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1812 | The Diverting History of John Bull and Brother Jonathan. A comedy about the settlement and revolution of the thirteen colonies, inspired by the sentiments leading to the War of 1812. Numerous editions were published in the United States; it would be followed by an inferior sequel, The History of Uncle Sam and His Boys (1835). |
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1813 | The Lay of the Scottish Fiddle: A Tale of Havre de Grace, Supposed to Be Written by Walter Scott, Esq. A parody of Sir Walter Scott's
Lay of the Last Minstrel, the work condemns the British invasion of Chesapeake Bay. Although the work is published in England with a preface complimenting Paulding, the poet is heavily criticized for it in the London Quarterly. |
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1815 | The United States and England. A passionate defense of the ethics, conduct, literature, and institutions of the United States. After its publication, President James Madison appoints Paulding as secretary of the Board of Navy Commissioners, beginning Paulding's association with the navy, which would last until 1841. |
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1817 | Letters from the South. Paulding offers an agrarian, Jeffersonian defense of Southern values. |
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1818 | The Backwoodsman. Paulding's most significant poem is a narrative in heroic couplets recounting the adventures of a New York pioneer who finds freedom on the frontier of Kentucky. |
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1819 | Salmagundi, Second Series. Paulding's solo attempt at a continuation of his immensely popular earlier work, written with Washington Irving and others. Although some of the material is notable, it wins little critical attention. |
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1822 | A Sketch of Old England, by a New England Man. An account of a purported tour of England that begins with comedic travel adventures but is mostly devoted to a discussion of the differences between the two countries and an attack on the British who misrepresent America. |
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1823 | Königsmarke, the Long Finne: A Story of the New World. A historical novel about a Finnish immigrant in the colony of New Sweden on the Delaware River. Each volume of the novel begins with an author's commentary. |
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1825 | John Bull in America; or, The New Munchausen. Paulding's final published defense of America against the scorn of English travelers, this work recounts the adventures of a Cockney traveler, satirically illustrating his failure to view America with an open mind and his reliance on the Quarterly Review, which was publishing biased attacks of America by British travelers. |
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1826 | The Merry Tales of the Three Wise Men of Gotham. The first in a series of short story collections, to be followed by Tales of the Good Woman (1829), Chronicles of Gotham (1830), and The Book of St. Nicholas (1836). All earn praise from critics and writers such as Poe and are valued as early achievements in short fiction. |
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1828 | The New Mirror for Travellers and a Guide to the Springs. An earnest satire of the day's many bombastic travel journals and guidebooks. When mistaken publicly and critically for a serious work, it is hailed as "The New Pilgrim's Progress." The work parodies the rules and manners appropriate for various groups and contains sketches, short fiction, and references to people and places well known at the time. |
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1830 | The Lion of the West. A farce written for the actor James H. Hackett, who plays Nimrod Wildfire, a character similar to Davy Crockett and other hunters and frontiersmen. Hackett, an actor and sometime theater director, promoted American drama by offering a prize for the most original comedy by an American; Paulding won the $300. The role made Hackett famous, and the play was staged for many years. |
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1831 | The Dutchman's Fireside. Set near Albany during the French and Indian War, the novel presents an accurate picture of the life of the old Dutch settlers. |
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1832 | Westward Ho! Best-selling romance about the adventures of a Virginia family pioneering in Kentucky. The novel contains a love story with Hawthorne-like psychological undertones. |
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1835 | A Life of Washington. Considered the standard biography of Washington until Irving's biography of the first president (1855). Poe's review exclaims, "There is no better literary manner than the manner of Mr. Paulding." |
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1836 | Slavery in the United States. A discussion of the legal, social, and economic aspects of slavery, defending the Southern point of view on the basis of states' rights and preservation of the union. |
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1846 | The Old Continental; or, The Price of Liberty. Paulding's historical novel, set during the Revolution, provides a realistic portrait of lower-class New Yorkers during the period. |
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1847 | The Bucktails; or, Americans in England. In Paulding's satirical comedy of manners, several caricatured English types court an American girl before she comes to her senses and accepts her American beau. |
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1849 | The Puritan and His Daughter. Paulding's popular historical novel treats seventeenth-century American life in Virginia and New England. |
