The most destructive book-review written by an American
The cyclopedia of American literature by Evart A. Duyckinck and George L. Duyckinck. A Review
New York: Baker & Godwin, 1856. Originally published in the New York Herald Feb 13, 1856, and republished as a separate pamphlet "in a form suitable for binding with the work reviewed"; 8vo, pp. 32, removed from binding, wrappers wanting; light foxing, very good. Griswold was a champion of American literature and the executor of Edgar Allan Poe's literary estate. Evart A. Duyckinck was one of many nemeses of his, and the two had already traded multiple blows in print by the time The Cyclopedia of American literature had been published. In the DAB this review is noted as "perhaps, the most destructive book-review written by an American." In it, Griswold takes aim at the derivative nature of its contents, the poorly written prose, a lack of organization, and a selection process which appeared to depend entirely on what secondary sources were close at hand. The review ends, "The 'Cyclopedia of American Literature' ostentatiously claims recognition as a national work of the highest importance; we have deemed it neither inexpedient nor uninteresting to exhibit, in a necessarily extremely hurried reviewal, a few specimens of its quality. These speak for themselves." BAL 6704. Item #55014
Price: $250.00
