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83-517: Rufus Wilmot Griswold (February 13, 1815 – August 27, 1857) was an American anthologist , editor, poet, and critic. Born in Vermont , Griswold left home when he was 15 years old. He worked as a journalist, editor, and critic in Philadelphia , New York City, and elsewhere. He built a strong literary reputation, in part due to his 1842 collection The Poets and Poetry of America . This anthology,

166-467: A 22-year-old flute-playing journalist named George C. Foster, a writer best known for his work New-York by Gas-Light . Griswold lived with Foster until he was 17, and the two may have had a romantic relationship. When Griswold moved away, Foster wrote to him begging him to return, signing his letter "come to me if you love me". Griswold attempted to enroll at the Rensselaer School in 1830, but

249-586: A ban on burials inside churches was introduced, with the exception of bishops who were permitted to be entombed in the church crypts. And a similar decree was promulgated by Napoleon in 1804, under the Edict of Saint-Cloud. Instead, the tombs were moved to the cemeteries and became the subject of regulation by cemetery management and civil authorities. This decision led to construction of private burial vaults in cemeteries and on private property, both by Catholics and Protestants alike. Although ecclesiastical burial of

332-582: A certain dilution) when it achieved widespread recognition. In this model, which derives from Chinese tradition, the object of compiling an anthology was to preserve the best of a form, and cull the rest. In Malaysia , an anthology (or antologi in Malay ) is a collection of syair , sajak (or modern prose), proses , drama scripts, and pantuns . Notable anthologies that are used in secondary schools include Sehijau Warna Daun , Seuntai Kata Untuk Dirasa , Anak Bumi Tercinta , Anak Laut and Kerusi . In

415-505: A collection of poetry, titled The Cypress Wreath (1844). His poems, with titles such as "The Happy Hour of Death", "On the Death of a Young Girl", and "The Slumber of Death", emphasized mortality and mourning. Another collection of his poetry, Christian Ballads and Other Poems , was published in 1844, and his nonfiction book, The Republican Court or, American Society in the Days of Washington ,

498-412: A considerable reputation throughout the 1840s and 1850s and its first edition went through three printings in only six months. His choice of authors, however, was occasionally questioned. A British editor reviewed the collection and concluded, "with two or three exceptions, there is not a poet of mark in the whole Union" and referred to the anthology as "the most conspicuous act of martyrdom yet committed in

581-697: A friend found him 30 hours later. In 1842, Griswold released his 476-page anthology of American poetry , The Poets and Poetry of America , which he dedicated to Washington Allston . Griswold's collection featured poems from over 80 authors, including 17 by Lydia Sigourney , three by Edgar Allan Poe, and 45 by Charles Fenno Hoffman . Hoffman, a close friend, was allotted twice as much space as any other author. Griswold oversaw many anthologies, including Biographical Annual , which collected memoirs of "eminent persons recently deceased", Gems from American Female Poets , Prose Writers of America , and Female Poets of America . Between 1842 and 1845, while Griswold

664-528: A landmark to tell that he once existed; or if he is spoken of hereafter, he will be quoted as the unfaithful servant who abused his trust." James Russell Lowell , who had privately called Griswold "an ass and, what's more, a knave", composed a verse on Griswold's temperament in his satirical A Fable for Critics : But stay, here comes Tityrus Griswold, and leads on The flocks whom he first plucks alive, and then feeds on— A loud-cackling swarm, in whose feathers warm dressed, He goes for as perfect

747-427: A literary dictator, whose approval writers sought even while they feared his growing power. Even as they tried to impress him, however, several authors voiced their opinion on Griswold's character. Ann S. Stephens called him two-faced and "constitutionally incapable of speaking the truth". Even his friends knew him as a consummate liar and had a saying: "Is that a Griswold or a fact?" Another friend once called him "one of

830-429: A more flexible medium than the collection of a single poet's work, and indeed rang innumerable changes on the idea as a way of marketing poetry, publication in an anthology (in the right company) became at times a sought-after form of recognition for poets. The self-definition of movements, dating back at least to Ezra Pound 's efforts on behalf of Imagism , could be linked on one front to the production of an anthology of

913-463: A national literature] seems to have entered and taken possession of (Griswold's) mind with the force of monomania ". Poet Philip Pendleton Cooke questioned Griswold's sincerity, saying he "should have loved [it] ... better than to say it". By the 1850s, Griswold's literary nationalism had subsided somewhat, and he began following the more popular contemporary trend of reading literature from England, France, and Germany. He disassociated himself from

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996-447: A notice in his magazine accusing Griswold of betraying trust and taking revenge on the dead. "Mr. Griswold", he wrote, "has allowed old prejudices and old enmities to steal ... into the coloring of his picture." Thomas Holley Chivers wrote a book called New Life of Edgar Allan Poe which directly responded to Griswold's accusations. He said that Griswold "is not only incompetent to Edit any of [Poe's] works, but totally unconscious of

1079-444: A number of authors which Griswold was preparing for publication. Leland decided to burn them. Griswold's funeral was held on August 30. His pallbearers included Leland, Charles Frederick Briggs , George Henry Moore , and Richard Henry Stoddard . His remains were left for eight years in the receiving tomb of Green-Wood Cemetery before being buried on July 12, 1865, without a headstone. Although his library of several thousand volumes

1162-494: A salary higher than Poe's. Later, the two competed for the attention of poet Frances Sargent Osgood . They never reconciled their differences, and after Poe's mysterious death in 1849, Griswold wrote an unsympathetic obituary. Claiming to be Poe's chosen literary executor , he began a campaign to harm Poe's reputation that lasted until his own death eight years later. Griswold considered himself an expert in American poetry and

1245-429: A son. Three days later, after returning to Philadelphia, he was informed that both she and the infant had died. Deeply shocked, Griswold traveled by train alongside her coffin, refusing to leave her side for 30 hours. When fellow passengers urged him to try to sleep, he answered by kissing her dead lips and embracing her, his two children crying next to him. He refused to leave the cemetery after her funeral, even after

1328-428: A statement on June 9, 1849, and that she herself released any claim to Poe's works. And indeed a document exists in which Clemm transfers power of attorney to Griswold, dated October 20, 1849, although there are no signed witnesses. Clemm, however, had no right to make such a decision; Poe's younger sister Rosalie was his closest next of kin. Although Griswold had acted as a literary agent for other American writers, it

1411-503: A strict Calvinist in the hamlet of Benson . He was the twelfth of fourteen children and his father was a farmer and shoemaker. In 1822, the family sold the Benson farm and moved to nearby Hubbardton . As a child, Griswold was complex, unpredictable, and reckless. He left home when he was 15, calling himself a "solitary soul, wandering through the world, a homeless, joyless outcast". Griswold moved to Albany, New York , and lived with

1494-504: A vault enabled the “intact storage” of the body of the deceased until the Last Judgment . The last resting places of European monarchs were mostly designed as vaults. Commoners were usually buried in the ground, sometimes in mass graves . Due to pestilences such as plague outbreaks along with population growth and increasing mortality rates, some precautionary measures had to be taken against intramural burials and entombments in

1577-446: A wife" or, as Poe biographer Kenneth Silverman explains, incapable of having sex. Griswold considered the marriage void and no more valid "than there would have been had the ceremony taken place between parties of the same sex, or where the sex of one was doubtful or ambiguous". Still, the couple moved together to Charleston, South Carolina, Charlotte's home town, and lived under the same roof, albeit sleeping in separate rooms. Neither of

1660-496: A world which galled his self-conceit". Much of this characterization of Poe was copied almost verbatim from that of the fictitious Francis Vivian in The Caxtons by Edward Bulwer-Lytton . Griswold biographer Joy Bayless wrote that Griswold used a pseudonym not to conceal his relationship to the obituary but because it was his custom never to sign his newspaper and his magazine contributions. Regardless, Griswold's true identity

1743-563: A – swan as the rest. Griswold was one of the early proponents of teaching schoolchildren American poetry in addition to English poetry. One of his anthologies, Readings in American Poetry for the Use of Schools , was created specifically for that purpose. His knowledge in American poetry was emphasized by his claim that he had read every American poem published before 1850—an estimated 500 volumes. "He has more literary patriotism, if

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1826-571: Is unclear if Poe really appointed Griswold his executor (perhaps as part of his " Imp of the Perverse "), if it were a trick on Griswold's part, or a mistake on Maria Clemm's. It is also possible that Osgood persuaded Poe to name Griswold as his executor. In any case, Griswold, along with James Russell Lowell and Nathaniel Parker Willis , edited a posthumous collection of Poe's works published in three volumes starting in January 1850. He did not share

1909-638: The 'State of the Dead' and the Resurrection of the Dead which is attributed to his translation and interpretation of the Biblical verses in Job 19: 25–27 regarding bodily resurrection in flesh; therefore the burial practises of Lutheran-dominated regions were heavily influenced by the notion of a 'well-preserved corpse' in dry, vented vaults. Aside from the religious concerns, the economic and political rise of

1992-560: The Greek Anthology . Florilegium , a Latin derivative for a collection of flowers, was used in medieval Europe for an anthology of Latin proverbs and textual excerpts. Shortly before anthology had entered the language, English had begun using florilegium as a word for such a collection. The Palatine Anthology , discovered in the Palatine Library , Heidelberg in 1606, is a collection of Greek poems and epigrams that

2075-508: The New York Tribune , it was soon republished many times. Here he asserted that "few will be grieved" by Poe's death as he had few friends. He claimed that Poe often wandered the streets, either in "madness or melancholy", mumbling and cursing to himself, was easily irritated, was envious of others, and that he "regarded society as composed of villains". Poe's drive to succeed, Griswold wrote, was because he sought "the right to despise

2158-414: The bourgeoisie at the beginning of the 19th century and the associated desire for representation contributed to the fact that burial chambers and mausoleums as status symbol, continued to be built as a monumental form of artistic value. In most cemeteries, the planning and construction of an underground crypt as well as a freestanding mausoleum was subjected to approval and it was possible after examining

2241-525: The "Reverend Dr. Griswold". On August 20, 1845, Griswold married Charlotte Myers, a Jewish woman; she was 42 and he was 33. Griswold had been pressured into the marriage by the woman's aunts despite his concern about their difference in religious beliefs. This difference was strong enough that one of Griswold's friends referred to his wife only as "the little Jewess". On their wedding night, he discovered that she was, according to Griswold biographer Joy Bayless, "through some physical misfortune, incapable of being

2324-420: The "absurd notion ... that we are to create an entirely new literature". Publicly, Griswold supported the establishment of international copyright, but he often duplicated entire works during his time as an editor, particularly with The Brother Jonathan. A contemporary editor said of him: "He takes advantage of a state of things which he declares to be 'immoral, unjust and wicked,' and even while haranguing

2407-522: The 19th century to publicly point to and stress the theme of erotic desire and acts between men in Whitman's poetry. More attention to that aspect of Whitman's poetry surfaced late in the 19th century. After a brief flirtation with poet Alice Cary , Griswold pursued a relationship with Harriet McCrillis. He originally did not want to divorce Charlotte Myers because he "dreaded the publicity" and because of her love for his daughter. He applied for divorce at

2490-558: The American Revolution , and was angered when she did not acknowledge his assistance in the book. In July 1848, he visited poet Sarah Helen Whitman in Providence, Rhode Island, but he had been suffering with vertigo and exhaustion, rarely leaving his apartment at New York University, and was unable to write without taking opium . In autumn of that year, he had an epileptic seizure , the first of many he would have for

2573-577: The Catholic high-ranking clergy within the church vaults was always a norm from the beginning, the vault entombment has proved to be very popular among the Protestant nobility and gentry of Nordic countries, along with predominantly Protestant areas of Germany. The popularity of vault entombment as a burial method among Protestant laity of upper classes might be explained by Martin Luther 's view on

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2656-763: The Court of Common Pleas in Philadelphia on March 25, 1852. Elizabeth Ellet and Ann S. Stephens wrote to Myers urging her not to grant the divorce, and to McCrillis not to marry him. To convince Myers to agree to the divorce, Griswold allowed her to keep his daughter Caroline if she signed a statement that she had deserted him. She agreed, and the divorce was made official December 18; he likely never saw Myers or his daughter again. McCrillis and Griswold were married shortly thereafter on December 26, 1852, and settled at 196 West Twenty-third Street in New York. Their son, William,

2739-586: The English language in the 17th century, from the Greek word, ἀνθολογία ( anthologic , literally "a collection of blossoms", from ἄνθος , ánthos , flower), a reference to one of the earliest known anthologies, the Garland ( Στέφανος , stéphanos ), the introduction to which compares each of its anthologized poets to a flower. That Garland by Meléagros of Gadara formed the kernel for what has become known as

2822-566: The Marshals of the Empire (1847). Prose Writers of America , published in 1847, was prepared specifically to compete with a similar anthology by Cornelius Mathews and Evert Augustus Duyckinck . The prose collection earned Griswold a rivalry with the two men, which Griswold expected. As it was being published, Griswold wrote to Boston publisher James T. Fields that " Young America will be rabid". In preparing his anthologies, Griswold wrote to

2905-465: The Middle Ages, this form of burial was essentially reserved for the privileged members of society, including monarchs, high-ranking clergy, nobility and other notable individuals. Ornately carved and elaborately designed sarcophagi were often used for the dead from higher social classes which took place in church and cathedral crypts beneath the floor. In this sense, a crypt entombment inside

2988-603: The World's Greatest Diarists , published in 2000, anthologises four centuries of diary entries into 365 'days'. [REDACTED] Media related to Anthologies at Wikimedia Commons Burial vault (tomb) After the Christianization of Europe, in most areas ruled by the Holy Roman Empire , vault entombments initially mostly took place inside church crypts under the influence of Catholic Church . Since

3071-399: The actual crypt, and coffins had to be constructed of metal, or zinc-lined wooden coffins and sealed stone sarcophagi to be used, in order to prevent the bodily effluvia and unhealthy vapors of decomposition from escaping. In addition to private burial vaults, many cemeteries had built public receiving vaults for the temporary storage of corpses for a fee that were only to be interred at

3154-548: The birth of their second daughter, Griswold left his family behind in New York and moved to Philadelphia. His departure on November 27, 1840 was by all accounts abrupt, leaving his job with Horace Greeley 's New York Tribune , and his library of several thousand volumes. He joined the staff of Philadelphia's Daily Standard and began to build his reputation as a literary critic, becoming known for his savagery and vindictiveness. On November 6, 1842, Griswold visited his wife in New York after she had given birth to their third child,

3237-557: The book a "collection of poetic trash" and "voluminous worthlessness". Within the contemporary American literary scene Griswold became known as erratic, dogmatic, pretentious, and vindictive. Historian Perry Miller wrote "Griswold was about as devious as they came in this era of deviousness; did not ample documentation prove that he actually existed, we might suppose him ... one of the less plausible inventions of Charles Dickens ". Later anthologies such as Prose Writers of America and Female Poets of America helped him become known as

3320-422: The book". Griswold included three of these poems: "Coliseum", " The Haunted Palace ", and "The Sleeper". In November of this year, Poe, who previously praised Griswold in his "Autography" series as "a gentleman of fine taste and sound judgment", wrote a critical review of the anthology, on Griswold's behalf. Griswold paid Poe for the review and used his influence to have it published in a Boston periodical. The review

3403-451: The care of the Myers family and his elder daughter, Emily, with relatives on her mother's side. He had by now earned the nickname "Grand Turk", and in the summer of 1847, made plans to edit an anthology of poetry by American women. He believed that women were incapable of the same kind of "intellectual" poetry as men and believed they needed to be divided: "The conditions of aesthetic ability in

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3486-581: The duties which he and every man who sets himself up as a Literary Executor, owe the dead". Today Griswold's name is usually associated with Poe's as a character assassin, but not all believe that Griswold deliberately intended to cause harm. Some of the information that Griswold asserted or implied was that Poe was expelled from the University of Virginia and that Poe had tried to seduce his guardian John Allan's second wife. Even so, Griswold's attempts only drew attention to Poe's work; readers were thrilled at

3569-484: The first edition of Arthur Quiller Couch 's Oxford Book of English Verse (1900). In East Asian tradition, an anthology was a recognized form of compilation of a given poetic form . It was assumed that there was a cyclic development: any particular form, say the tanka in Japan , would be introduced at one point in history, be explored by masters during a subsequent time, and finally be subject to popularisation (and

3652-410: The first edition of Walt Whitman 's Leaves of Grass , declaring: "It is impossible to image how any man's fancy could have conceived such a mass of stupid filth". Griswold charged that Whitman was guilty of "the vilest imaginings and shamefullest license", a "degrading, beastly sensuality." Referring to Whitman's poetry, Griswold said he left "this gathering of muck to the laws which ... must have

3735-494: The first of which was given in Philadelphia on November 25, 1843. Poe openly attacked Griswold in front of his large audience and continued to do so in similar lectures. Graham said that during these lectures, Poe "gave Mr. Griswold some raps over the knuckles of force sufficient to be remembered". In a letter dated January 16, 1845, Poe tried to reconcile with Griswold, promising him that his lecture now omitted all that Griswold found objectionable. Another source of animosity between

3818-710: The idea of reading the works of an "evil" man. Griswold's characterization of Poe and the false information he originated appeared consistently in Poe biographies for the next two decades. Anthologies Poetry Nonfiction Anthology In book publishing , an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and genre-based anthologies. Complete collections of works are often called " complete works " or " opera omnia " ( Latin equivalent). The word entered

3901-417: The like-minded. Also, whilst not connected with poetry, publishers have produced collective works of fiction and non-fiction from a number of authors and used the term anthology to describe the collective nature of the text. These have been in a number of subjects, including Erotica , edited by Mitzi Szereto , and American Gothic Tales edited by Joyce Carol Oates . The Assassin's Cloak: An Anthology of

3984-497: The living authors whose work he was including to ask their suggestions on which poems to include as well as to gather information for a biographical sketch. In 1843, Griswold founded The Opal , an annual gift book that collected essays, stories, and poetry. Nathaniel Parker Willis edited its first edition, released in the fall of 1844. For a time, Griswold was editor of the Saturday Evening Post and published

4067-643: The loudest, is purloining the fastest." Even so, he was chosen to represent the publishing industry before Congress in the spring of 1844 to discuss the need for copyright law. Griswold first met Edgar Allan Poe in Philadelphia in May 1841 while working for the Daily Standard . At the outset, their relationship was cordial, at least superficially. In a letter dated March 29, 1841, Poe sent Griswold several poems for The Poets and Poetry of America anthology, writing that he would be proud to see "one or two of them in

4150-481: The most admirable woman I ever knew", he wrote to publisher James T. Fields in 1848. Osgood responded by dedicating a collection of her poetry to Griswold "as a souvenir of admiration for his genius, of regard for his generous character, and of gratitude for his valuable literary counsels". After Poe's death , Griswold prepared an obituary signed with the pseudonym Ludwig. First printed in the October 9, 1849, issue of

4233-403: The most comprehensive of its time, included what he deemed the best examples of American poetry . He produced revised versions and similar anthologies for the remainder of his life, although many of the poets he promoted have since faded into obscurity. Many writers hoped to have their work included in one of these editions, although they commented harshly on Griswold's abrasive character. Griswold

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4316-605: The most irritable and vindictive men I ever met". Author Cornelius Mathews wrote in 1847 that Griswold fished for writers to exploit, warning "the poor little innocent fishes" to avoid his "Griswold Hook". A review of one of Griswold's anthologies, published anonymously in the Philadelphia Saturday Museum on January 28, 1843, but believed to have been written by Poe, asked: "What will be [Griswold's] fate? Forgotten, save only by those whom he has injured and insulted, he will sink into oblivion, without leaving

4399-469: The other mourners had left, until forced to do so by a relative. He wrote a long poem in blank verse dedicated to Caroline, titled "Five Days", which was printed in the New York Tribune on November 16, 1842. Griswold had difficulty believing she had died and often dreamed of their reunion. Forty days after her entombment, he entered her vault , cut off a lock of her hair, kissed her on the forehead and lips, and wept for several hours, staying by her side until

4482-547: The phrase be allowable ... than any person we ever knew", wrote a contributor to Graham's . "Since the Pilgrims landed, no man or woman has written anything on any subject which has escaped his untiring research." Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. noted that Griswold researched literature like "a kind of naturalist whose subjects are authors, whose memory is a perfect fauna of all flying and creeping things that feed on ink." Evert Augustus Duyckinck commented that "the thought [of

4565-468: The power to suppress such gross obscenity." Whitman later included Griswold's review in a new edition of Leaves of Grass . He ended his review with a phrase in Latin referring to "that horrible sin, among Christians not to be named", the stock phrase long associated with Christian condemnations of sodomy, referring in this instance to homosexual, rather than heterosexual sodomy. Griswold was the first person in

4648-541: The profits of his edition with Poe's surviving relatives. This edition included a biographical sketch titled "Memoir of the Author" which has become notorious for its inaccuracy. The "Memoir" depicts Poe as a madman, addicted to drugs and chronically drunk. Many elements were fabricated by Griswold using forged letters as evidence and it was denounced by those who knew Poe, including Sarah Helen Whitman , Charles Frederick Briggs , and George Rex Graham. In March, Graham published

4731-468: The remainder of his life. One seizure caused him to fall out of a ferry in Brooklyn and nearly drown. He wrote to publisher James T. Fields: "I am in a terrible condition, physically and mentally. I do not know what the end will be ... I am exhausted—betwixt life and death—and heaven and hell." In 1849, he was further troubled when Charles Fenno Hoffman, with whom he had become good friends,

4814-446: The review published was a bribe for a favorable review, knowing Poe needed the money. Making the relationship more strained, only months later, Griswold was hired by George Rex Graham to take up Poe's former position as editor of Graham's Magazine . Griswold, however, was paid more and given more editorial control of the magazine than Poe. Shortly after, Poe began presenting a series of lectures called "The Poets and Poetry of America",

4897-436: The service of the transatlantic muses". Even so, the book was popular and was continued in several editions after Griswold's death by Richard Henry Stoddard. In later times, The Poets and Poetry of America has been nicknamed a "graveyard of poets" because its anthologized writers have since passed into obscurity to become, as literary historian Fred Lewis Pattee wrote, "dead ... beyond all resurrection". Pattee also called

4980-441: The submitted construction drawings, and access via stairs was usually permitted if the grave vault was of sufficient size. Although it always had to be enclosed, the relatives were still able to get close to the coffin to pray and pay their respects. Over the course of the 19th century, the free placement of coffins in the crypt vaults was increasingly prohibited, and the coffins had to be sealed in wall niches or locked chambers within

5063-509: The twentieth century, anthologies became an important part of poetry publishing for a number of reasons. For English poetry , the Georgian poetry series was trend-setting; it showed the potential success of publishing an identifiable group of younger poets marked out as a 'generation'. It was followed by numerous collections from the 'stable' of some literary editor, or collated from a given publication, or labelled in some fashion as 'poems of

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5146-402: The two men was their competition for the attention of the poet Frances Sargent Osgood in the mid to late 1840s. While both she and Poe were still married to their respective spouses, the two carried on a public flirtation that resulted in much gossip among the literati. Griswold, who was smitten with Osgood, escorted her to literary salons and became her staunchest defender. "She is in all things

5229-563: The two sexes are probably distinct, or even opposite", he wrote in his introduction. The selections he chose for The Female Poets of America were not necessarily the greatest examples of poetry but instead were chosen because they emphasized traditional morality and values. The same year, Griswold began working on what he considered "the maximum opus of his life", an extensive biographical dictionary. Although he worked on it for several years and even advertised for it, he never produced it. He also helped Elizabeth F. Ellet publish her book Women of

5312-515: The two was happy with the situation, and at the end of April 1846, she had a lawyer write a contract "to separate, altogether and forever, ... which would in effect be a divorce". The contract forbade Griswold from remarrying and paid him $ 1,000 (~$ 33,911 in 2023) for expenses in exchange for his daughter Caroline staying with the Myers family. After this separation, Griswold immediately moved back to Philadelphia. A few years later, Griswold moved back to New York City, leaving his younger daughter in

5395-476: The vaults beneath places of public worship which was deemed to be unsanitary. At the end of the 18th century, a gradual change took place in the continental Europe as a result of the Enlightenment and modern ideas about hygiene, stemming from the miasma theory . In-ground burials outside the walls or boundaries of cities started to replace crypt entombments in the vaults. In 1784, under Emperor Joseph II ,

5478-492: The year'. Academic publishing also followed suit, with the continuing success of the Quiller-Couch Oxford Book of English Verse encouraging other collections not limited to modern poetry. Not everyone approved. Robert Graves and Laura Riding published their Pamphlet Against Anthologies in 1928, arguing that they were based on commercial rather than artistic interests. The concept of 'modern verse'

5561-471: Was an early proponent of its inclusion on the school curriculum. He also supported the introduction of copyright legislation, speaking to Congress on behalf of the publishing industry, but he was not above infringing the copyright of other people's work. A fellow editor remarked "even while haranguing the loudest, [he] is purloining the fastest". Griswold was born to Rufus and Deborah (Wass) Griswold on February 13, 1815, in Vermont , near Rutland , and raised

5644-408: Was auctioned, raising over $ 3,000 (~$ 46,787 in 2023) to be put toward a monument, none was commissioned. Griswold's anthology The Poets and Poetry of America was the most comprehensive of its kind to date. As critic Lewis Gaylord Clark said, it was expected Griswold's book would "become incorporated into the permanent undying literature of our age and nation". The anthology helped Griswold build up

5727-462: Was based on the lost 10th Century Byzantine collection of Constantinus Cephalas, which in turn was based on older anthologies. In The Middle Ages, European collections of florilegia became popular, bringing together extracts from various Christian and pagan philosophical texts. These evolved into commonplace books and miscellanies , including proverbs, quotes, letters, poems and prayers. Songes and Sonettes , usually called Tottel's Miscellany ,

5810-615: Was born on October 9, 1853. Ellet and Stephens continued writing to Griswold's ex-wife, urging her to have the divorce repealed. Myers was convinced and filed in Philadelphia on September 23, 1853. The court, however, had lost records of the divorce and had to delay the appeal. Adding to Griswold's troubles, that fall, a gas leak in his home caused an explosion and a fire. He was severely burned, losing his eyelashes, eyebrows, and seven of his finger nails. The same year, his 15-year-old daughter, Emily, nearly died in Connecticut. A train she

5893-426: Was collecting material for Prose Writers of America , he discovered the identity of Horace Binney Wallace , who had been writing in various literary magazines at the time (including Burton's Gentleman's Magazine ) under the pen name William Landor. Wallace declined to be included in the anthology but the two became friends, exchanging many letters over the years. Wallace eventually ghostwrote Griswold's Napoleon and

5976-501: Was committed to an insane asylum. Griswold continued editing and contributing literary criticism for various publications, both full-time and freelance, including 22 months from July 1, 1850, to April 1, 1852, with The International Magazine . There, he worked with contributors including Elizabeth Oakes Smith , Mary E. Hewitt and John R. Thompson . In the November 10, 1855, issue of The Criterion , Griswold anonymously reviewed

6059-745: Was dismissed. Embarrassed by the ordeal, McCrillis left Griswold in New York and moved in with family in Bangor, Maine. Griswold died of tuberculosis in New York City on August 27, 1857. Estelle Anna Lewis , a friend and writer, suggested that the interference of Elizabeth Ellet had exacerbated Griswold's condition and that she "goaded Griswold to his death". At the time of his death, the sole decorations found in his room were portraits of himself, Frances Osgood, and Poe. A friend, Charles Godfrey Leland , found in Griswold's desk several documents attacking

6142-474: Was fostered by the appearance of the phrase in titles such as the Faber & Faber anthology by Michael Roberts in 1936, and the very different William Butler Yeats Oxford Book of Modern Verse of the same year. In the 1960s The Mersey Sound anthology of Liverpool poets became a bestseller, plugging into the countercultural attitudes of teenagers. Since publishers generally found anthology publication

6225-471: Was generally favorable, but Poe questioned the inclusion of certain authors and the omission of others. Poe also said that Griswold "unduly favored" New England writers. Griswold had expected more praise, and Poe privately told others he was not particularly impressed by the book, even calling it "a most outrageous humbug " in a letter to a friend. In another letter, this time to fellow writer Frederick W. Thomas, Poe suggested that Griswold's promise to help get

6308-428: Was introduced to 19-year-old Caroline Searles, whom he later married. He was employed as an editor for various publications in the New York area. In October, he considered running for office as a Whig but did not receive the party's support. In 1837, he was licensed as a Baptist clergyman, but he never had a permanent congregation. Griswold married Caroline on August 12, 1837, and the couple had two daughters. Following

6391-440: Was married three times: his first wife died young, his second marriage ended in a public and controversial divorce, and his third wife left him after the previous divorce was almost repealed. Edgar Allan Poe , whose poetry had been included in Griswold's anthology, published a critical response that questioned which poets were included. This began a rivalry which grew when Griswold succeeded Poe as editor of Graham's Magazine at

6474-475: Was not allowed to take any classes after he was caught attempting to play a prank on a professor. After a brief spell as a printer's apprentice , Griswold moved to Syracuse, New York, where he started a newspaper with friends titled The Porcupine . This publication purposefully targeted locals for what was later remembered as merely malicious critique. He moved to New York City in 1836. and in March of this year,

6557-488: Was published in 1854. The book is meant to cover events during the presidency of George Washington , though it mixes historical fact with apocryphal legend until one is indistinguishable from the other. During this period, Griswold occasionally offered his services at the pulpit delivering sermons and he may have received an honorary doctorate from Shurtleff College , a Baptist institution in Illinois, leading to his nickname

6640-405: Was riding on had fallen off a drawbridge into a river. When Griswold arrived, he saw 49 corpses in a makeshift morgue. Emily had been pronounced dead when pinned underwater but a doctor was able to revive her. On February 24, 1856, the divorce appeal went to court, with Ellet and Stephens providing lengthy testimony against Griswold's character. Neither Griswold nor Myers attended, and the appeal

6723-404: Was soon revealed. In a letter to Sarah Helen Whitman dated December 17, 1849, he admitted his role in writing Poe's death notice. "I was not his friend, nor was he mine", he wrote. Griswold claimed that "among the last requests of Mr. Poe" was that he become his literary executor "for the benefit of his family". Griswold claimed that Poe's aunt and mother-in-law Maria Clemm said Poe had made such

6806-483: Was the first of the great ballad collections, responsible for the ballad revival in English poetry that became a significant part of the Romantic movement. William Enfield 's The Speaker; Or, Miscellaneous Pieces was published in 1774 and was a mainstay of 18th Century schoolrooms. Important nineteenth century anthologies included Palgrave's Golden Treasury (1861), Edward Arber 's Shakespeare Anthology (1899) and

6889-548: Was the first printed anthology of English poetry. It was published by Richard Tottel in 1557 in London and ran to many editions in the sixteenth century. A widely read series of political anthologies, Poems on Affairs of State , began its publishing run in 1689, finishing in 1707. In Britain, one of the earliest national poetry anthologies to appear was The British Muse (1738), compiled by William Oldys . Thomas Percy 's influential Reliques of Ancient English Poetry (1765),

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