A great many American publishers bring out books on Irish subjects: few specialize in this line. On the whole little new fiction of an Irish complexion is published in the States. On the other hand a large number of Irish tales and novels which have been allowed to go out of print in this country are still reprinted and sold on the “other side.” Many such books will be found in the catalogues of such firms as Benziger Bros., of New York; P. J. Kenedy, of the same city; Flynn, of Boston; John Murphy Co., of Baltimore; McVey, of Philadelphia, &c. J. S. Pratt, of 161 6th Ave., nr. 12th St., N.Y., publishes a catalogue containing Irish items exclusively.
APPENDIX C.
IRISH MAGAZINE FICTION.[16]
There is a wealth of Irish fiction buried in the volumes of long extinct Irish periodicals and others still existing. Most people will have pleasurable recollections of stories read by them in one or other of the magazines which they were accustomed to read in youth—recollections which are only occasionally confirmed on a second reading in after life. I can still recall with delight many stories of Irish and even of alien characters which appeared in The Shamrock, Young Ireland, The Lamp, and other periodicals—not to speak of the numerous tales, serial and otherwise, which were a feature of the weekly editions of the ordinary Irish newspapers. Perhaps in some future edition of “A Guide to Irish Fiction” it may be possible to appraise some of the more notable of these stories and their authors. Meanwhile, it is worth recalling that in the old Dublin and London Magazine, 1825-7, there is much admirable Irish fiction, chiefly by Michael James Whitty and Denis Shine Lawlor. The same may be said, in a more restricted sense, of that in The Dublin Penny Journal, The Dublin Journal of Temperance, Science, and Literature, The Irish Penny Journal, The Irish Penny Magazine, and, above all, in The Dublin University Magazine, which in its forty odd years of existence added enormously to the general body of Irish literature. A good word must also be said for Duffy’s Hibernian and Fireside magazines, which carried on the work down to about the seventies. The Irish Monthly, most valuable of all in its services to the literature of the country, encouraged a host of clever novelists and sketch writers, though, as in the case of The Dublin University Magazine, much of its output has been gathered into volumes, there is still much to be gleaned. Much of the work already referred to is partly accessible in the libraries, but where is one to consult the stores of fiction—often charming and mostly interesting—which appeared first (and last) in the pages of The Shamrock, Young Ireland, The Irish Fireside, The Lamp (especially during John F. O’Donnell’s editorship), The Irish Emerald, and other more recent magazines? So far as I know, there are no complete sets of these in any library. But some of our best writers began their literary career by writing for these humble periodicals, and even authors who had arrived did not deem it beneath their dignity to contribute their maturer work. But it is a large question how much of this fiction is of permanent value. I have no doubt myself that a judicious collector could make many discoveries if an enterprising publisher could be found to give the results to the public. But perhaps that is not even worth discussing in these stormy days.
D. J. O’Donoghue.
[16] I have thought it best to insert Mr. O’Donoghue’s note as it stood, though my doing so involved certain repetitions in the following note.
IRISH FICTION IN PERIODICALS.[17]
I.—DEFUNCT PERIODICALS.
I should have liked to include in this work the fiction, at least the serial fiction, that lies buried in the back numbers of Irish periodicals. I was obliged to make up my mind, regretfully enough, that this was impossible. All that I have found practicable is to insert here a general note giving the names and dates, with occasional remarks, of some of the more noteworthy of Irish periodicals, omitting of course such as contain no fiction.
Of the eighteenth century literary periodicals, such as Droz’s Literary Journal (1744-8) and Walker’s Hibernian Magazine (1771-1811), it is unnecessary to say much, as the little fiction they contain is not of a very Irish character. But in Watty Cox’s famous Irish Magazine, which began in 1807 and ran to 1815, there are excellent Irish stories. To The Dublin and London Magazine (1825-27) M. J. Whitty and Denis Shine Lawlor, both noteworthy writers, contributed Irish tales of a sympathetic and national character. Whitty collected his into a volume, which is noted in the body of this work. A serial about Robert Emmet and another entitled “The Orangeman” ran in this periodical. Bolster’s Quarterly (1826-31) and The Dublin Monthly Magazine (1830), afterwards revived in 1842-3 as The Citizen or Dublin Monthly Magazine, call for no special comment though they contain a certain amount of fiction. The latter, for instance, had a story of 1641, “Lord Connor of Innisfallen,” and, in the 1842 revival, “Gerald Kirby, a tale of ’98.” Some of Carleton’s Traits and Stories first saw the light in this magazine. The Dublin Penny Journal (1832-6), first edited by Philip Dixon Hardy, contains a large proportion of Carleton’s stories, and many others signed McC., S. W., J. H. K., E. W., &c. In fact, it is full of matter interesting from an Irish point of view.
Then there was The Irish Penny Journal, The Irish Penny Magazine, and The Irish Metropolitan Magazine, 1857 sqq. This last was not very Irish in tone; its eyes were upon the ends of the earth, but an occasional Irish story such as “Life’s Foreshadowings” is to be found in it.