Editorial work William T. Porter

title page of october 1839 edition of american turf register, edited porter.

porter served arbiter of disputes sports rules , sports betting. porter encouraged new authors south , west write in newspaper , helped them books published. edited 2 collections of short stories frontier, big bear of arkansas in 1846 , quarter race in kentucky , other sketches in 1847.

besides sporting interests, spirit involved in emergence of american literature, tall tale form of humor. porter encouraged southwestern authors write , publish short stories in spirit, , involved in getting works published in book form. editor 2 of these collections: big bear of arkansas, published in 1846, , quarter race in kentucky , other sketches, published in 1847. porter instrumental in encouraging career of johnson hooper. writer contributed spirit henry william herbert, wrote under pen name frank forester .

the panic of 1837 hurt spirit s circulation, porter responded buying out main competition, american turf register , sporting magazine , moved new york city. porter edited turf register until paper stopped being published in 1844. porter continued publication of annual stallion lists , publication of lists of horses owned breeders. however, purchase of american turf register strained porter s finances, , sold spirit printer, john richards, retained porter editor. 1840s prosperous, in 1850s magazine again encountered difficulties. around 1855, porter left richards paper, , in 1856, printer, george wilkes, began new sporting newspaper, called porter s spirit of times, , employed porter editor.