The story of John Maynard inspired not only Theodor Fontane but also many other poets. The best-known "other" version is probably Horatio Alger's "John Maynard: A Ballad of Lake Erie." Norman Barry, a retired Gymnasium teacher from Bad Schussenried, Germany, has found and transcribed three other poetic versions of the John Maynard story, two in English and one in German. All four of these versions are presented below.

 

HORATIO ALGER, JR.

"JOHN MAYNARD: A BALLAD OF LAKE ERIE" by Horatio Alger, Jr. in The Student and schoolmate; an illustrated monthly for our boys and girls, January, 1868

"JOHN MAYNARD" by Horatio Alger, Jr. in Gems for the Fireside, New York : S.G. Mead, 1880

Alger's ballad published anonymously in The Troy Weekly Times (Troy, New York), February 19th, 1868. (vol. XII, No. 35, p. 4, c.1).

 

B. B. FRENCH

Transcription of "THE HELMSMAN OF LAKE ERIE" by B. B. French, from Barre Gazette, October 10, 1845

An image of the front page of the Baltimore Sun of September 5, 1845, showing the publication of "The Helmsman of Lake Erie" by B. B. French.

An image of a page of the Cleveland Daily Plain Dealer of September 10, 1845 (Vol. I, No. 134), showing the publication of "The Helmsman of Lake Erie" by B. B. French, followed by the anonymous prose version.

 

JOSEPHINE

Transcription of an untitled poetic version of the story attributed only to "Josephine," in The British Workman, No. 107, November, 1863

 

ADA LINDEN

An image of Ada Linden's "John Maynard" in Deutschlands Dichterinnen and an image of the title page of that book.

Transcriptions, noting textual variations, of two printed German versions of Ada Linden's poem, "John Maynard," one published in 1896 and the other with an uncertain publication date.

Norman Barry's translation into English of Ada Linden's "John Maynard."

 

 

 

 

 

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