The Athenaeum (British magazine)
The Athenæum was a British literary magazine published in London, England, from 1828 to 1921.
Foundation
Initiated in 1828 by
Contributors
George Darley was a staff critic during the early years, and Gerald Massey contributed many literary reviews – mainly on poetry – during the period 1858 to 1868. George Henry Caunter was one of the principal early contributors, writing reviews of French-language books.[1] His brother John Hobart Caunter also contributed reviews.[2] H F Chorley covered musical topics from 1830 until 1868, starting well before the general emergence of regular journalistic music criticism in the mid 1840s.[3] Theodore Watts-Dunton contributed regularly as the principal critic of poetry from 1875 until 1898. Frederic George Stephens was art editor from 1860 until 1901, when he was replaced by Roger Fry because of his unfashionable disapproval of Impressionism; Stephens continued to contribute book reviews and obituaries until 1904. Arthur Symons joined the staff in 1891.
Editor from 1871 to 1900 was
From 1849 to 1880, Geraldine Jewsbury contributed more than 2300 reviews. She was one of very few women who reviewed for the Athenaeum and started submitting her reviews regularly by 1854. She rated highly novels that showed character morality and were also entertaining. She criticized the "fallen woman" theme, which was common in Victorian literature. During the second half of the 1850s, Jewsbury was entrusted with editing the "New Novels" section.[5]
Legacy
A letter from J. S. Cotton, reportedly printed during 1905, definitively tells of the first-ever reference to the playing of a match of cricket in India.[citation needed]
In 1921, with decreasing circulation, the Athenaeum was incorporated into its younger competitor: the Nation, becoming The Nation and Athenaeum. In 1931, this successor publication merged with the New Statesman, to form the New Statesman and Nation, eliminating the name Athenaeum after 97 years.
References
- ^ "Deaths". The Gentleman's Magazine. London: William Pickering; John Bowyer Nichols and Son. 1843.
- ^ "The Curran Index". The Curran Index. The Research Society for Victorian Periodicals. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
- ^ Howes, Frank. The English Musical Renaissance (1966), p. 347
- doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/34689. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- ^ Fryckstedt, Monica Correa (1986). Geraldine Jewsbury's "Athenaeum" Reviews: A Mirror of Mid-Victorian Attitudes to Fiction. Stockholm: Almqvist Och Wiksell.
Further reading
- Demoor, Marysa, Their Fair Share: Women, Power, and Criticism in the Athenaeum, from Millicent Garrett Fawcett to Katherine Mansfield, 1870–1920. Aldershot: Ashgate, 2000. ISBN 978-0-7546-0118-0
- Graham, Walter James, 'The Athenaeum', "English Literary Periodicals". New York: T. Nelson, 1930, pp. 317–21.
- Hancock-Beaulieu, Micheline; Holland, Susan (1991). "Indexing The Athenaeum: aims and difficulties" (PDF). The Indexer. 17 (3): 167–172.
- Marchand, Leslie A., "The Athenaeum: A Mirror of Victorian Culture". Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1941.
- Sullivan, Alvin, ed., 'The Athenaeum', "British Literary Magazines. Volume 3". Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1983-, pp. 21–24.
External links
- A selection of Gerald Massey's literary reviews for the Athenaeum
- The Athenaeum Projects: Centre for Interactive Systems Research, City University, London – an index of all literary reviews from 1830 to 1870 – and all scientific reviews from 1828 to 1830.
- Athenaeum review of George Eliot's The Mill on the Floss by Geraldine Jewsbury (April 7, 1860).
The Athenaeum on-line
Almost all volumes of The Athenaeum are available on-line.
Hathi Trust
The years 1828–1879 and certain years between 1880 and 1921 are freely available.
For Copyright reasons the other years are only partially available in certain countries.
- "Catalog: The Athenaeum". Hathi Trust: 162 v. 1828.
Internet Archive :
The following volumes are available (The Athenæum) :