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. "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).
Anonymous. "Where is the Little Joker?." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-21).
"A. P. [Vanity Fair]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-4-28).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-28).
M. "A Washing Way the Heathen Have." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-28).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-28).
Gardette, Charles D.. "Ephemera [for the New York Saturday Press]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-4-28).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-28).
"Fresh Hearts and Other Things." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-4-28).
Little E.M.. "Directions for Discovering When its Twelve O'Clock." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-28).
Anonymous. "Our Museum." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-28).
"Literature Abroad." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-4-28).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-28).
"Reporting and Reporters." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-4-28).
Anonymous. "A. P." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-28).
M. "A New Letter-Writer for Belligerent Congressmen." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-28).
Hunt, Leigh. "Fwedwick Fitz Noodle and the Devil." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-28).
M. "A Chance for the Lawyers." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-28).
Mullen. "The P.R. in the Bosom of the Family." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-28).
Goldstick, V. F.; M. "The Habits of Good Society, No. 3, Chapter I (cont.)." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-28).
Bister; Mullen. "We Visit the Academy of Design." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-28).
Browning, Elizabeth Barrett. "Poems Before Congress [from Punch]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-4-28).
Anonymous. "A Young Fellow's Notion." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-28).
Stephens and Wevill, SC. "The Charleston Soliloquy." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-28).
"A National Picture [from The Philadelphia Press]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-4-28).
Anonymous. "Thieves! Thieves! Thieves!." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-28).
Clare, Ada. "Thoughts and Things." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-4-28).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-28).
"Glidden's Egyptian Library [N. Y. Evening Post]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-4-28).
"Notes of the Week." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-4-28).
Anonymous. "The Manufacture of Fun." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-28).
Anonymous. "The March of Intellect." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-28).
M. "Journalism and the Japanese." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-28).
M. "Show Funerals." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-28).
Wevill. "[Untitled]." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-28).
"National Academy of Design Thirty-Fifth Annual Exhibition III." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-4-28).
Anonymous. "Hints to Pedestrians." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-28).
Shepherd, N. G.. "Body and Soul [for the New York Saturday Press]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-4-28).
Anonymous. "The Foolish Giants." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-28).
Personne [Wilkins, Edward G. P.]. "Dramatic Feuilleton." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-4-28).
Anonymous. "Bennett to Douglas." Vanity Fair. (1860-4-28).
Stoddard, R. H.. "After the Funeral." Harper's New Monthly Magazine. New York: Harper and Bros. (1860-5-1).
EFM. "Natural History." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-5).
Anonymous. "How is This?." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-5).
Anonymous. "Jonathan on the Prize-Fight." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-5).
Anonymous. "Evil Communications Corrupt, etc." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-5).
M. "The Bridget of Size." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-5).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-5).
Anonymous. "The Rat Millenium." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-5).
The Author; Mullen, EF. "The Æsthetics of Buttons, "Eye" the First." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-5).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-5).
The Four Cent Man. "Another Declination." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-5).
HLS. "The Reception at Home." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-5).
EFM. "Our Appointment." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-5).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-5).
Anonymous. "Altogether Superfluous." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-5).
Anonymous. "Correspondence." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-5).
M. "Set A T-- to Catch A T--." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-5).
Anonymous. "The Æsthetics of Tippling." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-5).
Anonymous. "The Charleston Bolt." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-5).
Stephens and Wevill. "Shakspeare for J. B. (illustration)." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-5).
HLS. "The Ideah!." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-5).
EFM. "Just What We Expected." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-5).
Anonymous. "Ridiculous Mus." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-5).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-5).
Swiddles, Septimus. "Our Southern Correspondence." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-5).
Anonymous. "The British Referee." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-5).
M. "Pleasant for the Man in the Box." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-5).
Anonymous. "Apropos de "Marmion"." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-5).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-5).
Goldstick, V. F.. "The Habits of Good Society, No. 4, Chapter Penultimate." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-5).
Stanley, Jack. "The Dreadful First of May." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-5).
"Notes of the Week." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-5-12).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-12).
Swisshelm, Jane G.. "A Husband's Liabilities for the Support of His Wife [New York Tribune]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-5-12).
Anonymous. "The "State of Cuba"." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-12).
M. "[Untitled]." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-12).
Quip, Jeroboam. "Treasure Trove." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-12).
Bister; EFM. "Our Second Visit to the Academy of Design." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-12).
Anonymous. "Don't Give up the Belt." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-12).
Gardette, Charles D.. "How Spring Cometh to Palace and Hovel [for the New York Saturday Press]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-5-12).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-12).
Cox, Samuel Hanson. "Savagism--Christianism [taken literally from the Journal of Commerce]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-5-12).
Anonymous. "A Figure that Stands for Naught." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-12).
"The Letters of Humboldt." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-5-12).
Anonymous. "The "Men for Charleston"." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-12).
Personne [Wilkins, Edward G. P.]. "Dramatic Feuilleton." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-5-12).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-12).
"Charles Lamb." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-5-12).
M. "How Ky-Ind." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-12).
Anonymous. "From Our Correspondent." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-12).
Yelloplush, Chawls; EFM. "The War of the Dictionaries." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-12).
"The Paragon of Ugliness [for the New York Saturday Press]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-5-12).
Anonymous. "Terrible Threat." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-12).
Gardette, Charles D.. "Evenings with the Marchioness. Translated for The New York Press from the French of Paul Feval." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-5-12).
Anonymous. "The New Sunday Law." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-12).
Halliwell, J. O.. "The Dutch Shakespearian Drama [from the Athenaeum]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-5-12).
Anonymous. "The Grateful Delegates." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-12).
"Art about Town." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-5-12).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-12).
"Population and Dietetics [from the London Leader]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-5-12).
"Mots from 'Momus'." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-5-12).
EFM. "Vanity Fair to Joseph Smith." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-12).
Fake, Phineas. "A Whistle from the Underground Railway." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-12).
The Author; M and Wevill. "The Æsthetics of Buttons, "Eye" the Second." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-12).
Wevill and EFM. "Can it be Borne?." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-12).
Stephens and Wevill. "The Political Game of Bluff (illustration)." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-12).
Anonymous. "Passion Flowers." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-12).
"Niagara As It Is [from the New York Times, May 9]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-5-12).
Anonymous. "The Great Prize-Fight at Charleston." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-12).
"Autograph Letter of Washington [from the London Critic]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-5-12).
Anonymous. "Natural History. The Bore." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-12).
"Muscle." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-5-12).
Anonymous. "Oh! Brother." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-12).
HLS. "The Puppy." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-12).
Winter, William. "My Pet that Was." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-5-15).
"The Mill on the Floss." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-5-15).
Personne [Wilkins, Edward G. P.]. "Dramatic Feuilleton." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-5-15).
Gill, Alice. "May-Day in New York [for the New York Saturday Press]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-5-15).
"Mots from 'Momus'." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-5-15).
S.. "Gastronomy [for the New York Saturday Press]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-5-15).
Burroughs, J. [John]. "Deep [for the New York Saturday Press]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-5-15).
Our Special Correspondent. "Letter from New York." Sacramento Daily Union. (1860-5-15).
"Geographical and Statistical Society [from the N. Y. Tribune]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-5-15).
Stowe, Harriet Beecher [Mrs.]. "The Excommunication [from the Independent]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-5-15).
"Pugilisms from Vanity Fair." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-5-15).
Gardette, Charles D.. "Evenings with the Countess. Translated for The New York Press from the French of Paul Feval." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-5-15).
"National Academy of Design Thirty-Fifth Annual Exhibition IV." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-5-15).
"The French Muse on the Prize-Fight." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-5-15).
Gardette, Charles D.. "Sua Culpa [for the New York Saturday Press]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-5-15).
"Jokes from the Comic 'Daily Advertiser'." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-5-15).
"Walt Whitman: Leaves of Grass." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-5-19).
Anonymous. "The True and Only Intelligence Respecting the Visit of the Prince of Wales." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-19).
EFM. "Here and There." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-19).
Nicot, Johann. "A Cry for Cuba." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-19).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-19).
EFM. "The British Lion." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-19).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-19).
Prescott, Harriet E.. "The Granadan Girl's Song [from the Atlantic Monthly for June]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-5-19).
Anonymous. "Piety in Posture." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-19).
Clare, Ada. "Thoughts and Things." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-5-19).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-19).
The Bard that Sang of Heenan [C. H. W.] [Webb, Charles Henry]. "An Ode to the Japanese [from the N. Y. Times]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-5-19).
"Facetiae from the New York Times." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-5-19).
HLS. "[Untitled]." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-19).
Mullen, EF. "British Statesman of the Period." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-19).
O'Brien, Fitz-James. "Counter-Jumper: A Melody." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-19).
Anonymous. "England's Serenade to Japan." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-19).
EFM. "Our Agriculture Column." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-19).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-19).
Farmenter, Frederick A.. "May Afternoon [for the New York Saturday Press]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-5-19).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-19).
Anonymous. "Le Boxe." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-19).
"The Literary Fungus." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-5-19).
Anonymous. "British Jealousy." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-19).
Taylor, Bayard. "The Vineyard Saint [from the Atlantic Monthly for May]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-5-19).
Anonymous. "The Time Ball." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-19).
The Author. "The Æsthetics of Buttons, "Eye" the Third." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-19).
"Mots from 'Momus'." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-5-19).
EF Mullen Wevill. "What a Pity." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-19).
Mullen, EF. "The Show's the Thing." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-19).
Anonymous. "Geological Catechism for Bar-Keepers." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-19).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-19).
EFM. "Ye Clerical Delegate." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-19).
Anonymous. "Curiosities of Analogy in "Animated Nature"." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-19).
Gardette, Charles D.. "Evenings with the Marchioness. Translated for The New York Press from the French of Paul Feval." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-5-19).
Anonymous. "Dowling." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-19).
"Art." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-5-19).
Anonymous. "The Barbarians." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-19).
M. "Carrying Conviction with Him." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-19).
"The Japanese Embassy [from the special Washington Correspondence [sic] of the Tribune]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-5-19).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-19).
"Vanities from 'Vanity Fair'." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-5-19).
The Undersigned. "The Woman's Rights Convention." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-19).
"The Dictionary [Worcester]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-5-26).
Anonymous. "$1,000 Reward!." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-26).
"The Armies of France and Austria [from the N. Y. Evening Post]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-5-26).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-26).
"Vanities from 'Vanity Fair'." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-5-26).
Anonymous. "The Dangers of Broadway." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-26).
"Tom Sayers' Letter to the 'Times' [from the London Saturday Review, May 12th]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-5-26).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-26).
EFM. "Notes Per C. A. A. R. R." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-26).