UNITED STATES (LITERATURE). 



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plomacy of the United States (2d edition, Boston, 

 1828, 2 vols., 8vo.) ; Kent's Commentaries on Ame- 

 rican Law (New York, 18261830, 4 vols., 8vo.) ; 

 Story's Commentaries on the Constitution of the 

 United States (Boston, 1832, 3 vols., 8vo.). The 

 North American and American Quarterly Reviews, 

 published in Boston and Philadelphia, and the 

 American Annual Register (5th vol., Boston, 1832), 

 are also repositories of much valuable information 

 on all subjects illustrative of the recent history, 

 politics and statistics of the country. 



Literature. The first printing press in the United 

 States was set up at Cambridge, by the exertions 

 and joint contributions of different individuals in 

 Europe and America, in 1638. The first work 

 published was the Freeman's Call, and the second, 

 the Almanac for New England, both in 1639 : the 

 first book printed was the New England Version 

 of the Psalms, an octavo volume of 300 pages. In 

 1676, books began to be printed in Boston : in 

 1686, printing was known in Philadelphia ; and, in 

 1693, in New York. In 1700, there were but four 

 printing-offices in the colonies ; at the beginning of 

 the present century, there were 300 in the United 

 States ; and in 1830, there were about 1200. In 

 1800, about 100 original books and pamphlets were 

 printed annually : in 1825, the titles of 590 original 

 works and 257 reprints were collected without dif- 

 ficulty, and the number of all kinds now published 

 is much greater, including nearly all books of gene- 

 ral interest and value which appear in London and 

 Edinburgh, and many translations from the German 

 and French. During the first century, by far the 

 greater part of the books printed were on theolo- 

 gical subjects, and the remainder were chiefly pub- 

 lications made by order of the government. All 

 were under the restraints of authority, which at 

 last became so severe as seriously to impair the 

 freedom of the press, and were more or less felt 

 throughout the country till after the middle of the 

 eighteenth century. But, from this period, a great 

 change took place. Political, historical and mis- 

 cellaneous works, a few in the belles-lettres, and 

 several on scientific subjects, began to appear ; and 

 since the revolution, school books, periodical pub- 

 lications, political discussions, historical and mis- 

 cellaneous works, which, till 1700, were entirely 

 unknown in the country, gradually obtained the 

 superiority, and, since 1800, have constituted the 

 great mass of what has issued from the press. It 

 is our intention to notice here the most prominent 

 of those publications which have obtained a per- 

 manent value and reputation. 



1. Newspapers. No newspaper appeared in the 

 colonies until 1704, when the News Letter was 

 issued at Boston, and continued till 1776. The 

 first paper published in Philadelphia was issued in 

 1719, and the first in New York in 1733. In 1775, 

 there were thirty-seven; in 1801, there were 203 ; 

 in 1810, 358; and, at present, probably not less 

 than 1200. (See Newspapers.') Their number 

 and cheapness, and the extent of their diffusion, are 

 unparalleled. It may, in fact, be asserted, that al- 

 most every man in the country reads a newspaper ; 

 for, as every man has a direct personal interest in 

 public affairs, and as the policy of the country has 

 been to facilitate their distribution by the mail, they 

 penetrate every where, and constitute, probably, 

 the greater part of the reading of at least the agri- 

 cultural portion of the people.* Their tone is 



* The number of post-offices, in 1831, was 8686 The postage 

 on each newspaper is one cent, if not carried beyond the state 



favourable to morals, and to the diffusion of good 

 knowledge, though, on the subjects which divide 

 the political opinions of the country, they almost 

 uniformly take party ground, and maintain it with 

 extreme warmth and prejudice. Their influence is 

 greater than any other element of society, except 

 that of the schools and of the pulpit. 



2. Periodical Publications. The earliest maga- 

 zine attempted in the colonies was the General 

 Magazine, published at Philadelphia (1741) by Ben- 

 jamin Franklin, then a printer in that city ; but it 

 was sustained only six months. In 1743, a weekly 

 magazine was started in Boston, bat was continued 

 only four weeks. In the course of the succeeding 

 twenty years, twelve or fourteen others were at- 

 tempted in the different cities, which, however, all 

 failed; and it is believed that, in 1775, not one ex- 

 isted in the country, with the exception of the 

 Pennsylvania Magazine, begun in that year, of which 

 Thomas Paine was a principal contributor. All 

 such works, in fact, made their way, for a long 

 time afterward, slowly and with much difficulty. 

 In 1810, there were twenty-four, of which the 

 Portfolio, edited by Mr Dennie, in Philadelphia, 

 and the Anthology, edited at Boston, were the 

 principal of general interest. The number is now 

 greatly increased, amounting, probably, to about 

 100. The London Quarterly and the Edinburgh 

 Reviews are regularly republished ; the North 

 American Review, long edited in Boston, by A. 11. 

 Everett, and the American Quarterly once conducted 

 in Philadelphia, by R. Walsh, the former since 1815, 

 the latter since 1827, are the leading reviews of the 

 country, and have each a circulation of between 

 3000 and 4000 copies, to which their execution 

 amply entitles them. (See Reviews.) The South- 

 ern Review, published at Charlestown, and the 

 Western Review, at Cincinnati, were discontinued 

 after having been issued a few years. 



3. Publications of Learned Societies. The pas- 

 sion for learned societies, which sprang up in Eng- 

 land and France about the middle of the 17th cen- 

 tury, was not felt in the colonies till past the middle 

 of the 18th. The oldest and most active of the 

 scientific societies in the United States, is the 

 American philosophical society, instituted at Phila- 

 delphia, in 1769, over which Franklin and Ritten- 

 house were successively called to preside. It has 

 published twelve quarto volumes of Transactions, 

 principally on scientific subjects, and, in 1815, ap- 

 pointed a committee to superintend the historical 

 department, in which two volumes, octavo, have 

 been printed, including Heckewelder's Account of 

 the Delaware Indians. No other society of the 

 kind existed in the United States until after the 

 revolution, when, in 1780, the American academy 

 of arts and sciences was founded at Boston, which 

 has published several quarto volumes of Transac- 

 tions. In these are found mineralogical articles by 

 professor Cleaveland, papers on literary subjects by 

 John Pickering, and mathematical and astronomical 

 papers by N. Bowditch, the translator and commen- 

 tator of Laplace. The Massachusetts historical 

 society was founded in Boston, in 1791, and has 

 seen the most active of the literary societies in the 

 United States. It has published many octavo vo- 

 "umes of collections, which constitute a rich mine 

 "or the history of the United States, and particu- 



n which it is published, or not more than 100 miles, if carried 

 out of the state ; and one and a half cent for any distance above 



00 miles and out of the state. It has been proposed to abolish 

 an postage on newspapers. See l'o*tt. 



