Periodicals

The bohemians of antebellum New York published regularly in the daily newspapers, literary weeklies, and monthly magazines that proliferated throughout the United States in the years leading up to the Civil War. Writers and artists at the beginnings of their careers published in periodicals as a way to build their reputations and attract the attention of book publishers. A number of the periodicals that began during this period, such as The New York Tribune and Harper's Monthly, became very successful and continued to be published well into the twentieth century. Many other periodicals, however, lasted only for a few years. Two such periodicals, The New York Saturday Press and Vanity Fair, began around the tables at Pfaff's bar. The Saturday Press ran from October 1858 until December 1860, and was briefly revived in August 1865 only to cease publication again in June 1866. Similarly, Vanity Fair began publishing in December 1859 and ended its run in July 1863. During that brief window, however, the two periodicals were a showcase for a variety of irreverent, playful, and socially savvy literary and artistic productions. Vanity Fair regularly featured illustrations and was primarily a humor magazine with a strong political bent; the Saturday Press was text-only and focused on literary and theatrical arts, as well as commentary on current events. When the Pfaff's bohemians no longer had Vanity Fair and the Saturday Press available to them as publication venues, many of them began contributing to The New York Leader, a weekly that ran from 1856 to 1871.

The Vault at Pfaff's provides scanned page images of the Saturday Press, Vanity Fair, and the Leader in an Islandora viewer. Poems, illustrations, and articles from the Saturday Press and Vanity Fair have been indexed, with metadata and abstracts searchable on the site. Selections from the Leader will be indexed at a later date. In addition, many pieces by and about the Pfaff's bohemians that appeared in periodicals such as Harper's, Putnam's, The Knickerbocker, and Frank Leslie's Paper have been indexed for searching and, where available, links have been provided to external websites that house scanned page images or transcriptions.

Use the form below to browse plays or visit the advanced search page for more options.

Anonymous. "Zoyara and the Bostonians." Vanity Fair. (1860-3-17).
R. W. P.. "Leaves from Nature XI." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-3-17).
Anonymous. "Rev. Theodore Parker's Nightmare." Vanity Fair. (1860-3-17).
Personne [Wilkins, Edward G. P.]. "Dramatic Feuilleton." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-3-17).
EFM. "Here and There." Vanity Fair. (1860-3-17).
M. "Something Unprecedented In the Annals of Journalism." Vanity Fair. (1860-3-17).
Anonymous. "The Strikes in New York." Vanity Fair. (1860-3-17).
Winter, William. "A Pen Portrait of Sheridan." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-3-17).
Anonymous. "Mothe Goose for Counter-jumpers." Vanity Fair. (1860-3-17).
"Opinions of the Press." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-3-24).
Anonymous. "The Late Cold Snap." Vanity Fair. (1860-3-24).
Beach, Juliette H.. "A Memory [for the New York Saturday Press]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-3-24).
Anonymous. "Celebration of St. Patrick's Day." Vanity Fair. (1860-3-24).
"Hawthorne." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-3-24).
Anonymous. "Important Publication Expected." Vanity Fair. (1860-3-24).
Clare, Ada. "Thoughts and Things." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-3-24).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-3-24).
Gildersleeve, Mrs. C. H.. "Under the Snow [from the Musical World]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-3-24).
Venus; Anonymous. "Letter from Miss Venus." Vanity Fair. (1860-3-24).
Howells, W. D.. "Vagary [for the New York Saturday Press]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-3-24).
[Bellew]. "Refuses to be Comforted (illustration)." Vanity Fair. (1860-3-24).
EFM. "Here and There." Vanity Fair. (1860-3-24).
Anonymous. "Having a Brush at Him." Vanity Fair. (1860-3-24).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-3-24).
Meredith, Owen. "Well?." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-3-24).
Phynks, Phineas F., L.F.. "Prospectus-To the Ladies of America." Vanity Fair. (1860-3-24).
Anonymous. "The Police on a New Line." Vanity Fair. (1860-3-24).
Winter, William. "Caprices." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-3-24).
Anonymous. "The Coquette of the Herald." Vanity Fair. (1860-3-24).
"Letters From Switzerland." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-3-24).
Anonymous. "Advertisement." Vanity Fair. (1860-3-24).
Personne [Wilkins, Edward G. P.]. "Dramatic Feuilleton." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-3-24).
Anonymous. "The Gentle Shepherd." Vanity Fair. (1860-3-24).
Orme, Mary. "The Mizzable Man [written for the New York Saturday Press]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-3-24).
Bird's Eye; Anonymous. "Our London Correspondence." Vanity Fair. (1860-3-24).
Stephens and Wevill, Sr.. "Dished (illustration)." Vanity Fair. (1860-3-24).
Haydn. "Our Spiritual Correspondence." Vanity Fair. (1860-3-24).
M. "[Untitled]." Vanity Fair. (1860-3-24).
Anonymous. "Natural History. The Gossip." Vanity Fair. (1860-3-24).
[Triangle] [Bellew, Frank]. "Effects of the Pugilistic Mania." Vanity Fair. (1860-3-24).
Anonymous. "A Sequence with "No Followers Allowed"." Vanity Fair. (1860-3-24).
"Miss Prescott's New Story [for the New York Saturday Press]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-3-24).
Anonymous. "Old Spiteful!." Vanity Fair. (1860-3-24).
Clare, Ada. "A Fatal Love [for the New York Saturday Press]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-3-24).
Anonymous. "Bad for Virgil." Vanity Fair. (1860-3-24).
"The April Magazines." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-3-24).
"To Kate Bateman." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-3-24).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-3-24).
O'Brien, Fitz-James. "The Lost Steamship [from Harper's Monthly for April 1860]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-3-24).
"Japanese Tea-Garden." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-3-24).
O'Brien, Fitz-James. "A Voice from the Counter." Vanity Fair. (1860-3-24).
Anonymous. "A "Big Thing"." Vanity Fair. (1860-3-24).
"Leaves of Grass." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-3-24).
M. "[Untitled]." Vanity Fair. (1860-3-24).
Howells, William Dean. "Bardic Symbols." Daily Ohio State Journal. (1860-3-28).
O'Brien, Fitz-James. "The Counter-Jumpers' Gymnasium." Vanity Fair. (1860-3-31).
Sobb, Kylvanus, Jr.. "The Doom of the Iron Law; or, the Goblin Gridiron, Chapter I." Vanity Fair. (1860-3-31).
Anonymous. "A Tribute to the House." Vanity Fair. (1860-3-31).
Anonymous. "Pork and Perfidy." Vanity Fair. (1860-3-31).
HLS. "The Head of the Nation." Vanity Fair. (1860-3-31).
Symonds, William L.. "Buckle's Philosophy [for the New York Saturday Press]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-3-31).
Anonymous. "The Young Gentleman's Lament." Vanity Fair. (1860-3-31).
"An Unparalleled Crime." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-3-31).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-3-31).
Clare, Ada. "Thoughts and Things." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-3-31).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-3-31).
EFM. "Artistic." Vanity Fair. (1860-3-31).
M. "A Terrible Time on Boston." Vanity Fair. (1860-3-31).
Aglaus. "Ada Clare [from the New York Traveller]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-3-31).
Anonymous. "Show Us the Man." Vanity Fair. (1860-3-31).
M.. "Do So by All Means." Vanity Fair. (1860-3-31).
Anonymous. "The Sweet Charity of Boston." Vanity Fair. (1860-3-31).
Anonymous. "Not the Right Thing." Vanity Fair. (1860-3-31).
HLS. "A Slight Mistake." Vanity Fair. (1860-3-31).
Allen, E. M.. "Eyes of Brown and Blue [for the New York Saturday Press]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-3-31).
Anonymous. "New Kind of Life Preserver." Vanity Fair. (1860-3-31).
"A Shakspearian Novelty." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-3-31).
Anonymous. "The Vanity Fair Juvenile Library." Vanity Fair. (1860-3-31).
EFM. "Here and There." Vanity Fair. (1860-3-31).
Quelqu'un [Winter, William]. "Dramatic Feuilleton." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-3-31).
Anonymous. "Jonathan's Mexican Notions." Vanity Fair. (1860-3-31).
EFM. "Heart-Salve." Vanity Fair. (1860-3-31).
Envelope. "A Dinner in the Polite World or Why Was I Invited to the Swifts? [for the New York Saturday Press]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-3-31).
Anonymous. "Natural History. The Street Walker." Vanity Fair. (1860-3-31).
Anonymous. "What's the News?." Vanity Fair. (1860-3-31).
Browning, Elizabeth Barrett [Mrs]. "A Court Lady [from The Independent]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-3-31).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-3-31).
HLS. "Alarming Profress of Science Among the Lower Classes." Vanity Fair. (1860-3-31).
Stephens and Wevill, Sr.. "What Ought to be Done with Mexico (illustration)." Vanity Fair. (1860-3-31).
Envelope. "The Nephew of His Uncle [for the New York Saturday Press]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-3-31).
Anonymous. "Simple Recipes." Vanity Fair. (1860-3-31).
"Fine Arts: The Closing Reception." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-3-31).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-3-31).
EFM. "A Fellow of Infinite Jest." Vanity Fair. (1860-3-31).
Anonymous. "A Bas Les Polygames." Vanity Fair. (1860-3-31).
"Titian's Venus." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-3-31).
Anonymous. "The Future Republic of Letters." Vanity Fair. (1860-3-31).
Aldrich, T. B.. "Kathie Morris." Harper's New Monthly Magazine. New York: Harper and Bros. (1860-4-1).
English, Thomas Dunn. "Flight at Lexington." Harper’s New Monthly Magazine. New York: Harper & Bros. (1860-4-1).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-7).
Anonymous. "Pellucid as Mud." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-7).
Anonymous. "Somethe we are waiting for." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-7).
Anonymous. "A Word to Mr. Mississippi Brown." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-7).
Anonymous. "A Neat Thing in Jail Breaking." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-7).
Anonymous. "Interesting Literary Discovery." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-7).
HLS. "The Ignorance of Those Foreigners!." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-7).
Stephens and Wevill, Sr.. "Out of a Situation (illustration)." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-7).
Mullen, EF. "Here and There." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-7).
Anonymous. "The Architecture of Broadway." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-7).
M. "["When the Swallows Homeward Fly"]." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-7).
Anonymous. "Ph&oelig;nix Barnum." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-7).
Anonymous. "In Re Bartlett." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-7).
Anonymous. "A Very Learned Senator." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-7).
Anonymous. "A Dictionary for Congressmen." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-7).
Anonymous. "The Championship of Plymouth Church." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-7).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-7).
Goldstick, V. F.. "The Habits of Good Society." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-7).
M. "Natural History. The Anonymous Animal." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-7).
Anonymous. "[Untitled]." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-7).
Anonymous. "A Mirthful Moving of the Southern "Bowls"." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-7).
Anonymous. "Heraldic Summersaults." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-7).
Anonymous. "Great Loss by Fire." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-7).
Anonymous. "Impeding Self-Destruction of the Austrian Army." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-7).
Van Jellick, E., P.P.. "An Humble Offering at the Shrine of the Hon. Mr. Blake, M. C. from Ohio,-and Philanthropist in General." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-7).
Anonymous. "Popular Politics." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-7).
Anonymous. "A Burden Upon Public Attention." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-7).
EFM. "The Æsthetics of Journalism." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-7).
M. "Capital Punishment." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-7).
Anonymous. "The Rhyme of the Lamp-Post Letter-Box." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-7).
"The Poems of Edmund C. Stedman." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-4-14).
Anonymous. "A City Item." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-14).
Winter, William. "Black and Blue [for the New York Saturday Press]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-4-14).
Mullen. "A War Leader." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-14).
Anonymous. "The Model Statesman." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-14).
Anonymous. "The Delights of Debate." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-14).
Anonymous. "The Ballad of Fistiana." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-14).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-14).
Balzac, Honore de. "A Prince of Bohemia [translated for the Saturday Press]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-4-14).
Anonymous. "Douglas to the Democracy." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-14).
Anonymous. "Our Easter Egg." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-14).
"XXXVth Annual Exhibition of the National Academy of Design I." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-4-14).
Ruskin, John. "Sir Joshua and Holbein [from the Cornhill Magazine]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-4-14).
Mullen. "Conviviality at the Convention." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-14).
Our Chess Editor; Anonymous. "Pugilism for the Boudoir." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-14).
Stephens and Wevill, SC. "The Two Champions (illustration)." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-14).
Anonymous. "Religious Sunday Amusement." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-14).
Anonymous. "Sweet Auburn Soured." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-14).
HLS. "Out Geologizing." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-14).
Anonymous. "The Hon. G. B. on the P. R." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-14).
Mullen, EF. "[Untitled]." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-14).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-14).
Stedman, Edmund C. [Clarence]. "Penelope." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-4-14).
Anonymous. "Reform Needed." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-14).
Anonymous. "[Untitled]." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-14).
Personne [Wilkins, Edward G. P.]. "Dramatic Feuilleton." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-4-14).
"Gaiter Boots." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-4-14).
M.. "One Mrs. Brown of Linn." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-14).
Howells, W. D.. "Caprice [for the New York Saturday Press]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-4-14).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-14).
Anonymous. "The Lamb." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-14).
Anonymous. "Journalistic Exposures." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-14).
Anonymous. "Vanity Fair's Arrangements to Outdo its Contemporaries." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-14).
Anonymous. "An Entertaining Work." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-14).
"The Loved Leonie [from the New Orleans Delta]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-4-17).
"The Shaw-Carstang Case: The Demi-Monde of America [from the New York Herald]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-4-17).
Stedman, Edmund Clarence. "Steadman's Poems [Amavi]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-4-17).
Clare, Ada. "Thoughts and Things." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-4-17).
"When I Was Young, or, What the Old Woman said to her Daughter." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-4-17).
Stoddard, Mrs. R. H.. "A Summer Story [for the New York Saturday Press]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-4-17).
Browning, Elizabeth Barrett. "Italy [from 'Napoleon III in Italy']." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-4-17).
Beach, Juliette H.. "Harriet Prescott [for the New York Saturday Press]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-4-17).
Winter, William. "The Individual." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-4-17).
Andersen, Hans Christian. "She is Good for Nothing [translated from the German of Hans Christian Andersen] [for the New York Saturday Press]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-4-17).
Barber, Joseph. "To a Trout [for the New York Saturday Press]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-4-17).
"Napoleon III and Other Poems." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-4-17).
Arnold, George. "Gold and Purple [for the New York Saturday Press]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-4-17).
Quelqu'un [Winter, William]. "Dramatic Feuilleton." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-4-17).
Gardette, Charles D.. "Time Flyeth: A Monody." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-4-21).
Anonymous. "Personal." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-21).
Anonymous. "The Cricket of Our Heart." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-21).
"The Atlantic." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-4-21).
Anonymous. "Natural History. The American Buck." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-21).
Anonymous. "Interesting Literary Correspondence." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-21).
"Humors of the Political Carnival [From the New York Herald]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-4-21).
Anonymous. "A Sensible Serenade." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-21).
Anonymous. "Jokes of All Ages Supplied with Suitable Garments." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-21).
Anonymous. "Rain or Shine." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-21).
Mitchell, Maria. "Mary Somerville [from The Atlantic Monthly for May]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-4-21).
O'Brien, Fitz-James. "The Counter-Jumper Swell." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-21).
Anonymous. "J. B. Reads Us!." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-21).
Balzac, Honore de. "A Prince of Bohemia." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-4-21).
Anonymous. "Sanitary." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-21).
Anonymous. "Sweet Simplicity." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-21).
Clare, Ada. "Thoughts and Things." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-4-21).
Anonymous. "Dancing for Eels in the Charleston Market." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-21).
Anonymous. "At the Saloon." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-21).
"A Parson of the Olden Time." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-4-21).
Anonymous. "A New Table of Distances." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-21).
One Who Has 'Gone and Done it'. "Timely Hints to "Marrying Men"." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-21).
Anonymous. "Curious Developments." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-21).