By GENE BERRY
The Center for the Book's Books & Beyond author series featured Peter Bridges discussing his new book, "Pen of Fire," the first full-length biography of Confederate editor and champion John Moncure Daniel, on Nov. 18, 2002, at the Library. Co-sponsored by the Newspaper Section of the Serial and Government Publications Division, the program continued the series' investigation of topics of special interest to the Library, their relationship to various Library collections, and, in this case, those Library resources which aided the investigation of a life that was found by the biographer to be "interesting and full of action, but not pretty."
![Peter Bridges](images/bridges.jpg)
Born in Stafford, Va., in 1825, Daniel became an influential editor of the Richmond Examiner, before being appointed American envoy to the Kingdom of Sardinia at Turin at the age of 27, one of the youngest-ever heads of an American diplomatic mission. He served seven years in Turin, weathering personal scandal to become a forceful and effective representative, possibly affecting the course of Italian re-unification, before returning to his newspaper in 1861 as the Southern states were seceding from the Union. He became, according to Bridges, the "most influential editor in the Confederacy and the arch-enemy of Jefferson Davis."
Daniel was pro-slavery, anti-Semitic, and opinionated, and he wielded the power of his position and the passion of his pen to fuel public sentiment, Bridges said. He added that some credited Daniel's pen with being the catalyst for Virginia's secession from the Union.
Although he died at 39 (as a result of his ninth duel, with the last treasurer of the Confederacy), Daniel led a large life rife with political and personal intrigue and scandal, according to Bridges. Hailing from a once-prosperous old Virginia family, and nephew of a U.S. Supreme Court justice, he dreamed of rebuilding the ancestral homestead in Stafford, Va.. Daniel was the first to recognize the genius and profligate in Edgar Allan Poe, another Richmond citizen, and was unafraid to advertise both observations in the pages of his newspaper, Bridges said. He eventually had to scare a drunken Poe from following through on his challenge to a duel.
Bridges acknowledged that he spent many hours in the Newspaper and Current Periodical Reading Room, Manuscript Division, and the Main Reading Room at the Library, piecing together the measure of a man admired by many during his brief life, hated by more (northerners and southerners alike), and ignored by biographers for far too many years. Bridges stated during his talk that he felt Daniel's story was "an interesting tale that needed to be told." Those wanting to know more about an enigmatic life, large enough for the big screen, can read more about John Moncure Daniel in Bridges' book just published by the Kent State University Press.
The Library as a repository of primary and secondary research materials, including extensive microfilm and electronic holdings, offers innumerable research opportunities to a sleuth/scholar in pursuit of information. In the case of Daniel's newspaper, the Library holds both microfilm and bound issues of the Richmond Examiner from 1861 through April 3, 1865, the period when Daniel was both editor and the "conscience of the Confederacy." Electronic databases such as Accessible Archives and Proquest's Historical News files, as well as substantial holdings of other newspapers for the Civil War period, are also invaluable research tools for this period and readily available for use at the Library.
Gene Berry is the administrative officer for the Serials and Government Publications Division.