On December 12, 1893, Paul Laurence Dunbar in Dayton wrote an upbeat letter to his friend James Newton Matthews in Mason, Illinois, about the publication of his work. Paul was 21 years old and had recently returned to Dayton after spending months in Chicago during the World's Columbian Exposition.
I am feeling good in mind and body, now. Would that it were always so. May I tell you just a little of what I have been doing? Well, I have become practical enough to do a little prose work. A couple of weeks ago the "Inter Ocean" took a prose article on "A Literary Colony" (at Richmond, Ind), the Record took an article on one of our colored leaders who has recently died and the Chicago News took a Thanksgiving story, while the Detroit Free Press printed a Thanksgiving poem for which they seem to have forgotten to pay me. Munsey's Magazine accepted a little poem and offered a year's subscription to their magazine in payment which offer I accepted, as an opening. The Youth's Companion copied part of a little poem of mine from a child's magazine, in their issue of December. I thought I would send them something soon, now as they know my name. I am beginning to feel timidly hopeful.
Paul Laurence Dunbar to James Newton Matthews, December 12, 1893. Paul Laurence Dunbar Papers, Ohio History Connection (Microfilm edition, Roll 1).
One of the prose pieces Paul mentioned was an article published in a Chicago newspaper a few days earlier about the talented writers of Richmond, Indiana.
Though the Muses are supposed to be bucolic in their nature and to prefer dwelling within sight and sound of wood and stream, yet one does not expect in a small Western town of say 20,000 inhabitants to find anything like an intense literary atmosphere. Then, too, the idea that literature does not flourish in the West has been so constantly dinned into our ears that we cannot but give expression to our honest surprise at stumbling upon a small town where the literary spirit is so plainly in evidence as it is in Richmond, Ind.
"A Literary Colony," by Paul Laurence Dunbar. The Daily Inter Ocean (Chicago, Illinois). December 6, 1893. Page 7.
Two months later, Paul's poem "The Land o' Used to Be," appeared in Munsey's Magazine. In compensation, Paul was given a year's subscription, which was worth $1.
There's a ripple of fountains
That rise in the mountains,
And a murmur of rills
That spring in the hills,
And the streams go on with a softer flow,
And the sun goes down with a warmer glow,
There's a smiling cot by a sparkling sea
In the dear old land o' Used to Be!
The skies there are bluer,
And fond hearts are truer,
And love is the theme
That mountain and stream
Sing to wood and sky as the days go by,
In a raptured voice that is sweet and high;
Oh, the days are bright and the nights care-free
In the dear old land o' Used to Be!Excerpt from "The Land o' Used to Be," by Paul Laurence Dunbar. Munsey's Magazine (New York, New York). February 1894. Page 516.
Munsey's Magazine featured stories, serialized novels, poetry, and essays on theatre and art. Munsey's was growing in popularity and the publisher actively sought to increase its circulation.
If you like this magazine, shall we not hope that you will say a good word for it to your friends and acquaintances, who perhaps do not know that a publication of this size and grade is being sold at ten cents a copy? How can this be done? This is the question asked by everybody regarding the price at which we sell Munsey's Magazine. It is possible to make the best magazine in the world, and that such a magazine can be sold profitably at ten cents per copy, or for one dollar a year by direct subscription. If you will show Munsey's Magazine to your friends and secure for us five subscriptions, sending us one dollar for each name, we will give you a year's subscription free for yourself in return for your trouble.
"The Publisher's Desk." Munsey's Magazine (New York, New York). January 1894. Pages 449 - 450.
As Paul hoped, his relationship with Munsey's Magazine continued, and more of his poetry appeared in its pages in later years. In 1898, Munsey's published "The Sum," a verse about love, sickness and death. During a period of illness in Washington, D. C., Paul mentioned the poem to his fiancée Alice Ruth Moore in Brooklyn.
I am still a miserable sick boy, though your two dear letters this morning were like medicine to me. Monday night I recited, sick as I was and with a good deal of mucus. But yesterday I was unable to work at all. I am back on duty again this morning but feeling far from well. Doctor says I must give up working at night -- just when I am finishing up the things I ought to get out, too. There is a poem of mine in the February Munsey.
Paul Laurence Dunbar to Alice Ruth Moore, January 31, 1898. Paul Laurence Dunbar Papers, Ohio History Connection (Microfilm edition, Roll 8).
Your poem in Munsey's is very beautiful, dear, very, very beautiful. I cannot read it enough.
Alice Ruth Moore to Paul Laurence Dunbar, February 4, 1898. Paul Laurence Dunbar Papers, Ohio History Connection (Microfilm edition, Roll 8).
"The Sum" as published in Munsey's is slightly different than the version that appeared later in Paul's poetry books.
A little dreaming by the way,
A little toiling day by day;
A little pain, a little strife,
A little joy -- and that is life.
A little short lived, fleeting summer's morn,
When happiness seems newly born,
When one day's sky is blue above,
And one bird sings -- and that is love.A little wearying of the years,
The tribute of a few hot tears,
Two folded hands, the failing breath,
And peace at last -- and that is death.Just dreaming, loving, dying so,
The actors in the drama go;
A flitting picture on a wall,
Love, death, the themes! But is it all?"The Sum," by Paul Laurence Dunbar. Munsey's Magazine (New York, New York). February 1898. Page 799.
By 1905, Paul had moved back to Dayton and was only months away from death. He purchased the August issues of several magazines from a local book shop. Munsey's was still ten cents a copy, while others were 15 and 25 cents.
U. B. Publishing House Book Department
Books, Art Goods, and Stationery.
Dayton, Ohio. 8/4 1905
Paul L Dunbar
McClure 10
Ev Mag 15
Ainsley 15
Scribner 25
Munsey 10Charge 75
Statement from United Brethren Publishing House, August 4, 1905. Paul Laurence Dunbar Papers, Ohio History Connection (Microfilm edition, Roll 2).