Nineteenth-century periodicals were the television of their day. They offered riveting serials, lifestyle recommendations, vivid illustrations by leading artists, and the inevitable advertising. They were shared among readers, who discussed their contents avidly and sometimes read them aloud to local audiences.
All the Year Round: Exploring the Nineteenth-Century Periodical tells the story of the rise of the British periodical. The exhibition charts the rapid expansion of periodical publication from the early years of the nineteenth century, when writers like Lord Byron and John Keats were reviewed and reviled, to the last decades of Queen Victoria’s reign, when ‘decadent’ journals caused controversy, the Boy’s Own and Girl’s Own Paper catered to an expanding young readership, and Sherlock Holmes’s appearance in The Strand inspired a devoted following across all classes.
All the Year Round takes its title from Charles Dickens’s weekly journal, which reached tens of thousands of readers and featured many of his now classic novels. The exhibition’s strongest presence comes from the satirical London journal Punch, whose columns and cartoons mocked prominent politicians and celebrities and shaped middle-class attitudes. Colonial spinoffs, like Otago Punch, soon spread across the British Empire.
While the exhibition primarily features holdings from the University of Otago’s Special Collections and the Hocken Library, it also includes works kindly lent from the Dunedin Public Library and the Olga and Marcus Fitchett Collection. Please enjoy.
Exhibition poster (1.4MB)
Handlist (1.4MB)
A forerunner to the great periodicals of the nineteenth century, the Spectator was a short-lived daily publication (1711-12; 1714). Edited by Joseph Addison and Richard Steele, it was a successor to Steele’s Tatler (1709-1711). Articles were written by the imaginary ‘Mr. Spectator’, who offered commentary on the London social scene and introduced several members of a ‘Spectator Club’, whose ‘histories’ and ‘commentaries’ also appear in its pages. Mr. Spectator notes in the first issue, ‘I have been often told by my Friends that it is Pity so many useful Discoveries which I have made, should be in the Possession of a Silent Man…I shall publish a Sheet full of Thoughts every Morning, for the Benefit of my Contemporaries’. The number of readers is hard to quantify, since the publication was part of the London coffee house culture, and one issue could be read by hundreds.
[Joseph Addison and Richard Steele], The Spectator, no. CCXC. [London], Friday, February 1, 1712. De Beer Ec 1711 S
The Illustrated London News (1842-2003) transformed the reporting of current affairs, politics, and world events. It was the world’s first illustrated weekly newspaper, visibly different from its competitors. The ILN initially featured a large number of wood engravings; photographic reproductions began to appear in the 1890s. The paper sold at sixpence a copy and achieved impressive circulation figures through special editions, including the celebration of the opening of the Crystal Palace in 1851, and the death of the Duke of Wellington in 1852 . The ILN’s reputation was confirmed by its reports and photographs from the Crimean War in 1855, when sales reached more than 200,000 copies a week.
[Herbert Ingram], The Illustrated London News, vol. XXVI, no. 730. [London], 3 March, 1855. Special Collections, University of Otago
The Boy’s Own Paper (1879-1967) was published by the Religious Tract Society to counter the effects of penny dreadful magazines with ‘pure, entertaining, and useful reading, such as should find a place on the shelves of every Boy’s Library’. At a penny a week, the journal offered wholesome, patriotic adventure fiction by the likes of R.M. Ballantyne and Jules Verne. By the end of the century, its circulation figures were almost 250,000 and its readership stretched across the British Empire. The publishers sold Boy’s Own Annual bindings at the end of each year – priced at between seven and nine shillings, depending upon the trim – to allow owners to collate weekly issues. The tiger featured here was the sole coloured plate of the year 1887.
[Religious Tract Society], The Boy's Own Annual, vol. 10. London: Boy’s Own Paper Office, 1887. Olga and Marcus Fitchett Collection
Punch, or the London Charivari (1841-1992, revived 1996-2002) was founded by a group that included social reformer Henry Mayhew, engraver Ebenezer Landells, and journalist Mark Lemon. It quickly became known for its lively political and social satire. Early circulation figures were modest at around 6000, but by 1860 they had risen to 40,000 copies each week. Contributors included Richard Doyle, William Makepeace Thackeray, John Tenniel, and George du Maurier. Punch was a great supporter of the 1851 Great Exhibition at Hyde Park and is credited as the originator of the name, ‘The Crystal Palace’.
[Henry Mayhew, et al.], Punch, or the London Charivari, vol. XX. London: Published at the Office, January to June, 1851. Storage Journals AP101 P8 1849-51
The Union Jack (1880-1883, 1894-1933) was a weekly magazine for boys. Its founding editor, the novelist W.H.G. Kingston, died only a few months after the first issue appeared. The adventure novelist G.A. Henty succeeded him. Initially, the journal struggled against its more popular competitor, the Boy’s Own Paper, and it folded in 1883. It was revived in 1894 by Alfred Harmsworth (later Viscount Northcliffe). The detective Sexton Blake – modelled on Sherlock Holmes – is credited with the Union Jack’s recovery, to the extent that, in 1933, the journal changed its name to Detective Weekly.
[Edited by W. H. G. Kingston], The Union Jack: A Magazine of Healthy, Stirring Tales of Adventure by Land and Sea for Boys. Vol. 1. London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington, [1880]. Olga and Marcus Fitchett Collection
The Girl’s Own Paper (1880-1965) was, like its counterpart for boys, published by the Religious Tract Society. It is regarded as the most influential publication for girls of the nineteenth century, and cultural critics suggest that it played an important role in shaping ideas of girlhood. Like the Boy’s Own Paper, its weekly editions could be preserved in an ‘annual’ binding, which was sold at the end of each year. The publication’s contents emphasized education and self-improvement, though there were also a number of lively adventure stories. Girl readers were invited to write in with questions and contributions.
[Religious Tract Society], The Girl's Own Annual. London: [Girl’s Own Paper Office], 1887. Olga and Marcus Fitchett Collection
Is this letter Jane Austen’s first appearance in print? Some scholars think so. The Loiterer was a weekly periodical launched in early 1789 by James Austen, Jane’s brother. Printed in Oxford, it lasted for about fourteen months; the final issue appeared on 20 March 1790. ‘Sophia Sentiment’ was a character in William Hayley’s comedy The Mausoleum (1785), a work that Jane Austen owned. This three-paragraph letter shows the spark of humour that might well have come from a teenage Jane Austen.
[James Austen], The Loiterer, a periodical work, in two volumes. [Oxford]: Printed for the Author and sold by Messrs Prince and Cooke [and six others], 1790. De Beer Eb 1789 L
Jane Porter was one of the most popular novelists of the early nineteenth century. Her brother, the artist and writer Sir Robert Ker Porter, served as British Consul to Venezuela in the 1830s, and Jane was anxious to promulgate her brother’s successes. To do so, she often hid her identity behind a pseudonym. This article, signed ‘A Spectator’, describes the ceremony marking the opening of the first Protestant cemetery in Venezuela. The piece appears to be the work of an eyewitness. In fact, Porter based her article on her brother’s description of the event. Robert also provided a drawing for the engraver.
A Spectator [Jane Porter], ‘New Chapel and Burial-Ground of the British Protestant Residents at Caracas, the Capital of Venezuela, in South America’, in The Saturday Magazine, No. 147. London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 18 October, 1834. Private collection
The Monthly Magazine (1796-1843) first appeared under the editorship of John Aikin, and it became a favourite among liberal and radical readers. Aikin and his sister, Anna Letitia Barbauld, had collaborated on Evenings at Home (1792-1796), a series of stories for children, and Barbauld occasionally wrote for the Monthly. In the essay on display, she challenges some of Rousseau’s ideas regarding children and education. At the time, most periodicals published articles anonymously or under a pseudonym. However, the London publishing world was a small community, and the identity of regular contributors was often an open secret. Here, a previous owner has added ‘Mrs. Barbauld’ beneath the article’s title.
[Anna Barbauld], ‘What is Education?’ in The Monthly Magazine, Vol. V, no. XXIX. London: Aikin, March, 1798. Shoults Eb 1790 B
The New Monthly Magazine (1814-1884) was an early production of Henry Colburn, one of the century’s most important publishers. Each issue included an engraved portrait of a well-known figure. The poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge thought the drawing from which this engraving was made ‘the most striking likeness ever taken’ of him. This issue includes ‘Anecdotes of Lord Byron’ by a still unidentified writer, who offers some colourful details (Byron ‘never went to sleep without a pair of pistols and a dagger by his side’). Readers were also treated to the first printing of ‘The Vampyre’, supposedly written by Lord Byron but in fact the work of his doctor and friend, John William Polidori.
Edited by Alaric Alexander Watts, ‘S.T. Coleridge’ and ‘Anecdotes of Lord Byron’, in The New Monthly Magazine, Vol. XI, no. 63. London: Henry Colburn, 1 April, 1819. Storage Journals AP4 N482 Ser.1 V.11
Pierce Egan’s Life in London began in July 1821 as a monthly publication. It followed the high and low adventures of three young men about town: Tom, Jerry, and Logic. The series was an instant success and inspired a number of theatrical versions (and yes, the animated cat and mouse take their names from Egan’s characters). The dazzling illustrations, by artist brothers Isaac and George Cruikshank, were central to the work’s popularity. George Cruikshank would become one of the century’s most successful commercial artists, illustrating some of Charles Dickens’s early writings, including Oliver Twist.
Pierce Egan, Life in London, or, The day and night scenes of Jerry Hawthorn, Esq. and his elegant friend, Corinthian Tom, accompanied by Bob Logic, the Oxonian…. London: Printed for Sherwood, Neely, & Jones, 1821. Special Collections DA683 E426 1821
Elizabeth Barrett was already a famous poet when she secretly married Robert Browning in 1846 and moved with him to Italy. In the following years, she produced some of her finest works, including Sonnets from the Portuguese (1850) and the long poem Aurora Leigh (1856). She was an early contributor to Thackeray’s Cornhill Magazine, which was a rival to Dickens’s All the Year Round. Barrett Browning’s ‘A Musical Instrument’, a meditation on the suffering that produces art, appears here with a striking wood engraving after Frederic Leighton. Leighton, later president of the Royal Academy, designed Barrett Browning’s tomb in Florence.
Edited by William Makepeace Thackeray, ‘A Musical Instrument’, in The Cornhill Magazine, Vol. II. London: Smith, Elder & Co., July to December 1860. Storage Journals AP4 C67
‘This will never do’. So begins one of the most notorious reviews of British Romantic poetry. Francis Jeffrey edited and regularly wrote for the Edinburgh Review. He had previously described William Wordsworth as a talented but misguided poet. For Jeffrey, Wordsworth’s The Excursion, a 400-page discursive poem set in the countryside, was the last straw: ‘The case of Mr. Wordsworth, we perceive, is now manifestly hopeless; and we give him up as altogether incurable, and beyond the power of criticism’.
[Francis Jeffrey], Review of ‘The Excursion, being a portion of the Recluse, a Poem. By William Wordsworth’, in The Edinburgh Review, or Critical Journal, No. XLVII . Edinburgh: Constable, November, 1814. Storage Journal AP4 E32
Today, John Keats is a bright star in the poetic constellation. However, in his lifetime he was considered part of the ‘Cockney School’, a group of writers associated with the weekly paper the Examiner and its editor Leigh Hunt. John Gibson Lockhart produced a series of articles for Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine mocking the Cockney School, and his arrogant critique of Keats was particularly vicious. Noting Keats’s previous employment, Lockhart wrote, “It is a better and wiser thing to be a starved apothecary than a starved poet; so back to the shop Mr John’. Another journal, the Quarterly Review, also attacked Keats, leading poet Percy Shelley to claim (falsely) in his 1821 elegy Adonais that harsh reviews had doomed his friend.
Z. [John Gibson Lockhart], ‘Cockney School of Poetry. No. IV’, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, Vol. III, no. XVII. Edinburgh: William Blackwood, August, 1818. Storage Journal AP4 B53
In 1848, Charlotte Brontë published her first novel Jane Eyre under the pseudonym Currer Bell. Elizabeth Rigby, writing anonymously, produced a particularly scathing review. Rigby – one of the first women to write for the Quarterly – declared Jane Eyre ‘a decidedly vulgar-minded woman’ and Rochester ‘a strange brute’. If the author was a woman, wrote Rigby, ‘she had long forfeited the society of her own sex’. Unaware of her reviewer’s identity, Brontë responded, “I am afraid he is no gentleman’.
[Elizabeth Rigby], Review of ‘Jane Eyre; An Autobiography. Edited by Currer Bell’, in The Quarterly Review, Vol. 84, no. CLXVII . London: John Murray, December, 1848. Shoults Eb 1809 Q
Poet Thomas Pringle edited the 1829-1833 issues of the popular annual Friendship’s Offering. Early in his editorship, he contacted many of the most popular writers of the day in search of contributions. William Wordsworth and Joanna Baillie politely declined, but the Scottish poet James Hogg sent him several works, including ‘The Minstrel Boy’, which appeared with a suitably sentimental engraving of a young shepherd.
The Ettrick Shepherd [James Hogg], ‘The Minstrel Boy’ in Friendship’s Offering: A Literary Album, and Christmas and New Year’s Present. London: Smith, Elder, and Co., 1829. Special Collections AY13 F75 1829
In the letter shown here, Thomas Pringle sent James Hogg a five-pound bonus for his previous contributions to Friendship’s Offering and a request for further work. Their relationship soured when Pringle deemed one of Hogg’s later contributions to be inappropriate for his mostly middle-class and female readers.
Thomas Pringle, Thomas Pringle to James Hogg. Unpublished, 15 November, 1828. Hogg Collection, folder 2
Annuals first appeared in the 1820s, and they brought together poetry, prose, and art in handsome editions. With titles like Forget Me Not and Friendship’s Offering, they were published in November, just in time for Christmas. The poet and humourist Thomas Hood edited the 1830 Gem. Its frontispiece (inspired by one of the stories included) and title page suggest the ornate style typical of these publications. By the early 1860s, the proliferation of other journals and gift books brought the era of the annual to a close.
Edited by Thomas Hood, The Gem. A Literary Annual. London: W. Marshall, 1830. Special Collections AY 13 G3 V.2 1830
Originally known as La Belle Assemblée (1806-1837), Bell’s Court and Fashionable Magazine was founded by the bookseller John Bell as a monthly magazine for women. Noted for its vibrant fashion plates, the journal also published serial fiction and articles on politics, science, and the theatre. Notable writers including Jane Porter and Mary Shelley contributed work, but readers were also encouraged to submit articles of their own for publication.
Founder John Bell, La Belle Assemblée; or, Bell’s Court and Fashionable Magazine . London: J. Bell, 1 June 1808. Storage Journal AP 4 B42 1808
Founded by the Utilitarians Jeremy Bentham and James Mill, the Westminster Review (1824-1914) was known primarily for its social and political engagement. It was neither popular nor successful in its early years. By the 1850s, the Westminster had become a respected journal, noted for its intellectualism. The writer George Eliot was assistant editor from 1851 to 1854, although she had in reality done most of the editorial work herself. ‘Silly Novels by Lady Novelists’ was one of her last essays for the Westminster, and it sought to expose the ridiculous nature of many works for and by women, a concern to which she was to return in her fiction.
George Eliot, 'Silly Novels by Lady Novelists’ in The Westminster Review. London: John Chapman, October, 1856. Storage Journal AP 4 W47 Ser. 2, V.10
The Englishwoman’s Domestic Magazine (1852-1879) was published by Samuel Beeton. Its aim was to become ‘an encouraging friend to those of our country women already initiated in the secret of making ‘‘home happy.”’ Between 1859 and 1861, the journal included regular supplements by Samuel’s wife Isabella, and these became the basis for her 1861 Book of Household Management. A conservative publication, themagazine featured domestic advice and fashion tips for the middle-class woman. The monthly publication also included ‘The Englishwoman’s Conversazione’, an advice section which attracted some notoriety in the 1860s through a series of letters relating to the tight-lacing of corsets and the disciplining of young women.
Samuel Beeton, The Englishwoman’s Domestic Magazine Vol. 1. London: Samuel Beeton, 1860. Special Collections TT 500 EK56
Bentley’s Miscellany (1837-1868) offered an assortment of serial fiction, short stories, historical writing, reviews (musical, culinary, and literary), and other snippets of information. Charles Dickens served as the journal’s inaugural editor, although he soon severed ties with its owner, Richard Bentley, whose interventionist approach to editing infuriated the up-and-coming novelist. This instalment of Dickens’s Oliver Twist features George Cruikshank’s famous illustration of Oliver asking for more. William Harrison Ainsworth succeeded Dickens as editor in 1839, and his serialized novel, Jack Sheppard, was even more successful than Dickens’s classic tale.
Charles Dickens, ‘Oliver Twist’, in Bentley’s Miscellany, Vol. 1. London: Richard Bentley, 1837. Storage Journal AP 4 B446 V.1
Household Words (1850-1859) was ‘conducted’ and founded by Charles Dickens in collaboration with his publishers, Bradbury & Evans. The publication featured articles dealing with social reform, emigration, and the British Empire, alongside novels in serial form. Works by Wilkie Collins, Elizabeth Gaskell, Charles Reade, and Dickens’s own Hard Times appeared over the years. Sales sat at around 40,000 copies per week (it was priced at tuppence per issue), although readership could triple for special holiday editions, and this figure does not account for the many working readers who would band together to buy a shared copy. All articles were published anonymously, yet the identities of featured novelists tended to be an open secret.
Charles Dickens, Household Words. A Weekly Journal. London: Bradbury & Evans, 1 April 1854. Heritage Collection, Dunedin Public Library
All the Year Round (1859-1895) was founded by Dickens in response to a quarrel with his publishers, Bradbury & Evans. The new journal was strikingly similar to its predecessor, Household Words. Each issue began with an instalment of a novel, with Dickens effectively self-publishing both A Tale of Two Cities and Great Expectations, since he was both owner and editor of the publication. Authors of serials were now identified by name. Sales were typically around 100,000 copies per week, and contributors included Edward Bulwer Lytton, Frances Trollope, and Edmund Yates.
Charles Dickens, All The Year Round. A Weekly Journal. London: Office, 30 April 1859. John McGlashan Collection AP4 A4
The Leisure Hour: A Family Journal of Instruction and Recreation (1852-1905) was a weekly periodical published by the Religious Tract Society. Committed to providing the public with appropriate, moral reading for the Sabbath, the Leisure Hour was usually sold on a Saturday. The contents included religious poetry and stories from the Bible, along with articles detailing the work of missionaries, and fiction that upheld the RTS’s values. The publication was priced at a penny, making it accessible to working-class readers. It occasionally included colour plates, as is exemplified here by the rather startling image of a young man having his head measured by a phrenologist. Contributors included Margaret Oliphant, Frances Browne, and Mary and William Howitt.
Religious Tract Society, Leisure Hour. London: Religious Tract Society, 1886. A.H. Reed Collection, Heritage Collection, Dunedin Public Library
Like its counterpart the Leisure Hour, Sunday at Home was published by the Religious Tract Society. Both publications are notable for their wood engravings, and they were designed for family consumption, with the aim of countering the effects of ‘pernicious’ reading. However, Sunday at Home included serialized novels, signalling a departure from the tract-based education for which the RTS was known. The journal’s featured stories showcase the reward of virtue, and they are characterized by their strong Christian message, rather than their literary qualities. Nevertheless, in its annual report for 1879, looking back on twenty-five years of publication, the RTS claimed that between them Sunday at Home and The Leisure Hour ‘have together addressed not far short of a million readers monthly’.
Religious Tract Society, The Sunday at Home. A Family Magazine for Sabbath Reading. London: Religious Tract Society, 1874. A.H. Reed Collection, Heritage Collection, Dunedin Public Library
In the 1830s, a number of inexpensive weekly journals attempted to attract the growing number of Britain’s working-class readers. The Penny Magazine (1832-1845) was a Whig competitor to the more conservative Chambers’s Edinburgh Journal. Sponsored by the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge,the Penny Magazine was known for the striking wood engravings on its cover pages. Early sales were strong, and the journal achieved a weekly circulation of 200,000 in its first year.
Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, The Penny Magazine of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge. London: The Society, 1 June 1833. Shoults Ec 1832 P 1833
Sponsored by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, the Saturday Magazine (1832-1844) was an Anglican rival to the Penny Magazine. As the issue featured here suggests, it closely modelled its design on the Penny Magazine, but its wood engravings lacked the quality of its competitor.
Society for the Promoting Christian Knowledge, The Saturday Magazine. London: Society for the Promoting Christian Knowledge, 4 July 1840. Private Collection
The Magazine of Science (1840-1849)was another attempt to reach a working-class audience, this time with a focus on science and industry. Its editor, George William Francis, later served as director of the Adelaide Botanic Garden. The 27 April 1839 cover presents a remarkable meeting of two modes of visual representation. Henry Fox Talbot had recently made public his experiments in ‘photogenic drawing’ – one of the earliest photographic processes. Francis copied Fox Talbot’s procedure, then presented his own works to his wood engravers, who produced woodcuts that imitated the new technology. In this way, readers unable to see Fox Talbot’s creations in person could at least have a sense of their characteristics.
George William Francis, editor, The Magazine of Science, and School of Arts. London: W. Brittain, 27 April 1839. Shoults Eb 1840 M
Science-Gossip (1865-1893, 1894-1902) was a popular science magazine, aimed at the educated lay reader. Its first editor was the botanist Mordecai Cubitt Cooke, and the journal purported to be ‘a medium of interchange and gossip’ regarding discoveries, developments, and the scientific world. In 1871, a review of the magazine in the scientific journal Nature noted that Science-Gossip was perceived as a scientific equivalent to Notes and Queries: ‘The two resemble each other, indeed, in many particulars, and in none more than in the very unequal value which attaches to the articles contained in their pages’.
Mordecai Cubitt Cooke, editor, Hardwicke’s Science-Gossip: An Illustrated Medium of Interchange and Gossip for Students and Lovers of Nature. London: Robert Hardwicke, 1865. Special Collections Q1 H37
Vanity Fair was well-known for its chromolithographic caricatures of prominent figures. James Tissot’s image of Charles Darwin appeared in 1871, the year in which The Descent of Man was published. The accompanying article describes Darwin as ‘one of the most accomplished naturalists now in existence’, noting that ‘any theoretical structure that he builds upon his researches must be regarded with great respect’. While Tissot captures Darwin’s physical infirmities (note the pile of cushions, which signify his ongoing ill health), he does so gently, contrasting his subject’s physical frailty with the intense intelligence to be seen in his eyes.
James Tissot, artist, Charles Darwin, in Vanity Fair . London: ‘Vanity Fair’ Office, 30 September 1871. A.H. Reed Collection, Heritage Collection, Dunedin Public Library
Another popular scientific publication, the Magazine of Science, and School of Arts (1840-1849) declared on its frontispiece that it ‘intended to illustrate the most useful, novel and interesting parts of natural history and experimental philosophy, artistical processes, ornamental manufactures, and the arts of life’. While it included some wood engravings, much of the journal was text. Articles included features on lathes, oil paintings, sculptors’ instruments, and insect coloration. It was superseded in 1850 by the Magazine of Science and Artists and Artists, Architects, and Builders Journal.
George William Francis, editor, The Magazine of Science, and School of Arts. London: W. Brittain, 2 April 1842. Shoults Eb 1839 M
The great success of Punch, or the London Charivari led to many imitations. The best-known in the Southern hemisphere was the Melbourne Punch (1855-1928), which, like its London counterpart, also circulated in New Zealand. Regional versions appeared in Auckland (1868-1869), New Plymouth (1860), Canterbury (1865-1866), Wellington (1868), and Dunedin (1865-1867). There was also a New Zealand Punch (1898-1900). The magazine covered a mixture of local and national issues, particularly politics. Featured here is a parody of the journalist, politician, and explorer Vincent Pyke’s West Coast Expedition to discover a route from Lake Wanaka to the West Coast. Pyke is pictured astride a moa, since he was known for his theories relating to its extinction (he was to publish a pamphlet on the topic in 1890).
The Punch Office, ‘Expedition Sketches – No.1’ in Dunedin Punch. Dunedin: The Punch Office, 26 August 1865. Hocken Periodicals Pun
‘The Coming Man’s Arrival’ is one of Dunedin Punch’s better-known images, drawing attention to the arrival of Chinese gold miners in Otago. These miners were invited by the Dunedin Chamber of Commerce in the hope that they would replace those who had been lured by the promise of better and more plentiful gold on the West Coast. Dunedin Punch first appeared on 27 May 1865. On 1 September 1867, it changed its name to the Otago Punch.
The Punch Office, ‘West Coast Expedition’ and ‘The Coming Man’s Arrival’ in Dunedin Punch . Dunedin: The Punch Office, 23 September 1865. Hocken Periodicals Pun
Vanity Fair: A Weekly Show of Political, Social, and Literary Wares(1868-1914) took its name from Thackeray’s novel and Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress. Established by Thomas Gibson Bowles, it was intended to be a ‘society’ magazine. In its early years, Bowles wrote most of the articles himself, hiding behind a range of pseudonyms to make it look as though the magazine boasted more contributors. Adopting a clear satirical mission, Vanity Fair’s first editorial pledged to ‘display the vanities of the week’, which it achieved through its distinctive caricatures of prominent public figures. The publication’s eventual success led to Bowles selling it off in 1889 for £20,000.
Thomas Gibson Bowles, founder, Vanity Fair: A Weekly Show of Political, Social, & Literary Wares, Vol. IX. London: ‘Vanity Fair’ Office, 1873. A.H. Reed Collection, Heritage Collection, Dunedin Public Library
Vanity Fair was known for its vibrantly coloured lithographs, which were often accompanied by satirical text. This delightful image of Wilkie Collins, author of works including The Moonstone and The Woman in White, is by Adriano Cecioni, and it is accompanied by text celebrating Collins’s contributions to the sensation novel genre.
Adriano Cecioni, Wilkie Collins, in Vanity Fair . London: ‘Vanity Fair’ Office, 1872. A.H. Reed Collection, Heritage Collection, Dunedin Public Library
Considered by some to be a pioneer of the ‘new journalism’, the Sketch (1893-1959) was conceived as a lighter alternative to the Illustrated London News. Its focus was on celebrity, culture, metropolitan life, the royal family, and society gossip. Founder and editor Clement Shorter was particularly committed to the use of photography in journalism, preferring it to more traditional techniques such as wood engravings. Sarah Bernhardt was one of the most popular actresses of the day, and she was acutely conscious of the power of the press. These images showcase her many different personae, both on and off the stage. Prominent contributors to the Sketch included Max Beerbohm, Walter de la Mare, and Agatha Christie, who wrote almost 50 stories for the publication.
Clement Shorter, editor, ‘The Divine Sarah’ in The Sketch. Vol. VI, no.73 . London: Ingram Brothers, 20 June 1894. Storage Journal AP 4 S53 V.6
Many famous Victorian novels appeared in serial format. As readers eagerly awaited each instalment, authors could respond to public opinion, sometimes changing the fate of a character in a bid to increase sales. Elizabeth Gaskell’s North and South, a serial of life in industrial Manchester, appeared over 20 weeks in Dickens’s Household Words from September 1854 to January 1855. Dickens and Gaskell frequently clashed over editorial matters, so much so that both swore never to work together again. However, Dickens realized Gaskell’s talent and popularity, and lured her back to serial publication with generous remuneration and promises of greater creative freedom.
Elizabeth Gaskell, ‘North and South’ in Household Words, No. 241. London: The Office, 4 November 1854. Storage Journal AP 4 H68 V.10
In 1859, Anthony Trollope wrote to Thackeray, the founding editor of the Cornhill Magazine, offering his services as a staff writer for the new periodical and suggesting that he might write five short stories. Trollope offered five short stories, but three days later George Smith, the Cornhill’s publisher, wrote back, offering him £1000 in exchange for a three-volume serialized novel. The first part of Framley Parsonage appeared just after Christmas 1859 (officially, the issue was January 1860). With illustrations by John Everett Millais, Trollope’s story of love, gambling, and theft was both eye-catching and compelling. The new magazine sold 120,000 copies in its first week, although figures later settled down to between 80 and 85,000 each week.
Anthony Trollope, ‘Framley Parsonage’ in The Cornhill Magazine. London: Smith, Elder & Co, June 1860. Storage Journal AP 4 C67 V.29
In 1874, when Thomas Hardy’s Far from the Madding Crowd was published in the Cornhill Magazine, readers were shocked at some of the work’s sexually explicit scenes. Although the Cornhill received complaints, Hardy’s work continued to be in demand. The twelve illustrations accompanying the tale were by Helen Paterson Allingham, a watercolourist whose work also appeared in the Graphic. The scene depicted here shows the farmer William Boldwood on the verge of proposing to the novel’s complex heroine, Bathsheba Everdene.
Thomas Hardy, ‘Far From the Madding Crowd’ in The Cornhill Magazine. London: Smith, Elder & Co, April 1874. Storage Journal AP 4 C67 V.29
This early issue of the Boy’s Own Paper (1879-1967) offers insights into the range of diverting material that its publisher, the Religious Tract Society, thought suitable for boy readers. In addition to its weekly serial (in this case by the prolific adventure-writer W.H.G. Kingston), the BOP featured puzzles and games, accounts of sporting achievements, and other articles designed to be morally and spiritually improving. The magazine circulated across the British Empire and became known for its patriotic values.
W. H. G. Kingston, ‘From Powder Monkey to Admiral’ in The Boy’s Own Paper, Vol. I, no. 9 . London: Boy’s Own Office, 15 March 1879. Olga and Marcus Fitchett Collection
The Captain: A Magazine for Boys and Old Boys (1899-1924) was known for its school serials (hence its sub-title), and included works by P.G. Wodehouse, including his famous Mike stories. Published by George Newnes (whose many periodicals included Tit-Bits and the Strand), the magazine promoted athleticism and notions of ‘fair play’, and it appeared monthly, priced at six-pence. Its editor was credited as ‘the old Fag’, pointing to his credentials as one who understood public school life.
George Newnes, The Captain. A Magazine for Boys & ‘Old Boys’ Vol. I . London: George Newnes, September 1899. Olga and Marcus Fitchett Collection
The Captain was notable for having a separate ‘athletics editor’, renowned cricketer C.B. Fry, and it sought to disseminate notions of ‘gentlemanliness’ across classes.
George Newnes, The Captain. A Magazine for Boys & ‘Old Boys’ Vol. XVI. London: George Newnes, October 1906. Olga and Marcus Fitchett Collection
The short-lived Yellow Book (1894-1897) was an important outlet for those writers and artists who identified with the Decadent Movement, ‘an aesthetic ideology of excess and artificiality’. The first four volumes were illustrated by Aubrey Beardsley, whose mesmerizingly grotesque drawings became one of the journal’s hallmarks. Appearing quarterly, the Yellow Book was lengthy, with each volume weighing in at around 300 pages. The cost was high at five shillings. The content was designed to be beautiful, daring, and shocking to bourgeois sensibilities. Contributors included Henry James, George Gissing, and H.G. Wells. Beardsley was dismissed following Oscar Wilde’s prosecution for ‘indecency’ in 1895. It is believed that the journal failed in April 1897 because of anxieties surrounding the Wilde trials.
Henry Harland, editor , The Yellow Book. An Illustrated Quarterly. Vol. V. London: John Lane, April 1895. Special Collections PR 1145 Y44
The Savoy (January-December 1896), first a quarterly then a monthly, folded altogether at the end of its first year. Its eight issues were edited by the symbolist poet, Arthur Symons. It was published by Leonard Smithers, the book dealer and pornographer, best remembered as one of the few publishers willing to work with Decadent writers (including Wilde) in the aftermath of the Wilde trials. Aubrey Beardsley’s distinctive artwork is present, although there were amendments to the original cover because George Moore, a contributor, complained about a naked cherub urinating on a copy of the Yellow Book. Even heavy-weight contributors like Max Beerbohm, George Bernard Shaw, and W.B. Yeats could not keep the journal afloat in a climate of suspicion and fear.
Arthur Symons, editor, The Savoy. An Illustrated Monthly, No. 7 . London: Leonard Smithers, November 1896. Special Collections AP 4 S28, V.1
The Pall Mall Magazine (1893-1914) was an off-shoot of the Pall Mall Gazette. This monthly publication, bankrolled by William Waldorf Astor, aimed to capture a middle-class readership. As the literary critic John Sutherland has noted, its policy was ‘to steer a respectable middle course between the morbid excesses of the 1890s aesthetes and the crassness of the English philistine’. The works of Thomas Hardy, George Meredith, Algernon Swinburne, and Rudyard Kipling appeared in its pages. Sadly, it was unable to compete with the Strand and it merged with Nash’s Magazine in 1914, becoming Nash’s Pall Mall Magazine.
Lord Frederick Spencer Hamilton, editor, The Pall Mall Magazine, Vol. XVII . London: Editorial and Publishing Offices, 1899. Olga and Marcus Fitchett Collection
The Strand Magazine (1891-1950) was founded by George Newnes, who envisioned it as a journal for the middle-class. It cost sixpence a week. The first editor, H. Greenhough Smith, was keen on publishing stories that featured a recurring hero, often a detective. This approach netted Smith a loyal cohort of readers, and the magazine became known for its crime fiction. Newnes contracted Arthur Conan Doyle to write his Sherlock Holmes tales for the Strand. The great detective had made his debut in A Study in Scarlet, published in Beeton’s Christmas Annual in 1887. Holmes appeared in the Strand’s first issue in 1891, marking the beginning of a long association with the magazine, and with Sidney Paget, the illustrator responsible for Holmes’s now-famous deerstalker hat.
Arthur Conan Doyle, The Adventure of the Speckled Band’, in The Strand Magazine, Vol. III. London: George Newnes, 1892. Storage Journal AP 4 S77, V. 3
Conan Doyle was able to resign from his work as a doctor from the proceeds of his Sherlock Holmes stories, yet he soon came to resent the great detective as a distraction from what he saw as his true vocation, the penning of historical novels. Doyle attempted to kill the character off in a death struggle with his evil nemesis, Professor Moriarty in ‘The Final Problem’ (1893). However, such was Holmes’s popularity, that Newnes persuaded Doyle to revive the character. Holmes returned to the pages of The Strand in 1901 with The Hound of the Baskervilles, which purported to be a retrospective narrative recounted by a grief-stricken Watson. Doyle famously resurrected his character in 1903’s ‘The Adventure of the Empty House’.
Arthur Conan Doyle, ‘The Hound of the Baskervilles’ in The Strand Magazine, Vol. XXII, no. 136 . London: George Newnes, April 1902. Storage Journal AP 4 S77, V. 22
2018 is the bicentennial of the publication of Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein. Though the novel received limited attention when it first appeared, several theatrical adaptations in the 1820s brought it a larger audience. In 1831, it was republished in the Standard Novels series, with a frontispiece that offered an early vision of Victor Frankenstein and his creation. In the following decades, journals like Punch regularly turned to Mary Shelley’s story when commenting on current events. In doing so, they made Frankenstein a familiar representative for figures whose dangerous creations escape their control.
Richard Rothwell, Mary Shelley. ___, c.1840. Online - Wikipedia
In 1843, a growing number of Irish citizens called for the repeal of the Acts of Union that combined Ireland and Great Britain. Daniel O’Connell, mayor of Dublin and a leader of the repeal movement, had held a series of rallies, called ‘monster meetings’, at various historical sites. When Prime Minister Robert Peel ordered the cancellation of a pro-repeal rally on 8 October 1843, O’Connell relented and called off the meeting. He was charged with conspiracy and sentenced to prison, and the repeal movement splintered. Punch shows O’Connell losing control of the forces of repeal, here represented in an ethnic stereotype that also takes the ‘monster meeting’ literally.
Kenny Meadows, ‘The Irish Frankenstein’ in Punch, or the London Charivari. London: Published at the Office, 1843. Storage Journal AP 101 P8 1843-45
The Crimean War began in 1853, when Tsar Nicholas II invaded the Ottoman-controlled territories of Moldavia and Wallachia. The Ottomans won early victories at Kalafat and Oltenitza (see the article opposite, ‘Heartsease for the Czar’), and Britain and France joined the fray on the side of the Ottomans. John Leech’s image captures a moment when the British public believed that Nicholas’s belligerence was about to backfire on him. The reality was less simple: though the Russians eventually sued for peace in 1856, the British suffered some 40,000 casualties, and the Charge of the Light Brigade ensured that the Crimean War long stood as a symbol of British bungling.
John Leech, ‘The Russian Frankenstein and His Monster’ in Punch, or the London Charivari . London: Published at the Office, 1854. Storage Journal AP 101 P8 1853-55
John Bright was a leading radical voice in the House of Commons. On 27 August 1866, at the Great Reform Demonstration in Birmingham, Bright delivered the first of a series of speeches across Britain calling for increased voting rights. ‘I have no fear of manhood suffrage’, said Bright, ‘and no man is more a friend of the ballot than I am’. Here John Tenniel (best known for his 1865 Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland illustrations) portrays a terrified Bright tiptoeing past the working-class giant he has awakened. The 1867 Reform Act gave the vote to (male) skilled city workers, but excluded agricultural labourers.
John Tenniel, ‘The Brummagem Frankenstein’ in Punch, or the London Charivari. London: Published at the Office, 1866. Storage Journal AP 101 P8 1865-67
On 6 May 1882, the newly-appointed Chief Secretary for Ireland, Lord Frederick Cavendish, and his Under Secretary, Thomas Henry Burke, were stabbed to death in Dublin’s Phoenix Park. The Irish politician Charles Stewart Parnell, released from jail four days previously, denounced the murders, which were committed by a militant separatist group. But Punch represents Parnell as Victor Frankenstein, cowering before his murderous creation, a simian-like Irish caricature. The broadsheet at the monster’s feet reads ‘Capt Moonlight’, a reference to Parnell’s 1881 statement, ‘Ah, if I am arrested Captain Moonlight will take my place’. Although Parnell remained a key figure in Irish politics, the murders were a profound setback to Irish Home Rule.
John Tenniel, ‘The Irish Frankenstein’ in Punch, or the London Charivari. Published at the Office, 1882. Storage Journal AP 101 P8 1881-83
A facsimile of the title page of the first edition
Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus. London: Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor and Jones, 1818. Wikipedia - Online
A facsimile of the title page with illustration of the first illustrated edition
Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, Illustrated. London: Colburn and Bentley, 1831. Wikipedia - Online
Chums was a weekly paper for boys that first appeared in 1892. It was best known for publishing pirate stories, including an 1894 re-publication in serial form of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island (1883). Its weekly papers were gathered into annual editions, which featured decorative crimson covers.
Max Pemberton, editor, Chums. London: Cassell & Company, 1893. Storage Journals 65 C 1893
This arresting woodcut gracing the cover of the Penny Magazine exemplifies the eye-catching imagery that periodicals have used to capture readers from the 1830s to today. As the accompanying article explains, the artist observed the fearsome encounter at the Surrey Zoological Gardens. This time the rabbit got away.
Charles Knight, ‘The Boa Constrictor’ in The Penny Magazine of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, No. 36. London: Charles Knight, 1832. Shoults Collection Ec 1832 P 1833
John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) is given the title ‘A Feminine Philosopher’, which reflects both his support of women’s suffrage and his public persona as a sensitive man. The accompanying text describes Mill as ‘a man of vast intellect and tender feelings’.
Spy, that is, Sir Leslie Ward, John Stuart Mill. London: ‘Vanity Fair’ Office, 1873. A.H. Reed Collection, Heritage Collection, Dunedin Public Library
At the time of this portrait, James Anthony Froude (1818-1894) was celebrated for his popular history of the English Reformation. In later years, he became a travel writer, a controversial biographer of his friend Thomas Carlyle, and a notorious champion of the British Empire.
Adriano Cecioni, James Anthony Froude. London: ‘Vanity Fair’ Office, 1872. A.H. Reed Collection, Heritage Collection, Dunedin Public Library
Novelist and Anglican clergyman Charles Kingsley (1819-1875) is closely associated with the notion of ‘muscular Christianity’ (he preferred the term ‘Christian manliness’), a concept combining virtue and power. His most famous work, The Water-Babies (1863), brought together progressive ideas on evolution and social reform with a troubling prejudice against the Irish and people of African descent.
Adriano Cecioni, The Rev. Charles Kingsley. London: ‘Vanity Fair’ Office, 1872. A.H. Reed Collection, Heritage Collection, Dunedin Public Library
‘[I]t is Mr. Ruskin's great misfortune’, writes Vanity Fair, ‘to be an incurable poet and artist in a materialistic and money-grubbing generation’. John Ruskin (1819-1900) was the pre-eminent British art critic of the nineteenth century. An early admirer of Turner and the Pre-Raphaelites, his ideas influenced Oscar Wilde, William Morris, and Mahatma Gandhi.
Adriano Cecioni, John Ruskin. London: ‘Vanity Fair’ Office, 1872. A.H. Reed Collection, Heritage Collection, Dunedin Public Library
In the Victorian era, as today, simply being the offspring of a famous personage was enough to earn fame. The First Duke of Wellington (1769-1852) is remembered for his part in defeating Napoleon at Waterloo, and for serving twice as Prime Minister. His son and heir, the Second Duke (1807-1884), is remembered for very little at all.
Adriano Cecioni, Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington. London: ‘Vanity Fair’ Office, 1872. A.H. Reed Collection, Heritage Collection, Dunedin Public Library
Founded on 17 July 1841 by Henry Mayhew and Ebenezer Landells, Punch became a very successful satiric periodical in England. The masthead was created around the anarchic glove puppet Mr Punch.
Mark Lemon, editor, Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. XXI. London: Published at the 'Punch' Office, 1851. Storage Journal AP 101 P8 1843-45
John Tenniel's Punch cartoons of the 1857 Sepoy Mutiny led to a surge in the magazine's popularity. This image may also have pushed reader numbers up. It was a staple read for many in British drawing rooms. After closure in 1992, and a strt up in 1996, Punch finally closed in 2002 after 161 years of publication.
Sir Francis Burnand, editor, Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. CXIII. London: Published at the 'Punch' Office, 1897. Storage Journal AP 101 P8 1843-45
During the 1860s short-lived imitations of the British humour and satirical magazine Punch began. The first was the fortnightly Taranaki Punch (1860–61), followed by the weeklies Canterbury Punch (1865), Otago Punch (1866–67) and Auckland Punch (1868–69). Their cartoons sent up local politicians and contributed to the creation of stock colonial types, such as the raffish but enterprising pastoralist. The Dunedin-produced weekly New Zealand Punch published a few issues in 1888. National Punch was a periodical that started on 25 October, 1873, and finished on 17 January 1874; 12 issues in all. Published by George McCullagh Reed (1831/2-1898) and Henry Brett (1843-1927), and printed at Evening Star Office. Cost 6d per copy; 5s per quarter. According to references in the Star, the publishers had no input into the content of this short-lived satricial magazine.
George McCullagh Reed (1831/2-1898) and Henry Brett (1843-1927), publishers, The National Punch, 1. Auckland, Publishing Office, High Street, 1873. Hocken Periodicals Pun
Dunedin Punch was published by Robert and Thomas Redmayne in Dunedin. The first issue appeared 27 May 1865; the last 6 January 1866. There were 41 issues in total.
Robert and Thomas Redmayne, publishers , Dunedin Punch. Dunedin: Punch Office, 1 April 1865. Hocken Periodicals Pun
Otago Punch was a continuation of Dunedin Punch. It was printed by Charles Francis and published at the Office of the Proprietors between 1866-1867. There were some 26 issues. In 1888, another reiteration appeared in Dunedin: New Zealand Punch, which was a distinguished production and the last in the succession.
Charles Francis, printer , Otago Punch, Vol. 1, no. 5. Dunedin Punch Office, 29 September 1865. Hocken Periodicals Pun
A fashion image from The Englishwoman’s Domestic Magazine (1860).
Samuel Beeton, publisher, The Englishwoman’s Domestic Magazine, Vol. 1. London: Samuel Beeton, 1860. Special Collections TT 500 EK56
An image from Dunedin Punch of weather in Dunedin.
Robert and Thomas Redmayne, publishers, Dunedin Punch. Dunedin: The Punch Office, 9 December 1865. Hocken Periodicals Pun
A detail image of Vincent Pyke astride a moa, since he was known for his theories relating to its extinction (he was to publish a pamphlet on the topic in 1890).
Robert and Thomas Redmayne, publishers, Dunedin Punch. Dunedin: The Punch Office, 26 August 1865. Hocken Periodicals Pun
Printer Edgar Ray and London journalist, Frederick Sinnett, editor of the Melbourne Morning Herald established Melbourne Punch in 1855. Its first appearance was on 2 August 1855. In 1924 it was acquired by the Herald and Weekly Times, and in 1929 merged with Table Talk. It thus disappeared.
Frederick Sinnett and Edgar Ray, founders, Melbourne Punch, Vol.II. Melbourne: Punch Office, 2 August 1855–December 1925. Special Collections
A facsimile (foamboard) image of Theodore von Holst's drawing of Frankenstein to the 3rd edition, first illustrated edition of 1831.
Drawn by Theodore von Holst and engraved by William Chevalier, Frontispiece image of Frankenstein, 1831. London: Richard Bentley and Henry Colburn, 1831. Special Collections
The Illustrated London News appeared first on Saturday 14 May 1842, as the world's first illustrated weekly news magazine. It was timed to report on the young Queen Victoria's first masquerade ball. It cost sixpence, and the first issue sold 26,000 copies.
Herbert Ingram, founder, London Illustrated News, Vol. XXI, no. 569. London: Office of the Illustrated London News, 17 July 1852. Special Collections
The Illustrated London News (1842-2003) transformed the reporting of current affairs, politics, and world events. It was the world’s first illustrated weekly newspaper, visibly different from its competitors. The ILN initially featured a large number of wood engravings; photographic reproductions began to appear in the 1890s.
Henry Ingram, founder, London Illustrated News, Vol. XXI, no. 567. London: Office of the Illustrated London News, 3 July 1852. Special Collections
The paper sold at sixpence a copy and achieved impressive circulation figures through special editions, including the celebration of the opening of the Crystal Palace in 1851, and the death of the Duke of Wellington in 1852. This iussue carries an image of an immigrant sailing ship.
Henry Ingram, founder, London Illustrated News, Vol. XXVI, no. 723. London: Office of the Illustrated London News, 13 January 1855. Special Collections
The ILN’s reputation was confirmed by its reports and photographs from the Crimean War in 1855, when sales reached more than 200,000 copies a week. This issue carries folk milling about on board ship.
Henry Ingram, founder, London Illustrated News, Vol. XXVI, no. 725. London: Office of the Illustrated London News, 27 January 1855. Special Collections
The death of the Duke of Wellington gave good copy to the ILN. This is part of a supplement on the Duke, his life and death.
Henry Ingram, founder, London Illustrated News, Vol. XXI, no. 580 - Supplement. London: Office of the Illustrated London News, 18 September 1852. Special Collections
A double page spread of the ILN, 6 January 1855.
Henry Ingram, founder, London Illustrated News. London: Office of the Illustrated London News, 6 January 1855. Special Collections