, 1877-10-20

figures. II was singular and sudden growth,
The row consolidated fraham; apparently It
found tpcstal race Of authors Just ripe for
sssSs 'sssea s vh. chem The; ss grew e'ss sss
did 10. continue into the hand., Of
the most characteristic Of Inc older magazines;
% peculiar thought '' asd manner ian ot hat ono dec.
a'ie That i ts lkc a literary history; and the
great majority Of IT, regular contributors dld
not wFfte much elsewhere, or. at nl[ events,
seldom had IN iudepen''ent fame Il is tmpos-
slbfc to nan'e ANY great nunbcr OF them In an I
article like this; but nearly al their names arc
to call to mini what one Of our more recent !
men Of letters likes to cali "tllat Lausa-MatIfda
agc."
faults, was the nrst editor Of Grdhan.'s In the
new shape; md, stranger still, be puckcsl up /
more or'lesa OF energy and presidency aga!n,
and lof year WIS once more at ha beat. Iic
vrtts some articles on eiphess "a ttiase early
moet tre'itthble original work, hcaides attending
with new ability 10 the reviews and contr1bn-
ttont; but nil this WA too good 70 last, and hy
was discharged. and Or. Grtswo!d succeeded 70
the helm.
In January, 1853, after considerable prcpara-
tton. the first number OF I'ntnam's Monthly ar-
the first, we think, 10 be- associated With the
project-and Of s1essrs. George William Curtis
and parke Godw'n. The magazine tcgaa lts
the pait,ai lealersh!p, of one oI ,tsc most tcli-
gent and liberal publsless that ever honorcd
bis profession ~ bringing to It the same genu.
ine lore OF letters whtuh he l.uped to aid in
spreading. The friend, rather than the business
agent Ut large number of most prominent
literary men. be had catlly assured himself, by
Il preliminary correspondence, of their real Co
0pcratfon in awotk which hc had fnuch at heart
| The cttofs alnne were very, strong: tlieir In
! f1ucnee would have commanded, probaDy. tic
/ aid vi all the already we|I-cAtab1ishcd namcs;
| but Mr.. Pntna,n's reputation with both authors
ntp kilc public Was faetUr Vi almost lnestimable
value in securing confidence for the new under.
| taking. Kccrttts came TO It. from, every aide: It
seemed as though the rising r!ters rtcnrtizedby
instinct tha: here as really genuine ''nc1cus+'
iai pIetiges. The fuTker10tk<r fn Its twentieth
year, had ;,asttl Its zenith. and was rapidly dc
ecending toward the series Of hazy changes both
u publishers ar'l nat1le which came hcsore IL
| if,ial sctttng-whcn .bc new 1um1ilnry rose. X
rival which could Ertnt in It's first sssc t~o suc,
I ln1cn,s as Iowctl's "Fonlltain Of Youth" and
| LonEfeilnw's "Watdcn nf tile Cinque Ports,"-
With could show list Of such contributors As
sir i'utnatn's announcement. promised. might
| we'll uuicxen the veterans heclinc The Iark-
brown covers gradually Yielded place 10 the
"pea-vrcen.'' aud for few years 1t seemed rs
though the risug .Nunhly were the permanent
magazine at lAst-lascu on . solid and cotstInu-
ous support, .uch a. lad hardly existed whrn Its
predecessor taught fur the first tt!nc the POSI-
bil!lities oi an American petir!ea'', s u. ,,.,.,
bic earlier vnlI1n,es really flsased IN the same
fcll-no American magazine In. cTer contained
NJ n,uc! that will Lear refeadinE seorc 9f
Ia say. has ever l.e 30 tnuc}1 that had real IT.
crary wurth, independent of "tIsnctnlcss" Or
transient interests. 1t caught 2 ee!Iera:ioh Of
1nagazinc-wrters ut the beginning Of lts time ol
| %,{t Il k,A3ft ftnH tIh
already well.kuuwn authors. published multi
tu,,c Of those telline, AtrunEty-mRrkttl sketches
arsl tales that, without reaiIy taking a lasting
place ln literature. st'lt gam cefsnin pesma
long after their place of publication and tl.r!r
al,tiurs are forgotten. There Is plot telling
situatton, a capital conccption, outlined tn ouI
%sH1tsnsa 'ea' or reaa-Wlefe va. I'll il I, wonieria
ths.e e.. "ssa sSuuss sa1s a1e'2h" ths ov 'st
:ve;, !; i so ts p1S0t mud sn sooos
uf their contents rms; that, turning t,ack to tht
old pages after twenty years. onc becomes con-
&cuus that he has never rid hlnkclt ot the tnl
prcssons made b. thts aF.xcai5 % ephen'era @ E,
5 Perhaps It Is their age that lends them SOM
at,rirtlon. but. after ali, ART there nny. nar;l
zue.s.ortes 1ew better t'qa those In ;hs q; !;
i Perkins, st:smysfsations vMh Miss Chester;
or those wonderful fantasies OF Fitz JH1ne
T. U'Brepi-tlouEh most Of thrsc Last, by tn
), way. were oi somewhat later date.
] Who does not remember the :Nonta'H'& OF.
! sensatIot,,"-ihs Rev. JOHN y. Hanson
Il famous article under the startling heading
d Have NC a bourbon Among Esr"-thc erca
t attempt 10 prove that =" the Isev. Eleazer viii
l. iafue, of (;rcen Bar, Wis., was tho n1-iate
II i.oufs XVII, Ut Franccl in reading oyvr tlli
ot,,aznr rubbish uow, It ID impossible to undcI
e stand tho attention It attracted nt the t!E3e
The contest It excited. 1t Is revelation OF tn
!. capacity VI human cFeuulI'y Ok tae Same enaFa
ter as t1,e tsSnonns =, cnseI H. ~ ,,,o.n.r+,
K ,s,nn Il 1 ,as.rf rum Mr. intnsm's hands int
= those Of Dl1, Edwards Il Co., firm In whir
r Mr. Curtis Vas special partner, though he col
lined hts participation li la tue!ehs 70 ihe eol
,lhnea s ,'r,, .mo ".s III a. tcn.iae
~ hau i,it,. ny" WITH ihau c,,hsr ~ iIs rnTiv ~
tnv pa'T1GL TLo @ ,t"1sfsr nrav,i II, he fataf stS
r. Fram .rveral causes. WHICH It !. not nrcessa;
70 om aoe " III fss ~ "s III MonthIS rcns,
IN u! H. j., thc ~ roii.t ~ ~ h"st ,lnvs II