Rufus Wilmot Griswold

Rufus Wilmot Griswold (February 13, 1815 – August 27, 1857) was an American anthologist, editor, poet, and critic. Born in Vermont, Griswold left home when he was 15 years old. He worked as a journalist, editor, and critic in Philadelphia, New York City, and elsewhere. He built up a strong literary reputation, in part due to his 1842 collection The Poets and Poetry of America. This anthology, the most comprehensive of its time, included what he deemed the best examples of American poetry. He produced revised versions and similar anthologies for the remainder of his life, although many of the poets he promoted have since faded into obscurity. Many writers hoped to have their work included in one of these editions, although they commented harshly on Griswold's abrasive character. Griswold was married three times: his first wife died young, his second marriage ended in a public and controversial divorce, and his third wife left him after the previous divorce was almost repealed.

Edgar Allan Poe, whose poetry had been included in Griswold's anthology, published a critical response that questioned which poets were included. This began a rivalry which grew when Griswold succeeded Poe as editor of Graham's Magazine at a higher salary than Poe's. Later, the two competed for the attention of poet Frances Sargent Osgood. They never reconciled their differences and, after Poe's mysterious death in 1849, Griswold wrote an unsympathetic obituary. Claiming to be Poe's chosen literary executor, he began a campaign to harm Poe's reputation that lasted until his own death eight years later.

Griswold considered himself an expert in American poetry and was an early proponent of its inclusion on the school curriculum. He also supported the introduction of copyright legislation, speaking to Congress on behalf of the publishing industry, although he was not above pirating other people's work. A fellow editor remarked, "even while haranguing the loudest, [he] is purloining the fastest".[1]

[edit] Early life
Griswold was born on February 13, 1815,[2] in Vermont, near Rutland, and raised a strict Calvinist[3] in the hamlet of Benson.[4] He was the twelfth of fourteen children and his father was a farmer and shoemaker.[4] In 1822, the family sold the Benson farm and moved to nearby Hubbardton.[5] As a child, Griswold was complex, unpredictable, and reckless.[6] He left home when he was 15, calling himself a "solitary soul, wandering through the world, a homeless, joyless outcast".[7]

Griswold moved to Albany, New York, to live with a 22-year-old flute-playing journalist named George C. Foster, a writer best known for his work New-York by Gas-Light.[4] Griswold lived with Foster until he was 17, and the two may have had a romantic relationship.[7] When Griswold moved away, Foster wrote to him begging him to return, signing his letter "come to me if you love me".[8] Griswold attempted to enroll at the Rensselaer School in 1830, but was not allowed to take any classes after he was caught attempting to play a prank on a professor.[9]


Griswold, circa 1840[edit] Early career and first marriage
After a brief spell as a printer's apprentice, Griswold moved to Syracuse where,[7] with some friends, he started a newspaper called The Porcupine. This publication purposefully targeted locals for what was later remembered as merely malicious critique.[10]

He moved to New York City in 1836 and, in March of that year, was introduced to 19-year-old Caroline Searles, whom he later married.[11] He was employed as an editor for various publications in the New York area. In October, he considered running for office as a Whig but did not receive the party's support.[12] In 1837 he was licensed as a Baptist clergyman, although he never had a permanent congregation.[13]