James Kirke Paulding

James Kirke Paulding (August 22, 1778 – April 6, 1860) was an American writer and, for a time, the United States Secretary of the Navy.

Biography

James Kirke Paulding was born on August 22, 1778,Nelson, Randy F. The Almanac of American Letters. Los Altos, California: William Kaufmann, Inc., 1981: 45. ISBN 086576008X in the state of New York. Paulding was chiefly self-educated.

He became a close friend of Washington Irving. With Irving, Paulding proposed a literary project. As he described, "one day in a frolicsome mood, we broached the idea of a little periodical merely for our own amusement, and that of the town, for neither of us anticipated any further circulation."Jones, Brian Jay. Washington Irving: An American Original. New York: Arcade Publishing, 2008: 57. ISBN 978-1-55970-836-4 The result was Salmagundi—a continuation of which by himself proved a failure.

Along with Irving, Paulding was associated with the "Knickerbocker group", a group which also included William Cullen Bryant, Gulian Crommelin Verplanck, Fitz-Greene Halleck, Joseph Rodman Drake, Robert Charles Sands, Lydia Maria Child, and Nathaniel Parker Willis.Nelson, Randy F. The Almanac of American Letters. Los Altos, California: William Kaufmann, Inc., 1981: 30. ISBN 086576008X

Paulding's other writings also include The Diverting History of John Bull and Brother Jonathan (1812), a satire, The...... ...
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