Background
George Wilkes was a native New Yorker of obscure origin, possibly the son of George Wilkes, cabinet and frame maker, and his wife Helen. He never talked about his early life.
- Photos
- Works
- Photos
- Works
book
McClellan Who He Is and What He Has Done, and Little Mac; From Ball's Bluff to Antietam, Both in One: Revised by the Author (Classic Reprint)
(Excerpt from McClellan Who He Is and What He Has Done, an...)
Excerpt from McClellan Who He Is and What He Has Done, and Little Mac; From Ball's Bluff to Antietam, Both in One: Revised by the Author The field for our analysis' is clear. There were no special obstructions in mcclellan's path to glory. Everybody contributed their aid to make him a great man. The President lifted him to the most dazzling authority in the nation; the universal voice accorded him the qualities of Caesar; a lavish country placed incomparable and astounding legions in his hands, and the whole world look ed on, to see this child of genius calaunch his quintupled thun ders upon his meagre and cowering game. Now let us see how all this came about, and what came of it. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
https://www.amazon.com/McClellan-Little-Balls-Bluff-Antietam/dp/1332420370?SubscriptionId=AKIAJRRWTH346WSPOAFQ&tag=prabook-20&linkCode=sp1&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=1332420370
The Internationale: Its Principles and Being a Sequel to the Defense of the Commune (Classic Reprint)
(Excerpt from The Internationale: Its Principles and Being...)
Excerpt from The Internationale: Its Principles and Being a Sequel to the Defense of the Commune In direct sympathy with this manifesto, the following pro gramme has just been issued by the London republicans. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
https://www.amazon.com/Internationale-Principles-Defense-Commune-Classic/dp/133115278X?SubscriptionId=AKIAJRRWTH346WSPOAFQ&tag=prabook-20&linkCode=sp1&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=133115278X
The Lives Of Helen Jewett, And Richard P. Robinson (1849)
(This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of th...)
This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.
https://www.amazon.com/Lives-Helen-Jewett-Richard-Robinson/dp/1104917440?SubscriptionId=AKIAJRRWTH346WSPOAFQ&tag=prabook-20&linkCode=sp1&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=1104917440
Europe in a Hurry (Classic Reprint)
(Excerpt from Europe in a Hurry After six years of incess...)
Excerpt from Europe in a Hurry After six years of incessant editorial labor, I found my self, on the 14th day of May, on the bosom of the Atlantic, in one of the Cunard steamers, seeking a temporary repose in the half leisure of a travel, Which is intended to be divided between my own enjoyment and service to my readers. I feel that I am entitled to this semi-holiday. My tasks have not only been unremitting, but severe and ardu ous, and without vanity, I think I can refer such of my read ers as may feel disposed to grumble at my temporary absence, to a list of services to the public and to them, Which should accredit me to a very liberal vacation. I am in hopes, however, to give full compensation for my privilege of excursion, by the arrangements Which Ishall make for their benefit; and in the observations Which I shall be able to transmit to them, as soon as I settle again into a writing trim. At present I hardly feel I am so and Will therefore content myself With such few preliminary features of my journey, as will serve the purpose of a prologue to succeed ing letters. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
https://www.amazon.com/Europe-Classic-Reprint-George-Wilkes/dp/1330176987?SubscriptionId=AKIAJRRWTH346WSPOAFQ&tag=prabook-20&linkCode=sp1&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=1330176987
George Wilkes
Edit ProfileCareer
He became a clerk in the law office of one Enoch E. Camp and descended thence to journalism as editor or proprietor of the Flash, Whip, and Subterranean, ephemeral organs of the city's political and sporting underworld. A term in the Tombs for libel eventuated in a pamphlet, The Mysteries of the Tombs: A Journal of Thirty Days Imprisonment in the N. Y. City Prison (1844), which evinced an able pen and sympathy for the exploited and friendless. In 1845 he and Camp started the National Police Gazette, control of which passed in 1857 to George W. Matsell, a former police chief, and in 1877 to Richard Kyle Fox. During Wilkes's régime it was a robust, rowdy, scandal sheet, objectionable to vicious and decent men alike. Gangsters wrecked its office more than once, but the editors made capital of the attacks. Wilkes's interest in the West was first manifested in an inaccurate, misleading History of Oregon, Geographical and Political (1845), from which an excerpt entitled Project for a National Railroad from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean (1845) was issued separately and ran through four editions by 1847. In 1870, it is said, the Czar of Russia conferred on him the grand cross of the Order of St. Stanislas for advocating a railroad through Russian territory to India and China. In 1849 he accompanied or followed his friend David Colbreth Broderick to California, made himself useful to him, and subsequently inherited his fortune. In 1853 he made his first trip to Europe and published his observations as Europe in a Hurry. Ever since his return from California he had been connected with the well-known sporting paper, the Spirit of the Times, owned and edited by William Trotter Porter. He bought the paper in 1856, renaming it Porter's Spirit of the Times and retaining Porter on the staff until his death, July 19, 1858. From 1859 to 1866 the publication was known as Wilkes' Spirit of the Times. Wilkes owned it until his own death. Despite his meager schooling, he was master of a vigorous, vivid, precise style that exactly suited his hard, truculent disposition, and his signed articles always attracted attention and admiration. Though the Spirit remained primarily a sporting paper, it soon began to reflect its owner's relish for politics, and its political articles were influential. Wilkes was on the ground at the battle of Bull Run, was greatly taken with the prowess of the Confederates, and wrote an excellent account of the action: The Great Battle Fought at Manassas . Sunday, July 21, 1861 (1861). Immediately he turned war correspondent and reported the major engagements for his paper as if they were a series of sporting events. James Parton thought Wilkes, Butler, and Lincoln the three ablest writers developed by the war. Wilkes despised McClellan and assailed him in article and pamphlet. During the war he contracted the kidney disease of which ultimately he died. After the war he was fairly prominent in Republican politics, ran unsuccessfully for Congress against James Brooks, and hoped for a diplomatic appointment under Grant. In his later years he lived much in London and Paris, although he died in his New York house at 352 West Sixty-first St.
Achievements
-
With the cooperation of John Chamberlain and his own lieutenant, Marcus Cicero Stanley, he introduced the American people to the pari mutuel system of betting. He promoted various famous prizefights and often quarreled with the fighters. A life-long reader of Shakespeare, he published as his last book Shakespeare from an American Point of View.
Works
book
-
Europe in a Hurry (Classic Reprint)
(Excerpt from Europe in a Hurry After six years of incess...)
-
The Internationale: Its Principles and Being a Sequel to the Defense of the Commune (Classic Reprint)
(Excerpt from The Internationale: Its Principles and Being...)
-
McClellan Who He Is and What He Has Done, and Little Mac; From Ball's Bluff to Antietam, Both in One: Revised by the Author (Classic Reprint)
(Excerpt from McClellan Who He Is and What He Has Done, an...)
-
The Lives Of Helen Jewett, And Richard P. Robinson (1849)
(This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of th...)
-
Europe in a Hurry (Classic Reprint)
Religion
On his deathbed the "fighting cock of journalism, " a strong Protestant all his life, was converted to Catholicism by a Paulist father, but his friends scouted the priest's story, and employed the Rev. Dr. R. S. MacArthur of Calvary Baptist Church to bury him.
Personality
He was tall and erect, with dark eyes and a large moustache, dressed in good taste, and gave generously to charities. A shrewd man of business, with ample capital in reserve, he grew increasingly wealthy.
Connections
He was married twice.
