American Mercury (magazine)
American Mercury was a notable American literary magazine published from 1924 to 1981, primarily recognized for its contributions during the 1920s and 1930s. Founded by H. L. Mencken and George Jean Nathan, the magazine aimed to critique U.S. society and showcase emerging literary talent, drawing inspiration from the British publication The London Mercury. Under Mencken's editorial leadership until 1933, it published works by significant authors such as F. Scott Fitzgerald, William Faulkner, and Zora Neale Hurston, alongside essays and social commentary that often challenged mainstream cultural norms. The magazine gained attention for its bold positions on issues like Prohibition and Puritanism but also faced controversy, including a legal obscenity challenge in 1926. While it enjoyed a peak influence during its early years, American Mercury's reputation declined in later decades as it became associated with more contentious and racially charged viewpoints. Despite this shift, the magazine played an essential role in reflecting the artistic and social dynamics of its time, contributing to the perception of the 1920s as a vibrant era in American literature.
On this Page
Subject Terms
American Mercury (magazine)
Identification: American monthly magazine of literature and commentary
Date: First published in January 1924
Published from 1924 to 1981, The American Mercury distinguished itself in its early years by publishing the creative works, both fiction and nonfiction, of some of the most highly regarded American writers of the twentieth century.
In the early 1920s, Baltimore newspaperman H. L. Mencken and drama critic George Jean Nathan collaborated on a project that would bring together writing from some of the most significant authors in America. The two men had already worked together on the literary magazine The Smart Set, and they set about developing their own monthly review, named after the British magazine The London Mercury and aimed at critiquing U.S. society while bringing promising new authors to the public. They secured the support of noted publisher Alfred A. Knopf Sr., who published the magazine for the first decade after its launch in January 1924. Mencken served as editor until 1933, delivering his own and other people’s often scathing commentaries on mainstream American arts and culture. Among the notable contributors during the magazine’s heyday of the 1920s and 1930s were Sherwood Anderson, Theodore Dreiser, W. E. B. Du Bois, William Faulkner, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Zora Neale Hurston, along with an eclectic mix of lesser-known writers.
Mencken’s enthusiasm for social commentary and attacking convention occasionally led to controversy for The American Mercury, which survived a legal challenge in 1926 on grounds of obscenity by the Boston-based Watch and Ward Society, following the magazine’s publication of a story by Herbert Asbury about a prostitute’s fruitless search for spiritual and social redemption. However, the magazine’s attacks on Puritanism, Prohibition, and social pretense, along with the quality of its fiction and essays, garnered many admirers among the young and literate, and circulation increased steadily until the onset of the Great Depression at the end of the decade.
Impact
The American Mercury experienced its period of peak influence during the 1920s and 1930s. Later on, the magazine would change hands and decline in stature as it developed a reputation for peddling racist views. During its zenith, however, it was a repository of writing by and about some of the best American authors of the time. Although circulation was never comparable to major periodicals such as Life or the Saturday Evening Post, The American Mercury helped to further the image of the 1920s as a period of flowering in American arts and letters, even as it reflected the tension between traditional American society and its twentieth-century critics.
Bibliography
Spivak, Lawrence E., and Charles Angoff, eds. “The American Mercury” Reader: A Selection of Distinguished Articles, Stories and Poems Published in “The American Mercury” During the Past Twenty Years. Philadelphia: Blakiston Co., 1944.
Teachout, Terry. The Skeptic: A Life of H. L. Mencken. Harper Collins, 2002.