Graham's Magazine

“ We shall only add, in answer to carpers generally, that Graham’s Magazine for the last ten years has paid over $80,000 to American writers alone, and that if we meet the public taste, by compulsion—in supplying foreign articles—that we have a right to say to all grumblers who control periodicals—Go and do likewise, or forever be dumb.
Sartain’s Magazine, we understand, spent in three years over $15,000 for original contributions, and it is wrecked—hopelessly wrecked. Will there never be pride enough in the American people to stand by those who support a National Literature? ”

“ The American Press with a chivalry for a prostrate brother, such as has never been witnessed—with one accord, from the extreme North to the extreme South, raised its voice of encouragement—its cheer for our success—and we now close the volume with an addition of over 10,000 subscribers since July, and with the uttermost liberality in expenditure in the manufacture of Graham’s Magazine, met by the tremendous resources which you, gentlemen, by the power of advertising, in liberal notices, have showered upon us. ”

“ If a man has not courage enough to say that Graham is the worst, or the best, or the equal of any other magazine, as the fact may be, we don’t want his company. So boys, if you like the conditions, observe them. We ask no man to publish our prospectus—but we do ask that “Graham” shall not be bundled in with any body who happens to be traveling the same road at the same time—as there are a good many shabby looking fellows about whose room is better than their company—at any rate their room shan’t be ours—that’s plump. ”

“ The publishers spent money with a lavish hand to American authors, but the tide had set in against them—the flood of foreign literature overwhelmed the gallant bark and she has gone down to rise no more. We do not intend to say an unkind word, but we trust that the readers of “Graham” will see in this the safety of standing by old friendships, and not go running after every new doctrine. This Magazine, which was founded in 1826, has gone on steadily and with a secure foothold. No number has ever failed to appear or been delayed in its appearing. ”

“ Now, by having our own artists employed, both abroad and at home, we not only defy competition, but laugh at it.
The New Volume.—With the next number we commence a new volume of Graham’s Magazine, which, we do not hesitate to promise our readers shall be one of rare excellence and beauty. Our past volume, closing with this number, was exhausted very early, and we have consequently been obliged for two months past to refuse all orders for the work from January last. We shall therefore furnish our subscribers with a title page for the coming volume in our next issue. ”

“ In the days of our juvenility, too, not a few thoughts have we spent, wondering what manner of man he was, who could thus monthly gather together such an amount of valuable and interesting reading matter—to say nothing of the choice embellishments that accompanied it. And, in after times, when we had the pleasure of forming his acquaintance, we found that the pictures of the imagination had scarcely done justice, fairly drawn as they were, to the original—for, than George R. Graham, there is not a more whole-souled, liberal, generous, or enterprising man in the Union. ”

“ Mr. Graham said to her, watching her keenly as she sat down in the chair that he offered her, and let her hands sink languidly upon her lap. "We won't let you talk too much. Clara is going to see after her bairns, and I'm going to read the Pall Mall. Here's the May number of The Decade: have you seen it?"
She took it with a grateful smile; but she did not intend to read, and Mr. Graham knew it. He perused his paper diligently, but he was sufficiently interested in her to know exactly at what point she ceased to brood and began to glance at the magazine. ”

“ The benefit thus done to popular literature cannot be calculated. But it was such that it will be long, perhaps, before any one man will have it in his power to do again as much.
The demand of a large business, and the watchfulness necessary to keep the lead, left Mr. Graham but little time for literary composition. He had, however, increased his own reputation as a writer, of occasional articles contributed to his newspaper and magazine, but principally to the latter. ”

“ Graham will be as handsome as ever when he appears, and will be called “sweet” by whole bevies of pretty girls. It is a fact worthy of mention, that there is not upon the whole list of Graham a single ugly woman. There is something in philosophy about attraction and repellents, (or ought to be,) which our friend Bird, of the North American, could tell all about, but which we realize in being surrounded by “a blaze of beauty,” which used to light Godey’s path when he was younger. It is astonishing how popular Magazine publishers are when they are young! ”

“ At our command this has been transferred to steel, to be handed over to the readers of "Graham," by Armstrong, an artist whose ability is a fair warrant for a fine picture. Now if any of our fair readers fall in love with Godey, we shall take it as a formal slight, and shall insist upon having our face run through an edition of a magazine, to be gazed at and loved by thousands of as fine looking people as can be crowded upon a subscription book. ”

“ As we have introduced a new era into magazine history we shall not pause until the revolution is complete. We shall not follow the namby-pamby style of periodical literature, but aim at a loftier and more extended flight. For this purpose we shall increase the amount of our reading matter, although, at the same time, our embellishments shall even be superior in beauty to what they are at present. We have made arrangements by which the graceful pens of two lady-editors will be added to our strength. Our editorial list will then be as follows ”

“ But Graham is tender to poets—for they are a good-hearted race, albeit a little irritable—apt to be dealt unjustly with, too, considering that each one is imbued with more than a Shaksperian genius, and people wont believe it. It is enough to make anybody mad—and a mad poet is of all enraged animals the most vehemently disposed to slaughter somebody. So, having disposed in brief of critics and poets, and of lawyers and briefs in the body of the work, we feel heavenly-minded toward the rest of creation—and in this mood we turn to “the gentlemen of the press.” ”

“ But for the year 1850, we have consummated such arrangements with artists and writers, that we really feel not only proud, but inclined to boast in anticipation, and as a great deal will be said by others as to the splendor of their intentions toward their readers, we hereby throw down the challenge and ask them to equal Graham’s Magazine, in the elegance of its engravings, the high character of its literary matter, the extreme beauty of its fashions, and the high finish of the novelties in the way of decorations, which Mr. ”

“ The splendor of our embellishments has never been equalled: the variety and richness of our literary matter are not to be surpassed. We not only present a choicer list of contributors than any other magazine in the country, but we rejoice in more than one writer whom we alone have been able to tempt from their retreats, and who cannot be induced to contribute to any cotemporary. ”

“ Graham was first noticed as having done something for the literature of his country by Mr. E. J. Spence, of London, who in 1811 published Sketches of the Manners, Customs, and Scenery of Scotland. Motherwell, in the short-lived Paisley Magazine, next set forth fully Graham’s title to the regard of his compatriots, and rescued a few recollections concerning him which, in the course of a year or two more, would have been lost. ”

“ His few personal wants and the necessary comforts of his age are fully provided by Mr. George W. Childs, whose liberal hand, prompted by his generous heart, never wearies in doing deeds of generosity.
Mr. Graham has told me in detail the story of his magazine. He was the owner and editor of Atkinson's Casket, when, in 1841, William E. Burton, the actor, came to him with the request that he should buy the Gentleman's Magazine, of which Burton had been the proprietor for four years. ”

“ He is a gentleman, of modest demeanor, who does not come to this country to raise a hurrah, or a row, by flattering our vanity or assailing our foibles. He has settled snugly down on his farm at Stockbridge, Massachusetts—claims the proper protection of his property as a resident citizen, by copyrighting his books; and attends quietly to his own affairs. We paid him $1200 for his novel, and think it a good one—he is satisfied—we are satisfied—and the readers of Graham are delighted. ”

“ Some of Godman’s best articles have enriched and will continue to enrich our pages, and as he has started manfully, in competition with Northern periodicals, Graham says—to his friends—Stand by your banner, boys!—let there be a brotherhood in letters at least, and let us leave the quarreling to ambitious politicians. So, Godman! Graham wishes you “God speed,” and 100,000 subscribers! Any fellow who cannot respond to the sentiment—whether he lives north or south of the Potomac—had better button his soul in his vest pocket carefully, or he will not be able to find it, when it is called for. ”

“ When all around us, above and below, we hear the united voices of men, loud, uninterrupted, unanimous in our behalf, shouting out and proclaiming the treason and the folly.
Why, my dear Jeremy, what are the paid puffs—what the puffs solicited by printed circulars—and self-praise thrust upon the timid, to us?—when every mail from old post-towns, and old friends, and from new, brings renewed and additional pledges of the fast hold that “Graham” and his friends have upon each other. ”

“ Mortified as he was at finding himself thus excluded from public life, Mr Graham possessed too good a digestion to let the circumstance prey upon his spirits. His home was then, as it continued to be to the last, the chief scene of his happiness; and the birth of his first-born son, on the 7th of April 1820, shed additional light over the domestic circle. It suited neither his means nor his tastes to reside in London as an idler ”

“ There is no paper in the country upon which there is such manifest employment of brain-work or pains-taking labor—of tact or taste. The editorial page alone will furnish food, at any time, for a day of pleasant reflection—the whole sheet, indeed, is the siftings of golden sand. It is a sort of intellectual placer, where Beauty may grow radiant and wise.
Liberal.—Duval, of The Phœnix, Camden, Ala., offers to exchange his Weekly with the Daily of the Boston Post, provided Green will publish his prospectus six times. If Green declines that offer he don’t deserve his name. ”

“ Strange to say, Sir James Graham took no notice of the ironical cheers which followed these quotations, and which marked the conviction of the House that the pamphlet had emanated from his pen. Yet such was not the case. The pamphlet was the work of a Mr Rooke, and was acknowledged as such when, four years subsequently, the author gave to the world a volume on the science of geology. Why Sir James Graham did not decline the honour thrust upon him at the moment, we are at a loss to conceive, and his biographer certainly assigns no satisfactory reason for the proceeding. ”

“ We believe that there was no slight sprinkling of what is vulgarly called humbug in the good man’s character; and we find some corroboration of this suspicion in the fact that, though well aware of Mr Graham’s ultra-Liberal opinions, he nevertheless, because of the affection with which he regarded Lady Catherine, recommended her son to the constituency of Hull. A like charge may, we think, be brought against Dean Milner, subject, of course, to extenuating circumstances. ”

“ Burton explained that money was needed for his new theatre, that the magazine must be sold, that it numbered thirty-five hundred subscribers, and that it would be sold outright for thirty-five hundred dollars. Graham, who at that time had fifteen hundred subscribers to his own magazine, accepted the offer, and the Gentleman's Magazine was transferred to him. "There is one thing more," said Burton, "I want you to take care of my young editor." That "young editor," who in this manner entered the employ of George Graham, was Edgar Allan Poe. Mr. ”

“ HONORED MISTRESS DEERING,--I lay myself at your feet, and with myself a pretty bit of game I have just killed, thinking that the fair Venetian might fancy a venison steak for her breakfast. I kiss your hand, dear my lady, and am your most unworthy but loyal servitor,
JOHN GRAHAM.
"Of course, knew it was Graham, queer creature. Wonder why he did not stop and take breakfast with us. He is an unaccountable fellow."
"What did you call him?"
"Graham; his full name is John Douglass Graham. Just like a hero's in a novel. But Graham never does anything very heroic, I fancy." ”

“ At first the glitter of the gathering had raised all the democrat in Graham; he had felt hostile and satirical. But it is not in human nature to resist an atmosphere of courteous regard. Soon the music, the light, the play of colours, the shining arms and shoulders about him, the touch of hands, the transient interest of smiling faces, the frothing sound of skilfully modulated voices, the atmosphere of compliment, interest and respect, had woven together into a fabric of indisputable pleasure. Graham for a time forgot his spacious resolutions. ”