Charles Godfrey Leland and Vanity Fair
V anity Fair at one time created a considerable stir. It was, in a sense, a pioneering venture. Launched in 1852, The J^anterny the first comic periodical in America, had lasted only about a year. Although Vanity Fair emerged at a crucial period in the history of the nation, when the prospect of great financial support seemed slim, it met with a fair measure of success. Contrary to expectations, the times were ripe for the development of a humorous magazine that provided live, topical, substantial fare. Vanity Fair followed more or less in the footsteps of The J£jmtern> but it dealt more frequently and more discerningly with political and social matters of importance and it attracted a larger number of talented writers. Coming as it did during a period of intense social and political excitement, it was forced to touch often on the leading issues of the day if it wished to command attention and increase its circulation. The weapon it wielded, that of satire in the form of verse, biting puns and epigrams, bold caricature, brilliant essays, was in many ways more potent than either impassioned editorials or sober argument. By making men laugh, by applying the acid of satire or ridicule to many of the problems that then engaged the distracted and later war-torn nation, it succeeded in producing a deep impression where appeals to logic might have failed. It set men free temporarily from pressing responsibilities \ it enabled them to laugh heartily at themselves and their opponents, at the rant of politicians, the hypocrisy of statesmen, the absurdities of editors and public figures. Vanity Fair was literary without making any pretensions to high literary excellence. In a time of seething unrest, of fratricidal hatred and unloosed political passions, the tone of Vanity Fair—witty, ironic, irreverent— was a salutary and stimulating influence. Vanity Fair was popular in its day precisely because it was clever, caustic, outspoken. Because it did so under the guise of humor, it could satirize politics and eminent politicians without arousing too great resentment. It was an odd hodge-podge of gossip, mental froth, extravagant conceits, journalistic jokes, personal innuendos and at-