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Introduction: The Penny Press

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Humbug!
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1If newspapers cannot be made entertaining without a daily exhibition of poor human nature in its most miserable or contemptible points of view, let them be dull forever. . . . [Penny] papers are very extensively read, and that in very many instances by persons who read nothing else; they . . . corrupt and mislead their readers, by ministering to the morbid appetite for horrors and excitement, for the sake of increasing circulation. . . . A licentious and disorganizing press was among the forerunners of the French revolution.—New York Spectator, May 2, 1836The daily press and the cheap periodicals appear to possess the only strength—the only eloquence—the only nerve—the only real talent and genius. . . . The cheapness of the Penny literature and its sterling good sense—its foundation in science, art and genius, have opened for it a channel in every rank of life, and to every variety of mind.—New York Herald, September 30, 1836This book argues that the politics of the antebellum press affected the meaning of American art in ways that have gone unrecognized. In an era when political parties and factions were dissolving and reforming, art-works were an occasion for political positioning. By taking seriously the art criticism of mass-circulation newspapers, it is possible to see how art actually shaped antebellum politics. These cheap papers, though unques-tionably part of the period’s expanding capitalist economy, offered social-ists, working-class men, bohemians, and utopianists a forum in which they could propose new models for American art and society and tear down INTRODUCTIONThe Penny Press
© 2022 Fordham University Press, New York, USA

1If newspapers cannot be made entertaining without a daily exhibition of poor human nature in its most miserable or contemptible points of view, let them be dull forever. . . . [Penny] papers are very extensively read, and that in very many instances by persons who read nothing else; they . . . corrupt and mislead their readers, by ministering to the morbid appetite for horrors and excitement, for the sake of increasing circulation. . . . A licentious and disorganizing press was among the forerunners of the French revolution.—New York Spectator, May 2, 1836The daily press and the cheap periodicals appear to possess the only strength—the only eloquence—the only nerve—the only real talent and genius. . . . The cheapness of the Penny literature and its sterling good sense—its foundation in science, art and genius, have opened for it a channel in every rank of life, and to every variety of mind.—New York Herald, September 30, 1836This book argues that the politics of the antebellum press affected the meaning of American art in ways that have gone unrecognized. In an era when political parties and factions were dissolving and reforming, art-works were an occasion for political positioning. By taking seriously the art criticism of mass-circulation newspapers, it is possible to see how art actually shaped antebellum politics. These cheap papers, though unques-tionably part of the period’s expanding capitalist economy, offered social-ists, working-class men, bohemians, and utopianists a forum in which they could propose new models for American art and society and tear down INTRODUCTIONThe Penny Press
© 2022 Fordham University Press, New York, USA

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter i
  2. Contents v
  3. Illustrations vii
  4. Introduction: The Penny Press 1
  5. 1. The Aristocracy of Art and Bennett’s Herald 25
  6. 2. Artists, Their Agents, and Press Manipulation 58
  7. 3. Old Masters versus Young America 91
  8. 4. The Penny Press’s Utopian Alternative 124
  9. 5. The Genteel and the Bohemian 156
  10. 6. Rearing Statues amid Gothic Spires 188
  11. Conclusion: Art and Politics 227
  12. Acknowledgments 237
  13. Notes 239
  14. Index 291
  15. Select titles from Empire State Editions 319
Readers are also interested in:
https://doi.org/10.1515/9780823285402-002

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter i
  2. Contents v
  3. Illustrations vii
  4. Introduction: The Penny Press 1
  5. 1. The Aristocracy of Art and Bennett’s Herald 25
  6. 2. Artists, Their Agents, and Press Manipulation 58
  7. 3. Old Masters versus Young America 91
  8. 4. The Penny Press’s Utopian Alternative 124
  9. 5. The Genteel and the Bohemian 156
  10. 6. Rearing Statues amid Gothic Spires 188
  11. Conclusion: Art and Politics 227
  12. Acknowledgments 237
  13. Notes 239
  14. Index 291
  15. Select titles from Empire State Editions 319
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