Table Of ContentP R O P H E T S ,
P U B L I C I S T S ,
A ND
P A R A S I T E S
Antebellum Print Culture
and the Rise of the Critic
ADAM GORDON
PROPHETS,
PUBLICISTS, and
PARASITES
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PROPHETS,
PUBLICISTS,
and
PARASITES
Antebellum Print Culture
and the Rise of the Critic
{
ADAM GORDON
University of Massachusetts Press
Amherst And Boston
Copyright © 2020 by University of Massachusetts Press
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
IsBn 978- 1- 62534- 453- 3 (paper); 452-6 (hardcover)
Designed by Sally Nichols
Set in Palatino
Printed and bound by Maple Press, Inc.
Cover design by Frank Gutbrod
Cover illustration: “The Massacre of the Innocents,” Young Sam (April 1, 1855), 49.
Courtesy of the American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, Massachusetts.
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Names: Gordon, Adam, 1981– author.
Title: Prophets, publicists, and parasites : antebellum print culture and
the rise of the critic / Adam Gordon.
Description: Amherst : University of Masschusetts Press, 2020. | Includes
bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2019020027 | ISBN 9781625344526 (hardcover) | ISBN
9781625344533 (paperback) | ISBN 9781613766972 (ebook) | ISBN
9781613766965 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Criticism—United States—History—19th century. | American
literature—19th century—History and criticism. | Book industries and
trade—United States—History—19th century. | Publishers and
publishing—United States—History—19th century. | Books and
reading—United States—History—19th century.
Classification: LCC PS74 .G67 2020 | DDC 810.9/003—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019020027
British Library Cataloguing- in- Publication Data
A catalog record for this book is available from the British Library
Parts of chapter 3 and chapter 5 appeared in slightly different forms, respectively,
as “ ‘A Condition to Be Criticized’: Edgar Allan Poe and the Vocation of Antebellum
Criticism” in Arizona Quarterly 68, no. 2 (Summer 2012) and “Beyond the
‘Proper Notice’: Frederick Douglass, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, and the Politics of Critical
Reprinting” in American Literature 91, no. 1 (March 2019).
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments vii
IntroductIon
The Critic in the Age of Industrial Print 1
chApter 1
Cutting Corners with Emerson 36
Quarterly Reviews and Intellectual Culture
chApter 2
Anthology Wars 70
Rufus Griswold and the Compilation as Literary History
chApter 3
Reviewers Reviewed 117
Poe, Monthly Magazines, and the Critical Vocation
chApter 4
Black, White, and Read All Over 161
Margaret Fuller and the Newspaper Book Review
chApter 5
Slavery Reviewed 211
Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Frederick Douglass,
and the Politics of Critical Reprinting
codA
From the Steam Press to Amazon.com 264
Critical Forms for the Twenty-F irst Century
notes 279
Index 317
v
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
At each stage of writing this book, I’ve been supported by com-
munities that affirm literary criticism’s value as a communal endeavor
above all else. The ideas in these chapters were born in classrooms
and conference panels; advisers’ offices and fellows’ talks; over din-
ner conversations and in intellectual exchanges with editors, col-
leagues, and peer reviewers. The seed of this project was planted in
college at the University of Pennsylvania. There, Colin Dayan sparked
my fascination with Poe and set me on the path to graduate school;
Max Cavitch helped turn that passion into an undergraduate thesis;
Susan Stewart showed me the creative potential of criticism; Nancy
Bentley affirmed my love for nineteenth-c entury American literature;
and Peter Stallybrass made sure I never strayed too far from the mate-
rial text. Joe Dimuro’s blend of humor, thoughtful inquiry, and con-
cern for student growth has been one that I’ve worked to emulate
throughout my teaching career.
In graduate school at UCLA, Chris Looby was tireless in providing
intellectual guidance, editorial supervision, and personal encourage-
ment from this project’s earliest stages to its final drafts as a disserta-
tion. Then as now, he stands as my aspirational model for scholarly
community, whether in the classroom, at meetings of the American-
ist Research Colloquium and C19, or in more office meetings than I can
count. Michael Colacurcio was as generous with his emotional sup-
port as he was exacting in his high standard of scholarship, showing
me not just how to read early American literature but how to teach it,
and reminding me to always have fun in the process. Eric Sundquist
encouraged me to think big and advised me from Los Angeles and Bal-
timore. Barbara Packer has been, and will continue to be, a model of
elegant scholarship, whose grace, clarity, and intellectual command in
print and in person have left their imprint throughout these chapters.
vii
viii Acknowledgments
Cindy Weinstein was charitable with her time and suggestions in serv-
ing as an outside reader while shaping my approach to Stowe.
The book would also not have been possible without generous
support from a number of different institutions. The UCLA English
Department and the UCLA Graduate Division gave me time away
from teaching to write through multiple year- long fellowships. And
while the conception for the project took place at UCLA, the book took
the course it did through support from three research libraries. James
Green and the staff of the Library Company of Philadelphia encour-
aged the project through the Albert M. Greenfield Dissertation Fellow-
ship, which provided an archival foundation, clarity of focus, and a
renewed sense of energy and excitement in the final year of graduate
school. I am grateful, too, to the Huntington Library for two summer
fellowships in which the chapters came together as a whole and for the
wonderful community of staff and fellows that made my time there as
fun as it was productive—D iann Benti and Juan Gomez in particular.
Above all, this book would not exist without the support of the
American Antiquarian Society. It was during my year as the 2011–2 012
John B. Hench Post-D issertation Fellow that an unwieldy dissertation
began to take shape as a book. I’m particularly thankful to Paul Erick-
son, who has supported this book in countless large and small ways
while cultivating the thriving intellectual community that is the AAS
Fellows Program. During my year at the American Antiquarian Soci-
ety, I benefitted from the intellectual feedback, support, and friend-
ship of my cohort of fellows—L ara Cohen, John Demos, Yvette Pig-
gush, Jack Larkin, Caroline Eastman, and Joe Adelman—a nd from
the productive conversations we had as we challenged each other to
develop our ideas. The staff at AAS now feels like a family, and I want
to thank, in particular, Ashley Cataldo, Elizabeth Pope, Caroline Sloat,
Laura Wasowicz, Lauren Hewes, Vince Golden, Tom Knoles, Marie
Lamoureux, Jacky Penny, as well as Ellen Dunlap for skillfully steer-
ing the ship. One of the most remarkable components of the Hench fel-
lowship was the opportunity I had to invite three scholars to read my
dissertation and to offer advice as I revised it toward publication. Rob-
ert Levine, Leon Jackson, and Meredith McGill proved more generous
than I ever could have hoped, offering invaluable guidance on how to
turn the dissertation into a book. And while the influence of their schol-
Acknowledgments ix
arship on the chapters to follow is plainly evident, I also couldn’t have
predicted how far their generosity would extend over the years.
I am thankful, too, for the support of my colleagues at Whitman Col-
lege. Chris Leise has been a constant source of friendship and encour-
agement; Mary Raschko and Kisha Schlegel have been cheerful fel-
low travelers on the road toward tenure; while my colleagues Theresa
DiPasquale, Sharon Alker, Gaurav Majumdar, Scott Elliott, and Katrina
Roberts have guided me with grace and good humor through my first
few years as an assistant professor. I’m thankful as well to Whitman
College and the Office of the Provost for the support provided by two
sabbaticals. I’m grateful also to the many students who tested out ideas
with me in the classroom while serving as constant reminders that lit-
erary criticism is not dead letters but a living enterprise, a way of mak-
ing sense of the world and transforming literature into tools for living
thoughtful, productive, and compassionate lives.
I’d have been lost, too, without my friends. Austin Graham, Erin
Suzuki, and Maureen Shay brightened the path through graduate
school with constant advice, friendship, and lots of trips to Amoeba
Records. Winston Pear and Alison Pear have endured my neuroses for
almost two decades, giving me endless encouragement as well as much
needed distraction, whether in Philadelphia, Los Angeles, or the Pacific
Northwest. Laura Ferguson listened patiently as I worked through
ideas, gave feedback on chapters, and provided emotional support.
Lisa Uddin, Alissa Cordner, Lucy Schwallie, Matt deTar, Melissa Salrin,
Jamie Warren, Josh Slepin, Ben Murphy, Antonia Keithahn, Lily Sea-
man, and Jack Jackson have filled my time in Walla Walla with laugh-
ter and comradery. Sarah Wagner-M cCoy gave me helpful feedback
as well during my sabbatical in Portland. Thanks especially to Molly
Phillips, who cheered me on in the final stretch, offering love, advice,
and every manner of support and encouragement as this project finally
emerged into the daylight of print..
I am grateful as well to Brian Halley, Rachael DeShano, and the Uni-
versity of Massachusetts Press, who transformed this project from a
manuscript into an actual book. Two anonymous readers helped crys-
tallize this project in its late stages, lending precision and clarity to
its final shape. Michael Winship also provided useful suggestions for
revision. Parts of chapter 3 and chapter 5 appeared in slightly differ-
