Although in his own time Joseph Dennie was known as "the American Addison" for his periodical essays, his most influential literary role was as the editor of the Port Folio and several other early American literary periodicals. Despite his political conservatism and his admiration of British literature, Dennie as editor encouraged American literary productivity and raised American literary tastes. Descended from printers on his mother's side and merchants on his father's, Dennie was the only child of Joseph and Mary Green Dennie. Dennie's father was a prosperous merchant, but encroaching insanity led him to retire from business, leaving the family comfortable. Dennie did not receive the large inheritance he might otherwise have expected and frequently fought debt throughout his life. Consequently, Dennie was one of the first Americans, along with Charles Brockden Brown, to make a living as a professional writer.

Dennie spent his early years in Boston...