 American Mercury with Al Hirschfeld's caricature of Ernest Hemingway, November 1950 | |
| Frequency | Monthly |
|---|---|
| Founder | H. L. Mencken and George Jean Nathan |
| Founded | 1924 |
| Final issue | 1981 |
| Country | United States |
| Based in | New York City |
| ISSN | 0002-998X |
The American Mercury was an American magazine published from 1924[1] to 1981. It was founded as the brainchild of H. L. Mencken and drama critic George Jean Nathan.[2] The magazine featured writing by some of the most important writers in the United States through the 1920s and 1930s.
After a change in ownership in the 1940s, the magazine attracted conservative writers, including William F. Buckley. A second change in ownership in the 1950s turned the magazine into a far-right and virulently anti-Semitic publication.[3]
It was published monthly in New York City.[4] The magazine went out of business in 1981, having spent the last 25 years of its existence in decline and controversy.
- ^ Staff (Dec. 31, 1923). "Bichloride of Mercury." Time.
- ^ Fitzpatrick, Vincent (1992). "The American Mercury". Menckeniana (123): 1–6. JSTOR 26483894.
- ^ Walsh, David Austin (September 1, 2020). "The Right-Wing Popular Front: The Far Right and American Conservatism in the 1950s". Journal of American History. 107 (2): 411–432. doi:10.1093/jahist/jaaa182. ISSN 0021-8723.
- ^ "Newsstand: 1925: The American Mercury". Newsstand. Retrieved February 23, 2016.