The Flash Press: Sporting Male Weeklies in 1840s New York (Historical Studies of Urban America)

Obscene, libidinous, loathsome, lascivious. Those were just some of the ways critics described the nineteenth-century weeklies that covered and publicized New York City’s extensive sexual underworld. Publications like the Flash and the Whip—distinguished by a captivating brew of lowbrow humor and titillating gossip about prostitutes, theater denizens, and sporting events—were not the sort generally bound in leather for future reference, and despite their popularity with an enthusiastic readership, they quickly receded into almost complete obscurity. Recently, though, two sizable collections of these papers have resurfaced, and in The Flash Press three renowned scholars provide a landmark study of their significance as well as a wide selection of their ribald articles and illustrations. Including short tales of urban life, editorials on prostitution, and moralizing rants against homosexuality, these selections epitomize a distinct form of urban journalism. Here, in addition to providing a thorough overview of this colorful reportage, its editors, and its audience, the authors examine nineteenth-century ideas of sexuality and freedom that mixed Tom Paine’s republicanism with elements of the Marquis de Sade’s sexual ideology. They also trace the evolution of censorship and obscenity law, showing how a string of legal battles ultimately led to the demise of the flash papers: editors were hauled into court, sentenced to jail for criminal obscenity and libel, and eventually pushed out of business. But not before they forever changed the debate over public sexuality and freedom of expression in America’s most important city.

History

Cohen, Patricia Cline

GILFOYLE, TIMOTHY J.

Horowitz, Helen Lefkowitz

American Antiquarian Society

Americas

University of Chicago Press

Obscene, libidinous, loathsome, lascivious. Those were just some of the ways critics described the nineteenth-century weeklies that covered and publicized New York City’s extensive sexual underworld. Publications like the Flash and the Whip—distinguished by a captivating brew of lowbrow humor and titillating gossip about prostitutes, theater denizens, and sporting events—were not the sort generally bound in leather for future reference, and despite their popularity with an enthusiastic readership, they quickly receded into almost complete obscurity. Recently, though, two sizable collections of these papers have resurfaced, and in The Flash Press three renowned scholars provide a landmark study of their significance as well as a wide selection of their ribald articles and illustrations. Including short tales of urban life, editorials on prostitution, and moralizing rants against homosexuality, these selections epitomize a distinct form of urban journalism. Here, in addition to providing a thorough overview of this colorful reportage, its editors, and its audience, the authors examine nineteenth-century ideas of sexuality and freedom that mixed Tom Paine’s republicanism with elements of the Marquis de Sade’s sexual ideology. They also trace the evolution of censorship and obscenity law, showing how a string of legal battles ultimately led to the demise of the flash papers: editors were hauled into court, sentenced to jail for criminal obscenity and libel, and eventually pushed out of business. But not before they forever changed the debate over public sexuality and freedom of expression in America’s most important city.

Arts & Photography

A history of the birth of the American passion for numbers, tracing the history of numeracy from its origins in the Enlightenment to its flowering in mid-nineteenth century America.

A Calculating People: The Spread of Numeracy in Early America

Univ of Chicago Pr

The University of Chicago Press

The American Promise: A History of the United States

Johnson, Michael P.

Roark, James L.

Stage, Sarah

Lawson, Alan

Hartmann, Susan M.

St Martins Pr

Bedford/St.Martins

The American Promise, Value Edition, has long been a favorite with students who value the text’s readability, clear chronology, and lively voices of ordinary Americans, all in a portable format. Instructors have long valued the full narrative accompanied by a 2-color map program and the rich instructor resources of the parent text made available at an affordable price. The sixth edition introduces a breakthrough in teaching and learning through the addition ofLaunchPad, which combines carefully-curated new assignments and assessments integrated with the full-length parent text e-book—the same narrative in the Value Edition but with full color art and maps and more features for analysis—in its own intuitive course space. The American Promise Value Edition with LaunchPad now provides the best formats for every activity—the print book allows for a seamless reading experience whileLaunchPad provides the right space for active learning assignments and dynamic course management tools that measure and analyze student progress.LaunchPad comes with a wealth of primary sources and special critical thinking activities to help students progress toward learning outcomes;LearningCurve, the adaptive learning tool that students love to use to cement their understanding of the text and instructors love to assign to prepare students for class; and a suite of instructor resources from videos to test banks that make teaching simpler and more effective.

The American Promise : A History of the United States

Stage, S.A.

The American Promise: A History of the United States/With Historical Geography Workbook

The American Promise: A History of the United States/With Historical Geography Workbook

The American Promise: A History of the United States/With Workbooks

ROARK

The American Promise: A History of the United States

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