Critical Readings and Classification of American Literature.
[Elocution]. Miss N[ettie] C. Wickham. Critical Readings and Classification of American Literature, by Miss N. C. Wickham, St. George’s Hall, S. W. Cor. Arch & 13th Sts. Tuesday & Thursday Mornings, at 12 o’clock. April 22, 24, 29, & May 1st. [Philadelphia: n. p., 1879?].
Folded promotional brochure, 5.25 x 2 inches, text printed in gilt on white card stock, [3] pages. Decorative border.
Using the lyceum stage to advocate for a native literature: “In offering her friends the present Series of Readings, Miss Wickham wishes to present some of the artistic phases of our own Literature, and illustrate, by the reading of representative selections, in the hope that our educated circles will gladly renew ther familiarity with our noble authors. In addition to the program indicated below, Miss Wickham will, at the close of each entertainment, suggest lists of books for Summer reading, with informal comment.” Wickham lists the four phases of her lectures—The Romantic in American Literature, The Fanciful in American Prose, The Pathetic and the Picturesque, and The Humorous—and lists the authors she will use for each (ranging from Irving, J. R. Lowell, W. D. Howells and “Saxe Holm” (i.e., Helen Hunt Jackson) for the Romantic, to Mark Twain, Lowell, Bret Harte, Irving, Max Adeler (i.e., Charles Heber Clark), Curtis, Saxe, and O. W. Holmes for American Humor. According to contemporary publications and newspaper reports, Wickham was a teacher of elocution at Girard College in Philadelphia (though an 1887 newspaper article notes that she has moved to New York). The days and dates of the lectures would fit for either 1879 or 1884, though the design and selection of authors might suggest the earlier of the two. Some light soiling; an attractive bit of promotional printing in very good condition.
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