I first learned of the American re-issue of The Penny Magazine from the bound volume shown here (without printed wrappers).

I first learned of the American re-issue of The Penny Magazine from the bound volume shown here (without printed wrappers).

Detail map of Manhattan, New York, New York, United States Overview map of Manhattan, New York, New York, United States

A: Manhattan, New York, New York, United States

J. S. Redfield Reissues Knight's The Penny Magazine in the United States

1845
Upper and lower printed wrapper of number 1 of Redfield

Upper and lower printed wrapper of number 1 of Redfield's reprint for the American market.

In February 2015 I was surprised to find a copy of the second American editions of Volumes 1 & 2 of Knight's Penny Magazine. This was characterized on its title page as "American Re-Issue, From the English Plates." It was printed on different, slightly inferior paper, from the original stereotype plates, its main publisher being J. S. Redfield in New York in 1845. Copies were also distributed by various other named publishers in different cities as well as "The Cheap Publication Offices Generally Throughout the United States." This version did not include Knight's introduction to the first volume. Whether this reissue was a result of Knight's termination of the magazine in London in 1845, or just a coincidence, was unknown to me.

One of the remaining unanswered questions was whether or not the original issues of The Penny Magazine might have appeared in printed wrappers that were expected to be discarded by binders. As of October 2018 I had found no evidence one way or the other until some copies of J.S. Redfield's Republication of the Penny Magazine turned up in very brightly printed paper wrappers complete with a seemingly inappropriate statue of an American Indian in a feather headdress on the upper wrapper. From the rear printed wrapper we learn that Redfield re-issued The Penny Magazine in 24 parts at 25 cents each from stereo plates that he purchased from Charles Knight. Presumably Redfield completed the series as I currently have 17 of the original 24 parts with wrappers more or less intact.

 

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