Letters of Jonathan Oldstyle
| Author | Washington Irving |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Observational letters & Essays |
| Publisher | Morning Chronicle (New York City) |
|
Publication date
|
1802-1803 |
| Media type | Print (Newspaper) |
| ISBN | (reprint) |
| OCLC | 9412147 |
| 818/.209 19 | |
| LC Class | PS2052 1983 |
| Followed by | Salmagundi |
The Letters of Jonathan Oldstyle, Gent. (1802) is a collection of nine observational letters written by American writer Washington Irving under the pseudonym Jonathan Oldstyle. The letters first appeared in the November 15, 1802, edition of the New York Morning Chronicle, a political-leaning newspaper partially owned by New Yorker Aaron Burr, and edited by Irving's brother, Peter. The letters were printed at irregular intervals until April 23, 1803. The letters lampoon marriage, manners, dress, and culture of early 19th century New York City. They are Irving's début in print.
Irving's first Oldstyle letter appeared in the November 15, 1802, edition of the Morning Chronicle. In his first letter, Irving mocked the current trends in dress and fashion, training most of his criticism on young men and their "most studied carelessness, and almost slovenliness of dress," who are more interested in themselves than in the unfortunate "belle who has to undergo the fatigue of dragging along this sluggish animal." The signature in all capital letters at the end of the piece was not Irving's own, but rather the first of many pseudonyms Irving would adopt throughout his literary life, Jonathan Oldstyle.
A second letter followed on November 20, this time poking fun at the "strange and preposterous … manner in which modern marriages are conducted." Describing the marriage between Oldstyle’s aunt Barbara and an ironically-named Squire Stylish, Irving juxtaposed modern manners against old etiquette, concluding that no one could read such a comparison of old versus new, "and not lament, with me, the degeneracy of the present times — what husband is there but will look back with regret, to the happy days of female subjugation[?]"
Oldstyle’s commentary on the theater riled some in the New York theater district, but when Irving trained Oldstyle’s fire on local critics — specifically William Coleman at the Evening Post and James Cheetham at the American Citizen — tempers finally flared.
The ruckus began with Irving’s January 17, 1803, letter, his sixth, in which "Quoz", a new character introduced by Irving as a friend of Oldstyle’s, took a backhanded shot at critics for taking all the fun out of the theater: "The critics, my dear Jonathan, are the very pests of society … they reduce our feelings to a state of miserable refinement, and destroy entirely all the enjoyments in which our coarser sensations delighted."
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