''Burton's Gentleman's Magazine and American Monthly Review'' (sometimes ''...and Monthly American Review'' or, more simply, ''Burton's Magazine''), was a literary publication published in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

from 1837 to 1840. Its founder was William Evans Burton, an English-born immigrant to the United States who also managed a theatre and was a minor

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic who is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales involving mystery and the macabre. He is widely re ...

was an editor and contributor in 1839–40.

Overview

William Evans Burton teamed with publisher Charles Alexander to produce a magazine inspired by the successful ''

The Gentleman's Magazine ''The Gentleman's Magazine'' was a monthly magazine founded in London, England, by Edward Cave in January 1731. It ran uninterrupted for almost 200 years, until 1907, ceasing publication altogether in 1922. It was the first to use the term ''m ...

'' in London. To offset the financial adversity amidst the

Panic of 1837 The Panic of 1837 was a financial crisis in the United States that began a major depression (economics), depression which lasted until the mid-1840s. Profits, prices, and wages dropped, westward expansion was stalled, unemployment rose, and pes ...

, they focused on local authors and nationalist themes, signaled in part by a frontispiece with both patriotic and gentlemanly imagery as well as an illustration of

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin (April 17, 1790) was an American polymath: a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher and Political philosophy, political philosopher.#britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the m ...

. Burton hoped to create a magazine that would be "worthy of a place upon every parlour table of every gentleman in the United States".Sova, Dawn B. ''Edgar Allan Poe: A to Z''. New York, NY: Checkmark Books, 2001: 39. The magazine included poems, fiction, and essays, with an emphasis on sporting life. Articles featured

sailing Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, Windsurfing, windsurfer, or Kitesurfing, kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' (Land sa ...

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

hunting Hunting is the Human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, and killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to obtain the animal's body for meat and useful animal products (fur/hide (sk ...

, and more. To compete with other magazines of the time, ''Burton's'' included extra

illustration An illustration is a decoration, interpretation, or visual explanation of a text, concept, or process, designed for integration in print and digitally published media, such as posters, flyers, magazines, books, teaching materials, animations, vi ...

s and thicker paper than standard. They released their first issue in July 1837 and Burton bought out his partner to become the sole owner in December 1838.Meyers, Jeffrey. Edgar Allan Poe: His Life and Legacy. New York City: Cooper Square Press, 1992: 107.

Edgar Allan Poe

The magazine's most famous contributor and one-time editor was

. Poe approached Burton to offer his services in May 1839. The June issue of that year included the notice that its owner had "made arrangements with Edgar A. Poe, Esq., late Editor of the '' Southern Literary Messenger'', to devote his abilities and experience to a portion of the Editorial duties of the Gentlemen's Magazine". Poe agreed to provide about 11 pages of original material per month and his name was added next to Burton's. His role included editing articles and proofreading as well as original contributions like critical reviews. Burton offered Poe $10 a week for his services and estimated he would need to dedicate only two hours a day. In ''Burton's'', Poe published now several of his own original tales including " The Man That Was Used Up" (August 1839), " The Fall of the House of Usher" (September 1839), " William Wilson" (October 1839), " Morella" (November 1839), "

The Conversation of Eiros and Charmion "The Conversation of Eiros and Charmion" is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe, an apocalyptic science fiction story first published in '' Burton's Gentleman's Magazine'' in December 1839. Plot summary Two people, who have been renamed Eiros and ...

" (December 1839) and " The Business Man" (February 1840). Disagreements between the two caused Burton to fire Poe in June 1840.

Merger

Burton lost interest in publishing and wanted to return to his drama background. To raise money for a new theater, he sold the magazine with its list of 3,500 subscribers for $3,500 to George Rex Graham. It was then merged with ''Atkinison's Casket'' to become '' Graham's Magazine'', which began publication with the December 1840 issue. Burton urged Graham to "take care of my young editor" by rehiring Poe.

References

External links

{{Commons category, Burton's Gentleman's Magazine
Burton's gentleman's magazine and American monthly review
at

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Men's magazines published in the United States Defunct literary magazines published in the United States Edgar Allan Poe Magazines established in 1837 Magazines disestablished in 1840 Magazines published in Philadelphia

Overview

Edgar Allan Poe

Merger

See also

References

External links