The Century Magazine was first published in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in 1881 by
The Century CompanyThe Century Company was an American publishing company, founded in 1881.It was originally a subsidiary of Charles Scribner's Sons, but was bought and renamed. The magazine it had published up to that time, Scribners Monthly, was renamed The Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine.The Century Company...
of
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
as a successor to
Scribner's Monthly MagazineScribner's Monthly: An Illustrated Magazine for the People was an American literary periodical published from 1870 until 1881.-History:Charles Scribner I, Andrew Armstrong, Arthur Peabody, Edward Seymour, Josiah Gilbert Holland, and Roswell Smith established "Scribner & Co." on July 19, 1870 to...
. It ceased publication in 1930.
History
In 1921,
The Cambridge History of English and American Literature summarized the early history of the magazine:
The magazine was very successful during the 19th century, most notably for the aforementioned series of articles about the
American Civil WarThe American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, which ran for three years during the 1880s. It included reminiscences of 230 participants from all ranks of the service on both sides of the conflict. It was also a notable publisher of fiction, presenting three excerpts of
Mark TwainSamuel Langhorne Clemens , better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist...
's
Adventures of Huckleberry FinnAdventures of Huckleberry Finn is a novel by Mark Twain, first published in England in December 1884 and in the United States in February 1885. Commonly named among the Great American Novels, the work is among the first in major American literature to be written in the vernacular, characterized by...
in 1884 and 1885. Due to competition from cheaper magazines and newspapers, the magazine's circulation gradually declined. In 1929,
The Century became a quarterly, and in 1930 it was merged with
The ForumThe Forum was an American magazine between 1886 and 1930. The magazine printed commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, and poetry. Most editions of the magazine contained pieces written by prominent guest authors who were not employed by the magazine....
. However, its reprieve was short-lived;
The Forum ceased publication at the end of that same year.
The noted critic and editor
Frank CrowninshieldFrancis Welch Crowninshield , better known as Frank or Crownie , was an American journalist and art and theatre critic best known for developing and editing the magazine Vanity Fair for 21 years, making it a pre-eminent literary journal.-Personal life:Crowninshield was born June 24, 1872 in Paris,...
briefly served as its art editor.
Contributors
Pulp magazine author
Ellis Parker ButlerEllis Parker Butler was an American author.Butler was born in Muscatine, Iowa. He was the author of more than 30 books and more than 2,000 stories and essays and is most famous for his short story "Pigs is Pigs", in which a bureaucratic stationmaster insists on levying the livestock rate for a...
contributed 30 stories, articles and poems to
The Century between 1896 and 1913, including "My Cyclone-proof House", which appeared in the November 1896 issue. This short story was Butler's first piece published in a major magazine. His works were illustrated by such famous artists as
Jay HambidgeJay Hambidge was an American artist, born in Canada. He was a pupil at the Art Students' League in New York and of William Chase, and a thorough student of classical art. He conceived the idea that the study of arithmetic with the aid of geometrical designs was the foundation of the proportion and...
, May Wilson Preston,
Florence Scovel ShinnFlorence Scovel Shinn was an American artist and book illustrator who became a New Thought spiritual teacher and metaphysical writer in her middle years...
,
Frederic Dorr SteeleFrederic Dorr Steele is an American illustrator best known for his work on the Sherlock Holmes stories.Steele, a descendant of William Bradford , was born on 6 August 1873 at Eagle Mills, Marquette, Michigan, and studied at the National Academy of Design and elsewhere in New York City...
, and Frederic R. Gruger.
The Century published a full-color portrait of Butler (with his wife Ada and daughter Elsie) in the December 1909 issue. The portrait was drawn by family friend
Ernest L. BlumenscheinErnest Leonard Blumenschein was an American artist andfounding member of the Taos Society of Artists. He is noted for paintings of Native Americans, New Mexico and the American Southwest.-Early life and education:...
.
Noted engraver
Alexander Wilson DrakeAlexander Wilson Drake was an American artist, collector and critic, born near Westfield, NJ. He studied wood engraving under John W. Orr of New York city, as well as oil and water-color painting. He was in the wood engraving business on his own account in New York city from 1865 to 1870...
was a long-time contributor to both
The Century Magazine and its earlier incarnation as
Scribner's Monthly.
The Century CompanyThe Century Company was an American publishing company, founded in 1881.It was originally a subsidiary of Charles Scribner's Sons, but was bought and renamed. The magazine it had published up to that time, Scribners Monthly, was renamed The Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine.The Century Company...
produced a memorial edition of
Alexander Wilson DrakeAlexander Wilson Drake was an American artist, collector and critic, born near Westfield, NJ. He studied wood engraving under John W. Orr of New York city, as well as oil and water-color painting. He was in the wood engraving business on his own account in New York city from 1865 to 1870...
's fiction and art entitled
Three Midnight StoriesThree Midnight Stories is an English-language collection of three of Alexander Wilson Drake's short stories along with several poems brought together and interspersed with many of his engravings, as well as photographic prints of his residence and art collection.This printing, the first and only...
in 1916.
The Century also employed many notable editorial cartoonists, including
Oscar CesareOscar Cesare was a Swedish-born American caricaturist, painter, draftsman and editorial cartoonist.-Early life:Cesare was born in Linköping, Sweden. At eighteen he moved to Paris to study art, then traveled to Buffalo, New York, to continue his studies...
.
During the 1900s and 1910s the Anglo-Canadian poet, story writer and essayist
Marjorie PickthallMarjorie Lowry Christie Pickthall , was a Canadian writer who was born in England but lived in Canada from the time she was seven...
was a regular contributor to
The Century Magazine.
External links