Munyon's Illustrated World and Munyon's Magazine

Very little is known about these periodicals, and we have been unable to locate any complete files. According to Frank L. Mott, J. M. Munyon established Munyon's Illustrated World in 1884 and changed the formal name to Munyon's: A Monthly Magazine sometime in 1887. The magazine ceased publication in 1894. Whitman mentions J.M. Munyon in his notebooks and refers occasionally to the magazine by its original title Munyon's Illustrated World. According to his notebooks, letters, and as listed in recent bibliographies, Whitman published a reprint of an earlier poem, "As the Greek's Signal Flame," in January 1888, a short essay, "The Human Voice" in October 1890, and a poem, "Osceola" in Munyon's Illustrated World. But if Mott is correct about the timing of the name change for the magazine, all of Whitman's works would have been published in the renamed Munyon's: A Monthly Magazine. We are continuing to investigate this magazine and the original publication of these works. "The Commonplace" was printed as an illustration, a facsimile of Whitman's manuscript which occupied an entire page of the March 1891 issue. Other writers included in this issue are the British poets Charles Lamb and Algernon Swinburne, as well as the popular American poets James Whitcomb Riley and Joaquin Miller.

Poems

"Osceola." Munyon's Illustrated World (April 1890). Reprinted in Good-bye My Fancy (1891). Transcription not currently available. The Whitman Archive has not yet verified publication information for this poem.

"The Commonplace." Munyon's Magazine 7.2 (March 1891): 117. Reprinted in Good-bye My Fancy (1891).

Bibliography

Blodgett, Harold W., and Sculley Bradley, eds. Leaves of Grass: Comprehensive Reader's Edition. New York: New York University Press, 1965.

Mott, Frank Luther. A History of American Magazines, 1885–1905. Vol. 4. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard UP, 1957.

Myerson, Joel. Walt Whitman: A Descriptive Bibliography. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1993.