Included are the May 5, 1838 issue; the June 2, 1838 through August 25, 1838 issues; and those for October 6, 1838 through February 9, 1839.

The historian, editor and wood-engraver Benson John Lossing (1813-1891) was orphaned as a child and, as his formal education was limited, he taught himself by reading history while working as an apprentice to a Poughkeepsie watchmaker. Joint editor and proprietor of the Poughkeepsie Telegraph at the age of 22, he became co-editor of the literary periodical, the Poughkeepsie Casket. It was during those formative years at the Casket that he learned the art of wood engraving from the paper's illustrator J.A. Adams.

Several contributions by Benson Lossing are to be found among the essays and literary works. These include an article on sandals, another on dogs (illustrated with a woodcut of a Spanish Pointer), parts 1, and parts 3 to 6 of "Drawing", a short story entitled "The Unbidden Guest", "Palmyra", "Mountains", the "Birth-Place of Sir Walter Raleigh" and his poem "Twilight". Works by other authors include part 1 of "The Shakeress", parts 1 and 2 of "Music and Musical Instruments", original poetry by Darwin Canfield and by Thomas Holley Chivers, and a nautical sketch entitled "Jack in a Church" by Bill Rogers. Especially worth noting is a story entitled "Zuma: or, the Discovery of the Peruvian Bark" from the French of Madame [Stephanie Felicite] de Genlis. A poem "Zulette" by Frances S. Osgood also appears within these pages.

The author Frances S. Osgood (1811-1850) first contributed to the periodical Juvenile Miscellany at the age of 14 under the pseudonym of Florence. She married the artist Samuel Osgood and raised 2 daughters, but the couple were soon separated. It was at this time that she met Edgar Allan Poe with whom she began a literary courtship which became the source of scandal and jealous rumours. Her reputation suffered due to the rumors and they ended their relationship though the affection they felt for each other remained. Her poem "The Hand That Swept the Sounding Lyre",a requiem for Poe, was included as the last poem in her 1850 collection of poems.

A RARE Benson Lossing item. 
Price: 350.00 USD