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.

"Literary Intelligence." New York Saturday Press. (1859-12-13).
Clare, Ada. "Thoughts and Things." New York Saturday Press. (1859-12-13).
[Clapp, Henry Jr.]. "[Bon Mots]." New York Saturday Press. (1859-12-13).
"[Notices]." New York Saturday Press. (1859-12-13).
Goodhart, C. W.. "Fairy May." New York Saturday Press. (1859-12-13).
Winter, William. "Kind Words: An Epithalamium." New York Saturday Press. (1859-12-13).
Gill, Alice. "No One Stops to Ask Me Why? [for the Saturday Press]." New-York Saturday Press. (1859-12-13).
"A Little Patti Leavens the Whole Operatic Lump [from the N.Y. Herald]." New York Saturday Press. (1859-12-13).
"Death of Washington Irving." New York Saturday Press. (1859-12-13).
H. C. Jr. [Clapp, Henry Jr.]. "Adelina Patti." New York Saturday Press. (1859-12-13).
"[Notices]." New York Saturday Press. (1859-12-13).
"Literary Notes." New York Saturday Press. (1859-12-13).
Greenwood, Frederick. "The Provocations of a Protege." New York Saturday Press. (1859-12-13).
Antaeus. "From the Woods." New York Saturday Press. (1859-12-17).
Clapp, Henry Jr.. "Union-Savers." New York Saturday Press. (1859-12-17).
The Rural Gleaner. "Art Out of Town." New York Saturday Press. (1859-12-17).
Personne [Wilkins, Edward G. P.]. "Dramatic Feuilleton." New York Saturday Press. (1859-12-17).
"Forrest Against Forrest." New York Saturday Press. (1859-12-17).
"The Saturday Press Book-List." New York Saturday Press. (1859-12-17).
Banks, A. F.. "A British-ism." New York Saturday Press. (1859-12-17).
Langley, S.. "Where? There, and Thereafter! [from Once a Week]." New York Saturday Press. (1859-12-17).
Arnold, George. "Requiescam." New York Saturday Press. (1859-12-17).
Clapp, Henry Jr.. "'Vanity Fair'." New York Saturday Press. (1859-12-17).
Clare, Ada. "Thoughts and Things VIII." New York Saturday Press. (1859-12-17).
Bourcicault [sic], Agnes Robertson. "Letter from Mrs. Agnes Robertson Bourcicault [sic]." New York Saturday Press. (1859-12-17).
Bradley, A. C.. "The Forrest Divorce Case: Final Report of the Referee in Favor of Mrs. Forrest." New York Saturday Press. (1859-12-17).
[Clapp, Henry Jr.]. "[Bon Mots]." New York Saturday Press. (1859-12-17).
"[Notices]." New York Saturday Press. (1859-12-17).
Gardette, Charles D.. "How Winter Cometh to Palace and Hovel." New York Saturday Press. (1859-12-17).
"[Notices]." New York Saturday Press. (1859-12-17).
Clapp, Henry Jr.. "Waifs from Washington." New York Saturday Press. (1859-12-17).
"[Notices]." New York Saturday Press. (1859-12-17).
Macdonough, August R.. "On Dit." New York Saturday Press. (1859-12-17).
Flash, H. L.. "The Gospel of Beauty." New York Saturday Press. (1859-12-17).
Vorce, Allen D.. "Maud Mae." New York Saturday Press. (1859-12-17).
Shepherd, N. G.. "Bygones." New York Saturday Press. (1859-12-17).
Smith, William. "A Poet's Memoranda [a chapter from Thorndale; or, the Conflict of Opinions]." New York Saturday Press. (1859-12-18).
Arnold, George. "A Bohemian Episode." Sunday Mercury. (1859-12-18).
[Clapp, Henry Jr.]. "Our Good Wishes." New-York Saturday Press. (1859-12-24).
Clare, Ada. "Thoughts and Things." New-York Saturday Press. (1859-12-24).
Aldrich, T. B.. "At the Cafe." New-York Saturday Press. (1859-12-24).
Whitman, Walt. "A Child's Reminiscence." New-York Saturday Press. (1859-12-24).
Gayler, Charles. "Christmas Eve." New-York Saturday Press. (1859-12-24).
"Vanities from 'Vanity Fair'." New-York Saturday Press. (1859-12-24).
[Clapp, Henry, Jr.]. "Walt Whitman's Poem." New-York Saturday Press. (1859-12-24).
Aldrich, T.B.. "The Love of a Puppet! : A Christmas Story." New-York Saturday Press. (1859-12-24).
Vorce, Allen D.. "Christmas." New-York Saturday Press. (1859-12-24).
W.. "Christmas [For the Saturday Press]." New-York Saturday Press. (1859-12-24).
Anonymous. "Dignity." Vanity Fair. (1859-12-31).
Watson, John W.. "A Story for New Year's Eve." New York Saturday Press. (1859-12-31).
Clapp, Henry Jr.. "Waifs from Washington." New York Saturday Press. (1859-12-31).
"[Mr. Buckle has nearly ready for publication the second volume of his valuable 'History of Civilization']." New York Saturday Press. (1859-12-31).
"[Notices]." New York Saturday Press. (1859-12-31).
"Ralph Waldo Emerson on Conversation." New York Saturday Press. (1859-12-31).
Anonymous. "The Gaieties of City Hall." Vanity Fair. (1859-12-31).
Shepherd, N. G.. "To the Water-Lily." New York Saturday Press. (1859-12-31).
W. A. S.. "W. I." Vanity Fair. (1859-12-31).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1859-12-31).
Andersen, Hans Christian. "It's All True." New York Saturday Press. (1859-12-31).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1859-12-31).
Pendennis. "The Town." Vanity Fair. (1859-12-31).
A Walking Gentleman; Anonymous. "A Few Outrages." Vanity Fair. (1859-12-31).
Anonymous. "Opened with Prayer." Vanity Fair. (1859-12-31).
Anonymous. "One Mr. Ward in China (illustration)." Vanity Fair. (1859-12-31).
Arnold, George. "New Year's Eve." New York Saturday Press. (1859-12-31).
Gay, Getty. "The Royal Bohemian Supper." New York Saturday Press. (1859-12-31).
Gardette, Charles D.. "The Man in the Blue Surtout [for the New York Saturday Press]." New-York Saturday Press. (1859-12-31).
Personne [Wilkins, Edward G. P.]. "Dramatic Feuilleton." New York Saturday Press. (1859-12-31).
Anonymous. "Reynard the Fox." Vanity Fair. (1859-12-31).
Desmarais, Charles. "The Feast Night of the Two Queens." New York Saturday Press. (1859-12-31).
Clare, Ada. "The Home-Made Shirt." Vanity Fair. New York. (1859-12-31).
Anonymous. "Imperial Collapse." Vanity Fair. (1859-12-31).
A. F. B.. "Gem-ini." New York Saturday Press. (1859-12-31).
Anonymous. "Politics." Vanity Fair. (1859-12-31).
A Jilted Man. "A Few Thoughts About Women." Vanity Fair. (1859-12-31).
R. W. P.. "Music: Not Man's, but Nature's Music." New York Saturday Press. (1859-12-31).
Anonymous. "The Webster Statue After a Design by Mr. Wendell Phillips." Vanity Fair. (1859-12-31).
Arnold, George. "Alone by the Hearth." New York Saturday Press. (1859-12-31).
Anonymous. "Preface." Vanity Fair. (1859-12-31).
FB. "[Untitled]." Vanity Fair. (1859-12-31).
Clapp, Henry Jr.. "By Order of the Emperor!." New York Saturday Press. (1859-12-31).
The Rural Gleaner. "Letter." New York Saturday Press. (1859-12-31).
G. A.; Anonymous. "The Modern Mithridates." Vanity Fair. (1859-12-31).
"[The Memphis Bulletin, referring to the paragraphs in many papers, some time since, to the effect that Charles Dickens had declined to visit the United States...]." New-York Saturday Press. (1859-12-31).
T.B.A. [Aldrich, Thomas Bailey]. "At the Cafe." Vanity Fair. (1859-12-31).
Howells, W. D.. "At the Circus." New York Saturday Press. (1859-12-31).
Anonymous. "A Capital Deficiency." Vanity Fair. (1859-12-31).
R. W. P.. "Leaves from Nature I." New York Saturday Press. (1859-12-31).
Anonymous. "The Piety of Holiday Gifts." Vanity Fair. (1859-12-31).
Percy, Florence. "How Strange." New York Saturday Press. (1859-12-31).
Anonymous. "The Tribune on Tombs." Vanity Fair. (1859-12-31).
Personne [Wilkins, Edward G. P.]. "Dramatic Feuilleton." The New-York Saturday Press. (1859-12-31).
Ludlow, Fitz Hugh. "The New Partner in 'Clingham & Co., Bankers.' multiple issues." Harper's Weekly. New York. (1860-1-1).
House, Edward H.. "How the Snow Melted on Mount Washington." Harper's New Monthly Magazine. New York: Harper and Bros. (1860-1-1).
Ludlow, Fitz Hugh. "Little Brother. In Three Parts--III. Just Enough of a Boy." Harper's New Monthly Magazine. New York: Harper and Bros. (1860-1-1).
Stoddard, R. H.. "The Poet's Secret." Harper's New Monthly Magazine. New York: Harper and Bros. (1860-1-1).
O'Brien, F. J.. "When I Came Back From Sea." Harper's New Monthly Magazine. New York: Harper and Bros. (1860-1-1).
EF Mullen, M. "Preface to Volume II." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-1).
Stoddard, Mrs. R. H.. "The Poet's Secret." Harper's New Monthly Magazine. New York: Harper and Bros. (1860-1-1).
Mullen and Wevill SC. "Index." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-1).
Anonymous. "Beware of Imitations." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-7).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-7).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-7).
Touchstone; Anonymous. "The Jester Touehstone." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-7).
Anonymous. "Song of the Locomotive." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-7).
Anonymous. "A Wise Suggestion." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-7).
J.B.. "The Message Made Easy." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-7).
FB. "Unaccountable Effect of New Year's Calls." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-7).
Anonymous. "Ye Laste Flippe-Flappe of Ye Noble Everette." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-7).
Anonymous. "Signs of the Times." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-7).
Anonymous. "The Bewildered Old Woman (illustration)." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-7).
A Horrid Man. "A Hearing for Both Sides." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-7).
Anonymous. "Government Advertising." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-7).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-7).
Anonymous. "Advice to the Members of the Present Congress." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-7).
Anonymous. "Stop Watch." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-7).
Anonymous. "British Straits and Irish Channels." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-7).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-7).
FB. "More Secession." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-7).
Anonymous. "The Extraordinary and Terrible Manner in Which the Southern Student Got His Back Up." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-7).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-7).
Winter, William. "Orgia: The Song of a Ruined Man." New York Saturday Press. (1860-1-7).
A Female Victim. "A Few Thoughts About Men." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-7).
Anonymous. "Too Little Murray and Too Much Miller." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-7).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-7).
Anonymous. "Spiritual and Spirituous." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-7).
Anonymous. "Provocations of the Promenade." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-7).
Anonymous. "Jonathan to Eugenie." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-7).
Anonymous. "Oh! Willie, We Have Missed You!." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-7).
Anonymous. "The Song of the Southern Sawbones." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-7).
FB. "Fiendish." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-7).
Anonymous. "L'Amour (After Michelet)." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-7).
Anonymous. "The Real Philosopher's Stone." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-7).
Saerasmid. "The Bottle Imps: A Domestic 'Manifestation'." New York Saturday Press. (1860-1-14).
"Fictitious Literature [from the Cincinnati Commercial]." New York Saturday Press. (1860-1-14).
[Clapp, Henry Jr. and Robert W. Pearsall]. "Waifs from Washington VI: The Setting of A Jewel." New York Saturday Press. (1860-1-14).
"Literary Notes." New York Saturday Press. (1860-1-14).
FB. "Prudence." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-14).
"Humbolt [from the Berlin correspondence of the Boston Congregationalist]." New York Saturday Press. (1860-1-14).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-14).
"Satirical Advertisement." New York Saturday Press. (1860-1-14).
Anonymous. "The Slave of the House." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-14).
Anonymous. "An Honorable Explanation." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-14).
Anonymous. "Merchantable Misses." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-14).
Anonymous. "Poor La-Mar." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-14).
Our Popular Poet; Anonymous. "E Pluribus Union." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-14).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-14).
Anonymous. "A Point Settled." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-14).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-14).
Whitman, Walt. "You and Me and To-day." New York Saturday Press. (1860-1-14).
HLS. "The Ups and Downs of Faro in Washington." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-14).
R. W. P.. "Leaves from Nature III." New York Saturday Press. (1860-1-14).
An Old Bachelor. "Kisses." New York Saturday Press. (1860-1-14).
"Father Pront's Inaugurative Ode to the Author of 'Vanity Fair' [from the first number of Thackeray's Cornhill Magazine]." New York Saturday Press. (1860-1-14).
Clare, Ada. "Thoughts and Things." New York Saturday Press. (1860-1-14).
"Thackeray's 'Cornhill Magazine'." New York Saturday Press. (1860-1-14).
FB. "The Acquisitive Boy (illustration)." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-14).
"Vanities from 'Vanity Fair'." New York Saturday Press. (1860-1-14).
Anonymous. "The Impending Crisis." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-14).
Anonymous. "Virtue Its Own Reward." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-14).
Anonymous. "Help! Help! Help!." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-14).
Anonymous. "Dana in For It." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-14).
Anonymous. "The Benicia Boy's Farewell." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-14).
Anonymous. "Opinions of the Press." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-14).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-14).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-14).
Umos. "Walt Whitman's Yawp." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-1-14).
Clare, Ada. "The Slave of the House." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-1-14).
Howells, W. D.. "Feuerbilder-Germanesque." New York Saturday Press. (1860-1-14).
"Alexander Dumas Jr. [from the Paris Correspondence of the N. Y. Express]." New York Saturday Press. (1860-1-14).
[Clapp, Henry Jr. and Robert W. Pearsall]. "All About Governors." New York Saturday Press. (1860-1-14).
Personne [Wilkins, Edward G. P.]. "Dramatic Feuilleton: Up with the Tartan!." New York Saturday Press. (1860-1-14).
Saxe, John G.. "A Reflective Retrospective." New York Saturday Press. (1860-1-14).
Anonymous. "Grog and Government." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-14).
"The Richest Woman in England Elopes with her Footman." New York Saturday Press. (1860-1-14).
Anonymous. "The Adventures of Adolphus and Amelia at Cental Park." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-14).
Anonymous. "Very Unjust." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-14).
Anonymous. "[Untitled]." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-14).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-14).
Anonymous. "[Untitled]." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-14).
Anonymous. "Hypnotism in the House." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-14).
Anonymous. "Jonathan's Idees." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-14).
Anonymous. "Our Candidate." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-14).
Clare, Ada. "Thoughts and Things." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-1-14).
All Right. "My Tailor and I in the Late Panic [original]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-1-14).
R. W. P.. "Leaves from Nature II." New York Saturday Press. (1860-1-17).
"Vanities from 'Vanity Fair'." New York Saturday Press. (1860-1-17).
Watters, A.. "The Diamond-Hunter. Inscribed to C. A." New York Saturday Press. (1860-1-17).
"The Celibacy of Irving [from the Boston Transcript]." New York Saturday Press. (1860-1-17).
[Clapp, Henry, Jr. and Robert W. Pearsall]. "The Court of Death." New York Saturday Press. (1860-1-17).
[Whitman, Walt]. "All About a Mocking-Bird." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-1-17).
Clare, Ada. "Thoughts and Things." New York Saturday Press. (1860-1-17).
House, E. H.. "The Standard of Defeat." New York Saturday Press. (1860-1-17).
"Ye Laste Flippe-Flappe of Ye Noble Everette [from Vanity Fair]." New York Saturday Press. (1860-1-17).
"[Notices]." New York Saturday Press. (1860-1-17).
Orthron. "The Quartette." New York Saturday Press. (1860-1-17).
Rich, Hiram. "Royal and Rustic." New York Saturday Press. (1860-1-17).
[Clapp, Henry, Jr. and Robert W. Pearsall]. "Lectures on India." New York Saturday Press. (1860-1-17).
D. D.. "The New-Born." New York Saturday Press. (1860-1-17).
Sperry, H. T.. "A Newport Memory: Wherein Ye Bardling Displayeth Ye Consistency of Ye Tender Passion." New York Saturday Press. (1860-1-17).