Description
Collector's Note – Why This Issue Matters
The September 11, 1971 issue of The New Yorker is, by any measure, one of the more literarily significant single issues the magazine produced in the early part of that decade. The table of contents reads like a seminar in American letters. Donald Barthelme, at the height of his postmodern powers, contributes fiction. Alice Adams, whose reputation would grow considerably through the 1970s and 1980s, appears with a short story. Philip Levine — who would go on to become U.S. Poet Laureate — contributes a poem, as does Robert Penn Warren, already one of the most decorated writers in American literary history, the only person to have won the Pulitzer Prize for both fiction and poetry. That four writers of this caliber appear in a single issue is not an accident; it reflects the magazine's position in 1971 as the most prestigious venue in American short fiction and poetry, the publication every serious writer wanted to be in.
The non-fiction is equally substantial. John McPhee — whose long association with The New Yorker would produce some of the defining works of American literary journalism — contributes a Profile of George Hartzog, then director of the National Park Service, a subject entirely in keeping with McPhee's lifelong preoccupation with the American landscape and its stewardship. Robert Shaplen's "Letter from Saigon" places this issue precisely in the Vietnam War era: by September 1971, American troop withdrawals were underway but the war's end remained years away, and Shaplen was one of the most authoritative American journalists covering Southeast Asia. His dispatches from Saigon for The New Yorker across this period are now considered essential primary documents of the war's later phases. Collectors building serious archives of The New Yorker's literary and journalistic legacy will recognize this issue as unusually rich even by the magazine's standards.
The cover by Charles E. Martin — seagulls on a rooftop, rendered in his characteristic clean, observational style — provides a counterpoint of urban quietude to the weight of the interior. Martin was a longtime New Yorker contributor whose covers and cartoons spanned decades, and his work is collected both within the magazine's broader illustration tradition and as standalone graphic art. Film criticism by Penelope Gilliatt and book reviews by L. E. Sissman round out an issue that represents the full editorial scope of Shawn-era The New Yorker at its most accomplished. The 1971 magazine archive at OriginalMagazines.com offers additional context for the broader American print culture of this pivotal year.
About the Publication
The New Yorker was founded in 1925 by Harold Ross and by 1971 had been under editor William Shawn's direction for nearly two decades. Shawn's tenure transformed the magazine from a witty metropolitan weekly into the most serious literary and journalistic publication in America, attracting the country's finest writers across fiction, poetry, criticism, and long-form nonfiction. Its format combined original creative work with a consistent suite of critical and cultural departments, anchored each week by a commissioned cover illustration — always original art, never a photograph. The magazine's contributor roster in the early 1970s represented an extraordinary concentration of American literary talent, and individual issues from this period are now studied as primary documents of the era's intellectual and cultural life.
Key Highlights Inside
- Cover by Charles E. Martin — seagulls on a rooftop, a characteristically quiet and observational composition from one of The New Yorker's most enduring visual contributors.
- Fiction by Donald Barthelme ("The Mothball Fleet") — one of the leading postmodern fiction writers in America at this stage of his career, a frequent and celebrated New Yorker contributor.
- Short story by Alice Adams ("The Swastika on Our Door") — an early appearance in the magazine from a writer whose reputation would grow significantly through the following decades.
- Poetry by Philip Levine ("Breath") and Robert Penn Warren ("Address of Soul to Body") — two major American poets, the latter a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, appearing in the same issue.
- A Profile by John McPhee on George Hartzog, director of the National Park Service — characteristic McPhee subject matter from one of The New Yorker's most significant long-form contributors.
- "Letter from Saigon" by Robert Shaplen — Vietnam War correspondence from one of the most authoritative American journalists covering Southeast Asia, filed at a critical moment in the war's trajectory.
Condition & Rarity
Graded Very Good with light edge wear as the primary condition note — a strong preservation outcome for a magazine now more than fifty years old. Light edge wear on issues of this vintage reflects the passage of time under reasonable storage conditions rather than damage or neglect, and it does not affect the readability of the interior or the visual integrity of the Martin cover. A protective plastic sleeve is the correct archival choice for ongoing storage of a publication of this age and paper stock, helping to stabilize against further atmospheric exposure. Issues of this literary density — carrying fiction, poetry, and journalism from writers of this caliber in a single number — are the ones that tend to be held onto carefully by people who understood what they had, which is reflected in the condition of the better-surviving copies. For an issue with this contributor roster, Very Good with light edge wear represents a genuinely presentable example.
Looking for More Issues Like This?
Issues of The New Yorker carrying this concentration of major literary names — Barthelme, McPhee, Levine, Warren, Shaplen — in a single number are exactly the kind of find that serious collectors of American literature in periodical form pursue with patience. The full New Yorker collection at OriginalMagazines.com is the best place to explore what's currently available across the magazine's long and distinguished run. For collectors assembling a documentary picture of early 1970s American culture and letters, the complete 1971 magazine archive offers a wide range of titles from a year that sits at one of the most turbulent and creatively fertile moments in modern American history.