{{short description|American journalist}} {{Use American English|date=April 2026}} {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2026}} {{Infobox person | name = Lewis Gaylord Clark | image = Lewis Gaylord Clark engraving.jpg | caption = Engraving of Lewis Gaylord Clark (1855). | birth_date = {{birth date|1808|10|18|df=y}} | death_date = {{death date and age|1873|12|29|1808|10|18|df=y}} | death_place = New York City, U.S. | occupation = Editor, critic, author | notable_works = ''The Knickerbocker'' }} '''Lewis Gaylord Clark{{efn|Clark usually styled his name '''L. Gaylord Clark'''. The spelling of his first name has been given both as '''Louis''', notably in ''The Knickerbocker Gallery'', and as '''Lewis'''.}}''' (October 5, 1808 – November 3, 1873<ref>{{Cite web |title=Author - Lewis Gaylord CLARK |url=http://www.authorandbookinfo.com/cgi-bin/auth.pl?C003455 |access-date=2025-11-03 |website=www.authorandbookinfo.com}} </ref>) was an American magazine editor, publisher, and literary critic best known for his role as editor and publisher of ''The Knickerbocker'' from 1834 to 1861. Under his leadership, ''The Knickerbocker'' became one of the most prominent literary publications in the United States during the mid-19th century, featuring contributions from leading literary figures such as Washington Irving, William Cullen Bryant, Nathaniel Parker Willis, and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Clark was renowned for his editorial departments, including the "Editor's Table" and "Gossip with Readers and Correspondents," which engaged a wide readership.<ref name="EncyclopediaCom">{{cite web |title=Clark, Lewis Gaylord |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/reference/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/clark-lewis-gaylord |access-date=2025-11-02 |publisher=Encyclopedia.com}}</ref><ref name="AmAristocracy">{{cite web |title=Lewis Gaylord Clark (1808-1873) - American Aristocracy |url=https://americanaristocracy.com/people/lewis-gaylord-clark |access-date=2025-11-02}}</ref>
Born in Otisco, New York, Clark was the twin brother of the poet Willis Gaylord Clark. Following his tenure at ''The Knickerbocker'', he founded ''Clark's Knickerbocker'', a rival magazine which sought to distance itself from abolitionist sentiments he opposed. Despite his editorial success, Clark was known for a literary rivalry with fellow editor Edgar Allan Poe, which was marked by published critiques and personal animosity. After his magazine ceased publication, Clark continued to write for periodicals such as the ''Evening Post'' and the ''Home Journal'' until his death in New York City.<ref name="AmAristocracy" /><ref name="EAPoeSoc">{{cite web |title=People - Lewis Gaylord Clark |url=https://www.eapoe.org/people/clarkleg.htm |access-date=2025-11-02 |publisher=Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore}}</ref>
==Biography== Clark was born in Otisco, New York in 1808.<ref name=Miller12>Miller, Perry. ''The Raven and the Whale: The War of Words and Wits in the Era of Poe and Melville''. New York: Harvest Book, 1956: 12.</ref> He had a twin brother, poet Willis Gaylord Clark.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.poemhunter.com/willis-gaylord-clark/|title=Willis Gaylord Clark - Willis Gaylord Clark Poems - Poem Hunter|author=|date=|website=www.poemhunter.com}}</ref>
==Career== He succeeded Charles Fenno Hoffman as editor and publisher of ''The Knickerbocker'' magazine, a role he held for over 25 years (1834–1861).<ref>Miller, Perry. ''The Raven and the Whale: The War of Words and Wits in the Era of Poe and Melville''. New York: Harvest Book, 1956: 11–12.</ref> By 1840, it had become the most influential literary publication of the time in the United States,<ref name=Miller12/> especially through the contributions from such writers as Washington Irving, William Cullen Bryant, Nathaniel Parker Willis, and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and by Clark's own departments, the "Editors Table" and "Gossip with Readers and Correspondents". Pecuniary distress caused its discontinuance, and Clark removed to Piermont, New York, where he lived in a residence presented by former contributors to his magazine, who raised the necessary funds in part by publishing a volume of their contributions, under the title ''The Knickerbocker Gallery''. He published the ''Knickerbocker Sketch-Book'' (1850), including some of his own essays, and ''Knick-Knacks from an Editor's Table'' (1852).<ref name="nytobit">{{cite news|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1873/11/05/83484133.html?action=click&contentCollection=Archives&module=LedeAsset®ion=ArchiveBody&pgtype=article&pageNumber=7|title=OBITUARY.; LEWIS GAYLORD CLARK.|author=|work=The New York Times |date=|publisher=}}</ref> He stepped down from ''The Knickerbocker'' in late 1861 to launch in March 1862 a competing magazine, ''Clark's Knickerbocker'', which he intended to be free of "the spirit of abolition" that had become part of ''The Knickerbocker''.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1862-02-07 |title=Knickerbocker Magazine |url=https://www.newspaperarchive.com/us/missouri/liberty/liberty-tribune-newspaper/1862/02-07/page-2 |access-date=2025-01-14 |work=Liberty Tribune |location=Liberty, Missouri |page=2}}</ref> In retirement, after the magazine folded, Clark regularly contributed articles to the ''Evening Post'' and the ''Home Journal''.<ref name="nytobit"/>
During his career, Clark made an enemy of fellow editor and author Edgar Allan Poe. The two traded insults in their respective magazines.<ref>Moss, Sidney P. "Poe and his Nemesis--Lewis Gaylord Clark" in ''American Literature'', Vol. 28, No. 1 (Mar., 1956), pp. 30-49</ref>
==Notes== {{noteslist}}
===References=== {{commons category}} * {{NIE|title=Clark, Lewis Gaylord}} {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{Gutenberg author | id=9300| name=Lewis Gaylord Clark}} * {{Internet Archive author |sname=Lewis Gaylord Clark |sopt=t}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, Lewis Gaylord}} Category:American magazine editors Category:Writers from New York (state) Category:1808 births Category:1873 deaths Category:People from Otisco, New York Category:People from Piermont, New York Category:19th-century American journalists Category:Journalists from New York City Category:Knickerbocker Group Category:19th-century American male journalists