tag="{http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml}a">[8] whereas single idyls had been translated for the magazines in 1774, 1775, 1792, 1795, 1798, 1799, two in 1793, three in 1796 and five in 1801. Similarly, the first American imprint of M. G. Lewis' Tales of Wonder was issued in New York in 1801, while five selections in it had already appeared in the Weekly Mag., 1798-9, Phila.[9] In addition to these there were found in the American magazines before 1811, ten translations from Bürger, eight from Gellert, five from Lessing, four from Haller, three from Goethe, two each from Jacobi, Klopstock, Matthisson and Schickaneder, and one each from "Adelio," Bürde, Kotzebue, Patzke, "Sheller," and "Van Vander Horderclogeth," together with several translations, for which the name of the original author was not given. None of these were printed in book form before 1826.[10]

The first translations of German poetry printed in America are to be sought, therefore, in the magazines and it was here also that the public received its first information about the lives of the German literati. It is the object of the present study to consider the German influence in the early American periodicals, treating especially the translations of German poetry published in them.[11] Together with these are to be found in Part III translations from the other Teutonic literatures more or less closely connected with the German, namely, translations of Dutch, Danish, Norwegian and Icelandic poetry, and also original poems on German literature, history, biography, etc.,—for example, Ode on the late Victory obtained by the King of Prussia, Charlotte's Soliloquy—to the Manes of Werter, and Burlesque on the Style, in which most of the German romantic Ballads are written. To this has been added a list of translations of German prose, and a list of original articles on Germany, etc., so that a complete estimate of the German influence in these magazines can thus be obtained.

The scope of the present work comprises the American magazines published before 1811. By the term "American magazines" is meant all magazines published in English, whether in the United States or Canada. Periodicals in German, Spanish, French or other foreign languages have been excluded. In as much as the study is primarily concerned with literature it has been necessary, on account of the great scope of the subject, to omit publications of a non-literary type, e. g., newspapers, gazettes, periodicals dealing solely with history, religious magazines, almanacs, etc. This method of exclusion is not an easy one, for during the period under discussion the magazine and the newspaper approached each other, the former printed news and the latter gave specimens of literature, usually short poems. It happened sometimes that a translation which appeared in a magazine had been printed first in a newspaper. For example, The Name Unknown, "Imitated from Klopstock's ode to his future mistress. By Thomas Campbell," is to be found in the Newport Mercury, 1803, Newport, just three years before it was printed in The Evening Fireside, II-165, Phila. This illustrates the importance of the newspaper in this connection, especially since the latter contained also numerous paragraphs on things German, but it is a field for separate investigation and in this connection must take second place as compared with the literary periodicals.

Similarly the religious magazines often contain poems relative to our subject, so that it has been necessary to include some of these publications. Thus, the Boston Observer and Religious Intelligencer, I-152, 1835, Boston, contains the poem Trust in God, "Translated from the German," whereas others indicate on their title page their dual character, e. g., The Literary and Theological Review, 1834-39, N. Y., The Monthly Miscellany of Religion and Letters, 1839, etc., Boston, and The Monthly Mag. of Religion and Literature, 1840, Gettysburg. Most of the religious magazines, however, belong to the period after 1810.

Lastly, even some of the almanacs come almost within the range of the present discussion, for the earlier ones have poems[12] and interesting information, and were carefully read by the general public. Most of these had their vogue before the literary magazine became prominent and therefore represent a period before the German literary influence had made itself felt. Of those that were examined, none contained material to warrant their inclusion in the list given in Part V.

Whenever periodicals were found to be of the types just mentioned, they were omitted from further consideration. There are two other kinds of publications, however, that have been included in the present investigation. The first is the English magazine reprinted in this country. Since it is impossible to exclude all translations in American magazines made by Englishmen—as will be shown later on—it has been found practical to take, as the basis of selection, all periodicals actually published on this side of the Atlantic. The only examples of this class that fall within our period are The Mirror, I-II, 1803, Phila.—a reprint of a magazine of the same name, that appeared in Edinburgh, 1779-1780, The Connoisseur, I-IV, 1803, Phila. (London, 1755) and The Quarterly Review, I-IV, printed in London and reprinted in New York, 1810. In some instances the material in the American edition differs from that of the English, so that it is quite necessary to include this class of periodicals.

The other type of publications, alluded to, is the miscellany. It contained poems, prose selections and articles on a wide range of subjects. It differed from the magazine simply in one respect, namely, that it was issued with less regularity. It offers, however, valuable additions to the present collection.[13] Thus, even by omitting all irrelevant publications, the field is a broad one and rich in important material.

In any investigation of the early American magazines the difficulty of locating copies is apparent. The editions of many of these periodicals were small, especially if issued from the less important literary centers; so that now, after the lapse of a hundred years, their volumes are extremely hard to trace. Another fact that aided in the disappearance of these publications was their short existence. If a periodical, like the American Museum or the Port Folio, ran for a number of years, it became well known and its volumes were carefully preserved. The libraries attempted to get complete sets and thus the magazine was made accessible for future generations. A large number of these magazines, however, had a precarious existence for a year or more, and then were discontinued for lack of support. Indeed, the many failures among these literary ventures cause one to wonder why others were undertaken, and yet year after year new magazines were launched on the market with