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.

Doolady, Pybus. "Drug Literature." Vanity Fair. (1860-10-6).
Anonymous. "Trouble Again at the Central Park." Vanity Fair. (1860-10-6).
Anonymous. ""Precisely So."." Vanity Fair. (1860-10-6).
Green, Dorcas. "Mount Vernonest." Vanity Fair. (1860-10-6).
Anonymous. "D and the D." Vanity Fair. (1860-10-6).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-10-6).
Cosmopolite. "Farmers Attention!." Vanity Fair. (1860-10-6).
Anonymous. "The Northampton Bastile." Vanity Fair. (1860-10-6).
Stephens. "The Reception at Washington." Vanity Fair. (1860-10-6).
Anonymous. "Prince of Walesiana." Vanity Fair. (1860-10-6).
Anonymous. "Bibliography." Vanity Fair. (1860-10-6).
WI. "In the Egyptian Museum." Vanity Fair. (1860-10-6).
Befeeter, Julia; M. "The Vegetarians." Vanity Fair. (1860-10-6).
EFM. "The Lay of the Common Scoundrel." Vanity Fair. (1860-10-6).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-10-6).
Stedman, Edmund C.; HLS. "The Prince's Ball, Parts I-II." Vanity Fair. (1860-10-13).
"Bohemians [from the Cambridge Toadeater]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-10-13).
Anonymous. "To Our Friend around the Corner." Vanity Fair. (1860-10-13).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-10-13).
Shormut. "Yes, or "No?"." Vanity Fair. (1860-10-13).
Anonymous. "The Real Thing." Vanity Fair. (1860-10-13).
Anonymous. "The Fashionable Coat for this Winter." Vanity Fair. (1860-10-13).
Balzac, Honore de. "A Treatise Upon the Life of Elegance. Translated, by Edward Howland, from the French of Honore de Balzac." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-10-13).
Anonymous. "Siddons and the "Princ"." Vanity Fair. (1860-10-13).
Morris, George P.. "The Criticasters [From the New York Ledger]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-10-13).
Anonymous. "The Politico Commercial Crisis." Vanity Fair. (1860-10-13).
Stedman, Edmund C.. "The Prince's Ball [copied, by special permission, from 'Vanity Fair,' Oct. 13]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-10-13).
"Modern Painters." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-10-13).
EFM. "Assault on a Fresh." Vanity Fair. (1860-10-13).
"Seeing Life [from the London 'Saturday Review,' Sept. 22]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-10-13).
"Scarcity of Dwellings in New York [from the Architects' and Mechanics' Journal]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-10-13).
Anonymous. "Delicacies of the Season." Vanity Fair. (1860-10-13).
Anonymous. "Pugilistic Piety." Vanity Fair. (1860-10-13).
Anonymous. "Peter Piper Knocked into Pi." Vanity Fair. (1860-10-13).
Anonymous. "A Belle, A La Lanterne." Vanity Fair. (1860-10-13).
Shepherd, N. G.. "October." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-10-13).
Anonymous. "A Mild and Etherial Sentence." Vanity Fair. (1860-10-13).
"'Mister Renfrew' Among the Hoosiers." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-10-13).
Anonymous. "Hope for the World." Vanity Fair. (1860-10-13).
WF. ""This Cut is No Joke"." Vanity Fair. (1860-10-13).
"Houses." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-10-13).
Gurowski [de Gurowski, Adam Count]. "Minor Experiences in New York VII." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-10-13).
EFM. "Something Serious." Vanity Fair. (1860-10-13).
"Ab Urbe [from the 'Dial' for October]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-10-13).
Proctor, Edna Dean. "Prince and the People." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-10-13).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-10-13).
Anonymous. "Our College Department." Vanity Fair. (1860-10-13).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-10-13).
Browning, Elizabeth Barrett. "Garibaldi [From the Independent]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-10-13).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-10-13).
Anonymous. "Seward's Grand Starring Tour." Vanity Fair. (1860-10-13).
"Lord Renfrew's Suite [from the Philadelphia Press]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-10-13).
Anonymous. "The Romance and Religion of Billiards." Vanity Fair. (1860-10-13).
Hellenist. "Morrisiana [for the New York Saturday Press]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-10-13).
"A Great National Event." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-10-13).
Mullen. "On the Great Wide Awake Procession." Vanity Fair. (1860-10-13).
Quelqu'un [Winter, William]. "Dramatic Feuilleton." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-10-13).
EFM. "Now for Billiards." Vanity Fair. (1860-10-13).
Page, William. "The Italian Schools of Painting [from the 'Independent' Oct 11th]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-10-13).
Beach, Juliette H.. "[Sleep, little child!]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-10-16).
Balzac, Honore de. "A Treatise Upon the Life of Elegance. Translated, by Edward Howland, from the French of Honore de Balzac (for the New York Saturday Press)." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-10-16).
"Wheat and Tares." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-10-16).
Quelqu'un [Winter, William]. "Dramatic Feuilleton." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-10-16).
Aldrich, Thomas Bailey. "The Crescent and the Cross [from the Independent, Oct. 4]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-10-16).
Henry, James M. D.. "The Two Rabbits." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-10-16).
Ledyard, Cath[erine].. "Suburban Matters September 28, 1860 [for the New York Saturday Press]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-10-16).
"To Whom It May Concern." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-10-16).
Gurowski [de Gurowski, Adam Count]. "Minor Experiences in America VII." New York Saturday Press. (1860-10-16).
"Slight Mistake." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-10-16).
"Decamps [from the Paris Correspondence [sic] of the New Orleans Picayune]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-10-16).
"Pipes and Cigars [from the London Saturday Review, Sept. 15]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-10-16).
House, E. H.. "A Great Prairie." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-10-16).
"Saints and Sinners." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-10-16).
"Heartlessness of a Pastor." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-10-16).
"[Editorial Comments]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-10-16).
Shepherd, N. G.. "The Lay of the Common Scoundrel [from 'Vanity Fair' Oct. 6]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-10-16).
Moustache, Peachdown, Esq.. "A Squib from a Soph." Vanity Fair. (1860-10-20).
JHG. "The Dream of Bliss." Vanity Fair. (1860-10-20).
Scholasticus. "A Statement of Facts." Vanity Fair. (1860-10-20).
Morris, G. P.. "The Fly and the Ant." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-10-20).
Stephens. "What Will He Do With It?." Vanity Fair. (1860-10-20).
Sewtight, Simon. "Machinery." Vanity Fair. (1860-10-20).
"The American Bunsby." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-10-20).
Gurowski [de Gurowski, Adam Count]. "Minor Experiences in America IX." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-10-20).
Anonymous. "Another Feather." Vanity Fair. (1860-10-20).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-10-20).
Anonymous. "Before the Grave of Washington." Vanity Fair. (1860-10-20).
Mullen. "Our College Department." Vanity Fair. (1860-10-20).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-10-20).
EFM. "Correspondence of Vanity Fair. Our European Letter, No. 4." Vanity Fair. (1860-10-20).
Anonymous. "Buchanan Writes for It." Vanity Fair. (1860-10-20).
Stedman, Edmund C.; HLS. "The Prince's Ball, Part III." Vanity Fair. (1860-10-20).
Stedman, Edmund Clarence. "The Prince's Ball [from Vanity Fair]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-10-20).
"Decline and Fall of Tupperism [from The Southern Field and Fireside]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-10-20).
"Pedagogues." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-10-20).
Quelqu'un [Winter, William]. "Dramatic Feuilleton." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-10-20).
Anonymous. "The Pennsylvania State Election." Vanity Fair. (1860-10-20).
Whitman, Walt. "America Always [From Walt Whitman's 'Leaves of Grass']." New York Saturday Press. (1860-10-20).
Winter, William. "Before Him, A Picture (After Walt Whitman)." New York Saturday Press. (1860-10-20).
Anonymous. "D'Ye Mind Me, Ye Devils." Vanity Fair. (1860-10-20).
Anonymous. "The Renfrew Procession." Vanity Fair. (1860-10-20).
Anonymous. "Literary and Other Gems." Vanity Fair. (1860-10-20).
EFM. "You Can't Spring That on Us." Vanity Fair. (1860-10-20).
HG. "Ornithology." Vanity Fair. (1860-10-20).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-10-20).
"Art." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-10-20).
Balzac, Honore de. "A Treatise Upon the Life of Elegance. Translated, by Edward Howland, from the French of Honore de Balzac." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-10-20).
"Harriet Prescott." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-10-20).
Anonymous. "Animal Spirits." Vanity Fair. (1860-10-20).
Anonymous. "Prince of Walesiana." Vanity Fair. (1860-10-20).
Anonymous. "To Garibaldi." Vanity Fair. (1860-10-20).
Anonymous. "The Country Editor's Campaign Punster." Vanity Fair. (1860-10-20).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-10-20).
Page, William. "The Italian Schools of Painting [from the Independent]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-10-27).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-10-27).
Stoddard, R. H.. "Before the Grave of Washington [from Vanity Fair]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-10-27).
Anonymous. "Nothing Like Experience." Vanity Fair. (1860-10-27).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-10-27).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-10-27).
Ruskin, John. "Ruskin on Money-Getting." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-10-27).
Anonymous. "The Chronicles of Mannahatta." Vanity Fair. (1860-10-27).
"To The Brigadier." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-10-27).
"The Prince at Harvard." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-10-27).
Anonymous. "A "Love of an Exotic!"." Vanity Fair. (1860-10-27).
"The Art of Biography." New -York Saturday Press. (1860-10-27).
S.. "Chapeau Bas!." Vanity Fair. (1860-10-27).
Anonymous. "Pretty Far Gone." Vanity Fair. (1860-10-27).
"Victoria." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-10-27).
Browning, Elizabeth Barrett. "A Forced Recruit at Solferino[From the Cornhill Magazine]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-10-27).
O'Brien, Fitz-James. "A Fallen Star [From Harper's Monthly Magazine]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-10-27).
Henry, James M. D.. "The Hall of Bittersweet." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-10-27).
Anonymous. "Our College Department." Vanity Fair. (1860-10-27).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-10-27).
JHG. "The Prince in New York." Vanity Fair. (1860-10-27).
Anonymous. "Our Instinct Still at the Top of the Heap." Vanity Fair. (1860-10-27).
Stephens. ""Sich a Gittin up Stairs"." Vanity Fair. (1860-10-27).
Anonymous. "Another Shot Round the Corner." Vanity Fair. (1860-10-27).
Gardette, Charles D.. "The Secret of the Aspen." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-10-27).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-10-27).
Jerseyman; S(?). "Jersey on Barnum." Vanity Fair. (1860-10-27).
"A Transcendental Tailor [from the London Saturday Review]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-10-27).
"The Moral History of Women." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-10-27).
Anonymous. "The Sophomore's First "Tile" / The Sophomore's First "Salute!"." Vanity Fair. (1860-10-27).
Clare, Ada. "Thoughts and Things." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-10-27).
Anonymous. "A Signal Triumph." Vanity Fair. (1860-10-27).
"[Editorial Comments]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-10-27).
"A Caution to Grocers." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-10-27).
"The Siffleurs in Paris." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-10-27).
Sigma. "Bachelors [from the Boston Evening Transcript]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-10-27).
Anonymous. "Our Great Contributor." Vanity Fair. (1860-10-27).
Anonymous. "Vanity Among the Prophets." Vanity Fair. (1860-10-27).
D'Vyetot, Le Roy. "Mutton Baths." Vanity Fair. (1860-10-27).
Anonymous. "Adornment." Vanity Fair. (1860-10-27).
Aldrich, Thomas Bailey. "Lamia." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-10-27).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-10-27).
Nevron. "From Peoria." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-10-27).
CDS. "The Lay of a Lover." Vanity Fair. (1860-10-27).
"A Gush from Brady." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-10-27).
"Figure Heads." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-10-27).
Anonymous. "Diablerie vs. Philosophers." Vanity Fair. (1860-10-27).
Gurowski [de Gurowski, Adam Count]. "Minor Experiences in America X." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-10-27).
"The First Chess Player." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-10-27).
"Shaksperian [sic] Literature [From The New York Tribune]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-10-27).
Ludlow, Fitz Hugh. "My Velvet Shoes." Harper's New Monthly Magazine. New York: Harper and Bros. (1860-11-1).
Emerson, Ralph Waldo. "Expression." The Atlantic Monthly. Boston: Atlantic Monthly Co. (1860-11-1).
De Oddfish, C.. "The Last Fashion." Vanity Fair. (1860-11-3).
One of the People; Mullen (?). "Stupendous Extravagance." Vanity Fair. (1860-11-3).
Anonymous. "Our Last Great Romance." Vanity Fair. (1860-11-3).
Anonymous. "Letters to General Charles W. Sandford." Vanity Fair. (1860-11-3).
Macfaden, Clementia. "From Our Beautiful Contributor." Vanity Fair. (1860-11-3).
Goater, H.. "Sentiment Nowhere!." Vanity Fair. (1860-11-3).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-11-3).
Anonymous. "Bennett on Poetry." Vanity Fair. (1860-11-3).
Anonymous. "Brief Biographies." Vanity Fair. (1860-11-3).
Anonymous. "Police Intelligence." Vanity Fair. (1860-11-3).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-11-3).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-11-3).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-11-3).
Anonymous. "Our College Department." Vanity Fair. (1860-11-3).
Anonymous. "Aggravation in Affliction." Vanity Fair. (1860-11-3).
Mullen. "Laye of Ye Brutalle Bookbinder." Vanity Fair. (1860-11-3).
Stephens. "Wonderful Surgical Operation." Vanity Fair. (1860-11-3).
Terrified. "Gerard." Vanity Fair. (1860-11-3).
Anonymous. "Our Harp "Discounted"." Vanity Fair. (1860-11-3).
Anonymous. "Drawing It Mild." Vanity Fair. (1860-11-3).
Anonymous. "A Pugilist to a Prophet." Vanity Fair. (1860-11-3).
Anonymous. "Irish News." Vanity Fair. (1860-11-3).
Anonymous. "Purely Pre-Raphælite." Vanity Fair. (1860-11-3).
Anonymous. "[Untitled]." Vanity Fair. (1860-11-3).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-11-10).
Petra. "Ul-Tre-Montani." Vanity Fair. (1860-11-10).
Ward, Artemus; HLS. "Artemus Ward Visits Brigham Young." Vanity Fair. (1860-11-10).
Anonymous. "Hurrah Boys!." Vanity Fair. (1860-11-10).
"The Queen of Bohemia [From the Philadelphia Dispatch]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-11-10).
"Loving Criticism [from the London Saturday Review]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-11-10).
Anonymous. "Letter from Vanity Fair to Lord Palmerston." Vanity Fair. (1860-11-10).
"The Families of Bonaparte and Garibaldi." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-11-10).
"Education." The New York Saturday Press. (1860-11-10).
Quelqu'un [Winter, William]. "Dramatic Feuilleton." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-11-10).
CDS. "Up to the Time of Day." Vanity Fair. (1860-11-10).