''Galaxy Magazine'', or ''The Galaxy'', was an American monthly magazine founded by

William Conant Church William Conant Church (August 11, 1836 – May 23, 1917) was an American journalist and soldier. He was the co-founder and second president of the National Rifle Association. Life and work Church was born in Rochester, New York on August 11, 18 ...

and his brother

Francis P. Church Francis Pharcellus Church (February 22, 1839 – April 11, 1906) was an American publisher and editor. Born in Rochester, New York, he graduated from Columbia University and embarked on a career in journalism. With his brother, William Cona ...

in 1866. In 1868, Sheldon and Company gained financial control of the magazine and it was eventually absorbed by ''

The Atlantic Monthly ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

'' in 1878. Notable contributors to the magazine include

Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has p ...

Walt Whitman Walter Whitman (; May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among t ...

Ion Hanford Perdicaris Ion Hanford Perdicaris (April 1, 1840 – May 31, 1925) was an author, professor, lawyer, painter, and playwright. He was a humanitarian and human rights activist. He fought for the rights of Moors, Arabs and slaves. He was active in the anti-sl ...

and

Henry James Henry James ( – ) was an American-British author. He is regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language. He was the ...

History

In 1861, after the start of the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

, William Church served as a war correspondent for the ''

New York Evening Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com. It was established i ...

'' and later for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''. In 1863, after leaving the war behind, William and his brother started the ''

Army and Navy Journal ''Armed Forces Journal'' (''AFJ'') was a publication for American military officers and leaders in government and industry. Created in 1863 as a weekly newspaper, ''AFJ'' was published under various names by various owners in various formats for ...

'', and in 1866 they started ''Galaxy'' magazine. Oliver Wendell Holmes, who had named ''The Atlantic Monthly'', may have named the new magazine. The Church brothers published and edited the magazine for two years from 1866 to 1868. The publishing house of Sheldon and Company took over publishing in 1868, and ten years later in 1878 Sheldon ceased publication of the magazine and it was absorbed into ''The Atlantic''. Francis Church later went to work as an editorial writer for the ''

New York Sun ''The New York Sun'' is an American online newspaper published in Manhattan; from 2002 to 2008 it was a daily newspaper distributed in New York City. It debuted on April 16, 2002, adopting the name, motto, and masthead of the earlier New York ...

'', where he wrote the Christmas editorial commonly referred to as "

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus" is a line from an editorial by Francis Pharcellus Church titled "Is There a Santa Claus?", which appeared in the New York newspaper '' The Sun'' on September 21, 1897, and became one of the most famous ...

Notable contributors

After the magazine went into publication in 1866, besides the Church brothers working as editors,

Frederic Beecher Perkins Frederic Beecher Perkins (27 September 1828 – 27 January 1899) was an American editor, writer, and librarian. He was a member of the Beecher family, a prominent 19th-century American religious family. Early life Frederic Beecher Perkins was b ...

, a well known librarian and an experienced editor, was an office editor and

Richard Grant White Richard Grant White (May 23, 1822 – April 8, 1885) was one of the foremost literary and musical critics of his day. He was also a prominent Shakespearean scholar, journalist, social critic, and lawyer, who was born and died in New York City.''A ...

was an editorial contributor who wrote special articles for the magazine. As departments were added to the ''Galaxy'', other writers were added. George E. Pond, who had been associate editor of the ''Army and Navy Journal'' wrote an editorial column (mainly political) called "Drift-Wood" under the name of "Phillip Quilibet" and S.S. Conant, who was editor of ''Harper's Weekly'', wrote and critiqued for the ''Galaxy's'' fine arts department. James F. Meline contributed reviews of French and German books, while Professor E.L. Youmans, edited the "Scientific Miscellany" from 1871 to 1874. Carl Benson, in private life known as

Charles Astor Bristed Charles Astor Bristed (October 6, 1820 – January 14, 1874) was an American scholar and author, sometimes writing under the pen name Carl Benson. He was the first American to write a full-length defense of Americanisms and is the earliest known ...

, wrote for the department called "Casual Cogitations". The ''Galaxy'' published many of Henry James' early short stories, including "A Day of Days" (1866), "A Light Man" (1869) and "

Madame de Mauves ''Madame de Mauves'' is a novella by Henry James, originally published in '' The Galaxy'' magazine in 1874. The story centers on the troubled marriage of a scrupulous American wife and a far from scrupulous French husband, and is told mostly from ...

" (1874). Mark Twain wrote a column called "Memoranda" for the magazine from 1870 to 1871. Twain's introductory column announced that his department would carry "ample dissertations upon political economy". Twain went on to contribute over eighty pieces to the ''Galaxy'', which paid him $20 per page for his monthly column, more than double its regular rate. In December 1866, ''The Galaxy'', published the first biographical essay of the poet Walt Whitman, written by his friend John Burroughs, titled "Walt Whitman and His

Drum-Taps ''Drum-Taps'', first published in 1865, is a collection of poetry written by American poet Walt Whitman during the American Civil War. 18 additional poems were added later in the year to create '' Sequel to Drum-Taps''. History Creating the p ...

." The magazine went on to publish four poems by Whitman, ''A Carol of Harvest'' (1867), ''Brother of All with Generous Hand'' (1870), ''Warble for Lilac-Time'' (1870), and ''0 Star of France'' (1871). ''The Galaxy'' also printed the beginnings of Whitman's essay

Democratic Vistas ''Democratic Vistas'' is a book by American author Walt Whitman published in 1871. It is considered an early classic work of comparative politics and letters. Whitman, who was then working as a federal clerk, does much to expound on the influence o ...

in two articles. The first part titled ''Democracy'', was published in December 1867 and the second part, ''Personalism'', appeared in May 1868. Edward F. Grier wrote about the poet: "Whitman's position as a ''Galaxy'' author was important to his personal fortunes and his literary reputation. ''The Galaxy'' was respectable, it was popular, and it paid generously. It also provided a venue where Whitman could join with other writers in exploring the meaning of literary nationalism and cultural democracy for the new era."

References

External links

''The Galaxy''

Making of America Making of America (MoA) is a collaborative effort by Cornell University and the University of Michigan to digitize and make available a collection of primary sources relating to the development of U.S infrastructure. The Making of America collection ...

Collection,

Cornell University Library The Cornell University Library is the library system of Cornell University. As of 2014, it holds over 8 million printed volumes and over a million ebooks. More than 90 percent of its current 120,000 Periodical literature, periodical titles are ...

''The Galaxy'' Volume I. May 1, 1866 to August 15, 1866
{{DEFAULTSORT:Galaxy 1866 establishments in New York (state) 1878 disestablishments in New York (state) Monthly magazines published in the United States Defunct magazines published in the United States Magazines established in 1866 Magazines disestablished in 1878 Magazines published in New York City

History

Notable contributors

See also

References

External links