Individuals >> Mallen, Edward F.

Illustrator.

Remembered as an artist and frequenter of Pfaff’s, Edward "Ned" Mallen was also referred to as “Mullin” or more often as “Mullen.” William Winter identifies "Edward F. Mullen" as one of the artists who frequented Pfaff’s Cave along with Launt Thompson, George Boughton, and Sol Eytinge, Jr. (Old Friends 66, 88). Walt Whitman is also quoted as saying that "Mullin" was "among the leaders" at Pfaff’s (T. Donaldson 208-209). Fellow artist and Pfaff’s regular Elihu Vedder remembers that Mullin’s landlady characterized him as a "holy terror," a man who "was anything but neat, except in the matter of whiskey: he always took that neat" (Confessions 218). Vedder describes Mullin as being "ever on the verge of a fight, [but] I never remember to have seen him in one" like his pugilistic friend Fitz James O’Brien (219). Characterizing Mullin’s art as "forgotten gems" which once adorned the pages of Vanity Fair, Vedder dryly observes, "It may be imagined that Mullin’s hand was unsteady, but by concentrating his will and taking good aim he managed to hit the spot every time; and being a good artist this very unsteadiness gave a delightful freedom and a style of his own to his drawings which were veritable little gems and offered the greatest contrast to the drawings of all around him" (220). Mullen produced illustrations of “the very best grade of comic art” for the pages of Vanity Fair (Seitz 79).

In addition to his interest in comic art and engraving, Mullen possessed a talent for oil painting ("Art Notes" 7). His work is remembered alongside the productions of Eytinge, Launt Thompson, George H. Boughton, Wilson Fisk, and Frank Bellew. Don Carlos Seitz contends that “to such associates Artemus Ward came as one to the manner born. The evenings were gay with converse and many libations of Pfaff’s brew” (99). The acquaintance with Artemus Ward produced rich comic fruit; Seitz named Wood, Mullen, and Shanly as the staff members at Vanity Fair who inspired the minor characters in Artemus Ward’s Woshy-Boshy (90). Mullen’s emotional connection to his Pfaff’s fellows was strong. William Winter mentions that Mullen attended Fitz-James O’Brien’s funeral along with Frank Wood and Thomas Bailey Aldrich. Winter refers to Mullen as “the quaint, original artist of Vanity Fair” and states that they all rode in the coach together (“Sketch of O’Brien” xxvii).

References & Biographical Resources

Quelqu'un [Winter, William]. "Dramatic Feuilleton." New-York Saturday Press. 17 Nov. 1860: 3. [more about this work]

Quelqu'un refers to a caricature of Mullen's in the last issue of The Comic Monthly in his discussion of Miss Cushman (3). [pages: 3]

Allen, Gay Wilson. The Solitary Singer: A Critical Biography of Walt Whitman. New York: MacMillan, 1955. [more about this work]

Mallen, possibly referred to here as "Mullin" may be one of the departed Pfaffians Whitman writes about toasting with Pfaff during his 1881 visit (494).

Source: Whitman - CW 5:21 [pages: 494]

"Art: Art Notes." The Round Table. A Saturday Review of Politics, Finance, Literature, Society. 9 Sep. 1865: 7. [more about this work]

The article states that Mallen, already an accomplished draughtsman, is embarking on oil painting. [pages: 7]

Donaldson, Thomas. Walt Whitman the Man. New York; F.P. Harper, 1896. 276 p. [more about this work]

Figaro [Clapp, Henry Jr.]. "Dramatic Feuilleton." New-York Saturday Press. 3 Mar. 1866: 5. [more about this work]

Figaro writes that "Mullen" has "furnished" the Press with a new "top-piece" (5). [pages: 5]

Lalor, Eugene T. The Literary Bohemians of New York City in the Mid-Nineteenth Century. Ph.D. Dissertation, St. John's University, 1977. 364 p. [more about this work]

Described by Lalor as a "non-literary artist," perhaps a painter or a sculptor (3). [pages: 3]

O'Brien, Fitz-James. The Poems and Stories of Fitz-James O'Brien. Collected and Edited, with a Sketch of the Author, by William Winter. Ed. William Winter. Boston: J.R. Osgood and Co., 1881. 485 p. [more about this work]

Winter mentions that Mallen attended O'Brien's funeral, along with Frank Wook and Thomas Bailey Aldrich (xxvii). [pages: xxvii]

Parry, Albert. Garrets and Pretenders: A History of Bohemianism in America. New York: Covici, Friede, 1933. [more about this work]

Parry calls him Edward T. Mullen here, and mentions that O'Brien's efforts to recruit in New York led to the publication of his "friendly cartoon" in Vanity Fair. Parry reprints the cartoon on p.54. [pages: 53, 54 (ill)]

Seitz, Don Carlos. Artemus Ward (Charles Farrar Browne): A Biography and Bibliography. NY: Harper & Brothers, 1919. [more about this work]

Seitz names Wood, Mullen [Mallen], and Shanly as staff members at Vanity Fair who were inspirations for characters in Artemus Ward's Woshy-Boshy. Mallen is described as a comic artist who worked with Artemus Ward. [pages: 79, 90, 99, 183, 282, 322-326]

Vedder, Elihu. The Digressions of V., Written for his Own Fun and that of His Friends, by Elihu Vedder; Containing the Quaint Legends of his Infancy, an Account of his Stay in Florence, the Garden of Lost Opportunities, Return Home on the Track of Columbus, His Struggle. Boston & New York: Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 1910. [more about this work]

Characterizing Mullin’s art as "forgotten gems" which once adorned the pages of Vanity Fair, Vedder dryly observes, "It may be imagined that Mullin’s hand was unsteady, but by concentrating his will and taking good aim he managed to hit the spot every time; and being a good artist this very unsteadiness gave a delightful freedom and a style of his own to his drawings which were veritable little gems and offered the greatest contrast to the drawings of all around him" (220). [pages: 218, 219, 220]

Winter, William. Old Friends; Being Literary Recollections of Other Days. New York: Moffat, Yard and Company, 1909. 407 p. [more about this work]

He is listed by Winter as one of the artists who frequented Pfaff's Cave. He is refered to here as "Edward F. Mullen" (66). [pages: 66,88]

Winter, William. "Sketch of O'Brien." The Poems and Stories of Fitz-James O'Brien. New York: J. R. Osgood, 1881. xv-xxviii. [more about this work]

Winter mentions in a footnote that Mullen attended Fitz-James O’Brien’s funeral along with Frank Wood and Thomas Bailey Aldrich; Winter refers to Mullen as “the quaint, original artist of Vanity Fair” and states that they all rode in the coach together (xxvii). [pages: xxvii]