'Saerasmid,' an Early Promoter of Walt Whitman

Clark, George Pierce. "'Saerasmid,' an Early Promoter of Walt Whitman." American Literature 27, no. 2 (1955): 259-262.

Electronic Source Available

Type

journal

Genre

literary criticism

Abstract

Identifies "Saerasmid"--the author of numerous parodies of Walt Whitman in the Saturday Press--as Charles Desmarais Gardette, who was also the author of "The Fire-Fiend," a parody of Poe's "The Raven."

People Mentioned in this Work

Clapp, Henry [pages: 261-262]

Posits that it was at Clapp's insistence that Gardette wrote a number of Whitman parodies for the Saturday Press in 1860, around the same time that Clapp was heavily promoting the 1860 Leaves of Grass in the pages of the Press (261).

Mackenzie, Robert [pages: 261]

Briefly mentioned in connection with Gardette's Poe hoax, "The Fire-Fiend." Also mentioned in context of the English actor William Macready, who, like Mackenzie, was also tricked into believing that "The Fire-Fiend" was actually authored by Poe himself (261).