The Akron offering : a ladies' literary magazine, 1849-1850 : a critical edition, complete and annotated / edited by Jon Miller.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Miller, Jon (Jon S.)

Series:

Critical editions in early American literature

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

American literature--1783-1850.

American literature.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (482 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Akron : University of Akron Press, 2013.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

"I am not ambitious, I seek only to please for the present moment, leaving the glory of posthumous fame, to the thousand little celebrities of the day," writes Lizzie, one of the regular contributors to The Akron Offering, a literary magazine of mid-nineteenth century Northeast Ohio. "I feel perfectly willing to let Posterity take care of itself," she continues. "If I succeed in beguiling one sorrowing heart from its cares, even for a few moments, I shall count myself far happier than those, whose names are recorded upon the register of fame." Posterity gazes back at Lizzie and many more like-minded contributors in this complete edition of creative writings by and for the women of Akron, Ohio, then a booming canal town on the verge of even greater prosperity. By turns religious, comic, romantic, and political, this extraordinary collection of early midwestern creative literature expresses a wide range of sometimes contradictory opinions on both the important questions of its day and the important questions of today: historical events such as the California Gold Rush and the 1848 revolutions in Europe are considered alongside more timeless contemplations on truth, justice, and beauty. Comprehensively annotated and explained, this unprecedented critical edition of the complete run of an antebellum literary magazine has much to offer those interested in the histories of Akron, of Ohio, of the American Midwest, and of American literature.

Contents:

Cover

Copyright

Contents

Preface

Introduction

April 1849

Prospectus: Magazine for Ladies!

May 1849

To Readers of the Offering

Norman and Cornelia Campbell, Chapter 1

The Bitter Hour

The Soul's Search After Happiness

The May Moon

Untitled letter "on behalf of the Fraternity"

"Misfortune, like a creditor severe"

Parental Influence

"In the struggle of contending interests"

Random Thoughts

Lines for the Ladies' Offering

"One Sunny Spot"

To Mr. and Mrs. N. H. Barker

"Reader, the Offering is now before you-"

June 1849

Norman and Cornelia Campbell, Chapter II

"Man is not an isolated creature"

The Spectre Haunted

Nature's Loveliness

Thoughts Suggested While Reading the 15th Verse of the One Hundred and Sixth Psalm

A Fool's Soliloquy

The Graveyard

Faith, Hope, and Charity

Letter to the Offering

My Own Heart

A Sketch from Life

Hap-Hazzard Ideas

Our Readers

July 1849

The Eloquence of Truth

To an Invalid

A Freak of Morpheus

Lines for Jane L. Sims of Litchfield, Ohio

Vine Cottage

The Poet-from Lamartine

"Faint praise is disparagement"

"Two things are indicative of a weak mind"

Norman and Cornelia Campbell, Chapter III

"Never Give Up"

Extract from a letter written to a friend in Lucas County

Reasons for Risibility

A Little Word

To Our Readers

August 1849

Norman and Cornelia Campbell, Chapter IV

"In Adversity, the mind grows strong by buffeting the tempest."

The Elm by My Cottage

Travels Through New York &amp

c.

"Every time you spend one dollar and twenty-five cents"

"Here Hope That Smiling Angel Stands"

Hap-Hazard Ideas, Continued

"Good nature is one of the sweetest gifts of Providence"

Musings

"Peace, Be Still"

The Stranger's Burial.

Time

"How Blessings Brighten as They Take Their Flight"

To A Friend

Description of the Buckeye

Prayer

That Dear Old Bench in the Cottage Porch

"Ignorance is vain, it hates reform"

Canzonet

To Readers and Correspondents

September 1849

Which is the Fortunate Man?

The Vale My Childhood Loved

Decision of Character

We Might Have Been

The Little Coal-Heaver, Chapter I

Norman and Cornelia Campbell, Chapter V

Lines Written at My Brother's Grave

Letter from Aunt Betty

To My Sister on the Death of Her Child

Time

"This number of the Offering"

October 1849

Bible Influence

The Orphan

Letters to the Offering, Number 1

"Every fool can find faults"

Seville

Which is the Fortunate Man?, Concluded

Reform and Conservatism, Chapter I

Where is Rebecca?

Norman and Cornelia Campbell, Chapter VI

"Would'st thou from sorrow find a sweet relief?"

The Little Coal-Heaver, Chapter II

November 1849

Norman and Cornelia Campbell, Chapter VII

"The Norwegians, proud of their barren summits"

Never Despair

Letters to the Offering, Number II

A Psalm of Life

Scenes in the Life of an Artist

Passing Away

The Little Coal-Heaver, Concluded

To My Absent Husband

A Casket of Gems

Reform and Conservatism, Chapter II

Editor's Remarks

December 1849

God in the Events of the Times

"Seem Not-Be"

Thoughts Concerning a Future State

"Trees and flowers, and streams"

"It is I

Be Not Afraid"

Norman and Cornelia Campbell, Chapter VIII

Life's Likeness

Letters to the Offering, Number III

Written for a Lady's Album

Despair.-A Fragment

January 1850

Extract from Thoughts on the Poets

The Evening Hour

Time and Knowledge

The Lady and the Gipsy Girl

Reform and Conservatism, Chapter III.

"How Old Art Thou"

Norman and Cornelia Campbell, Concluded

The Light in the Binnacle

Thoughts

February 1850

The Soul

Twenty Years

Beauty

Morning All Day

Grinding the Face of the Poor

The Poet's Time

American Literature

Life

The Reclaimed

The Mansion of Rest

A Sabbath at Honolulu

"No God!"

The Unfading Flower

March 1850

Letters for the Offering, Number IV

The Lambs of Heaven

The Lover's Talisman

Or, The Spirit Bride

When Shall We Meet

Thou Bid'st Me "Not to Curse Thee"

A Tribute of Respect to the Memory of a Friend

Education

Lines Written by Miss A. P. on the Death of Her Mother

The Days of Old

Good Humor

Religion

Intellect

Extract from Hap-Hazard Ideas

Anger

"Lily Lute, Adelia"

April 1850

A Discourse

"Who Shall Win the Prize?"

The Old Man's Address to His Staff

Thoughts on Visiting the Home of My Childhood

Woman's Best Ornament

Hap-Hazard Ideas

"Virtue may be misrepresented"

Lonely Musings on a Future State

Letters for the Offering, Number V

The Gilliflower

Havn't the Change

The Music of a Dream

Appendix

Index.

Notes:

Includes index.

ISBN:

1-937378-24-1

OCLC:

867740382