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.

"[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).
Ward, Paul. "Sir Isaac Newton's Tobacco-Stopper." New York Saturday Press. (1860-1-17).
Anonymous. "A Day in the House." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-21).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-21).
Warren. "A Rather Cool Time." New York Saturday Press. (1860-1-21).
Anonymous. "Mr. Raymond as a Comic Speaker." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-21).
"Shopping: A Domestic Comedy." New York Saturday Press. (1860-1-21).
Saerasmid. "Yours and Mine, and Any-Day, A Yawp after Walt Whitman." New York Saturday Press. (1860-1-21).
[Clapp, Henry Jr. and Robert W. Pearsall]. "Waifs from Washington VII. Typ-orthography." New York Saturday Press. (1860-1-21).
Benjamin, Eastburn. "A Voice from the Lost." New York Saturday Press. (1860-1-21).
Anonymous. "Insanitary." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-21).
Stephens. "Substance and Shadow (illustration)." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-21).
Howells, W. D.. "The Doubt [from "Poems of Two Friends"]." New York Saturday Press. (1860-1-21).
A Patron. "Necessary Qualifications of a Conductor on a City Railroad Car." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-21).
HLS. "A Lusus Naturæ." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-21).
Anonymous. "Jonathan on Clerks and Clerkin'." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-21).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-21).
Bellew. "The Building of Pemberton Mills." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-21).
ES (?). "The Hunt of the Rounding Rabbit." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-21).
Anonymous. "Cabalistic." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-21).
Anonymous. "Feminine Fistiana." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-21).
Watson, John W.. "All About Drummers." New York Saturday Press. (1860-1-21).
Anonymous. "Rats." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-21).
D. D.. "The Result." New York Saturday Press. (1860-1-21).
S. "Naked Art." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-21).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-21).
"Aesop Altered to Suit the Times (The Man with Two Wives)." New York Saturday Press. (1860-1-21).
Clare, Ada. "Thoughts and Things." New York Saturday Press. (1860-1-21).
Gill, Alice. "The House." New York Saturday Press. (1860-1-21).
Anonymous. "The Greatest Plague in Life (illustration)." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-21).
Anonymous. "Homespun Humbug." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-21).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-21).
Anonymous. "Sic Transit Gloria Mundi." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-21).
Anonymous. "Something New." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-21).
Anonymous. "Letter to King James, of America from King Queguza of Africa." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-21).
Hayne, Paul H.. "Love and Loss." New York Saturday Press. (1860-1-21).
Anonymous. "Description Extraordinary." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-21).
"Washington Irving's Religion." New York Saturday Press. (1860-1-21).
S. "Jewish Persuasion (illustration)." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-21).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-21).
R. W. P.. "Leaves from Nature IV." New York Saturday Press. (1860-1-21).
Personne [Wilkins, Edward G. P.]. "Dramatic Feuilleton (The Circus from the Coulisses)." New York Saturday Press. (1860-1-21).
Anonymous. "A Voice from Cow-Bay." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-21).
"The Death of Lord Macualay [from the N. Y. Herald]." New York Saturday Press. (1860-1-21).
HLS. "[Untitled]." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-21).
Anonymous. "Poor Fellow." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-21).
Anonymous. "Pemberton Mills." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-21).
Anonymous. "Nursery Rhymes for Factory Stockholders." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-21).
Personne [Wilkins, Edward G. P.]. "Dramatic Feuilleton." New York Saturday Press. (1860-1-28).
"Dickens and Leigh Hunt." New York Saturday Press. (1860-1-28).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-28).
Anonymous. "Police Civilities." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-28).
O'Brien, Fitz-James. "Shakspeare [sic] for the Counter Jumper." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-28).
Anonymous. "The Lay of the Omnibus Horse." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-28).
Anonymous. "Science in Cow Bay." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-28).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-28).
Anonymous. "A Wendell Phillippic." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-28).
Anonymous. "Latest from Washington." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-28).
Tennyson, Alfred. "Sea-Dreams. An Idyll [from Macmillan's Magazine]." New York Saturday Press. (1860-1-28).
HLS. "L. N. As the Noble Wamponoag." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-28).
"A Wife." New York Saturday Press. (1860-1-28).
[Clapp, Henry Jr. and Robert W. Pearsall]. "Waifs from Washington VIII. The Premier." New York Saturday Press. (1860-1-28).
R. W. P.. "Leaves from Nature V." New York Saturday Press. (1860-1-28).
Whitman, Walt. "Poemet." New York Saturday Press. (1860-1-28).
Anonymous. "The Great National Circus." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-28).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-28).
Anonymous. "The Sybarites of the Shop." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-28).
Anonymous. "Worship in Washington." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-28).
Anonymous. "A Poet's Lines Fallen in Pleasant Places." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-28).
Anonymous. "Not Obvious." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-28).
HLS. "Advice to Green Skaters." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-28).
Winter, William. "Caprices." New York Saturday Press. (1860-1-28).
HLS. "Independence." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-28).
"The Ghost's Night Cap [from Once a Week]." New York Saturday Press. (1860-1-28).
Clare, Ada. "Thoughts and Things." New York Saturday Press. (1860-1-28).
"Raphael's Cartoons." New York Saturday Press. (1860-1-28).
NT (?). "Death, the Builder." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-28).
Wevill, Sr (?). "The Two Homes (illustration)." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-28).
Anonymous. "The Fight That Didn't Come Off." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-28).
Anonymous. "All Full." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-28).
Anonymous. "The House that Bigelow Built." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-28).
Anonymous. "Financial Review." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-28).
Anonymous. "To the Pew-Owners All Things Should be Pure." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-28).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-28).
HLS. "How It Operates." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-28).
"Poems of Two Friends." New York Saturday Press. (1860-1-28).
HLS. "How Our National Meerschaum Has Colored." Vanity Fair. (1860-1-28).
[Clapp, Henry Jr. and Robert W. Pearsall]. "Views." New York Saturday Press. (1860-1-28).
Ludlow, Fitz Hugh. "Little Brother In Three Parts--I. A Boy Too Much." Harper's New Monthly Magazine. New York: Harper and Bros. (1860-2-1).
O'Brien, Fitz-James. "Mother of Pearl." Harper's New Monthly Magazine. New York: Harper and Bros. (1860-2-1).
HLS. "Overpowered by His Memories." Vanity Fair. (1860-2-4).
Anonymous. "The Peace Congress Conducted on American Principles." Vanity Fair. (1860-2-4).
Anonymous. "Lord Love Ye All." Vanity Fair. (1860-2-4).
Anonymous. "Anti-Police-Politeness Pledge." Vanity Fair. (1860-2-4).
Anonymous. "Economical Starvation." Vanity Fair. (1860-2-4).
Anonymous. "The Noble Art of Flinging Filth." Vanity Fair. (1860-2-4).
Anonymous. "Catching a Goose." Vanity Fair. (1860-2-4).
Anonymous. "Mummery." Vanity Fair. (1860-2-4).
HLS. "Sternutographics, A Poib, With Catarrhal Accompaniments." Vanity Fair. (1860-2-4).
Anonymous. "Disorganization Versus Honor. A Congressional Comedy." Vanity Fair. (1860-2-4).
HLS. "Interewesting--Vewy." Vanity Fair. (1860-2-4).
Anonymous. "The New Comedy at the City Hall." Vanity Fair. (1860-2-4).
Anonymous. "Your Aunt or Your Uncle." Vanity Fair. (1860-2-4).
EB. "Mr. S. W. D.-Look here, Miss Sherman, you've rather too much crinoline (illustration)." Vanity Fair. (1860-2-4).
Anonymous. "The Puff Electrical." Vanity Fair. (1860-2-4).
Anonymous. "Sign of Opulence." Vanity Fair. (1860-2-4).
Anonymous. "No One to Blame." Vanity Fair. (1860-2-4).
Anonymous. "The Councilman of Manhattan." Vanity Fair. (1860-2-4).
Anonymous. "New Guide to the Central Park." Vanity Fair. (1860-2-4).
Bellew. "Jonathan on Biddies." Vanity Fair. (1860-2-4).
HLS. "The Comet of 1860." Vanity Fair. (1860-2-4).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-2-4).
HLS. "[Untitled]." Vanity Fair. (1860-2-4).
Anonymous. "An Evangelical Sharp-Shooter." Vanity Fair. (1860-2-4).
Anonymous. "Hazlitt in the Descendant." Vanity Fair. (1860-2-4).
SOL. "The Song of the Shirtless." Vanity Fair. (1860-2-4).
Anonymous. "Consoling." Vanity Fair. (1860-2-4).
Anonymous. "A Tupper for the B'Hoys." Vanity Fair. (1860-2-4).
Anonymous. "Adding Insult to Injury (illustration)." Vanity Fair. (1860-2-4).
Anonymous. "The Congressional Aid Society." Vanity Fair. (1860-2-4).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-2-4).
E. W.. "Death of Burton." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-2-11).
Anonymous. "To Gentlemen of Elegant Leisure." Vanity Fair. (1860-2-11).
"The Great Oyster Artist." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-2-11).
HLS. "Ha!." Vanity Fair. (1860-2-11).
Anonymous. "Our Political Snake-Chamber (illustration)." Vanity Fair. (1860-2-11).
Whitman, Walt. "Leaves." New York Saturday Press. (1860-2-11).
Anonymous. "A Sin of Omission or of Commission." Vanity Fair. (1860-2-11).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-2-11).
Anonymous. "The Queen's English by the Queen's Editor." Vanity Fair. (1860-2-11).
M. "A Batch of Valentines." Vanity Fair. (1860-2-11).
Anonymous. "A Hint from Greeley." Vanity Fair. (1860-2-11).
"Shelley's Separation from His Wife [Fraser's Magazine]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-2-11).
Anonymous. "Put Him Out." Vanity Fair. (1860-2-11).
Howells, W. D.. "The Bobolinks are Singing [for the Saturday Press]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-2-11).
Kingsley, Charles. "The Last Buccaneer." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-2-11).
House, E. H.. "St. Valentine Victorious [for the Saturday Press]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-2-11).
Anonymous. "[Untitled]." Vanity Fair. (1860-2-11).
Brough, Robert B.. "Dr. Johnson: A Fairy Tale [from the Welcome Guest]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-2-11).
Anonymous. "Room Wanted for a Gentleman." Vanity Fair. (1860-2-11).
"Negro Firemen." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-2-11).
HLS. "So Annoying!." Vanity Fair. (1860-2-11).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-2-11).
Anonymous. "The Non-Intercourse Dodge." Vanity Fair. (1860-2-11).
Saerasmid. "Poemet [after Walt Whitman]." New York Saturday Press. (1860-2-11).
M. "Hern and There, Opening Andante." Vanity Fair. (1860-2-11).
Anonymous. "The School-Master vs. the Post-Ditto." Vanity Fair. (1860-2-11).
Anonymous. "Heartrending Occurrence at the Free Academy." Vanity Fair. (1860-2-11).
Anonymous. "The Epicure's Lament." Vanity Fair. (1860-2-11).
"Getting the Pony Shod. And What Came of it." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-2-11).
Clare, Ada. "Thoughts and Things." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-2-11).
"What a Newspaper is, and is not [from Harper's Weekly]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-2-11).
"Fanny." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-2-11).
Personne [Wilkins, Edward G. P.]. "Dramatic Feuilleton." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-2-11).
Anonymous. "The Result of the Mud in the Streets." Vanity Fair. (1860-2-11).
R. W. P.. "The Child's First Lesson: A Shooting Star [for the Saturday Press]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-2-11).
Anonymous. "Live and Learn." Vanity Fair. (1860-2-11).
Anonymous. "Lines to Zoyora." Vanity Fair. (1860-2-11).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-2-11).
Anonymous. "Ourselves as Seen in a Mike-Roscope." Vanity Fair. (1860-2-11).
[Triangle] [Bellew, Frank]. "An Overworked Class." Vanity Fair. (1860-2-11).
Anonymous. "A Brand Plucked from the Burning." Vanity Fair. (1860-2-11).
Busybody. "From the House of Representatives." Vanity Fair. (1860-2-11).
Winter, William. "Caprices [for the Saturday Press]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-2-11).
Pendennis. "The Town." Vanity Fair. (1860-2-11).
Anonymous. "The Last Boston Excitement." Vanity Fair. (1860-2-11).
Gardette, Charles D.. "Golgotha: A Phantasm. [After Poe] [for the Saturday Press]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-2-11).
R. W. P.. "Pickings [for the Saturday Press]." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-2-11).
R. W. P.. "Leaves from Nature VII." New-York Saturday Press. (1860-2-11).
Anonymous. "Latest from Polygamutah." Vanity Fair. (1860-2-11).
Campbell, Lizzie. "The Oasis in the Desert." New York Saturday Press. (1860-2-14).
Farmenter, Frederick A.. "The Death Watch." New York Saturday Press. (1860-2-14).
[Clapp, Henry Jr. and Robert W. Pearsall]. "Luxury." New York Saturday Press. (1860-2-14).
Personne [Wilkins, Edward G. P.]. "Dramatic Feuilleton." New York Saturday Press. (1860-2-14).
Thornbury, Walter. "Cigar Making in Seville [from Life in Spain Past and Present]." New York Saturday Press. (1860-2-14).
D. D.. "Epithalamium." New York Saturday Press. (1860-2-14).
Arnold, George. "Gone." New York Saturday Press. (1860-2-14).
"American Antiquarian Society." New York Saturday Press. (1860-2-14).
"A Dictionary of the English Language, by Joseph F. Worcester." New York Saturday Press. (1860-2-14).
[Clapp, Henry Jr. and Robert W. Pearsall]. "The Fine Arts. A Reception." New York Saturday Press. (1860-2-14).
R. W. P.. "Leaves from Nature VI." New York Saturday Press. (1860-2-14).
Stedman, Edmund Clarence. "The Sleigh-Ride." New York Saturday Press. (1860-2-14).
"Hoops [from the London Court Journal]." New York Saturday Press. (1860-2-14).
Whitman, Walt. "Poemet." New York Saturday Press. (1860-2-14).
Gardette, Charles D.. "From Alpha to Omega." New York Saturday Press. (1860-2-14).
"Life in Spain." New York Saturday Press. (1860-2-14).
D. D.. "A Decade." New York Saturday Press. (1860-2-14).
[Clapp, Henry Jr. and Robert W. Pearsall]. "Waifs from Washington IX. Highly Important." New York Saturday Press. (1860-2-14).
Winter, William. "The Empty Flask." New York Saturday Press. (1860-2-14).
O'Brien, Fitz-James. "Natural History." Vanity Fair. (1860-2-14).
"Macaulay." New York Saturday Press. (1860-2-14).
"The Democrat's Address to Douglas [Stolen from Miss Muloch]." New York Saturday Press. (1860-2-14).
Anonymous. "A Little Lesson from Jimmy Buchanan." Vanity Fair. (1860-2-18).
Anonymous. "Hint to Biographers." Vanity Fair. (1860-2-18).
Anonymous. "[Editorial Notes]." Vanity Fair. (1860-2-18).