Evolution of The New York Ledger

Robert E. Bonner’s story paper The New York Ledger went through a number of aesthetic and textual changes during its run, from 1855 until 1898. In 1887, Bonner’s three sons inherited the paper and soon after made changes to it which Bonner Sr. would’ve abhorred. For instance, Bonner’s sons included advertisements for furniture, medicine, and ivory soap in the Ledger. When Bonner Sr. was editor, he did not publish advertisements in the Ledger unless they were self-promotional,promoting his paper and/or contributors. The paper also changed in size. The two Ledger copies on the left are earlier prints (1859 and 1883), similar in size and printed during Bonner Sr.’s years as editor and proprietor. The smaller copy next to the larger ones is an example of the paper’s transition from a monthly to a weekly, i.e., from The New York Ledger (weekly) to the Ledger Monthly. Many other modifications came along with the changes made to the paper’s size and installment sequence. I’ve noticed that the later Ledgers, both as monthly and weekly, place a lot of emphasis on illustrations, including wood engravings in the early copies and photography in the later ones. Poetry also became scarce in these later copies. Lesser-known contributors and more obscure stories and poems replaced some of the big names in poetry and prose, many of which, including William Cullen Bryant and Charles Dickens , Bonner heavily promoted during his tenure as editor. The Ledger Monthly featured attractive cover art and its content became much more commercial and advertisement-driven, which makes it sometimes difficult to clearly identify the Monthly’s targeted audience and subscribers. While I find it clear that Bonner's Ledger was a literary paper, appealing to an audience interested in popular poetry and prose, I cannot say the same for The Ledger Monthly. The Monthly's content casts a wide net on its would-be audience, which begs the question, who was reading this magazine and why?