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Robert Henry Newell (1836-1901) was an American humorist. During the U.S. Civil War, Newell wrote a series of satirical articles using the pseudonym Orpheus C. Kerr, commenting on the war and contemporary society. His articles appeared weekly in the New York Mercury Sunday newspaper and were published in 1962 in book form under the title The Orpheus C. Kerr Papers.

The name "Orpheus C. Kerr" was a play on the term "office seeker". At the time, political offices were seen as plums, involving relatively little work and regular pay, and were used by political parties as rewards for faithful party workers.

During the war, The Orpheus C. Kerr Papers was widely read and Newell enjoyed great popularity. He was one of the favorite humorists of Abraham Lincoln. When General Montgomery C. Meigs admitted that he had never heard of Orpheus C. Kerr or his Papers, Lincoln responded, “anyone who has not read them is a heathen.”^[1]

[edit] References

• Scott E. Casper, Joanne D. Chaison, and Jeffrey D. Groves, Perspectives on American Book History: Artifacts and Commentary, Univ of Massachusetts Press, 2002 ISBN 1558493174
• "THE ORPHEUS C. KERR PAPERS" The Humor of the War-Dashes at Military Life with a Free Pencil., The Missouri Republican, August 20, 1862.

[edit] External links

• The Orpheus C. Kerr papers (1862), American Libraries Internet Archive