Wilkins, Edward (Ned) Journalist, Playwright. Remembered as "a man of brilliant talent and singular charm," Edward Wilkins' career included the roles of editorial writer, musical and dramatic critic, and playwright. He was raised in Boston where he began his journalism career. When Wilkins began writing for the <cite>New York Herald</cite> he first met Pfaff's theater critic and later biographer William Winter who saw his career develop when Wilkins attracted the attention of the editor, James Gordon Bennett, through an excellent piece about the Crystal Palace exhibit; Wilkins then advanced rapidly through the ranks of the paper (Winter 84). In addition to his work at the <cite>Herald</cite>, Wilkins quickly became indispensable to Henry Clapp, working as his chief assistant on the <cite>Saturday Press</cite> where, under the pen name "Personne," he wrote "a series of free dramatic and musical criticisms that were much too independent for the <cite>Herald</cite>" ("Obituary: Henry Clapp" 7). Ned Wilkins took over writing the column "Dramatic Feuilleton" for the <cite>Saturday Press</cite> from Fitz-James O'Brien, which featured drama criticism. One of Walt Whitman's early defenders, Wilkins was described by Whitman as "courageous: in an out and out way very friendly to Leaves of Grass: free spoken - always willing to let it be known what he thought: in fact, was what we nowadays call a dude: kid-gloved, scrupulous - oh! squeamish! - about his linen, about his tie - all that" (Traubel, <i>With Walt Whitman in Camden,</i> 117). Wilkins' importance to the crowd at Pfaff's is evidenced by his centrality within Henry Clapp's obituary in the <cite>New York Times</cite> where he is identified as one of the "organizers" of the "much wondered at, admired, and sought after" group of Bohemians (7). He appears to have been on friendly terms with a number of the chief frequenters at Pfaff's; Whitman mentions having encountered Wilkins at Ada Clare's home (E. Holloway 109). Wilkins also shared the dramatic interests of many of the crowd at Pfaff's; he moved in theatrical circles and is remembered as the playwright of <cite>Young New York (1856)</cite> and <cite>My Wife's Mirror (1856).</cite> In addition to his work with Clapp and his dramatic productions, Wilkins also campaigned for the integrity of art; he "launched a campaign to expose what he called 'fillibusters' -- plagiarized scripts which kept being passed off as originals" (T. Miller 57). Wilkins, like many of the Pfaffians, died young; he was the first of the Bohemians to pass away ("Obituary" 7). Arnold recalls the shock of Wilkins' passing which was compounded by the tragedy of his unfulfilled promise; Arnold contends that Wilkins died just as his skills were "ripening." ("O'Brien's" liii). Junius Borown echoed this sentiment saying that Wilkins "promised far better things than he had ever performed, he died, leaving no other record than the file of newspapers -- the silent history of countless unremembered men of genius" (J. Browne 153). George Arnold stipulates that the "best part of his strictly literary reputation" rests on his clever feuilletons, and William Winter concurs that Wilkins' most significant contributions consist of his dramatic work; he ranks the influence of that work highly, naming Wilkins as one of the first American journalists to introduce the French custom of the feuilleton ("O'Brien's" li). Winter further elaborated on the legacy of Wilkins contending that "[m]any writers of this period are,--without being aware of it,--following an example that was set by him; writing about the stage and society in a facetious, satirical vein, striving to lighten heavy or barren themes with playful banter, and to gild the dreariness of criticism with the glitter of wit. Wilkins not only attempted that task, he accomplished it. His writings are buried in the files of 'The Herald,' 'The Saturday Press' and 'The Leader,' and they are buried forever (Winter 87-88). References & Biographical Resources\n"; <div class="view view-works-related-to-people view-id-works_related_to_people view-display-id-default"> <div class="view-content"> <ul id="views-bootstrap-works-related-to-people-default"class="views-bootstrap-list-group views-view-list-group"> <li class="list-group-item"> <article data-history-node-id="57734" about="/node/57734" class="node node--type-work node--view-mode-bibliography-link"> <div class="node__content"> <a href="/node/57734">"&#039;Anna Maria&#039; Out of Town." <em>New York Saturday Press</em>, December 10, 1859, 2.</a> </div> </article> <p class="list-group-item-text"><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-note"><div class="field-content"></div></div><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-pages"><div class="field-content"></div></div><div class="views-field views-field-edit-node"><span class="field-content"></span></div></p> </li> <li class="list-group-item"> <article data-history-node-id="60161" about="/node/60161" class="node node--type-work node--view-mode-bibliography-link"> <div class="node__content"> <a href="/node/60161">"A Visit to Walt Whitman." <em>Brooklyn Eagle</em>, July 11, 1886, 10.</a> </div> </article> <p class="list-group-item-text"><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-note"><div class="field-content"></div></div><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-pages"><div class="field-content"></div></div><div class="views-field views-field-edit-node"><span class="field-content"></span></div></p> </li> <li class="list-group-item"> <article data-history-node-id="55726" about="/node/55726" class="node node--type-work node--view-mode-bibliography-link"> <div class="node__content"> <a href="/node/55726">Allen, Gay Wilson. <em>The Solitary Singer: A Critical Biography of Walt Whitman</em>. New York: MacMillan, 1955.</a> </div> </article> <p class="list-group-item-text"><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-note"><div class="field-content"><p>Ada Clare, Ned Wilkins, Henry Clapp, and others are mentioned by Allen as "[rendering] a service to the history of American literature by giving Whitman companionship and encouragement when he greatly needed them" (231).</p> </div></div><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-pages"><div class="field-content">[pages: 231,494]</div></div><div class="views-field views-field-edit-node"><span class="field-content"></span></div></p> </li> <li class="list-group-item"> <article data-history-node-id="56677" about="/node/56677" class="node node--type-work node--view-mode-bibliography-link"> <div class="node__content"> <a href="/node/56677">Arnold, George. "Journalist and Poet." <em>New York Saturday Press</em>, October 17, 1865, 146-147.</a> </div> </article> <p class="list-group-item-text"><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-note"><div class="field-content"></div></div><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-pages"><div class="field-content"></div></div><div class="views-field views-field-edit-node"><span class="field-content"></span></div></p> </li> <li class="list-group-item"> <article data-history-node-id="58897" about="/node/58897" class="node node--type-work node--view-mode-bibliography-link"> <div class="node__content"> <a href="/node/58897">Arnold, George. "O&#039;Brien&#039;s Personal Characteristics." In <em>The Poems and Stories of Fitz-James O&#039;Brien; Collected and Edited, with a Sketch of the Author</em>, edited by Winter, William. Boston: James R. Osgood and Company, 1881.</a> </div> </article> <p class="list-group-item-text"><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-note"><div class="field-content"><p>In his 1865 tribute to Fitz-James O'Brien ("O'Brien's Personal Characteristics"), later anthologized by William Winter, George Arnold also mourns the loss of Wilkins.</p> </div></div><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-pages"><div class="field-content">[pages: xlvi-xlvii]</div></div><div class="views-field views-field-edit-node"><span class="field-content"></span></div></p> </li> <li class="list-group-item"> <article data-history-node-id="55901" about="/node/55901" class="node node--type-work node--view-mode-bibliography-link"> <div class="node__content"> <a href="/node/55901">Arnold, George. "O&#039;Brien&#039;s Personal Characteristics." <em>New York Citizen</em>, September 30, 1865.</a> </div> </article> <p class="list-group-item-text"><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-note"><div class="field-content"><p>Arnold mentions the loss of Wilkins along with O'Brien.</p> </div></div><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-pages"><div class="field-content"></div></div><div class="views-field views-field-edit-node"><span class="field-content"></span></div></p> </li> <li class="list-group-item"> <article data-history-node-id="56071" about="/node/56071" class="node node--type-work node--view-mode-bibliography-link"> <div class="node__content"> <a href="/node/56071">Beach, Juliette H. "Untitled." <em>The Leader</em>, May 11, 1861.</a> </div> </article> <p class="list-group-item-text"><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-note"><div class="field-content"></div></div><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-pages"><div class="field-content"></div></div><div class="views-field views-field-edit-node"><span class="field-content"></span></div></p> </li> <li class="list-group-item"> <article data-history-node-id="55733" about="/node/55733" class="node node--type-work node--view-mode-bibliography-link"> <div class="node__content"> <a href="/node/55733">Browne, Junius Henri. <em>The Great Metropolis; A Mirror of New York</em>. Hartford: American Publishing, 1869.</a> </div> </article> <p class="list-group-item-text"><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-note"><div class="field-content"><p>Browne refers to him as "Ned."Wilkins was a member of the staff of the <cite>Herald</cite> and a "prominent member of the fraternity."Browne states that he was "one of the few attaches of that journal [<cite>Saturday Press</cite>] who have ever gained much individual reputation" (153). </p> <p>According to Browne's description: "He was a pungent and strong writer, at the same time correct and graceful, and had the requisite amount of dogmatism and self-consciousness to render him acceptable to his guild and satisfactory to himself.When he promised far better things than he had ever performed, he died, leaving no other record than the file of newspapers -- the silent history of countless unremembered men of genius" (153). </p> </div></div><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-pages"><div class="field-content">[pages: 153]</div></div><div class="views-field views-field-edit-node"><span class="field-content"></span></div></p> </li> <li class="list-group-item"> <article data-history-node-id="57605" about="/node/57605" class="node node--type-work node--view-mode-bibliography-link"> <div class="node__content"> <a href="/node/57605">[Clapp, Henry Jr. and Robert W. Pearsall]. "Waifs from Washington IX. Highly Important." <em>New York Saturday Press</em>, February 14, 1860, 2.</a> </div> </article> <p class="list-group-item-text"><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-note"><div class="field-content"></div></div><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-pages"><div class="field-content"></div></div><div class="views-field views-field-edit-node"><span class="field-content"></span></div></p> </li> <li class="list-group-item"> <article data-history-node-id="56016" about="/node/56016" class="node node--type-work node--view-mode-bibliography-link"> <div class="node__content"> <a href="/node/56016">Clare, Ada. "Matilda Heron in &#039;Geraldine&#039;." <em>New-York Saturday Press</em>, August 27, 1859, 2.</a> </div> </article> <p class="list-group-item-text"><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-note"><div class="field-content"></div></div><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-pages"><div class="field-content"></div></div><div class="views-field views-field-edit-node"><span class="field-content"></span></div></p> </li> <li class="list-group-item"> <article data-history-node-id="57735" about="/node/57735" class="node node--type-work node--view-mode-bibliography-link"> <div class="node__content"> <a href="/node/57735">Clare, Ada. "Thoughts and Things VII." <em>New York Saturday Press</em>, December 10, 1859, 2.</a> </div> </article> <p class="list-group-item-text"><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-note"><div class="field-content"></div></div><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-pages"><div class="field-content"></div></div><div class="views-field views-field-edit-node"><span class="field-content"></span></div></p> </li> <li class="list-group-item"> <article data-history-node-id="55737" about="/node/55737" class="node node--type-work node--view-mode-bibliography-link"> <div class="node__content"> <a href="/node/55737">Corbett, Elizabeth. <em>Walt; The Good Gray Poet Speaks for Himself</em>. New York: Frederick A. Stokes, 1928.</a> </div> </article> <p class="list-group-item-text"><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-note"><div class="field-content"></div></div><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-pages"><div class="field-content"></div></div><div class="views-field views-field-edit-node"><span class="field-content"></span></div></p> </li> <li class="list-group-item"> <article data-history-node-id="55872" about="/node/55872" class="node node--type-work node--view-mode-bibliography-link"> <div class="node__content"> <a href="/node/55872">Derby, J.C. <em>Fifty Years among Authors, Books and Publishers</em>. New York: G. W. Carleton and Co., 1884.</a> </div> </article> <p class="list-group-item-text"><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-note"><div class="field-content"><p>He is listed as one of the "associates" of the <cite>Saturday Press</cite>.Derby notes that he is deceased at the time of his writing (232).</p> </div></div><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-pages"><div class="field-content">[pages: 232]</div></div><div class="views-field views-field-edit-node"><span class="field-content"></span></div></p> </li> <li class="list-group-item"> <article data-history-node-id="58414" about="/node/58414" class="node node--type-work node--view-mode-bibliography-link"> <div class="node__content"> <a href="/node/58414">Dollope. "Correspondence." <em>New York Saturday Press</em>, August 20, 1859, 2.</a> </div> </article> <p class="list-group-item-text"><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-note"><div class="field-content"></div></div><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-pages"><div class="field-content"></div></div><div class="views-field views-field-edit-node"><span class="field-content"></span></div></p> </li> <li class="list-group-item"> <article data-history-node-id="56296" about="/node/56296" class="node node--type-work node--view-mode-bibliography-link"> <div class="node__content"> <a href="/node/56296">Figaro [Clapp, Henry Jr.]. "Dramatic Feuilleton." <em>New-York Saturday Press</em>, March 31, 1866, 4, 5.</a> </div> </article> <p class="list-group-item-text"><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-note"><div class="field-content"></div></div><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-pages"><div class="field-content"></div></div><div class="views-field views-field-edit-node"><span class="field-content"></span></div></p> </li> <li class="list-group-item"> <article data-history-node-id="56788" about="/node/56788" class="node node--type-work node--view-mode-bibliography-link"> <div class="node__content"> <a href="/node/56788">Figaro [Clapp, Henry Jr.]. "Dramatic Feuilleton." <em>New York Saturday Press</em>, September 16, 1865, 105.</a> </div> </article> <p class="list-group-item-text"><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-note"><div class="field-content"></div></div><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-pages"><div class="field-content"></div></div><div class="views-field views-field-edit-node"><span class="field-content"></span></div></p> </li> <li class="list-group-item"> <article data-history-node-id="60165" about="/node/60165" class="node node--type-work node--view-mode-bibliography-link"> <div class="node__content"> <a href="/node/60165">G. J. M. "Bohemianism: The American Authors Who Met in a Cellar." <em>Brooklyn Eagle</em>, May 25, 1884, 9.</a> </div> </article> <p class="list-group-item-text"><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-note"><div class="field-content"></div></div><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-pages"><div class="field-content"></div></div><div class="views-field views-field-edit-node"><span class="field-content"></span></div></p> </li> <li class="list-group-item"> <article data-history-node-id="57690" about="/node/57690" class="node node--type-work node--view-mode-bibliography-link"> <div class="node__content"> <a href="/node/57690">Gay, Getty. "The Royal Bohemian Supper." <em>New York Saturday Press</em>, December 31, 1859, 2.</a> </div> </article> <p class="list-group-item-text"><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-note"><div class="field-content"><p>Referred to as "Count Wilkinski, Minister Plenipotentiary from the Court of Empress Anna Maria." </p> </div></div><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-pages"><div class="field-content"></div></div><div class="views-field views-field-edit-node"><span class="field-content"></span></div></p> </li> <li class="list-group-item"> <article data-history-node-id="55783" about="/node/55783" class="node node--type-work node--view-mode-bibliography-link"> <div class="node__content"> <a href="/node/55783">"General gossip of authors and writers." <em>Current Literature</em>, January 1, 1888, 476-480.</a> </div> </article> <p class="list-group-item-text"><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-note"><div class="field-content"><p>Wilkins is mentioned as one of the Bohemians at Pfaff's "gossiped" about by Rufus B. Wilson in a "reminiscent letter to the Galveston News."</p> <p>The article mentions that he, Ada Clare, "and the bucket of beer which Clapp used to carry into the office every afternoon" assisted Winter with the dramatic criticisms for the Saturday Press.</p> </div></div><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-pages"><div class="field-content">[pages: 479]</div></div><div class="views-field views-field-edit-node"><span class="field-content"></span></div></p> </li> <li class="list-group-item"> <article data-history-node-id="60716" about="/node/60716" class="node node--type-work node--view-mode-bibliography-link"> <div class="node__content"> <a href="/node/60716">Gunn, Thomas Butler. "Diaries, Vol. 16." <em>Diaries, Vol. 16</em>(1861).</a> </div> </article> <p class="list-group-item-text"><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-note"><div class="field-content"></div></div><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-pages"><div class="field-content"></div></div><div class="views-field views-field-edit-node"><span class="field-content"></span></div></p> </li> <li class="list-group-item"> <article data-history-node-id="55744" about="/node/55744" class="node node--type-work node--view-mode-bibliography-link"> <div class="node__content"> <a href="/node/55744">Hahn, Emily. <em>Romantic Rebels; An Informal History of Bohemianism in America</em>. Boston; Houghton Mifflin, 1967.</a> </div> </article> <p class="list-group-item-text"><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-note"><div class="field-content"><p>Hahn says he was a regular.</p> </div></div><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-pages"><div class="field-content">[pages: 20]</div></div><div class="views-field views-field-edit-node"><span class="field-content"></span></div></p> </li> <li class="list-group-item"> <article data-history-node-id="58940" about="/node/58940" class="node node--type-work node--view-mode-bibliography-link"> <div class="node__content"> <a href="/node/58940">Haynes, John Edward. <em>Pseudonyms of Authors: Including Anonyms and Initialisms</em>. New York, 1882.</a> </div> </article> <p class="list-group-item-text"><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-note"><div class="field-content"><p>This text identifies the following pseudonym: Personne (75).</p> </div></div><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-pages"><div class="field-content">[pages: 75]</div></div><div class="views-field views-field-edit-node"><span class="field-content"></span></div></p> </li> <li class="list-group-item"> <article data-history-node-id="55874" about="/node/55874" class="node node--type-work node--view-mode-bibliography-link"> <div class="node__content"> <a href="/node/55874">Holloway, Emory. <em>Free and Lonesome Heart: The Secret of Walt Whitman</em>. New York: Vantage Press, 1960.</a> </div> </article> <p class="list-group-item-text"><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-note"><div class="field-content"><p>Whitman mentions in a notebook having run into Wilkins at Ada Clare's home.</p> </div></div><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-pages"><div class="field-content">[pages: 109]</div></div><div class="views-field views-field-edit-node"><span class="field-content"></span></div></p> </li> <li class="list-group-item"> <article data-history-node-id="57874" about="/node/57874" class="node node--type-work node--view-mode-bibliography-link"> <div class="node__content"> <a href="/node/57874">Jasper. "Private Opinions Publicly Expressed V." <em>New York Saturday Press</em>, October 22, 1859, 2.</a> </div> </article> <p class="list-group-item-text"><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-note"><div class="field-content"></div></div><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-pages"><div class="field-content"></div></div><div class="views-field views-field-edit-node"><span class="field-content"></span></div></p> </li> <li class="list-group-item"> <article data-history-node-id="55709" about="/node/55709" class="node node--type-work node--view-mode-bibliography-link"> <div class="node__content"> <a href="/node/55709">Lalor, Eugene T. "The Literary Bohemians of New York City in the Mid-Nineteenth Century." Ph.D. Dissertation, St. John&#039;s University, 1977.</a> </div> </article> <p class="list-group-item-text"><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-note"><div class="field-content"><p>Lalor mentions that he was called Ned.</p> </div></div><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-pages"><div class="field-content">[pages: 43]</div></div><div class="views-field views-field-edit-node"><span class="field-content"></span></div></p> </li> <li class="list-group-item"> <article data-history-node-id="55808" about="/node/55808" class="node node--type-work node--view-mode-bibliography-link"> <div class="node__content"> <a href="/node/55808">Lalor, Eugene. "Whitman among the New York Literary Bohemians: 1859–1862.." <em>Walt Whitman Review</em> 25, (1979): 131-145.</a> </div> </article> <p class="list-group-item-text"><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-note"><div class="field-content"><p>Lalor cites Charlton's account that during the fight between Arnold and Whitman, "Ned Wilkins lost the power of his lungs for five minutes after tugging at the brawny arm of Walt" (135).</p> </div></div><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-pages"><div class="field-content">[pages: 135]</div></div><div class="views-field views-field-edit-node"><span class="field-content"></span></div></p> </li> <li class="list-group-item"> <article data-history-node-id="60173" about="/node/60173" class="node node--type-work node--view-mode-bibliography-link"> <div class="node__content"> <a href="/node/60173">Lause, Mark A. <em>The Antebellum Crisis and America&#039;s First Bohemians</em>. Kent, OH: Kent State University Press, 2009.</a> </div> </article> <p class="list-group-item-text"><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-note"><div class="field-content"></div></div><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-pages"><div class="field-content"></div></div><div class="views-field views-field-edit-node"><span class="field-content"></span></div></p> </li> <li class="list-group-item"> <article data-history-node-id="60076" about="/node/60076" class="node node--type-work node--view-mode-bibliography-link"> <div class="node__content"> <a href="/node/60076">"Literary Matters." <em>New-York Saturday Press</em>, March 13, 1866, 4.</a> </div> </article> <p class="list-group-item-text"><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-note"><div class="field-content"></div></div><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-pages"><div class="field-content"></div></div><div class="views-field views-field-edit-node"><span class="field-content"></span></div></p> </li> <li class="list-group-item"> <article data-history-node-id="55779" about="/node/55779" class="node node--type-work node--view-mode-bibliography-link"> <div class="node__content"> <a href="/node/55779">"Literary News." <em>The Literary World</em>, May 11, 1873, 189-192.</a> </div> </article> <p class="list-group-item-text"><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-note"><div class="field-content"><p>Edward is listed as a member of Clapp's "cabinet" in the "Kingdom of Bohemia" and at the <cite>Saturday Press</cite>.He is described as having "taken the road to dusty death."</p> </div></div><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-pages"><div class="field-content">[pages: 192]</div></div><div class="views-field views-field-edit-node"><span class="field-content"></span></div></p> </li> <li class="list-group-item"> <article data-history-node-id="55772" about="/node/55772" class="node node--type-work node--view-mode-bibliography-link"> <div class="node__content"> <a href="/node/55772">Loving, Jerome. "Walt Whitman: The Song of Himself." <em>Walt Whitman: The Song of Himself</em>(1999): 568 p.</a> </div> </article> <p class="list-group-item-text"><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-note"><div class="field-content"><p>Edward was also known as "Ned."</p> </div></div><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-pages"><div class="field-content">[pages: 236]</div></div><div class="views-field views-field-edit-node"><span class="field-content"></span></div></p> </li> <li class="list-group-item"> <article data-history-node-id="55929" about="/node/55929" class="node node--type-work node--view-mode-bibliography-link"> <div class="node__content"> <a href="/node/55929">Miller, Tice L. <em>Bohemians and Critics: American Theatre Criticism in the Nineteenth Century</em>. Metuchen, NJ: The Scarecrow Press, 1981.</a> </div> </article> <p class="list-group-item-text"><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-note"><div class="field-content"><p>In 1865 George Arnold described Wilkins as follows: "His complexion was light; his eyes were intensely blue and expressive, sometimes twinkling with plenitude of merriment.His features were sharply cut, and thorough-bred in mould; his skin, clear and delicate; his hair, which he parted nearly in the middle of a high forehead, was lustrous and wavy; and his mouth was partly concealed by a well-grown and becoming mustache, golden brown in color, and remarkably fine in texture.His hands were long, thin, and delicate as a girl's.His dress was always unexceptionable no matter what the occasion or the season, though his preference was generally for loose, rough, easy styles, which became him wonderfully" (44).</p> <p>Wilkins "launched a campaign to expose what he called 'fillibusters' -- plagiarized scripts which kept being passed off as originals" (57). In the February 12, 1857, edition of the <cite>Saturday Press</cite> he chastised Laura Keene for "presenting three such pieces in one month" (57).He concluded by saying: "Filibuster as much as you please, ladies and gentlemen; success is nothing but success.But full houses will not buy literary reputation for borrowed plumes" (58).</p> <p>After Wilkins' death, George Arnold noted that "His position was just assured and ripening.He was just coming into a handsome income from his manifold labors . . . Everything smiled upon him, and fortune was turning her wheel in his behalf, when--poof!--the candleis out!" (68).</p> </div></div><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-pages"><div class="field-content">[pages: 1, 16, 29, 36, 37, 38, 42-69, 70, 101, 103, 104, 114, 128, 131, 138]</div></div><div class="views-field views-field-edit-node"><span class="field-content"></span></div></p> </li> <li class="list-group-item"> <article data-history-node-id="58674" about="/node/58674" class="node node--type-work node--view-mode-bibliography-link"> <div class="node__content"> <a href="/node/58674">"No Dramatic Feuilleton." <em>New York Saturday Press</em>, July 16, 1859, 2.</a> </div> </article> <p class="list-group-item-text"><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-note"><div class="field-content"></div></div><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-pages"><div class="field-content"></div></div><div class="views-field views-field-edit-node"><span class="field-content"></span></div></p> </li> <li class="list-group-item"> <article data-history-node-id="59691" about="/node/59691" class="node node--type-work node--view-mode-bibliography-link"> <div class="node__content"> <a href="/node/59691">O&#039;Brien, Fitz-James. "Dramatic Feuilleton." <em>Saturday Press</em>, October 30, 1858, 2-3.</a> </div> </article> <p class="list-group-item-text"><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-note"><div class="field-content"></div></div><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-pages"><div class="field-content"></div></div><div class="views-field views-field-edit-node"><span class="field-content"></span></div></p> </li> <li class="list-group-item"> <article data-history-node-id="55387" about="/node/55387" class="node node--type-work node--view-mode-bibliography-link"> <div class="node__content"> <a href="/node/55387">O&#039;Brien, Fitz-James. "The Poems and Stories of Fitz-James O&#039;Brien. Collected and Edited, with a Sketch of the Author, by William Winter." In <em>The Poems and Stories of Fitz-James O&#039;Brien. Collected and Edited, with a Sketch of the Author, by William Winter</em>, edited by William Winter. Boston: J.R. Osgood and Co., 1881.</a> </div> </article> <p class="list-group-item-text"><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-note"><div class="field-content"><p>In his 1865 tribute to Fitz-James O'Brien ("O'Brien's Personal Characteristics"), later anthologized by William Winter, George Arnold also mourns the loss of Wilkins.</p> </div></div><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-pages"><div class="field-content">[pages: xlvi-xlvii]</div></div><div class="views-field views-field-edit-node"><span class="field-content"></span></div></p> </li> <li class="list-group-item"> <article data-history-node-id="55769" about="/node/55769" class="node node--type-work node--view-mode-bibliography-link"> <div class="node__content"> <a href="/node/55769">"Obituary: Henry Clapp." <em>The New-York Times</em>, April 11, 1875, 7.</a> </div> </article> <p class="list-group-item-text"><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-note"><div class="field-content"><p>The "Obituary" names him as Clapp's chief assistant at the <cite>Saturday Press</cite>.Wilkins wrote "a series of free dramatic and musical criticisms that were much too independent for the <cite>Herald</cite> under the pen name "Personne" in the <cite>Saturday Press</cite>.Wilkins was the dramatic critic for the <cite>Herald</cite>.</p> <p>Clapp and Wilkins are cited as the "organizers" of the "much wondered at, admired, and sought after" group of Bohemians.</p> <p>Wilkins is mentioned as being the first Bohemian that passed away.He is described as "a very quiet Yankee, but a well informed and trusty wit."</p> </div></div><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-pages"><div class="field-content">[pages: 7]</div></div><div class="views-field views-field-edit-node"><span class="field-content"></span></div></p> </li> <li class="list-group-item"> <article data-history-node-id="55847" about="/node/55847" class="node node--type-work node--view-mode-bibliography-link"> <div class="node__content"> <a href="/node/55847">Odell, George Clinton. <em>Annals of the New York Stage: Volume VI (1850-1857)</em>. New York: Columbia University Press, 1931.</a> </div> </article> <p class="list-group-item-text"><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-note"><div class="field-content"><p>The first performance of his <cite>My Wife's Mirror</cite> occured for Laura Keene's benefit on May 10, 1856. His <cite> Young New York</cite> played at Laura Keene's new theater after the opening production of <cite>As You Like It</cite> This show began Nov.24, 1856 and ran until Dec.17.Wilkins held a benefit Feb.21, 1857, where <cite>My Wife's Mirror</cite> and <cite>Young New York</cite> both played. </p> </div></div><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-pages"><div class="field-content">[pages: 455, 541,543]</div></div><div class="views-field views-field-edit-node"><span class="field-content"></span></div></p> </li> <li class="list-group-item"> <article data-history-node-id="55935" about="/node/55935" class="node node--type-work node--view-mode-bibliography-link"> <div class="node__content"> <a href="/node/55935">Odell, George Clinton. <em>Annals of the New York Stage: Volume VII (1857-1865)</em>. New York: Columbia University Press, 1931.</a> </div> </article> <p class="list-group-item-text"><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-note"><div class="field-content"><p>His play, <cite>The Siam Light Guard</cite>, was performed Sept. 28, 1857, at Keene's.Wilkins also adapted <cite>Henriette</cite>.The adaptation of the play was originally billed as "translated from the French, and adapted to the American stage by a gentleman of this city" (308).</p> <p>Odell also mentions that Wilkins was the dramatic critic for the <cite>Herald</cite>.</p> </div></div><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-pages"><div class="field-content">[pages: 32,308,465]</div></div><div class="views-field views-field-edit-node"><span class="field-content"></span></div></p> </li> <li class="list-group-item"> <article data-history-node-id="60410" about="/node/60410" class="node node--type-work node--view-mode-bibliography-link"> <div class="node__content"> <a href="/node/60410">"Old &#039;Barry Gray&#039; Dead." <em>The New York World</em>, June 12, 1886, 5.</a> </div> </article> <p class="list-group-item-text"><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-note"><div class="field-content"></div></div><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-pages"><div class="field-content"></div></div><div class="views-field views-field-edit-node"><span class="field-content"></span></div></p> </li> <li class="list-group-item"> <article data-history-node-id="55766" about="/node/55766" class="node node--type-work node--view-mode-bibliography-link"> <div class="node__content"> <a href="/node/55766">Parry, Albert. "Garrets and Pretenders: A History of Bohemianism in America." <em>Garrets and Pretenders: A History of Bohemianism in America</em>(1933).</a> </div> </article> <p class="list-group-item-text"><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-note"><div class="field-content"><p>Wilkins wrote for the <cite>Saturday Press</cite> as "Personne" (24).After the Civil War, Wilkins was one of many who did not return to Pfaff's; he died of pneumonia (32).One of Clapp's memories of the high point of Pfaff's was "when Wilkins, like the maiden in the fairy tale, opened his lips and spake diamonds" (46).</p> <p>Parry writes that Wilkins was the "pioneer" American "to die of stricken lungs in a damp garret while heavy rain and wind beat upon the roof."Parry continues: "He was the dandy of the crowd, and in this respect, too, he was a pioneer.For what American group of Bohemians since the Pfaff days has ever lacked its neatly dressed and well-mannered few to contrast with the wild hair, ways, and rags of the rest?Wilkins was the dramatic critic of the <cite>Herald</cite> and wrote one-act comedies.At one time, he was the pet of James Gordon Bennett, at another of Mme. Cora de Wilhorst, the opera singer.It was she who groomed him in his dress and manners and saw to it that the Pfaff crowd did not spoil him too much.But when, in the Spring of 1861, Ned fell ill none of his grand friends came to comfort him.It remained for the lowly Pfaffians to read Carlyle and the Bible to him in his closing hours" (50).</p> </div></div><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-pages"><div class="field-content">[pages: 24,32,46,50,61]</div></div><div class="views-field views-field-edit-node"><span class="field-content"></span></div></p> </li> <li class="list-group-item"> <article data-history-node-id="59074" about="/node/59074" class="node node--type-work node--view-mode-bibliography-link"> <div class="node__content"> <a href="/node/59074">Personne [Wilkins, Edward G. P.]. "Dramatic Feuilleton." <em>New York Saturday Press</em>, April 30, 1859, 2.</a> </div> </article> <p class="list-group-item-text"><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-note"><div class="field-content"></div></div><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-pages"><div class="field-content"></div></div><div class="views-field views-field-edit-node"><span class="field-content"></span></div></p> </li> <li class="list-group-item"> <article data-history-node-id="57590" about="/node/57590" class="node node--type-work node--view-mode-bibliography-link"> <div class="node__content"> <a href="/node/57590">Personne [Wilkins, Edward G. P.]. "Dramatic Feuilleton." <em>New-York Saturday Press</em>, February 11, 1860, 3.</a> </div> </article> <p class="list-group-item-text"><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-note"><div class="field-content"></div></div><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-pages"><div class="field-content"></div></div><div class="views-field views-field-edit-node"><span class="field-content"></span></div></p> </li> <li class="list-group-item"> <article data-history-node-id="57606" about="/node/57606" class="node node--type-work node--view-mode-bibliography-link"> <div class="node__content"> <a href="/node/57606">Personne [Wilkins, Edward G. P.]. "Dramatic Feuilleton." <em>New York Saturday Press</em>, February 14, 1860, 3.</a> </div> </article> <p class="list-group-item-text"><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-note"><div class="field-content"></div></div><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-pages"><div class="field-content"></div></div><div class="views-field views-field-edit-node"><span class="field-content"></span></div></p> </li> <li class="list-group-item"> <article data-history-node-id="57677" about="/node/57677" class="node node--type-work node--view-mode-bibliography-link"> <div class="node__content"> <a href="/node/57677">Personne [Wilkins, Edward G. P.]. "Dramatic Feuilleton." <em>New York Saturday Press</em>, January 17, 1860, 3.</a> </div> </article> <p class="list-group-item-text"><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-note"><div class="field-content"></div></div><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-pages"><div class="field-content"></div></div><div class="views-field views-field-edit-node"><span class="field-content"></span></div></p> </li> <li class="list-group-item"> <article data-history-node-id="57623" about="/node/57623" class="node node--type-work node--view-mode-bibliography-link"> <div class="node__content"> <a href="/node/57623">Personne [Wilkins, Edward G. P.]. "Dramatic Feuilleton." <em>New York Saturday Press</em>, January 28, 1860, 3.</a> </div> </article> <p class="list-group-item-text"><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-note"><div class="field-content"></div></div><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-pages"><div class="field-content"></div></div><div class="views-field views-field-edit-node"><span class="field-content"></span></div></p> </li> <li class="list-group-item"> <article data-history-node-id="58920" about="/node/58920" class="node node--type-work node--view-mode-bibliography-link"> <div class="node__content"> <a href="/node/58920">Personne [Wilkins, Edward G. P.]. "Dramatic Feuilleton." <em>New York Saturday Press</em>, June 14, 1859, 2.</a> </div> </article> <p class="list-group-item-text"><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-note"><div class="field-content"></div></div><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-pages"><div class="field-content"></div></div><div class="views-field views-field-edit-node"><span class="field-content"></span></div></p> </li> <li class="list-group-item"> <article data-history-node-id="57814" about="/node/57814" class="node node--type-work node--view-mode-bibliography-link"> <div class="node__content"> <a href="/node/57814">Personne [Wilkins, Edward G. P.]. "Dramatic Feuilleton." <em>New York Saturday Press</em>, November 12, 1859, 2.</a> </div> </article> <p class="list-group-item-text"><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-note"><div class="field-content"></div></div><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-pages"><div class="field-content"></div></div><div class="views-field views-field-edit-node"><span class="field-content"></span></div></p> </li> <li class="list-group-item"> <article data-history-node-id="57836" about="/node/57836" class="node node--type-work node--view-mode-bibliography-link"> <div class="node__content"> <a href="/node/57836">Personne [Wilkins, Edward G. P.]. "Dramatic Feuilleton." <em>New York Saturday Press</em>, November 15, 1859, 3.</a> </div> </article> <p class="list-group-item-text"><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-note"><div class="field-content"></div></div><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-pages"><div class="field-content"></div></div><div class="views-field views-field-edit-node"><span class="field-content"></span></div></p> </li> <li class="list-group-item"> <article data-history-node-id="57857" about="/node/57857" class="node node--type-work node--view-mode-bibliography-link"> <div class="node__content"> <a href="/node/57857">Personne [Wilkins, Edward G. P.]. "Dramatic Feuilleton." <em>New York Saturday Press</em>, October 29, 1859, 2.</a> </div> </article> <p class="list-group-item-text"><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-note"><div class="field-content"></div></div><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-pages"><div class="field-content"></div></div><div class="views-field views-field-edit-node"><span class="field-content"></span></div></p> </li> <li class="list-group-item"> <article data-history-node-id="57467" about="/node/57467" class="node node--type-work node--view-mode-bibliography-link"> <div class="node__content"> <a href="/node/57467">Quelqu&#039;un [Winter, William]. "Dramatic Feuilleton." <em>New-York Saturday Press</em>, April 17, 1860, 3.</a> </div> </article> <p class="list-group-item-text"><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-note"><div class="field-content"></div></div><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-pages"><div class="field-content"></div></div><div class="views-field views-field-edit-node"><span class="field-content"></span></div></p> </li> <li class="list-group-item"> <article data-history-node-id="59227" about="/node/59227" class="node node--type-work node--view-mode-bibliography-link"> <div class="node__content"> <a href="/node/59227">Quelqu&#039;un [Winter, William]. "Dramatic Feuilleton." <em>New York Saturday Press</em>, March 26, 1859, 2.</a> </div> </article> <p class="list-group-item-text"><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-note"><div class="field-content"></div></div><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-pages"><div class="field-content"></div></div><div class="views-field views-field-edit-node"><span class="field-content"></span></div></p> </li> <li class="list-group-item"> <article data-history-node-id="57481" about="/node/57481" class="node node--type-work node--view-mode-bibliography-link"> <div class="node__content"> <a href="/node/57481">Quelqu&#039;un [Winter, William]. "Dramatic Feuilleton." <em>New-York Saturday Press</em>, March 31, 1860, 3.</a> </div> </article> <p class="list-group-item-text"><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-note"><div class="field-content"></div></div><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-pages"><div class="field-content"></div></div><div class="views-field views-field-edit-node"><span class="field-content"></span></div></p> </li> <li class="list-group-item"> <article data-history-node-id="58257" about="/node/58257" class="node node--type-work node--view-mode-bibliography-link"> <div class="node__content"> <a href="/node/58257">Quelqu&#039;un [Winter, William]. "Dramatic Feuilleton." <em>New York Saturday Press</em>, October 18, 1859, 2.</a> </div> </article> <p class="list-group-item-text"><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-note"><div class="field-content"></div></div><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-pages"><div class="field-content"></div></div><div class="views-field views-field-edit-node"><span class="field-content"></span></div></p> </li> <li class="list-group-item"> <article data-history-node-id="57157" about="/node/57157" class="node node--type-work node--view-mode-bibliography-link"> <div class="node__content"> <a href="/node/57157">Quelqu&#039;un [Winter, William]. "Dramatic Feuilleton." <em>New-York Saturday Press</em>, September 11, 1860, 3.</a> </div> </article> <p class="list-group-item-text"><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-note"><div class="field-content"></div></div><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-pages"><div class="field-content"></div></div><div class="views-field views-field-edit-node"><span class="field-content"></span></div></p> </li> <li class="list-group-item"> <article data-history-node-id="57130" about="/node/57130" class="node node--type-work node--view-mode-bibliography-link"> <div class="node__content"> <a href="/node/57130">Quelqu&#039;un [Winter, William]. "Dramatic Feuilleton." <em>New-York Saturday Press</em>, September 22, 1860, 3.</a> </div> </article> <p class="list-group-item-text"><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-note"><div class="field-content"></div></div><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-pages"><div class="field-content"></div></div><div class="views-field views-field-edit-node"><span class="field-content"></span></div></p> </li> <li class="list-group-item"> <article data-history-node-id="55763" about="/node/55763" class="node node--type-work node--view-mode-bibliography-link"> <div class="node__content"> <a href="/node/55763">Rawson, A. L. "A Bygone Bohemia." <em>Frank Leslie&#039;s Popular Monthly</em>, January 1, 1896, 96-107.</a> </div> </article> <p class="list-group-item-text"><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-note"><div class="field-content"></div></div><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-pages"><div class="field-content">[pages: 101,103]</div></div><div class="views-field views-field-edit-node"><span class="field-content"></span></div></p> </li> <li class="list-group-item"> <article data-history-node-id="58856" about="/node/58856" class="node node--type-work node--view-mode-bibliography-link"> <div class="node__content"> <a href="/node/58856">Seitz, Don Carlos. <em>Artemus Ward (Charles Farrar Browne): A Biography and Bibliography</em>. NY: Harper &amp; Brothers, 1919.</a> </div> </article> <p class="list-group-item-text"><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-note"><div class="field-content"></div></div><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-pages"><div class="field-content">[pages: 97]</div></div><div class="views-field views-field-edit-node"><span class="field-content"></span></div></p> </li> <li class="list-group-item"> <article data-history-node-id="55879" about="/node/55879" class="node node--type-work node--view-mode-bibliography-link"> <div class="node__content"> <a href="/node/55879">Sentilles, Renee M. "Performing Menken: Adah Isaacs Menken and the Birth of American Celebrity." <em>Performing Menken: Adah Isaacs Menken and the Birth of American Celebrity</em>(2003).</a> </div> </article> <p class="list-group-item-text"><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-note"><div class="field-content"><p>Wilkins is listed as a regular in the bohemian circle at Pfaff's.</p> </div></div><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-pages"><div class="field-content">[pages: 142]</div></div><div class="views-field views-field-edit-node"><span class="field-content"></span></div></p> </li> <li class="list-group-item"> <article data-history-node-id="55758" about="/node/55758" class="node node--type-work node--view-mode-bibliography-link"> <div class="node__content"> <a href="/node/55758">Stansell, Christine. "Whitman at Pfaff&#039;s: Commercial Culture, Literary Life and New York Bohemia at Mid-Century." <em>Walt Whitman Quarterly Review</em> 10, no. 3 (1993): 107-126.</a> </div> </article> <p class="list-group-item-text"><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-note"><div class="field-content"><p>As one of the "Pfaffian regulars" who did "serious writing along with journalism", Wilkins wrote criticism (114).</p> </div></div><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-pages"><div class="field-content">[pages: 114]</div></div><div class="views-field views-field-edit-node"><span class="field-content"></span></div></p> </li> <li class="list-group-item"> <article data-history-node-id="56761" about="/node/56761" class="node node--type-work node--view-mode-bibliography-link"> <div class="node__content"> <a href="/node/56761">"The Queen of Bohemia [From the Philadelphia Dispatch]." <em> New-York Saturday Press</em>, November 10, 1860, 1.</a> </div> </article> <p class="list-group-item-text"><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-note"><div class="field-content"></div></div><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-pages"><div class="field-content"></div></div><div class="views-field views-field-edit-node"><span class="field-content"></span></div></p> </li> <li class="list-group-item"> <article data-history-node-id="57524" about="/node/57524" class="node node--type-work node--view-mode-bibliography-link"> <div class="node__content"> <a href="/node/57524">The Rural Gleaner. "Correspondence." <em>New-York Saturday Press</em>, March 10, 1860, 3.</a> </div> </article> <p class="list-group-item-text"><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-note"><div class="field-content"></div></div><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-pages"><div class="field-content"></div></div><div class="views-field views-field-edit-node"><span class="field-content"></span></div></p> </li> <li class="list-group-item"> <article data-history-node-id="58867" about="/node/58867" class="node node--type-work node--view-mode-bibliography-link"> <div class="node__content"> <a href="/node/58867">"Theta Delta Chi [Correspondence of the New York Evening Post]." <em>New York Saturday Press</em>, June 18, 1859, 4.</a> </div> </article> <p class="list-group-item-text"><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-note"><div class="field-content"></div></div><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-pages"><div class="field-content"></div></div><div class="views-field views-field-edit-node"><span class="field-content"></span></div></p> </li> <li class="list-group-item"> <article data-history-node-id="58892" about="/node/58892" class="node node--type-work node--view-mode-bibliography-link"> <div class="node__content"> <a href="/node/58892">"Theta Delta Chi." <em>New York Saturday Press</em>, June 11, 1859, 2.</a> </div> </article> <p class="list-group-item-text"><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-note"><div class="field-content"></div></div><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-pages"><div class="field-content"></div></div><div class="views-field views-field-edit-node"><span class="field-content"></span></div></p> </li> <li class="list-group-item"> <article data-history-node-id="55876" about="/node/55876" class="node node--type-work node--view-mode-bibliography-link"> <div class="node__content"> <a href="/node/55876">Traubel, Horace. "Intimate with Walt: Selections from Whitman&#039;s Conversations with Horace Traubel, 1888-1892." In <em>Intimate with Walt: Selections from Whitman&#039;s Conversations with Horace Traubel, 1888-1892</em>, edited by Schmidgall, Gary. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 2001.</a> </div> </article> <p class="list-group-item-text"><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-note"><div class="field-content"><p>Wilkins is listed as one of Whitman's "boys" and one of Whitman's early defenders.Wilkins is described by Whitman as "noble, slim, sickish, dressy, Frenchy - consumptive in look, in gait: weak-voiced: oh! I think the weakest voice I ever knew in a man.But Ned was courageous: in an out and out way very friendly to Leaves of Grass: free spoken - always willing to let it be known what he thought: in fact, was what we nowadays call a dude: kid-gloved, scrupulous - oh! squeamish! - about his linen, about his tie - all that."Whitman also claims that "I never heard Ned say a foolish thing."</p> </div></div><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-pages"><div class="field-content">[pages: 147-148]</div></div><div class="views-field views-field-edit-node"><span class="field-content"></span></div></p> </li> <li class="list-group-item"> <article data-history-node-id="78326" about="/node/78326" class="node node--type-work node--view-mode-bibliography-link"> <div class="node__content"> <a href="/node/78326">Traubel, Horace. "With Walt Whitman in Camden." <em>With Walt Whitman in Camden</em> 3, (1914).</a> </div> </article> <p class="list-group-item-text"><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-note"><div class="field-content"></div></div><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-pages"><div class="field-content">[pages: 117]</div></div><div class="views-field views-field-edit-node"><span class="field-content"></span></div></p> </li> <li class="list-group-item"> <article data-history-node-id="56750" about="/node/56750" class="node node--type-work node--view-mode-bibliography-link"> <div class="node__content"> <a href="/node/56750">"Walt Whitman&#039;s New Poem [from the Cincinatti Commercial]." <em>New-York Saturday Press</em>, January 17, 1860, 1.</a> </div> </article> <p class="list-group-item-text"><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-note"><div class="field-content"></div></div><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-pages"><div class="field-content"></div></div><div class="views-field views-field-edit-node"><span class="field-content"></span></div></p> </li> <li class="list-group-item"> <article data-history-node-id="55784" about="/node/55784" class="node node--type-work node--view-mode-bibliography-link"> <div class="node__content"> <a href="/node/55784">Whitman, Walt. "Complete Writings of Walt Whitman." In <em>Complete Writings of Walt Whitman</em>, edited by Richard Maurice Bucke, Thomas B. Harned, and Horace L. Traubel. New York: Putnam, 1902.</a> </div> </article> <p class="list-group-item-text"><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-note"><div class="field-content"><p>Whitman records in his journal on August 16 that he met with Charles Pfaff for an excellent breakfast at his restaurant on 24th Street. "Our host himself, an old friend of mine, quickly appear'd on the scene to welcome me and bring up the news, and, first opening a big fat bottle of the best wine in the cellar, talked about ante-bellum times, '59 and '60, and the jovial suppers at his then Broadway place, near Bleecker street. Ah, the friends and names and frequenters, those times, that place. Most are dead—Ada Clare, Wilkins, Daisy Sheppard, O'Brien, Henry Clapp, Stanley, Mullin, Wood, Brougham, Arnold—all gone. And there Pfaff and I, sitting opposite each other at the little table, gave rememberance to them in a style they would have themselves fully confirm'd, namely, big, brimming, fill'd-up champagne-glasses, drain'd in abstracted silence, very leisurely, to the last drop."</p> </div></div><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-pages"><div class="field-content">[pages: 5:21]</div></div><div class="views-field views-field-edit-node"><span class="field-content"></span></div></p> </li> <li class="list-group-item"> <article data-history-node-id="55750" about="/node/55750" class="node node--type-work node--view-mode-bibliography-link"> <div class="node__content"> <a href="/node/55750">Wilson, Rufus Rockwell. <em>New York: Old &amp; New; Its Story, Streets, and Landmarks</em>. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott &amp; Co., 1903.</a> </div> </article> <p class="list-group-item-text"><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-note"><div class="field-content"></div></div><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-pages"><div class="field-content">[pages: 140]</div></div><div class="views-field views-field-edit-node"><span class="field-content"></span></div></p> </li> <li class="list-group-item"> <article data-history-node-id="55751" about="/node/55751" class="node node--type-work node--view-mode-bibliography-link"> <div class="node__content"> <a href="/node/55751">Wilson, Rufus Rockwell and Otilie Erickson Wilson. <em>New York in Literature; The Story Told in the Landmarks of Town and Country</em>. Elmira, NY: Primavera Press, 1947.</a> </div> </article> <p class="list-group-item-text"><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-note"><div class="field-content"></div></div><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-pages"><div class="field-content">[pages: 63]</div></div><div class="views-field views-field-edit-node"><span class="field-content"></span></div></p> </li> <li class="list-group-item"> <article data-history-node-id="55290" about="/node/55290" class="node node--type-work node--view-mode-bibliography-link"> <div class="node__content"> <a href="/node/55290">Winter, William. <em>Old Friends; Being Literary Recollections of Other Days</em>. New York: Moffat, Yard and Company, 1909.</a> </div> </article> <p class="list-group-item-text"><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-note"><div class="field-content"><p>Winter describes him as "a man of brilliant talent and singular charm."Winter became associated with Wilkins, a journalist, and the group of writers he was associated with in 1859-1860.Wilkins was raised in Boston and began his journalism career there.Winter met Wilkins when he was associated with "The New York Herald."Wilkins attracted the editor's, James Gordon Bennett, attention through an excellent piece about the Crystal Palace exhibit and Wilkins was rapidly advanced through the ranks of the paper.Wilkins was an editorial writer, musical, and dramatic critic (84).</p> <p>According to Winter, "He was a fluent penman, direct, explicit, humorous, ready with a reason for every opinion that he pronounced, and fortunate in the possession of an equable temper and a refined taste."Wilkins' favorite author was Montaigne, which he could read in both French and English, and he also enjoyed Whittier's later poems; Winter highlights this because "every man is perceived, at least in part, by knowledge of his loves in literature as well as by knowledge of his friends" (84-84).</p> <p>Winter describes Wilkins, noting that he was tall, but stooped, had a "delicate constitution," and was slightly deaf; Winter states that this condition could selectively worsen when Wilkins did not want to hear something or someone.Wilkins was also "tactful" and "elegant," which Winter claims, "For the discreet management of his talents and professional opportunities, as well as for the polish of his manners, he was somewhat indebted to the friendship of Mme. Cora de Wilhorst, a popular vocalist of the period...therein being fortunate; because no influence can be more auspicious for any clever youth than that of an accomplished woman, acquainted with the ways of the social world and sincerly desirious of promoting his welfare" (85-86).</p> <p>Winter states that Wilkins lived in a house at the corner of Amity and Greene streets, which is still standing at the time of Winter's writing.Wilkins died at his home in the spring of 1861, from pneumonia.Winter remembers visiting him during his last week and reading to him during the night.Wilkins was buried in Chelsea Mass. (86-87).</p> <p>Winter discusses Wilkins' relevance to his audience: "Is there any reason why readers of the present day should care to hear of him?I think there is.He was the first among American journalists to introduce into our press the French custom of the Dramatic Feuilleton.Many writers of this period are,--without being aware of it,--following an example that was set by him; writing about the stage and society in a facetious, satirical vein, striving to lighten heavy or barren themes with playful banter, and to gild the dreariness of criticism with the glitter of wit.Wilkins not only attempted that task, he accomplished it.His writings are buried in the files of 'The Herald,' 'The Saturday Press' and 'The Leader,' and they are buried forever.His comedy called 'Young New York' survives."The play was produced and acted in by Laura Keene, along with her most skilled comedians at the time (1856).Winter also notes that Wilkins not only wrote plays but was responsible for bringing the first version of Sardou's comedy "Les Pattes des Mouche" to America, at Wallack's, under the name of "Henriette" (the play is now known as "A Scrap of Paper")(87-88).</p> <p>Wilkins "did not habitually frequent Pfaff's Cave, but he often came there, and his presence afforded a signal contrast with that of some of our companions" (88).</p> <p>Winter states that the most "abrupt" contrast betweenpersonalities "was afforded by the restful, indolent, elegant demeanor of Wilkins, and the vital, breezy, exuberant, demeanor of Fitz-James O'Brien,--the most representative Bohemian writer whom it has been my fortune to know" (95).</p> </div></div><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-pages"><div class="field-content">[pages: 84(ill.), 84-88,95]</div></div><div class="views-field views-field-edit-node"><span class="field-content"></span></div></p> </li> <li class="list-group-item"> <article data-history-node-id="55748" about="/node/55748" class="node node--type-work node--view-mode-bibliography-link"> <div class="node__content"> <a href="/node/55748">Wolle, Francis. <em>Fitz-James O&#039;Brien: A Literary Bohemian of the Eighteen-Fifties</em>. Boulder, Col.; University of Colorado, 1944.</a> </div> </article> <p class="list-group-item-text"><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-note"><div class="field-content"><p>Whitman calls him a "bright man" in an interviewfor <cite>The Brooklyn Daily Eagle</cite> July 11, 1886, in which he describes his nights at Pfaffs.</p> <p>Wilkins was also associated with <cite>The Saturday Press</cite>. </p> </div></div><div class="views-field views-field-field-mention-pages"><div class="field-content">[pages: 125, 168]</div></div><div class="views-field views-field-edit-node"><span class="field-content"></span></div></p> </li> </ul> </div> </div>