Newspaper Work, 1901-1904 Edited and Annotated by S. T. Joshi - Collected Essays and Journalism of H. L. Mencken

H. L. Mencken published a wide array of articles in the Baltimore Herald (morning, evening, and Sunday editions). These articles ranged from coverage of local politics to several stirring accounts of a fire in Jacksonville, Florida, to an immense article on the British general Herbert Kitchener. Mencken engaged in his penchant for wit and humor with various columns of miscellany ("Terse and Terrible Texts," "Baltimore and the Rest of the World," "Knocks and Jollies"); in particular, he wrote 33 installments of a pungent column, "Untold Tales," which purported to discuss ancient Roman politicians but were in fact satires on local figures. Ill health forced Mencken to take a break from journalism in 1903-04, but in June 1904 he issued a series of reports of the Republican and Democratic national conventions, a practice he would continue for decades. We also find theatre reviews and reviews of books by Kipling, Shaw, and other notable writers. In all, this volume is a rich storehouse of Mencken's early newspaper writing.