The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1889-02-26
DURING THE WAR.
SOUTHERN PUBLISHERS UNDER AD-
VERSE CIRCUMSTANCES.
Thrown Upon Their Own Resources-The
Issue of Cheap Reprints-A List OF
Southern Periodicals -Paper
and Typography.
TCor. Detroit Free Press. !

When the war lines were drawn along
the Potomac and communication with the
northern cities thus cut off. the supply
of periodical literature was suddenly
stopped and the southern people thus
thrown on their own resources There
was but one magazine in the Confederacy
that could claim the name and that was
The Southern Literary Messenger. at one
time edited by Edgar Allan Poe. But
this magazine could not supply the varied
tastes of large reading population, and
they grew loud in their demands for read
ing matter.
CHEAP REPRINTS.
To crafty this call the publishers Of
the Confederacy commenced the issue of
cheap reprints of famous French and
English novels The first of these.
Bulwer-L Yttons Strange Story, met
with fattering success. Hugos "Les
Miserables =" Braddons Z" ady Audleys
Secret" Augusta Evans Wilson's MA
caria and many others followed in quick
succession.
These books are curiosities as to manu-
facture, being printed on paper not as
good as that now used for wrapping
purposes and bound in variegated hues
of wall paper. Taken as whole
they looked about as unlike book as
a book could we'll look, but they
were very welcome to the soldier during
his mOnotOnous camp life, and a blessing
to his wounded comrades lying in the
hospitals. Never, perhaps, were books
so well thumbed. They were passed from
soldier to soldier until they commenced
falling to pieces, and then the leaves were
carefully gathered up and carried to the
children at home.
In addition to these reports the Confed-
crate publishers managed to issue quite q
number of very creditable periodicals. It
was found that there were more talented
-.
supposed, and they came nobly to the
rescue of the publishers Most of the
authors were in the field, but they con-
trived to send many articles of merit,
though most of them were tinged with
the life they were leading.
SOUTHERN PERIODICALS.
The Magnolia Weekly, devoted to fiction
and general light literature, was great
favOrite with the young people of the
COnfederacy, and enjoyed large circula-
ton. The Southern illustrated News
gave fairly well executed cuts of noted
persons, places and battle scenes, besides
some very good stories and sketch matter.
1t was very popular with everybody. and
had about 20, 900 subscribers, larger list
than any of the other weeklies. The
Southern Punch was the never failing
humorous paper. 1t was modelled after
It's London namesake, and though it had
no Du Maurier for its artist or Jerrold for
editor, it was very creditable. Its satire
was keen and was used unsparingly
against the administration when it was
unusually numerous in its blunders.
There was also a magazine called The
Age, that deserved to live
But the lion of all the southern periodf-
Gals was The Southern Literary Messen-,
ger. edited during the war by the gifted
John X. Thomson. 1t could not com
pare geographically with the poorest
Il, I,,,A a.,
contents would rival the best of them. 1t
occupied with the people of the south
the same place that The Century and
Harpers do at this time with the people
of the whole country. Among its authors
at this time were many who have since
made name in the literary world.
SUBSCRIPTION PRICE.
It is seldom that the subscription price
of newspaper is changed. The prices
of everything else may tiuctuate but the
price of the paper goes on forever. The
price Of the books and periodicals pub
lished in the COnfederacy did not advance
In proportion to other things as Confeder-
ate money deprecated in value, though
the increase in the cost of production was
greater than in most thinga Thus under
Poe's editorship the price of The Messen-
ger was % cents and during the last
years Of the war it brought but 50, while
many other articles that formerly sold at
the same price brought so and more
AS the Federal lines pressed closer and
closer around the doomed capital, and
printing material became more difficult to
procure, it became evident to the pub
fishers that they could hold out no longer.
So one by one the periodicals that had
been called into life by the war ceased to
appear as the war drew to close W hen
the Union troops entered Richmond the
last one had stopped publication Thus
died the short-lived Confederate literature;
it had served its purpose and was no
longer needed 1t served noble purpose
in introducing to the public a few tai
ented writer's, who have since done good
work