Author: Arthur Gordon Burgoyne

Arthur Gordon Burgoyne combined Pittsburgh journalism with satirical writing rooted in civic observation. Bricks of Gold is the shortened catalogue form of Bricks of Gold; or, Matt Quay's Reformation, an operetta in three acts published in Pittsburgh in 1899. The surviving title record credits Burgoyne and notes that the piece was issued without printed music, although its title states that the music was selected. CiNii classifies the work with nineteenth-century American drama and preserves a microform record of the original publication. The operetta's reference to Pennsylvania politician Matthew Quay connects it directly to Burgoyne's interest in public figures and local politics. This is therefore not a collection of essays or a conventional novel, but a topical stage work built around political reform and comic performance. Bricks of Gold by Arthur Gordon Burgoyne belongs within his broader career as a newspaperman turning Pittsburgh personalities and controversies into accessible literary forms.