 Griswold 's anthology The Poets and Poetry of America was the most comprehensive of its kind to date . As critic Lewis Gaylord Clark said , it was expected Griswold 's book would " become incorporated into the permanent undying literature of our age and nation " . The anthology helped Griswold build up a considerable reputation throughout the 1840s and 1850s and its first edition went through three printings in only six months . His choice of authors , however , was occasionally questioned . A British editor reviewed the collection and concluded , " with two or three exceptions , there is not a poet of mark in the whole Union " and referred to the anthology as " the most conspicuous act of martyrdom yet committed in the service of the transatlantic muses " . Even so , the book was popular and was even continued in several editions after Griswold 's death by Richard Henry Stoddard . 
