Joel Barlow (1754–1812)
Author of The Columbiad: A Poem
About the Author
Joel Barlow was born on a Connecticut farm, in 1754. He was educated at Dartmouth College and then Yale University. He was a member of The Connecticut Wits, a group of nine ambitious young writers determined to celebrate as well as satirize the young American democracy. Timothy Dwight and John show more Trumbul, two other famous members of the group, pursued their satiric inclinations until they became conservative Federalists in the face of Jeffersonian republicanism. Barlow went to Europe where he stayed for seventeen years. There, he became a passionate supporter of the French Revolution and saw to the publication of The Age of Reason by Thomas Paine. While running for election as a deputy to the French National Assembly, Barlow wrote his best-known poem, the mock epic The Hasty Pudding, which brought him celebrity in his native land. When he returned to the United States in 1805, he turned away from his ponderous epic The Columbiad (1807), in which he celebrated the future of the United States in the context of deploring the European past. As a reward for his support of Jeffersonianism, President James Madison appointed him minister to France. Barlow followed Napoleon to Poland in an effort to persuade the emperor to favor U.S. commerce; however, Barlow narrowly missed Napoleon, who was returning to Europe with his defeated army. When Barlow was making his own return, he caught pneumonia and died. He was buried in a village near Cracow, Poland. Barlow is significant for his understanding that the American experience-and its translation into literature and the culture at large-was important in its own right, distinct from European history and aesthetics. His poetry, essays, and orations are infused with his witty perception of the colonialist's mission. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Image credit: Courtesy of the NYPL Digital Gallery (image use requires permission from the New York Public Library)
Works by Joel Barlow
Associated Works
The Heath Anthology of American Literature, Volume 1 (1990) — Contributor, some editions — 252 copies, 1 review
The Confidence-Man: His Masquerade [Norton Critical Edition, 2nd ed.] (2006) — Contributor — 195 copies, 2 reviews
American Antislavery Writings: Colonial Beginnings to Emancipation (2012) — Contributor — 145 copies
American Literature: The Makers and the Making (In Two Volumes) (1973) — Contributor, some editions — 24 copies
The Serpent and the Fire: Poetries of the Americas from Origins to Present (2024) — Contributor — 16 copies
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Birthdate
- 1754-03-24
- Date of death
- 1812-12-26
- Gender
- male
- Education
- Dartmouth College
Yale University - Occupations
- chaplain (military)
consul (U.S. ∙ to Algiers)
ambassador (U.S. ∙ to France)
poet
historian
politician (show all 8)
lawyer
land agent - Organizations
- The Connecticut Wits (aka The Hartford Wits)
- Awards and honors
- He was one of the contributing editors of the first agricultural magazine in America, the Agricultural Museum.
- Relationships
- Humphreys, David (friend)
- Nationality
- USA
- Birthplace
- Redding, Connecticut, USA
- Places of residence
- Hartford, Connecticut, USA
- Place of death
- Zarnowiec, Poland
- Burial location
- Krakow, Poland
- Associated Place (for map)
- USA
Members
Reviews
A reprint of Barlow's political writings. No mention of the Jefferson-Barlow translation issue. Of interest, if you enjoy French Revolution studies.
Psalms, carefully suited to the Christian worship in the United States of America Being Dr. Watts's imitation of the Psalms of David being an improvement of the old versions of the Psalms of David. As allowed by the Reverend Synod of New York and Philadelphia, to be used in Churches and private families. by Joel Barlow
Psalms 1-150. Doxologies. Index by first line.
Page inside cover states: “ Philadelphia, May 24 1787l. the synod of New- York and phila Delphi’s did allow Dr. Watt’s Imitation of David’s Psalms as revised by Mr Barlow, to be sung in the Churches and families under their care. extracted from the records of the synod by George Duffield, D.D. Stated clerk of synod
Page inside cover states: “ Philadelphia, May 24 1787l. the synod of New- York and phila Delphi’s did allow Dr. Watt’s Imitation of David’s Psalms as revised by Mr Barlow, to be sung in the Churches and families under their care. extracted from the records of the synod by George Duffield, D.D. Stated clerk of synod
"I have safely recieved your favor from Amelia with the sheets of the Columbiad which it covered, and have given to them the hasty perusal which my less agreeable but more indispensable occupations have permitted ... the few moments I could spare to this object, I will say, were agreeably employed." - Thomas Jefferson to John Daly Burk, 21 Jun. 1801 [PTJ34:400-401]
"I was doubting what you could say, equal to your own reputation, on so hackneyed a subject. but you have really risen out of it with lustre, and pointed to others a field of great expansion." - Thomas Jefferson to Joel Barlow, 8 Oct. 1809 [PTJ:RS 1:588-590]
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Statistics
- Works
- 21
- Also by
- 8
- Members
- 88
- Popularity
- #209,355
- Rating
- 3.8
- Reviews
- 4
- ISBNs
- 16
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