William Cullen Bryant: Author of America [Hardcover]

Gilbert H. Muller (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 15, 2008

A biography of one of nineteenth-century America's foremost poets and public intellectuals.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

*Starred Review* English majors may recall Bryant (1794–1878) as the first American poet to achieve international renown, whose “Thanatopsis” still crops up in American lit surveys. But it’s doubtful they know that he was probably the most famous American during most of his lifetime and for half a century edited the foremost liberal newspaper in America, the New York Evening Post. Muller, a professor who writes like a good old-school journalist (plain, no spin), reacquaints us with this modest molder of his epoch, whose devotion to poetry didn’t obviate deep involvement with the great issues of his time: the Bank of the United States and tariff conflicts, the Mexican War, and especially slavery and secession. On those and others matters, Bryant, a staunch Jacksonian Democrat, stood firmly with the ordinary citizen. That stance eventually compelled him to leave the Democracy, help found the Republican Party, and boost the career of Abraham Lincoln. On the municipal front, Bryant led the efforts that eventuated in Central Park and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Somehow, he kept writing excellent verse and became an ardent traveler. Muller’s absorbing, frequently astonishing biography forcefully reaffirms Bryant’s place in the pantheon of great Americans. --Ray Olson

From the Back Cover

Proclaimed by James Fenimore Cooper to be "the author of America," William Cullen Bryant (1794-1878) was one of nineteenth-century America's foremost poets and public intellectuals. In this, the first major biography of Bryant in almost forty years, Gilbert H. Muller reintroduces a quintessential New Yorker who commanded the nation's literary, cultural, urban, and political life for more than half a century.

A transplanted Yankee, Bryant arrived on the unpaved streets of Manhattan in the early 1820s and he would soon find himself at the locus of the many political and cultural transformations sweeping Manhattan and the nation. The bedrock of Bryant's cultural authority was his reputation as "America's first poet," and he enthralled a nation and his peers--including Whitman, Poe, Longfellow, and Emerson--who praised the excellence of his verse. A literary celebrity for almost seventy years, Bryant served as the editor of the New-York Evening Post for five decades, and was a major force behind the establishment of Central Park, the National Academy of Design, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, among others. Drawing on previously unavailable letters and nineteenth-century files of the New-York Evening Post, Muller creates a humanistic portrait of New York City's "first citizen," establishes him as a first-rate poet, and makes a convincing case for Bryant's role in defining the idea of democratic culture in America.

"What a remarkable life, and what a remarkable book! William Cullen Bryant's life stretched from the beginnings of the Republic to the late nineteenth century, and, along the way, he helped shape how we think about our nation and ourselves. His influence is with us still, in his poetry, his journalism, and his abiding faith in the American spirit. Gilbert Muller reminds us of a time when language and words mattered, when a poet and newspaper editor wielded real power and influence. In doing so, Muller introduces us to Bryant's extraordinary friends and admirers: James Fenimore Cooper, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Catharine Sedgewick, Charles Dickens, and many others. This book is a wonderful work of history and biography." -- Terry Golway, author of Washington's General: Nathanael Greene and the Triumph of the American Revolution

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 410 pages
• Publisher: State University of New York Press (May 15, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0791474674
• ISBN-13: 978-0791474679
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,471,827 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fabulous book, March 3, 2010

By 

Barbara J. Morford (Greensburg PA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: William Cullen Bryant: Author of America (Hardcover)

If you like history, biography and poetry you will love this well written book. Even if you think you don't like poetry, you will be surprised. It captures the 19th century first, in the Berkshires, MA and then in NYC. His life is captivating, charming and he's very influential during his life time. The poetry is presented so pleasurably by telling you where, why and how he wrote it. This was a book I hated to have come to an end.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "William Cullen Bryant: Author of America", September 8, 2008

By 

Barbara And Byron Skinner - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: William Cullen Bryant: Author of America (Hardcover)

A well writen comibation biography/history. For those whom Bryant is an unknown he was an early to mid 19th. Century American Poet/Newspaper Owner/Editorial Writer. Prof. Muller combines these two side of Bryants live very well in his narrative. Bryant was a Northern Democrat who dealth with the changing opinion on slavery during this volital period. This personal transformation and him still remaining a loyal Democrat till 1860 is a remarkable story.

The only fault I can find with this book is that the author incorporates Bryants poetry into the narrative, I would have perfered that he added them to the end of each chapter and not break up his narrative. Other then that minor complaint this is over all and excellent book.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars biography as it should be written, June 17, 2010

By 

Schmerguls "schmerguls" (Sioux City, Ia USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: William Cullen Bryant: Author of America (Hardcover)

Because I have long been enamored by Bryant's poem "I Cannot Forget
With What Fervent Devotion" I decided to read this 2008 biography. It is written in chronological order, covering well all the events in Bryant's busy life, from his birth on 3 Nov 1794 in a log cabin two miles from Cummington, MA to his death on 12 June 1878 at his home at 24 W. 16th St in New York City. It discusses his poems as he wrote them and tells of his busy life as editor of the New York Post, his travels all over the world, his role in the nation's history during his time as editor, and the respect in which he was held as he grew to hold his positon as America's greatest poet. When I finished the book I had a good feeling that I had learned what one should know about the man. My only regret about the book is that it does not mention the poem which I memorized over 60 years ago, which poem includes this felicitous stanza:

'Mong the deep-cloven fells that for ages had listened
To the rush of the pebble-paved river between,
Where the kingfisher screamed and gray precipice glistened,
All breathless with awe have I gazed on the scene;