The Knickerbocker Group was a somewhat indistinct group of 19th-century American writers.[1] Its most prominent members included Washington Irving, James Fenimore Cooper and William Cullen Bryant. Each was a pioneer in general literature—novels, poetry and journalism. Humorously titled after Irving's own pen name, many others later joined the club. These include James Kirke Paulding, Fitz-Greene Halleck, Joseph Rodman Drake, Robert Charles Sands, Lydia Maria Child, Gulian Crommelin Verplanck, and Nathaniel Parker Willis,[2] most of whom were also frequent contributors to the literary magazine The Knickerbocker.
The Knickerbocker group was established by Washington Irving in the early 19th century in New York City.[3] Irving was one of the first Americans to earn money from being a professional writer.[4] Irving was seen as a writing pioneer by Gilmore who said that he was "an innovator who established American writing on a new footing as a viable profession."[5] Irving has been "hailed as the father of American literature" and Bradbury considers him to be the "pioneer of American literary Romanticism."[6]
The group's penchant was writing heroic or epic stories in a sophisticated manner. They especially utilized parody, satire and romanticism. The Knickerbocker Group lived in New York City.
The short story The Black Vampyre has been viewed as a commentary on the Knickerbocker group, condemning them to be "vampires" that benefit on the behalf of others. The work criticizes plagiarism and authorship in the early-19th-century literary scene.[7]
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