(This reproduction was printed from a digital file created...)
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(This book was originally published prior to 1923, and rep...)
This book was originally published prior to 1923, and represents a reproduction of an important historical work, maintaining the same format as the original work. While some publishers have opted to apply OCR (optical character recognition) technology to the process, we believe this leads to sub-optimal results (frequent typographical errors, strange characters and confusing formatting) and does not adequately preserve the historical character of the original artifact. We believe this work is culturally important in its original archival form. While we strive to adequately clean and digitally enhance the original work, there are occasionally instances where imperfections such as blurred or missing pages, poor pictures or errant marks may have been introduced due to either the quality of the original work or the scanning process itself. Despite these occasional imperfections, we have brought it back into print as part of our ongoing global book preservation commitment, providing customers with access to the best possible historical reprints. We appreciate your understanding of these occasional imperfections, and sincerely hope you enjoy seeing the book in a format as close as possible to that intended by the original publisher.
(This reproduction was printed from a digital file created...)
This reproduction was printed from a digital file created at the Library of Congress as part of an extensive scanning effort started with a generous donation from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. The Library is pleased to offer much of its public domain holdings free of charge online and at a modest price in this printed format. Seeing these older volumes from our collections rediscovered by new generations of readers renews our own passion for books and scholarship.
John James Piatt was an American poet and journalist.
Background
He was born on March 1, 1835 at James' Mills (later Milton), Indiana, United States, the son of John Bear and Emily (Scott) Piatt. They were descendants of John Piatt, a French Huguenot who emigrated first to the West Indies and from there, some time prior to 1670, came to New Jersey.
When John James was six years old his parents moved to Ohio, establishing themselves near Columbus.
Education
The boy attended the high school in Ohio, and later, Capital University and Kenyon College. He was apprenticed to the publisher of the Ohio State Journal to learn the printer's trade.
Career
He was associated with William Dean Howells in Ohio State Journal, and the two formed a lasting friendship. Some of Piatt's verses appeared in the Louisville Journal in 1857, and soon afterward he accepted an editorial position on it.
In 1859 he began contributing to the Atlantic Monthly. His poem "The Morning Street" evoked Howells' praise and the statement that he himself wished he could write something worthy of inclusion in the Atlantic. The following year (1860) the two published in collaboration Poems of Two Friends.
After marriage he went to live in Washington, where was a clerk in the United States Treasury Department from 1861 to 1867. During this period he became acquainted with Walt Whitman, who frequently referred to Piatt's writings. In 1867 Piatt joined the staff of the Cincinnati Chronicle, and removed to North Bend, just below Cincinnati, on the Ohio River.
From 1869 to 1878 he was literary editor and correspondent of the Cincinnati Commercial, but also served as assistant clerk (1870) and as librarian (1871 - 75) of the United States House of Representatives. From 1882 to 1893 he was United States consul at Cork, Ireland, and for a few months in the latter year at Dublin. During all these years he was writing and publishing poetry and some prose.
Among his books, in addition to several prepared in collaboration with his wife, are Poems in Sunshine and Firelight (1866); Western Windows, and Other Poems (1867); Landmarks, and Other Poems (1872). He also edited several collections of poems, and from 1907 to 1909 Midland, first a weekly, then a monthly, publication which was merged into Uncle Remus's Home Magazine.
When political changes caused Piatt's recall from the consulate in Ireland, he settled at North Bend, Ohio. He continued his literary work, contributing to the Cincinnati Enquirer as editor of book reviews and to various periodicals, until a few years before his death, when he became an invalid through injuries received in a carriage accident.
(This book was originally published prior to 1923, and rep...)
Views
Piatt's poetry shows the regular meters of his time, but is original and varied in subject matter and appreciative of natural beauty, literary associations, and human feeling.
Connections
On June 18, 1861, he married Sarah Morgan Bryan, poet and contributor to the Louisville Journal. They had three sons and one daughter.