Evert Augustus Duyckinck
Encyclopedia
Evert Augustus Duyckinck (November 23, 1816 – August 13, 1878) was an American publisher and biographer. He was associated with the literary side of the Young America movement
in New York.
to Evert Duyckinck, a publisher. Evert the younger graduated from Columbia College
in 1835. He then studied law with John Anthon, and was admitted to the bar in 1837. He spent the next year in Europe
. Before he went abroad he wrote articles on the poet George Crabbe
, the works of George Herbert
, and Oliver Goldsmith
, to the New York Review. In 1840 he started a monthly magazine with Cornelius Mathews
called Arcturus, which ran until 1842. The New York Tribune
commented on the important partnership by referring to Duyckinck and Mathews as "the Castor and Pollux
of Literature—the Gemini of the literary Zodiac". Duyckinck wrote articles on other authors while at home and in Europe. Between 1844 and 1846, Evert became the literary editor of John L. O'Sullivan
's The United States Magazine and Democratic Review
, which moved from Washington D.C. to New York in 1840.
In 1845, he assisted Edgar Allan Poe
in printing his Tales collection and selected which stories to include. The collection was a critical success, though Poe was somewhat disappointed by Duyckinck's choices. In 1847 he became the editor of The Literary World, a weekly review of books written with his brother George Long Duyckinck
until 1853. The two brothers became the unofficial leaders of the New York literary scene in the 1840s into the 1850s.
In 1854 the brothers were again united in the preparation of The Cyclopaedia of American Literature (2 vols., New York, 1855; enlarged eds., 1865 and 1875). He published Wit and Wisdom of Sydney Smith, with a memoir (New York, 1856); an American edition of Willroot's Poets of the Nineteenth Century (1858). Immediately after the death of Washington Irving
, Duyckinck gathered together and published in one volume a collection of anecdotes and traits of the author, under the title of Irvingiana (1859); History of the War for the Union (3 vols., 1861'5); Memorials of John Allan (1864); Poems relating to the American Revolution, with Memoirs of the Authors (1865); Poems of Philip Freneau, with notes and a memoir (1865); National Gallery of Eminent Americans (2 vols., 1866); History of the World from the Earliest Period to the Present Time (4 vols., 1870); and an extensive series of Biographies of Eminent Men and Women of Europe and America (2 vols., 1873'4). His last literary work was the preparation, with William Cullen Bryant
, of an edition of William Shakespeare
. In January 1879, a meeting in his memory was held by the New York historical society, and a biographical sketch of Duyckinck was read by William Allen Butler
.
Herman Melville
, a close friend of Duyckinck's with whom he corresponded often, refers in his book Mardi
(1849) to Duyckinck's highbrow magazine Arcturus by naming a ship in the book Arcturion. Referring to it as "exceedingly dull", the author notes the low literary level of its crew. Duyckinck also garnered a mention in James Russell Lowell
's A Fable for Critics
(1848) with the lines, "Good-day, Mr. Duyckinck, I am happy to meet / With a scholar so ripe and a critic so neat". Charles Frederick Briggs
noted Duyckinck's ability in the "art of puffing", heavy praise for works that did not necessarily merit it. Edwin Percy Whipple
chidingly called Duyckinck "the most Bostonian of New-Yorkers". William Allen Butler noted that his taste in literature was too high for most readers: "While Duyckinck was the most genial of companions, and the most impartial of critics, he was too much of a recluse, buried in his books, almost solitary in life, and entirely removed from the circle of worldly and fashionable life".
Young America movement
The Young America Movement was an American political and cultural attitude in the mid-nineteenth century. Inspired by European reform movements of the 1830s , the American group was formed as a political organization in 1845 by Edwin de Leon and George H. Evans...
in New York.
Life and work
He was born on November 23, 1816, in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
to Evert Duyckinck, a publisher. Evert the younger graduated from Columbia College
Columbia College of Columbia University
Columbia College is the oldest undergraduate college at Columbia University, situated on the university's main campus in Morningside Heights in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1754 by the Church of England as King's College, receiving a Royal Charter from King George II...
in 1835. He then studied law with John Anthon, and was admitted to the bar in 1837. He spent the next year in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. Before he went abroad he wrote articles on the poet George Crabbe
George Crabbe
George Crabbe was an English poet and naturalist.-Biography:He was born in Aldeburgh, Suffolk, the son of a tax collector, and developed his love of poetry as a child. In 1768, he was apprenticed to a local doctor, who taught him little, and in 1771 he changed masters and moved to Woodbridge...
, the works of George Herbert
George Herbert
George Herbert was a Welsh born English poet, orator and Anglican priest.Being born into an artistic and wealthy family, he received a good education that led to his holding prominent positions at Cambridge University and Parliament. As a student at Trinity College, Cambridge, Herbert excelled in...
, and Oliver Goldsmith
Oliver Goldsmith
Oliver Goldsmith was an Irish writer, poet and physician known for his novel The Vicar of Wakefield , his pastoral poem The Deserted Village , and his plays The Good-Natur'd Man and She Stoops to Conquer...
, to the New York Review. In 1840 he started a monthly magazine with Cornelius Mathews
Cornelius Mathews
Cornelius Mathews , was an American writer, best known for his crucial role in the formation of a literary group known as Young America in the late 1830s, with editor Evert Duyckinck and author William Gilmore Simms....
called Arcturus, which ran until 1842. The New York Tribune
New York Tribune
The New York Tribune was an American newspaper, first established by Horace Greeley in 1841, which was long considered one of the leading newspapers in the United States...
commented on the important partnership by referring to Duyckinck and Mathews as "the Castor and Pollux
Castor and Pollux
In Greek and Roman mythology, Castor and Pollux or Polydeuces were twin brothers, together known as the Dioscuri . Their mother was Leda, but Castor was the mortal son of Tyndareus, king of Sparta, and Pollux the divine son of Zeus, who visited Leda in the guise of a swan...
of Literature—the Gemini of the literary Zodiac". Duyckinck wrote articles on other authors while at home and in Europe. Between 1844 and 1846, Evert became the literary editor of John L. O'Sullivan
John L. O'Sullivan
John Louis O'Sullivan was an American columnist and editor who used the term "Manifest Destiny" in 1845 to promote the annexation of Texas and the Oregon Country to the United States. O'Sullivan was an influential political writer and advocate for the Democratic Party at that time, but he faded...
's The United States Magazine and Democratic Review
The United States Magazine and Democratic Review
The United States Magazine and Democratic Review was a periodical published from 1837–1859 by John L. O'Sullivan. Its motto, "The best government is that which governs least," was famously paraphrased by Henry David Thoreau in On the Duty of Civil Disobedience.-History:In 1837, O'Sullivan...
, which moved from Washington D.C. to New York in 1840.
In 1845, he assisted Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe was an American author, poet, editor and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the detective...
in printing his Tales collection and selected which stories to include. The collection was a critical success, though Poe was somewhat disappointed by Duyckinck's choices. In 1847 he became the editor of The Literary World, a weekly review of books written with his brother George Long Duyckinck
George Long Duyckinck
thumb|right|George Long DuyckinckGeorge Long Duyckinck was a New York City writer.-Biography:He was the brother of Evert Augustus Duyckinck and attended Geneva College entered the New York University, and graduated in 1843. He studied law and was admitted to the bar, but never practiced...
until 1853. The two brothers became the unofficial leaders of the New York literary scene in the 1840s into the 1850s.
In 1854 the brothers were again united in the preparation of The Cyclopaedia of American Literature (2 vols., New York, 1855; enlarged eds., 1865 and 1875). He published Wit and Wisdom of Sydney Smith, with a memoir (New York, 1856); an American edition of Willroot's Poets of the Nineteenth Century (1858). Immediately after the death of Washington Irving
Washington Irving
Washington Irving was an American author, essayist, biographer and historian of the early 19th century. He was best known for his short stories "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "Rip Van Winkle", both of which appear in his book The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. His historical works...
, Duyckinck gathered together and published in one volume a collection of anecdotes and traits of the author, under the title of Irvingiana (1859); History of the War for the Union (3 vols., 1861'5); Memorials of John Allan (1864); Poems relating to the American Revolution, with Memoirs of the Authors (1865); Poems of Philip Freneau, with notes and a memoir (1865); National Gallery of Eminent Americans (2 vols., 1866); History of the World from the Earliest Period to the Present Time (4 vols., 1870); and an extensive series of Biographies of Eminent Men and Women of Europe and America (2 vols., 1873'4). His last literary work was the preparation, with William Cullen Bryant
William Cullen Bryant
William Cullen Bryant was an American romantic poet, journalist, and long-time editor of the New York Evening Post.-Youth and education:...
, of an edition of William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
. In January 1879, a meeting in his memory was held by the New York historical society, and a biographical sketch of Duyckinck was read by William Allen Butler
William Allen Butler
William Allen Butler was an American lawyer and writer of poetical satires.Son of the poet and lawyer Benjamin Franklin Butler and nephew of naval hero William Howard Allen, Allen graduated at the University of the City of New York in 1843 and became a New York lawyer...
.
Legacy and criticism
Herman Melville
Herman Melville was an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, and poet. He is best known for his novel Moby-Dick and the posthumous novella Billy Budd....
, a close friend of Duyckinck's with whom he corresponded often, refers in his book Mardi
Mardi
Mardi, and a Voyage Thither is the third book by American author Herman Melville, first published in 1849.-Overview:Mardi is Melville's first pure fiction work...
(1849) to Duyckinck's highbrow magazine Arcturus by naming a ship in the book Arcturion. Referring to it as "exceedingly dull", the author notes the low literary level of its crew. Duyckinck also garnered a mention in James Russell Lowell
James Russell Lowell
James Russell Lowell was an American Romantic poet, critic, editor, and diplomat. He is associated with the Fireside Poets, a group of New England writers who were among the first American poets who rivaled the popularity of British poets...
's A Fable for Critics
A Fable for Critics
A Fable for Critics is a book-length poem by American writer James Russell Lowell, first published anonymously in 1848. The poem made fun of well-known poets and critics of the time and brought notoriety to its author.-Overview:...
(1848) with the lines, "Good-day, Mr. Duyckinck, I am happy to meet / With a scholar so ripe and a critic so neat". Charles Frederick Briggs
Charles Frederick Briggs
Charles Frederick Briggs , also called C. F. Briggs, was an American journalist, author and editor, born in Nantucket, Massachusetts...
noted Duyckinck's ability in the "art of puffing", heavy praise for works that did not necessarily merit it. Edwin Percy Whipple
Edwin Percy Whipple
Edwin Percy Whipple was an American essayist and critic.-Biography:He was born in Gloucester, Massachusetts in 1819. For a time, he was the main literary critic for Philadelphia-based Graham's Magazine. Later, in 1848, he became the Boston correspondent to The Literary World under Evert Augustus...
chidingly called Duyckinck "the most Bostonian of New-Yorkers". William Allen Butler noted that his taste in literature was too high for most readers: "While Duyckinck was the most genial of companions, and the most impartial of critics, he was too much of a recluse, buried in his books, almost solitary in life, and entirely removed from the circle of worldly and fashionable life".
New York Historical Society biographies
- Francis L. HawksFrancis L. HawksDr. Francis Lister Hawks was an American priest of the Episcopal Church, and a politician in North Carolina....
, D.D., LL, D. (1867; printed, 1871) - Henry Theodore TuckermanHenry Theodore TuckermanHenry Theodore Tuckerman was an American writer, essayist and critic.-Biography:Tuckerman was born in Boston, Massachusetts. He was a sympathetic and delicate critic, with a graceful style. He wrote extensively both in prose and verse. He travelled much in Italy, which influenced his choice of...
(1872) - James William BeekmanJames William BeekmanJames William Beekman was vice president of the New York Hospital.-Biography:He was born in New York City on November 22, 1815...
(1877) - John WolfeJohn WolfeJohn Wolfe may refer to:* John Bascom Wolfe , American social and behavioural psychologist*Jack A. Wolfe , American paleontologist*John Thomas Wolfe , veterinarian and Canadian provincial politician...
(1872) and - Samuel G. DrakeSamuel Gardner DrakeSamuel Gardner Drake was an eminent American antiquarian.Drake was born in Pittsfield, New Hampshire. His father, Simeon Drake, was initially a farmer like his four brothers, but sold his homestead in 1805 to open a store in neighboring Northwood. His mother, Love Muchmore Drake was the daughter...
(1876)