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. "Men, not Measures." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-26).
Anonymous. "More Lives than a Cat." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-26).
All Souls. "Fragments from the Table of an Intellectual Epicure [for the New York Saturday Press]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-5-26).
Anonymous. "Joke Without Precedent." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-26).
Balzac, Honore de. "An Episode During the Terror [translated for the New York Saturday Press]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-5-26).
Anonymous. "Shine's Defence." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-26).
"The Nude." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-5-26).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-26).
"American Eloquence [London Saturday Review]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-5-26).
EM. "The Fitness of Things." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-26).
Anonymous. "The Last Traveller." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-26).
"Abraham [from Vanity Fair]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-5-26).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-26).
EFM. "The Dream of Simme Boojsen No-Cami." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-26).
Anonymous. "Grand Catastrophe Exhibition." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-26).
EFM. "The Republican Fizzle." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-26).
The Author; M. "The Æsthetics of Buttons, the Last Eye." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-26).
Anonymous. "Cross Purposes." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-26).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-26).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-26).
Gardette, Charles D.. "Ephemera [for the New York Saturday Press]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-5-26).
Anonymous. "Facilis Decensus Avenue." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-26).
"G. P. R. James." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-5-26).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-26).
HLS. "[Untitled]." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-26).
"[Editorial Comments]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-5-26).
Curio, Caleb. "A Japanese Curiosity." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-26).
Anonymous. "An English Lady." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-26).
"Honest Abe." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-5-26).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-26).
Barber, Joseph. "Japan-Ware [from the New York Mercury]." New York Saturday Press. (1860-5-26).
Anonymous. "The Coming Regatta." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-26).
EFM. "The Drama at Wallack's." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-26).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-26).
Anonymous. "Art is a Life-Long Sport." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-26).
Anonymous. "A Dog Rose." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-26).
Taylor, Tom. "Nomenoe." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-5-26).
J. D. S.. "What More Could They Want?." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-26).
Anonymous. "A Touch of Camanche." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-26).
Howells, W. D.. "[We wept when we saw in the meadow] [for the New York Saturday Press]." New York Saturday Press. (1860-5-26).
Anonymous. "The Latest Carpenter Job." Vanity Fair. (1860-5-26).
"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).
Ludlow, Fitz Hugh. "The Century Plant." Harper's New Monthly Magazine. New York: Harper and Bros. (1860-6-1).
Aldrich, Thomas Bailey. "Two Hundred Years Old." Cosmopolitan Art Association Journal. (1860-6-1).
English, Thomas Dunn. "Sullivan's Island." Harper’s New Monthly Magazine. New York: Harper & Bros. (1860-6-1).
Arnold, George. "Froth." Harper's New Monthly Magazine. (1860-6-1).
CDS. "Lo! The Poor Japanese." Vanity Fair. (1860-6-2).
Anonymous. "Our Relations with Japan." Vanity Fair. (1860-6-2).
Anonymous. "Judah in Japan." Vanity Fair. (1860-6-2).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-6-2).
Anonymous. "Henry versus Horace." Vanity Fair. (1860-6-2).
Anonymous. "The War of Words." Vanity Fair. (1860-6-2).
Anonymous. "The New Brutus." Vanity Fair. (1860-6-2).
Anonymous. "Tip Us Your Paddle." Vanity Fair. (1860-6-2).
Anonymous. "Syllabus of a Discourse." Vanity Fair. (1860-6-2).
Mullen, EF. "Slow Tortures for the Japs." Vanity Fair. (1860-6-2).
Anonymous. "Et Tu, Greeley!." Vanity Fair. (1860-6-2).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-6-2).
Anonymous. "Information Wanted." Vanity Fair. (1860-6-2).
Anonymous. "Boston to New York." Vanity Fair. (1860-6-2).
Anonymous. "Surgeon's Wit." Vanity Fair. (1860-6-2).
Anonymous. "Sunday Coming on Monday." Vanity Fair. (1860-6-2).
Anonymous. "A Naughty Deed Done by the Naughty Editor of V. F." Vanity Fair. (1860-6-2).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-6-2).
Mullen, EF. "Sports of the Period." Vanity Fair. (1860-6-2).
Beethoven. "Musical Correspondence of Vanity Fair." Vanity Fair. (1860-6-2).
Him of the Buttons.. "A Chapter on Words." Vanity Fair. (1860-6-2).
Anonymous. "Wanted-A Whaler." Vanity Fair. (1860-6-2).
Anonymous. "Our Strong Man." Vanity Fair. (1860-6-2).
Anonymous. "Punning Made Easy." Vanity Fair. (1860-6-2).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-6-2).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-6-2).
Anonymous. "The Elopement." Vanity Fair. (1860-6-2).
Anonymous. "A Politicienne." Vanity Fair. (1860-6-2).
Mullen, EF. "A Cheerful Proposition." Vanity Fair. (1860-6-2).
HLS. "Another Two Shilling Candidate." Vanity Fair. (1860-6-2).
Anonymous. "An Oasis." Vanity Fair. (1860-6-2).
Anonymous. "A Generous Fellow." Vanity Fair. (1860-6-9).
Anonymous. "A Word to the Weather." Vanity Fair. (1860-6-9).
Anonymous. "[Untitled]." Vanity Fair. (1860-6-9).
EFM. "How the Tribune Reporter got into a Good Thing." Vanity Fair. (1860-6-9).
Von Puck, Hans; EFM. "Germantown Graphics." Vanity Fair. (1860-6-9).
The Man Who Has 'Cut' His Friend. "What's in a Name?." Vanity Fair. (1860-6-9).
The Undersigned; EFM. "A Trotting-Match. Opinions of the "Undersigned."." Vanity Fair. (1860-6-9).
HLS. "The Giant Baby." Vanity Fair. (1860-6-9).
Anonymous. "Pity the Poor Police." Vanity Fair. (1860-6-9).
Anonymous. "Dying to be Martyred." Vanity Fair. (1860-6-9).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-6-9).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-6-9).
Anonymous. "A Forget-Me-Not." Vanity Fair. (1860-6-9).
M. "Our Rural Police Report." Vanity Fair. (1860-6-9).
Anonymous. "Side-Splitting Humor of the Rail-Splitters." Vanity Fair. (1860-6-9).
Anonymous. "Found Drowned." Vanity Fair. (1860-6-9).
Anonymous. "The Great Christening." Vanity Fair. (1860-6-9).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-6-9).
Anonymous. "[Untitled]." Vanity Fair. (1860-6-9).
EFM. "Distinction." Vanity Fair. (1860-6-9).
Stephens and Wevill, SC. "Shaky." Vanity Fair. (1860-6-9).
A Jolly Dog. "Letter from a Jolly Dog." Vanity Fair. (1860-6-9).
Anonymous. "A Chance for Capitalists." Vanity Fair. (1860-6-9).
Spencer, Edward. "June and I." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-6-12).
House, E. H.. "A Japanese Day at Willard's." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-6-12).
Clare, Ada. "Thoughts and Things." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-6-12).
"Convocation." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-6-12).
Lowell, T. Russell [Lowell, James Russell]. "Theodore Parker." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-6-12).
Spencer, Edward. "Acephala." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-6-12).
Clapp, Henry Jr.. "Mr. Greeley." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-6-12).
Beach, Juliette H. [Calvin Beach]. "Leaves of Grass." Saturday Press. (1860-6-12).
"A Settlement of the Question [from Bell's Life]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-6-12).
"[I happify myself]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-6-12).
Mundy, Arthur J. "Apres [From Once a Week]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-6-12).
Clapp, Henry Jr.. "Imitation in Art." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-6-12).
"The Dervish [from the Persian Redekunste]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-6-12).
Howells, W. D.. "The Poet." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-6-12).
Leland, Henry P.. "Walt Whitman [From the Philadelphia City Item]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-6-16).
Anonymous. "Matters Which It Will Be Well for the Embassy to Understand." Vanity Fair. (1860-6-16).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-6-16).
Anonymous. "[Untitled]." Vanity Fair. (1860-6-16).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-6-16).
House, E. H.. "The Japanese Embassy: The Sorrows of Tommy [from the New York Tribune]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-6-16).
Macshane, Terine. "Another Claim." Vanity Fair. (1860-6-16).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-6-16).
"Pictures at Goupil's." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-6-16).
Anonymous. "Recipe for Summer "Tonic"." Vanity Fair. (1860-6-16).
Whittier, John G.. "The Quaker Alumni." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-6-16).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-6-16).
Greeley, Horace. "That Private Letter. Horace Greeley to William H. Seward [from the New York Tribune]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-6-16).
Clarence, Augustus Walter Fitz; HLS. "Japanese Customs." Vanity Fair. (1860-6-16).
Anonymous. "How V. F. Proposes to Do It." Vanity Fair. (1860-6-16).
M Wevill SC. "Glad to See You." Vanity Fair. (1860-6-16).
Anonymous. "The Sweepers. A Nocturne." Vanity Fair. (1860-6-16).
EFM. "The Fourth Ward Schools." Vanity Fair. (1860-6-16).
Anonymous. "An Independent Obituary." Vanity Fair. (1860-6-16).
Leland, Henry P.. "Enfans de Soixante-Seize [from the Philadelphia 'City Item']." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-6-16).
Anonymous. "Vanity Fair Welcomes the Embassy on Behalf of the Ladies." Vanity Fair. (1860-6-16).
Von Puck, Hans; Mullen, EF. "Germantown Graphics." Vanity Fair. (1860-6-16).
Campbell, Lizzie. "My Sister Belle [for the New York Saturday Press]." New York Saturday Press. (1860-6-16).
Anonymous. "Punning Made Easy." Vanity Fair. (1860-6-16).
Quelqu'un [Winter, William]. "Dramatic Feuilleton." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-6-16).
Anonymous. "Too Zealous, by Half." Vanity Fair. (1860-6-16).
"The New World [from 'Vanity Fair']." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-6-16).
Anonymous. "The Song of the Dying Swan." Vanity Fair. (1860-6-16).
Greeley, Horace. "The Letter." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-6-16).
HLS. "The Political Invalid." Vanity Fair. (1860-6-16).
V.F. Biographer. "Life of Lincoln (Abraham) the Chicago Nominee." Vanity Fair. (1860-6-16).
Anonymous. "Vanity Fair's "Four Year Olds"." Vanity Fair. (1860-6-16).
Mullen. "A Scene in Central Park." Vanity Fair. (1860-6-16).
Anonymous. "The Story of the Five Little Pigs." Vanity Fair. (1860-6-16).
Anonymous. "Here and There." Vanity Fair. (1860-6-16).
M. "The New World." Vanity Fair. (1860-6-16).
Cornwell, H. S.. "The Advent of the Mosquito [for the New York Saturday Press]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-6-16).
D. D.. "Bohemia." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-6-16).
Anonymous. "Clerical Bonhomie." Vanity Fair. (1860-6-16).
"Lucile." New York Saturday Press. (1860-6-16).
Anonymous. "Birds in the High Hall Garden." Vanity Fair. (1860-6-16).
O'R., M. J. [O'Reilly, Miles J.]. "A Case for the Charitable." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-6-16).
Anonymous. "Metropolitan Amusements." Vanity Fair. (1860-6-16).
Saerasmid. "Saerasmid to Walt Whitman, Greeting." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-6-16).
L. H.. "Our Old Friend of Eighty [for the New York Saturday Press]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-6-16).
Anonymous. "Rather a Long Stretch." Vanity Fair. (1860-6-16).
"Imitation Again." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-6-19).
Quelqu'un [Winter, William]. "Dramatic Feuilleton." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-6-19).
All Souls. "Fragments from the Table of an Intellectual Epicure [written for the New York Saturday Press]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-6-19).
Todd, D. J.. "A Quaker Fip [for the New York Saturday Press]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-6-19).
Whitman, Walt. "Manahatta [from Leaves of Grass]." New York Saturday Press. (1860-6-19).
Cuyler, Rev. Theodore L.. "A Walk with Carlyle [from the Independent]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-6-19).
"Who and What Next?." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-6-19).
Clare, Ada. "Thoughts and Things." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-6-19).
Robinson. "The Representative Art [for the New York Saturday Press]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-6-19).
Phillips, Edgar. "Was It Strange? [for the New York Saturday Press]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-6-19).
"A Pocket-Companion for Members of Society. Dedicated to the Individual [from Momus (?)]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-6-19).
Whitman, Walt. "Longings for Home." New York Saturday Press. (1860-6-19).
D. D.. "The Wedding-Ring." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-6-19).
"The West Indies and the Spanish Main." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-6-19).
Petit, Lizzie. "To A-- B-- M--. On Finding Some Despondent Lines in His Journal [for the New York Saturday Press]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-6-19).
Browning, Elizabeth Barrett. "First News From Villafranca [from the Independent]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-6-19).
Chilton, Mary A.. "'Leaves of Grass' [for the New York Saturday Press]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-6-19).
Thabab, Babbaga. "The Song of Dandelions. After Walt Whitman [from the Philadelphia 'City Item']." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-6-19).
Bennett, Zelotes R.. "The Summer Shower [for the New York Saturday Press]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-6-19).
Bryant, W. C.. "Hymn." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-6-23).
Anonymous. "Mighty Moderate." Vanity Fair. (1860-6-23).
"The Magazines for July." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-6-23).
Anonymous. "A New Martyr." Vanity Fair. (1860-6-23).
All Souls. "Fragments from the Table of an Intellectual Epicure [for the New York Saturday Press]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-6-23).
Anonymous. "A New Essay on Criticism." Vanity Fair. (1860-6-23).
Stowe, Harriet Beecher. "A Panoramic Picture [from the Independent, June 21]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-6-23).
"Lady Ellenborough." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-6-23).
EFM. "The Game of the Sociable Snake." Vanity Fair. (1860-6-23).
Anonymous. "An Incautious Mrs. Bobbitts." Vanity Fair. (1860-6-23).
H. G.; EFM. "Copy of an Antique Manuscript." Vanity Fair. (1860-6-23).
Anonymous. "A Week of Excitements." Vanity Fair. (1860-6-23).
Beach, Juliette H.. "Summer Nights [for the New York Saturday Press]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-6-23).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-6-23).
C. C. P.. "Walt Whitman's New Volume [for the New York Saturday Press]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-6-23).
A Woman [Beach, Juliette H.]. "Walt Whitman." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-6-23).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-6-23).
"Character vs. Sentiment in Art." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-6-23).