American Writers - Knowledge

51: 226: 497: 809: 536:... bearing any sort of national character." He offered specific recommendations for bringing one about by encouraging natural originality over studied adherence to established models. He said: "If you go in your natural shape, in the true garb of your nation, you will never be laughed at." Neal also advised literary critics to give US writers more attention, but to avoid undeserved praise, for fear it would stifle creative growth. "Let us never make a prodigious fuss about any American book, which if it were English, would produce little or no sensation 256: 784:] at this renegade's base attempt to assassinate the reputation of this country", warning Neal to be on guard should he return to the US, "or you may reap that reward for your vile labors, which you so richly merit." This was the beginning of a feud between the two men that continued for years. Speaking for the minority of US literary figures who favored Neal's piece in 175:. Neal argued American literature relied too much on British precedent and had failed to develop its own voice. He offered sharp criticism of many authors and urged critics not to offer writers from the US undeserved criticism, lest it stifle the development of a truly distinct American literature. Poe's later critical essays on literature reflected these strictures. 849:, the latter of which being a semi-autobiographical story that disparaged well-respected locals. Pattee summarized: "For a time he felt like a man without a country". He was accosted on the street by locals waiting for him on the stoop of a tavern. The confrontation led to a fistfight in which the group's leader left with a bloody nose. Neal also found 252:

value. A "man of grievances" according to English scholar George L. Nesbitt, Neal envisioned those journals as a "blazing rocket-battery" he could turn to fire upon the readership of "swarming whipper-snappers" in Great Britain. Thinking highly of his own abilities, he was confident he would fast become a leading literary figure in London.

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accepted, and Neal became a regular contributor, finding himself "warmly welcomed and handsomely paid", according to Sears. As the magazine's first major American contributor, Neal authored an article for every issue between July 1824 and February 1826. Neal's presence in its pages was substantial enough that literary historian

560:. Richards considered that coverage to be far out of proportion to his role in American literature. Literature scholar Jonathan Elmer called it "brazen". The coverage offers mixed reviews, saying of himself "he overdoes everything" in his novels, "hardly one of which it is possible to read through." He nevertheless judged 391:

This series of articles highlighted cultural similarities between the US and UK, making the case for an improved transatlantic relationship. It served to counterpoise ample content from contemporary UK authors that predominantly disparaged the US, when it considered the new nation at all. A decade later, Neal called

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Neal wrote the series in London, where he lived between 1824 and 1827. Moving there from Baltimore, his goals were to establish himself as America's leading literary figure, encourage the development of a uniquely American writing style, and reverse British disdain for literature from the US. He soon

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includes what Pattee and literature scholar Abbate Badin considered a more interesting version of Neal's ability to produce a series of sketches of American figures, which is why Pattee decided to include the excerpt. This was the first republication of a substantial work by Neal since his death and

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articles: "The series is notoriously riddled with factual errors". He wrote it all in a style unique to himself, despite external pressures to adhere to established models. That style was nevertheless more controlled than his other work in order to maintain his English pseudonym. Literature scholars

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as the leading US literary figure, usher into existence a new uniquely American literary style, and reverse British disdain for American literature. To accomplish the third goal, Neal sought publication in British literary journals to expose UK readers to writing from the US and convince them of its

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in five installments between September 1824 and February 1825, it is recognized by scholars as the first history of American literature and the first substantial work of criticism concerning US authors. It is Neal's longest critical work and at least 120 authors are covered, based entirely on Neal's

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the first history of literature from that country and the first substantial criticism of American literature. Some contend it is the work for which Neal is best known, at least among his British publications, or for that period of his life. Of all Neal's works of literary criticism, it is the most

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posted throughout the city sarcastically proclaiming his writing in London and Baltimore had driven him insane and he was recovering with help from an "African Physician", who was in actuality a local Black man hired by the broadside's authors to follow him in public. Neal allowed the man to follow

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under an English pseudonym, which Neal assumed was convincing. Blackwood and British readers likely realized they were reading the work of an American, and multiple leading American periodicals outed Neal before the series was completed. The series was well received in the UK and exerted measurable

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Neal later wrote about this period to indicate he was already on a mission to write about American topics in the UK, but biographer Irving T. Richards argues Neal likely found the opportunity with Blackwood after he arrived. Either way, he quickly became Blackwood's primary authority on US topics.

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Pattee acknowledged Neal's misinformation and unfair attacks, but otherwise judged the work as "sound criticism", and praised the staying power of Neal's critiques, saying, "his critical judgments have held. Where he condemned, Time has almost without exception condemned also." Literature scholar

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articles called it "the most brilliant, troubling, acerbic and imaginative periodical of the post-Napoleonic age". Literature scholar Fritz Fleischmann described the magazine as subscribing to an "aesthetic belief in original thoughts expressed in bold and forceful language". The editor of a 1959

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more than any of his previous works. At the same time, the reception there was much worse than in the UK. American readers were generally offended by Neal's sharp criticism, particularly because he wrote and published it in a country with which they had been at war two times in the previous half

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comprises about 50,000 words over 80 magazine pages. Literature scholars Alfred Fiorelli, Benjamin Lease, and Hans-Joachim Lang counted 120 names among the authors covered by Neal. Both Richards and scholar Alberta Fabris put the number at 135. Those figures, both living and dead at the time,

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paid more than Blackwood, but he also rejected all of Neal's subsequent submissions after learning who Neal was. Neal sent five more articles to Blackwood with a letter explaining his willingness to cover any manner of topics; Blackwood rejected them all. His sixth submission to Blackwood was

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and refrain from calling him a blackguard. After publishing the last installment in February 1825, Blackwood sent Neal a letter congratulating him on completing the series. He encouraged standalone articles in the future, but to continue on American topics. Neal did not publish anything else

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Neal was convinced that anything submitted by an American to any British periodical would be rejected if it did not disparage the US. For his writing to be accepted, "Neal treated the venture as an undercover operation", according to literature scholar Ellen Bufford Welch. "e considered an

572:"is full of power—eloquence—poetry—instinct" but still "so outrageously overdone, that no-body can read it through." Lease and Cairns considered Neal's coverage of Cooper to be disproportionately brief. In it, he dismissed Cooper's female characters as "nice, tidy, pretty—behaved women, who 547:

He wrote about all authors from recollection, having brought neither any of their works nor any notes on them from America. As a result, Neal devoted more space in some cases to anecdotes relating to an author than to analysis of their work. According to the editors of a 2016 collection of

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memory; having no notes or books for reference contributed to Neal's disproportionate coverage of many figures and much disinformation about them. Modern scholars nevertheless praise the staying power of Neal's opinions, many of which are reflected by later critics decades later, notably "

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articles, who pointed to "caustic one-liners or generic praise" Neal used for works with which he was less familiar but "cogent, authoritative and lucid" comments for his favorite works. An example of Neal's misinformation and unfairness was captured by the 1930 biographer of

285:. His letter said he was about to leave London to explore Europe, but: "In the mean time, I must have some sort of employment to keep me out of mischief." Biographer Donald A. Sears says "the situation was desperate" when Neal received a response from Scottish publisher 17: 699:

in Baltimore wrote him in July 1825 to inform him of the poor reaction from American journalists, including many with whom Neal had associated before leaving Baltimore. Years later he wrote, "the whole paperhood of America, were baiting and badgering me, at every

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included novelists, poets, political writers, scientific writers, philosophers, theologians, journalists, historians, geographers, and even painters. Each figure is covered with at least a paragraph, though some get multiple pages. He dedicated half a page to

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the most important literary periodical in 1820s Great Britain, a period in which such periodicals were more influential than ever before. Neal was already familiar with it and had read it in Baltimore. The editors of a six-volume 2016 academic collection of

827:, in July 1827, likely expecting the ire sparked by his British publications to have died down and for a warm welcome to be in its place. He instead found hostility in Portland to be greater than the nation as a whole. Many still resented him for not only 540:... it is only insulting the Americans", he said. Following his own advice, his assessment of individual writers was "brutally honest", according to Welch. Where he did find what he considered truly American literature, he named only Brown, himself, and 730:

called Neal a "slimy reptile" and "impudent scribbler", suggesting controversy drove him from Baltimore to London "where he earns his crust by defaming his native land", such that he "should be spit upon or cowskinned". After reading the installment of

317:, having sought it out as "the cleverist, the sauciest, and most unprincipled of our calumniators", he later wrote. Cairns agreed, writing: "Neal's slashing style and the somewhat sensational nature of his utterances fitted well with the manner of 626:

exerted measurable influence over British periodicals and the way they treated literature from the US; many used quotes to substantiate their own work, including multiple instances of misinformation unwittingly copied from Neal. For instance, the

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until Neal's detractors could no longer afford to pay him to continue. Neal had not planned on staying in Portland, but changed his mind in defiance of the opposition to his return. He stayed in Portland until his death forty-nine years later.

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impenetrable disguise", according to Pattee. Neal started by introducing himself as Carter Holmes in his first communication with Blackwood, and continued using the pseudonym in all correspondence with him while writing

682:] articles I have had which have done so much for as these of this writer." To Neal, he wrote after the last installment: "You have finished your series in capital style. The whole is spirited and most original." 884:

supports this theory among scholars. Neal said: "The day is rapidly approaching, when the poetry of conventional meter must give way to a mightier poetry in prose." Neal's theory "boldly prophesies the organicism of"

325:, he was one of two to exhibit the publisher's desired style notably well. Neal's article in the May 1824 issue was the first by an American to appear in any British literary journal, and it was republished by the 657:, saying it "shows him to be well worth the trouble of breaking in". Cairns credits Neal's coverage of himself with ushering a brief period of increased critical attention of his novels among British reviewers. 675:

wrote to Blackwood, attacking the series as "a tissue of lies from beginning to end". Citing the broadly positive feedback he had already received from his readership, Blackwood responded, "there are not manny

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Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism: Criticism of the Works of Novelists, Philosophers, and Other Creative Writers Who Died between 1800 and 1899, from the First Published Critical Appraisals to Current

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395:"the first British Magazine that ever allowed an American fair play". He further claimed Blackwood "published for me what no other magazine-proprietor in the three kingdoms would have dared to publish". 200:, leading to a fistfight. In defiance, he decided to stay in Portland, where he lived until his death forty-nine years later. The first postmortem republication of any of his works was 1937, when 746:, reacting to the series's first installment, called Neal "a half educated, half crazy headed author" who was "kicked from every city in the United States" to "escape to England, to sell their 690:

Neal wrote five novels in Baltimore and published extensively in periodicals throughout the US before moving to London, but by mid 1825, American readers generally associated his name with

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influence over British critics, some of whom copied Neal's analyses and misinformation into their own essays. It conversely drew considerable ire from US journalists, none more severe than

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pieces. Despite describing himself in those pages as English, most British readers likely knew they were reading the work of an American. Likely reflecting British readership in general,

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collection used the words "rioutous" and "blackguardly". The magazine had not, however, published a single piece on an American topic from June 1822 until Neal's first piece in May 1824.

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that scholars generally still agreed with Neal's assessment of many of the authors the piece considers, particularly Bryant and Irving. The introduction to the 1927 edition of Irving's

4613: 484:, Neal proclaimed his true nationality and signed it with his last initial. He revealed his name to Blackwood in a letter around the same time. The protagonist of Neal's 1830 novel 930:

extensive, and according to one scholar, his most interesting to a modern audience. Fleischmann called it "an unprecedented success" in terms of educating British readership.

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Edward Watts and David J. Carlson contended the series foreshadowed a clash on the literary horizon between genteel traditions and popular vulgarity in anglophone literature.

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Neal's resources were running low after living in England with no income for three months. Capitalizing on Europeans' interest in US politics sparked by recent news of the

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series came out in the September 1824 issue. Before publishing the second installment, Blackwood requested some changes, particularly that Neal tone down his attack on

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Strachan, John; Mason, Nicholas; Mole, Tom; Snodgrass, Charles (2016) . "Introduction". In Strachan, John; Mason, Nicholas; Mole, Tom; Snodgrass, Charles (eds.).

321:". Blackwood seemed to enjoy Neal's style and wanted it in his magazine. Neal was one of many new contributors adopted by Blackwood in the early 1820s; alongside 4196:

Fleischmann, Fritz (1987). "Yankee Heroics: New England Folk Life and Character in the Fiction of Portland's John Neal (1793–1876)". In Vaughan, David K. (ed.).

4224: 901:(1824) contended the book did a great job of presenting dry history while failing to communicate the spirit of the experience. This analysis likely influenced 671:

the best assessment of US literature yet published, praising "its knowledge of a subject concerning which we sit in darkness." Conversely, fellow contributor

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was originally published as five successively-numbered installments between September 1824 and February 1825. Their first collection in one publication was

424:. He made clear it was a pseudonym, but maintained he was English. Blackwood and his editors likely figured out quickly they were dealing with an American. 4383:

Merlob, Maya (2012). "Celebrated Rubbish: John Neal and the Commercialization of Early American Romanticism". In Watts, Edward; Carlson, David J. (eds.).

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How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda

472:, Neal hinted at his identity, saying, "we know him well" and describing his anonymously-published novels: "No matter whose they are—mine or another's 532:

is that the US had not yet developed its own voice: there is "no such thing in the United States of North America, as a body of native literature

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Readers on both sides of the Atlantic largely knew they were reading the work of an American, particularly those in the US. Many connected

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is "generally rich in acute critical perceptions." This was also echoed by Sears, Lease, and the editors of a 21st-century collection of

35: 947:, who referred to Neal's critique of Halleck as "difficult to match for hopeless inaccuracy and unabashed egotism." Richards summarized 2979: 4685:

Weyler, Karen A. (2012). "John Neal and the Early Discourse of American Women's Rights". In Watts, Edward; Carlson, David J. (eds.).

913:(1845) two decades later. By claiming the US did not yet have a distinct literature, it is possible Neal helped authors of the later 276: 1873:

How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States

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feel justified in disregarding a half century of American precedent and thinking themselves the first in their country's history.

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being the longest and best-remembered of his works on American topics in multiple UK periodicals. He wrote for Scottish publisher

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s value had "sadly fallen off when a man who could not find a reader in America, goes to England, and ranks first quill." The

640:, rather than based on an original interpretation. Being published in a respected journal likely convinced British readers of 4694: 4642: 4623: 4602: 4568: 4456: 4392: 4373: 4325: 4186: 4107: 4088: 3996: 2384: 1023:

and his review of Cooper from "Late American Books". Of those, Pattee's collection is the most accessible to modern readers.

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stated years later in 1831: "There is no mistaking the hand of John Neal" in his work published in British periodicals.

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British Criticisms of American Writings 1815–1833: A Contribution to the Study of Anglo-American Literary Relationships

1986: 4411: 4287: 4138: 4051: 3970:. University of Wisconsin Studies in Language and Literature Number 14. Madison, Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin. 3954: 3908: 3160: 2801: 2670: 2638: 1779: 977:, edited by Fred Lewis Pattee in 1937. That edition includes "Late American Books", an essay originally published in 951:

as "altogether honest, reasonably just, and exceedingly shrewd in its judgments." Richards contended a century after

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that mentions him, Hall called Neal "a liar of the first magnitude" and a "nauseous reptile". A New York critic said

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to Neal. Based on his reading of the first two installments, Philadelphian John Elihu Hall outed Neal as author in

2861: 2785: 2710: 576:... talk very much like a book". Neal summed him up as "a man of sober talent—nothing more." Seven decades later, 4796: 1731: 1570: 375: 3611: 4213: 1560: 1402: 711: 592:. That section is a largely accurate prediction of Hunter's future reputation as an untrustworthy imposter and 3351: 225: 4303: 4229: 436: 3335: 192:, who warned Neal to be on guard should he return to his home country. When he did, Neal found inflammatory 4801: 1880: 1860: 1445: 337:

During his three years in England, Neal contributed articles to eight other British periodicals, including

3319: 4791: 4786: 4261:"In Search of the 'Real North American Story': John Neal's Short Stories 'Otter-Bag' and 'David Whicher'" 3204: 764:

was published to intimidate America's developing literary community. The most severe reaction came from

4201: 3188: 1565: 1348: 1122: 4654:"Literary Nationalism and the Renunciation of the British Gothic Tradition in the Novels of John Neal" 808: 4633:

Watts, Edward; Carlson, David J. (2012). "Introduction". In Watts, Edward; Carlson, David J. (eds.).

4265: 3220: 3061: 496: 31: 3276: 3361: 3013: 1455: 1202: 1163: 1107: 837: 789: 778:, whereat he was apprenticing. He said: "We cannot express sufficiently, our Indignation [ 357: 3045: 754:, who briefly employed Neal in Baltimore, referred to Neal as "some fool" and a "renegado" in the 1747: 1517: 1328: 1318: 1135: 501: 4447:

Orestano, Francesca (2012). "John Neal, the Rise of the Critick, and the Rise of American Art".

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claimed Neal's to be "the most intelligent review" of that work since its publication in 1809.

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Richter, Jörg Thomas (2012). "Notes on Poetic Push-Pin and the Writing of Life in John Neal's

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Fourteenth Annual Report of the Proceedings of the Maine Press Association, for the Year 1877

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was named Carter Holmes, which the book called a "fictitious name" connected to "Blackwood".

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century. Neal expected this reaction and was aware before he returned to the US. His friend

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Elwell, Edward H. (1877). "Historical Sketches: Cumberland County". In Wood, Joseph (ed.).

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A Right View of the Subject: Feminism in the Works of Charles Brockden Brown and John Neal

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Aside from familiarizing British readers with American authors, Neal's central message in

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American Writers: A Series of Papers Contributed to Blackwood's Magazine (1824–1825)

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Heralds of Promise: The Drama of the American People During the Age of Jackson 1829–1849

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The Making of an Abolitionist: William Lloyd Garrison's Path to Publishing the Liberator

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This article is about the 1824–25 publication. For a list of American-born writers, see

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Consumable Goods: Papers from the North East Popular Culture Association Meeting, 1986

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Formalism, Experience, and the Making of American Literature in the Nineteenth Century

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in September 1825. Scholar Robert Bain considered that piece the sixth installment of

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Rubin, Joseph Jay (1941) . "John Neal's Poetics as an Influence on Whitman and Poe".

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for the first time into one publication. That edition remains the most accessible of

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American Writers: A Series of Papers Contributed to Blackwood's Magazine (1824–1825)

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American Writers: A Series of Papers Contributed to Blackwood's Magazine (1824–1825)

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American Writers: A Series of Papers Contributed to Blackwood's Magazine (1824–1825)

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American Writers: A Series of Papers Contributed to Blackwood's Magazine (1824–1825)

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American Writers: A Series of Papers Contributed to Blackwood's Magazine (1824–1825)

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Observations on American Art: Selections from the Writings of John Neal (1793–1876)

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called it an "unnatural" and "unprincipled" attack on Neal's country. Hall in the

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Carlson, David J. (2012). "'Another Declaration of Independence': John Neal's

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in 1824, which is approximately equal to £584.00 or $ 694.00 in present terms.

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in April 1826 said Neal "has really and truly done much service to his country

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History, Abolition, and the Ever-Present Now in Antebellum American Writing

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and the Assault on Precedent". In Watts, Edward; Carlson, David J. (eds.).

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Neal critiqued his own works and included a short biography of himself in

4637:. Lewisburg, Pennsylvania: Bucknell University Press. pp. xi–xxxiv. 2149: 2137: 1938: 1771: 1065: 1060: 1007: 4689:. Lewisburg, Pennsylvania: Bucknell University Press. pp. 227–246. 4451:. Lewisburg, Pennsylvania: Bucknell University Press. pp. 123–144. 4133:

The source URL includes multiple separate publications bundled together.

4102:. Lewisburg, Pennsylvania: Bucknell University Press. pp. 145–157. 3991:. Lewisburg, Pennsylvania: Bucknell University Press. pp. 159–184. 2521: 1962: 934:

Alexander Cowie issued a similarly balanced assessment, concluding that

289:: "You are exactly the correspondent that we want". The payment of five 4766: 4754: 4387:. Lewisburg, Pennsylvania: Bucknell University Press. pp. 99–122. 4298: 3391: 2654: 2537: 1003:

Observations on American Art: Selections from the Writings of John Neal

864: 577: 476:... I shall neither acknowledge, nor deny them." In his last piece for 160: 131: 4653: 4563:. Lewisburg, Pennsylvania: Bucknell University Press. pp. 75–97. 4260: 4742: 4730: 4718: 3938: 179:

became the first American published in any British literary journal,

4618:. Vol. 6. New York City, New York: Routledge. pp. xii–xx. 4497:. Durham, North Carolina: Duke University Press. pp. vii–viii. 3132: 525:—a proportionality Richards said was "frequently grossly violated". 255: 2936: 2553: 1308: 3820: 3818: 3651: 3635: 3148: 1614:

in 1824 was the equivalent of one pound and one shilling, roughly

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the first of a series in the twentieth century that also included

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under the name X.Y.Z., which he borrowed from fellow contributors

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was more than Neal had ever received for any magazine submission.

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in 1978, the last of which includes Neal's review of Irving from

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for May 1825 that Neal's authorship rendered the series invalid.

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