literature written about the American South first began during the colonial era, and developed significantly during and after the period of slavery in the United States. Traditional historiography of Southern United States literature emphasized a unifying history of the region; the significance of family in the South's culture, a sense of community and the role of the individual, justice, the dominance of Christianity and the positive and negative impacts of religion, racial tensions, social class and the usage of local dialects. However, in recent decades, the scholarship of the New Southern Studies has decentralized these conventional tropes in favor of a more geographically, politically, and ideologically expansive "South" or "Souths".

<i>Angry Penguins</i> Art and literary journal founded in 1940

Angry Penguins was an art and literary journal founded in 1940 by surrealist poet Max Harris, at the age of 18. Originally based in Adelaide, the journal moved to Melbourne in 1942 once Harris joined the Heide Circle, a group of avant-garde painters and writers who stayed at Heide, a property owned by art patrons John and Sunday Reed. Angry Penguins subsequently became associated with, and stimulated, an art movement that would later be known by the same name. Key figures of the movement include Sidney Nolan, Arthur Boyd, Joy Hester, Gray Smith, and Albert Tucker.

<i>Spirit of the Times</i> 19th-century American sporting newspaper

The Spirit of the Times: A Chronicle of the Turf, Agriculture, Field Sports, Literature and the Stage was an American weekly newspaper published in New York City. The paper aimed for an upper-class readership made up largely of sportsmen. The Spirit also included humorous material, much of it based on experience of settlers near the southwestern frontier. Theatre news was a third important component. The Spirit had an average circulation of about 22,000, with a peak of about 40,000 subscribers.

<i>Overland Monthly</i> Magazine of the western United States

The Overland Monthly was a monthly literary and cultural magazine, based in California, United States. It was founded in 1868 and published between the second half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century.

The New Monthly Magazine was a British monthly magazine published from 1814 to 1884. It was founded by Henry Colburn and published by him through to 1845.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joseph Dennie</span> American writer

Joseph Dennie was an American author and journalist who was one of the foremost men of letters of the Federalist Era. A Federalist, Dennie is best remembered for his series of essays entitled The Lay Preacher and as the founding editor of The Port Folio, a journal espousing classical republican values. Port Folio was the most highly regarded and successful literary publication of its time, and the first important political and literary journal in the United States. Timothy Dwight IV once referred to Dennie as "the Addison of America" and "the father of American Belles-Lettres."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William T. Porter</span> 19th-century American journalist and newspaper editor

William Trotter Porter was an American journalist and newspaper editor who founded an early American newspaper devoted to sports. After working at a number of small newspapers, Porter moved to New York City in the 1830s. After employment at a newspaper in the city, he founded the Spirit of the Times, a newspaper modeled on a London paper called Bell's Life in London. The Spirit, which went through a number of names and incarnations over the years, was devoted to sports and other recreational pursuits. One of Porter's main interests involved horse racing, and he was involved in attempts to create the first stud book in the United States, which did not bear fruit. He was also instrumental in the development of American literature, as the Spirit published a number of short stories by American tall tale writers, and Porter edited two collections of short stories by American writers. After publishing the Spirit through the 1830s, he sold it to another printer but continued as the editor into the 1850s. He left the original Spirit in 1855 and in 1856 was hired as editor for another sporting newspaper, Porter's Spirit of the Times, published by George Wilkes. Porter died in 1858.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Carey Crane</span>

William Carey Crane was an American Baptist minister, an educator, and the president of Baylor University from 1864 to 1885.

The Boston Miscellany of Literature and Fashion was a monthly literary and fashion magazine published in Boston, Massachusetts from 1842 to 1843. It also published book reviews and music.

The literature of Georgia, United States, includes fiction, poetry, and nonfiction. Representative writers include Erskine Caldwell, Carson McCullers, Margaret Mitchell, Flannery O’Connor, Charles Henry Smith, and Alice Walker.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Catharine Webb Barber</span> American author, newspaper editor

Catharine Webb Barber was an American teacher, newspaper editor, and author. She was born in Massachusetts, but came South, settling first in Georgia and afterward in Alabama. According to The Alabama Review, 1983,— "Establishing a bibliography of the works of Catharine W. Barber Towles McCoy is as difficult as establishing the facts of her life. Only a few of her numerous contributions to ephemeral Georgia periodicals can now definitely be known."

<i>The Yankee</i> 1820s American literary magazine edited by John Neal

The Yankee was one of the first cultural publications in the United States, founded and edited by John Neal (1793–1876), and published in Portland, Maine as a weekly periodical and later converted to a longer, monthly format. Its two-year run concluded at the end of 1829. The magazine is considered unique for its independent journalism at the time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Delphian Club</span> American literary club 1816–1825

The Delphian Club was an early American literary club active between 1816 and 1825. The focal point of Baltimore's literary community, Delphians like John Neal were prodigious authors and editors. The group of mostly lawyers and doctors gathered weekly to share refreshments and facetious stories, with many of their works being published in The Portico magazine. The club's structure and terminology were inspired by classical antiquity and comical verbosity. Sixteen men claimed membership over the club's nine-year run, with no more than nine serving at a time. Edgar Allan Poe satirized the group in his unpublished Tales of the Folio Club in the 1830s.

Cornelia Richards was a 19th-century American writer.

William Carey Richards was an American magazine editor, author, and Baptist minister, known for his contributions to literature and magazines of the Southern United States during the 19th century.

References

  1. Hynds 1988, p. 253.
  2. Richards, William Carey (1843). "Editor's Department". Orion. 1: 63.
  3. Hynds 1988, pp. 253–254.
  4. Flanders 2010, pp. 70.
  5. 1 2 Hynds 1988, pp. 254.
  6. 1 2 Hynds 1988, pp. 255.

Bibliography

Further reading