The business of letters : authorial economies in antebellum America / Leon Jackson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Jackson, Leon, 1965-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

American literature--19th century--History and criticism.

American literature.

Authorship--Economic aspects--United States--History--19th century.

Authorship.

Authors and publishers--United States--History--19th century.

Authors and publishers.

Authors, American.

Economic conditions.

Authorship--Social aspects.

History.

Authorship--Economic aspects.

United States.

Authorship--Social aspects--United States--History--19th century.

Authors, American--19th century--Economic conditions.

Literature and society--United States--History--19th century.

Literature and society.

Physical Description:

x, 331 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Stanford, Calif. : Stanford University Press, 2008.

Contents:

Introduction: The Business of The Business of Letters 1

1 From the Profession of Authorship to the Business of Letters 9

The Professional Paradigm 10

Toward a Theory of Multiple Economies 23

Economies Embedded and Disembedded 37

The Disembedding of the Economy 48

2 The Black Bard and the Black Market 53

George Moses Horton and the Black Market 54

"Bid the Vassal Rise" 61

Manumission Campaigns 67

The Hope of Liberty 69

Taking Liberties 79

Other Bards, Other Markets 82

3 Authorship and Gift Exchange 89

"Tablets of vanity; archives of pride and flattery": Albums 97

"I write to you out of mere humanity": Letters 109

"Damn you send me a paper": Exchange Networks 120

"Hammydiddle in plenty but no pay": The Southern Literary Messenger 126

The Freeing of the Gift 139

4 Toward a History of Literary Debt 142

Accounting for Subscriber Dereliction 146

Rural Economics and Traditional Debt Ways 151

The World of the Literary Dun 162

The Discrediting of the American Reader 173

The New Yorker and the Return of Literary Credit 183

5 Literary Competitions and the Culture of Emulation 186

The Culture of Emulation 190

The Park Street Competition 199

The Example of Charles Sprague 205

Prize Inflation and Prize Criticism 214

Edgar Allan Poe and the World of Competitions 218

The Routinization of the Prize 231

Epilogue: From the Business of Letters to the Profession of Authorship 235.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [245]-318) and index.

ISBN:

9780804757058

0804757054

OCLC:

145379633