Stephens, William Editor.

William Allan Stephens was a co-founder of Vanity Fair. Henry Clapp’s obituary mentions that "when the Saturday Press went the way of all journals that are too smart to live, Mr. Clapp, with Mr. Stevens [sic] and others, started the best imitation of Punch that we have had in this country-- Vanity Fair. Around this nucleus gathered the circle so widely known as ’The Bohemians,’ of whom Mr. Clapp was the head and exponent" (“Obituary” 7). Stephens, as editor of Vanity Fair, was closely linked to the happenings at Pfaff’s because many of the bohemians contributed regularly to the magazine, and Pfaffian Frank Wood was also an editor at the magazine (C. Leland 234). Under Stephen's direction, Vanity Fair was a fairly conservative publication, demonstrating a traditional embrace of racial stereotypes, a hostility for abolition, and an unwillingness to endorse the Republican Party (Scholnick, 29, 33, 36). Stephen's political and racial conservativism set him at odds with one of the magazine's editors, Charles Godfrey Leland. Unable to reconcile thier policial differences, Leland left Vanity Fair after just nine months and Stephen's hired the more politically likeminded Artimus Ward to replace him. (Scholnick, 33)

References & Biographical Resources Leland, Charles Godfrey. Memoirs. New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1893. Leland mentions Stephens' association with Vanity Fair and the Pfaffians contributions to the magazine. [pages:234-235] "Obituary: Henry Clapp." The New-York Times. 11 Apr. 1875: 7. The "Obituary" mentions that "when the Saturday Press went the way of all journals that are too smart to live, Mr. Clapp, with Mr. Stevens and others, started the best imitation of Punch that we have had in this country-- Vanity Fair . Around this nucleus gathered the circle so widely known as 'The Bohemians,' of whom Mr. Clapp was the head and exponent." [pages:7] Scholnick, Robert. "The Fate of Humor in a Time of Civil and Cold War: Vanity Fair and Race." Studies in American Humor. 3.10 (2003): 21-42. The article mentions William Stephens as a co-founder and editor of Vanity Fair along with his brothers (29). It also alludes to his political conservatism, hostility to abolition, and conflicts with Charles Godfrey Leland (33, 36). Watson, J. W. "Notes and Comments: How Artemus Ward Became a Great Lecturer." North American Review. 01 Apr. 1889: 521-522. Watson states that "[a]bout thirty years ago there was a paper published in this city by several brothers named Stephens, called Vanity Fair..." (521). [pages:521]