Athenaeum (magazine)
Encyclopedia
The Athenaeum was a literary magazine
published in London
from 1828 to 1921. It had a reputation for publishing the very best writers of the age.
Launched in 1828 by James Silk Buckingham
, it was sold within a few weeks to Frederick Maurice and John Sterling
, who failed to make it profitable. In 1829, Charles Wentworth Dilke became part proprietor and editor; he greatly extended the influence of the magazine. In 1846, he resigned the editorship and assumed that of the Daily News but contributed a series of notable articles to Athenaeum. In 1846, Thomas Kibble Hervey
, poet and critic, became editor until his resignation due to ill health in 1853.
George Darley
was a staff critic in the early years, and Gerald Massey
contributed many literary reviews - mainly on poetry - during the period 1858-1868. Theodore Watts-Dunton
contributed regularly as the principal critic of poetry from 1875 until 1898. Frederic George Stephens
was art editor from 1851 until 1901, when he was replaced by Roger Fry
because of his unfashionable hatred of Impressionism
. Arthur Symons
joined the staff in 1891.
In the 19th century, it received contributions from Lord Kelvin
. In the early 20th century, its contributors included Max Beerbohm
, Edmund Blunden
, T. S. Eliot
, Robert Graves
, Thomas Hardy
, Aldous Huxley
, Edith Sitwell
, Julian Huxley
, Katherine Mansfield
, and Virginia Woolf
.
On other grounds, the magazine's place in the history of sports writing is assured. A letter from J. S. Cotton, reportedly printed in 1905, definitively tells of the first-ever reference to Cricket in India
.
In 1921, with falling circulation, the Athenaeum was incorporated into its younger competitor: the Nation. In 1931, the Nation merged with the New Statesman
, to form the New Statesman and Nation.
Literary magazine
A literary magazine is a periodical devoted to literature in a broad sense. Literary magazines usually publish short stories, poetry and essays along with literary criticism, book reviews, biographical profiles of authors, interviews and letters...
published in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
from 1828 to 1921. It had a reputation for publishing the very best writers of the age.
Launched in 1828 by James Silk Buckingham
James Silk Buckingham
James Silk Buckingham was an English author, journalist and traveller.He was born at Flushing near Falmouth, the son of a farmer, and had a limited education. His youth was spent at sea, and in 1797 he was captured by the French and held as a prisoner of war at Corunna...
, it was sold within a few weeks to Frederick Maurice and John Sterling
John Sterling (author)
John Sterling , was a British author.He was born at Kames Castle on the Isle of Bute. He belonged to a family of Scottish origin which had settled in Ireland during the Cromwellian period...
, who failed to make it profitable. In 1829, Charles Wentworth Dilke became part proprietor and editor; he greatly extended the influence of the magazine. In 1846, he resigned the editorship and assumed that of the Daily News but contributed a series of notable articles to Athenaeum. In 1846, Thomas Kibble Hervey
Thomas Kibble Hervey
Thomas Kibble Hervey was a British poet and critic.Thomas Kibble Hervey was born in Paisley, Scotland, and raised in Manchester, England where he was educated at Manchester Grammar School. He entered Caius College, Cambridge in 1822, but migrated to Trinity College the following year...
, poet and critic, became editor until his resignation due to ill health in 1853.
George Darley
George Darley
George Darley was an Irish poet, novelist, and critic.He was born in Dublin, and educated at Trinity College. Having decided to follow a literary career, in 1820 he went to London, where he published his first poem, Errors of Ecstasie . He also wrote for the London Magazine, under the pseudonym of...
was a staff critic in the early years, and Gerald Massey
Gerald Massey
Gerald Massey was an English poet and self-educated Egyptologist. He was born near Tring, Hertfordshire in England.-Biography:...
contributed many literary reviews - mainly on poetry - during the period 1858-1868. Theodore Watts-Dunton
Theodore Watts-Dunton
Theodore Watts-Dunton was an English critic and poet. He is often remembered as the friend and minder of Algernon Charles Swinburne, whom he rescued from alcoholism.-Birth and education:...
contributed regularly as the principal critic of poetry from 1875 until 1898. Frederic George Stephens
Frederic George Stephens
Frederic George Stephens was an art critic, and one of the two 'non-artistic' members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood....
was art editor from 1851 until 1901, when he was replaced by Roger Fry
Roger Fry
Roger Eliot Fry was an English artist and art critic, and a member of the Bloomsbury Group. Establishing his reputation as a scholar of the Old Masters, he became an advocate of more recent developments in French painting, to which he gave the name Post-Impressionism...
because of his unfashionable hatred of Impressionism
Impressionism
Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement that originated with a group of Paris-based artists whose independent exhibitions brought them to prominence during the 1870s and 1880s...
. Arthur Symons
Arthur Symons
Arthur William Symons , was a British poet, critic and magazine editor.-Life:Born in Milford Haven, Wales, of Cornish parents, Symons was educated privately, spending much of his time in France and Italy...
joined the staff in 1891.
In the 19th century, it received contributions from Lord Kelvin
William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin
William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin OM, GCVO, PC, PRS, PRSE, was a mathematical physicist and engineer. At the University of Glasgow he did important work in the mathematical analysis of electricity and formulation of the first and second laws of thermodynamics, and did much to unify the emerging...
. In the early 20th century, its contributors included Max Beerbohm
Max Beerbohm
Sir Henry Maximilian "Max" Beerbohm was an English essayist, parodist and caricaturist best known today for his 1911 novel Zuleika Dobson.-Early life:...
, Edmund Blunden
Edmund Blunden
Edmund Charles Blunden, MC was an English poet, author and critic. Like his friend Siegfried Sassoon, he wrote of his experiences in World War I in both verse and prose. For most of his career, Blunden was also a reviewer for English publications and an academic in Tokyo and later Hong Kong...
, T. S. Eliot
T. S. Eliot
Thomas Stearns "T. S." Eliot OM was a playwright, literary critic, and arguably the most important English-language poet of the 20th century. Although he was born an American he moved to the United Kingdom in 1914 and was naturalised as a British subject in 1927 at age 39.The poem that made his...
, Robert Graves
Robert Graves
Robert von Ranke Graves 24 July 1895 – 7 December 1985 was an English poet, translator and novelist. During his long life he produced more than 140 works...
, Thomas Hardy
Thomas Hardy
Thomas Hardy, OM was an English novelist and poet. While his works typically belong to the Naturalism movement, several poems display elements of the previous Romantic and Enlightenment periods of literature, such as his fascination with the supernatural.While he regarded himself primarily as a...
, Aldous Huxley
Aldous Huxley
Aldous Leonard Huxley was an English writer and one of the most prominent members of the famous Huxley family. Best known for his novels including Brave New World and a wide-ranging output of essays, Huxley also edited the magazine Oxford Poetry, and published short stories, poetry, travel...
, Edith Sitwell
Edith Sitwell
Dame Edith Louisa Sitwell DBE was a British poet and critic.-Background:Edith Sitwell was born in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, the oldest child and only daughter of Sir George Sitwell, 4th Baronet, of Renishaw Hall; he was an expert on genealogy and landscaping...
, Julian Huxley
Julian Huxley
Sir Julian Sorell Huxley FRS was an English evolutionary biologist, humanist and internationalist. He was a proponent of natural selection, and a leading figure in the mid-twentieth century evolutionary synthesis...
, Katherine Mansfield
Katherine Mansfield
Kathleen Mansfield Beauchamp Murry was a prominent modernist writer of short fiction who was born and brought up in colonial New Zealand and wrote under the pen name of Katherine Mansfield. Mansfield left for Great Britain in 1908 where she encountered Modernist writers such as D.H. Lawrence and...
, and Virginia Woolf
Virginia Woolf
Adeline Virginia Woolf was an English author, essayist, publisher, and writer of short stories, regarded as one of the foremost modernist literary figures of the twentieth century....
.
On other grounds, the magazine's place in the history of sports writing is assured. A letter from J. S. Cotton, reportedly printed in 1905, definitively tells of the first-ever reference to Cricket in India
Cricket in India
Cricket is the most popular sport in India; it is played by many people in open spaces throughout the country though it is not the nation's official national sport . The India national cricket team won the 1983 Cricket World Cup, the 2007 ICC World Twenty20, and the 2011 Cricket World Cup, and...
.
In 1921, with falling circulation, the Athenaeum was incorporated into its younger competitor: the Nation. In 1931, the Nation merged with the New Statesman
New Statesman
New Statesman is a British centre-left political and cultural magazine published weekly in London. Founded in 1913, and connected with leading members of the Fabian Society, the magazine reached a circulation peak in the late 1960s....
, to form the New Statesman and Nation.
Further reading
- Demoor, Marysa, Their Fair Share: Women, Power, and Criticism in the Athenaeum, from Millicent Garratt Fawcett to Katharine Mansfield, 1870-1920. Aldershot: Ashgate, 2000. ISBN 9780754601180
- Graham, Walter James, 'The Athenaeum', English Literary Periodicals. New York: T. Nelson, 1930, pp. 317-321.
- 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. Vol.3. Westport, CT: 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 1830-1870 - and all scientific reviews from 1828-1830.
- Athenaeum review of George EliotGeorge EliotMary Anne Evans , better known by her pen name George Eliot, was an English novelist, journalist and translator, and one of the leading writers of the Victorian era...
's The Mill on the FlossThe Mill on the FlossThe Mill on the Floss is a novel by George Eliot , first published in three volumes in 1860 by William Blackwood. The first American edition was by Thomas Y...
by Geraldine JewsburyGeraldine JewsburyGeraldine Endsor Jewsbury was an English novelist and woman of letters.-Life and family:Jewsbury was born in Measham, then in Derbyshire, now in Leicestershire. She was the daughter of Thomas Jewsbury , a cotton manufacturer and merchant, and his wife Maria, née Smith,...
, (April 7, 1860).