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The United States Magazine, and Democratic Review. New Series. Vol. XVII. New-York: J. L. O'Sullivan & O. C. Gardiner, 136 Nassau Street. 1846. Featuring Annexation (First mention of Manifest Destiny by John L. O'Sullivan, 5-10 p), 472 p. + 4 p., July/August, 1845 No. LXXXV - December, 1845 No. XC. Half-leather marbled binding measuring 8.5 x 5.5", 8vo. 5 Plates included (one presumed lacking in September). Featuring two contributions by Walt Whitman (referred to as Walter Whitman): Revenge and Requital; A Tale of a Murderer Escaped. By Walter Whitman. 105-111 p., & A Dialogue. By Walter Whitman. 360-364 p. In poor condition. As is. Rear board & rear end-page detached from binding. Boards scuffed at edges and worn/bumped at leather corners. A piece of clear tape found from front hinge across spine to rear hinge. Gilt lettering and ruling on spine dulled/soiled, but legible. Front hinge split at head and tail. Front gutter split, cording exposed. Pencil & ink marginalia found on front end-page. Foxing throughout text-block, instances of age-staining. Sparse marginalia throughout text-block, both in pencil and pen. Off-setting to leaves adjacent to plates. Some plates are lacking tissue guards. Pages 571-2 + 1-4 exhibit tear about mid-way town leaves, text remains legible. Binding is fragile, nice candidate for restoration. Please see photos and ask questions, if any, before purchasing. John Louis O'Sullivan (1813 1895) was an American columnist, editor, and diplomat who coined the term "manifest destiny" in 1845 to promote the annexation of Texas and the Oregon Country to the United States. O'Sullivan was an influential political writer and advocate for the Democratic Party at that time and served as U.S. minister to Portugal during the administration of President Franklin Pierce (1853 1857). In 1837, he founded and edited The United States Magazine and Democratic Review, based in Washington. It espoused the more radical forms of Jacksonian Democracy and the cause of a democratic, American literature. It published some of the most prominent American writers, including Nathaniel Hawthorne, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, John Greenleaf Whittier, William Cullen Bryant, and Walt Whitman. O'Sullivan was an aggressive reformer in the New York State Legislature, where he led the unsuccessful movement to abolish capital punishment. By 1846, investors were dissatisfied with his poor management, and he lost control of his magazine. The term Manifest Destiny describes the ideology of continental expansionism. Though the term was new, the ideas underlying it were much older, dating back to the first colonial contact between Europeans and Native Americans. The ideology that became known as Manifest Destiny included a belief in the inherent superiority of white Americans, as well as the conviction that they were destined by God to conquer the territories of North America, from sea to shining sea. The ideology of Manifest Destiny justified extreme measures to clear the native population from the land, including forced removal and violent extermination. For proponents of Manifest Destiny, the American Indians were mere impediments to the forward march of racial and technological progress, and they advocated pursuing a policy of Indian Removal. In Europe when the Civil War began, O'Sullivan became an active supporter of the Confederate States of America; he may have been on the Confederate payroll at some point. O'Sullivan wrote a number of pamphlets promoting the Confederate cause, arguing that the presidency had become too powerful and that states' rights needed to be protected against encroachment by the central government. Although he had earlier supported the "free soil" movement, he now defended the institution of slavery. His activities greatly disappointed some of his old friends, including Hawthorne. First Mention of Manifest Destiny. FORN-SHELF-0599-BB-2408-HK1992. Seller Inventory # FORN-SHELF-0599-BB-2408-HK1992
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