The ''Athenæum'' was a British

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 lett ...

published in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

, from 1828 to 1921.

Foundation

Initiated 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 Charles Wentworth Dilke (1789–1864) was an English liberal critic and writer on literature. Professional life He served for many years in the Navy Pay-Office, on retiring from which in 1830 he devoted himself to literary pursuits. Lit ...

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'' of London, but contributed a series of notable articles to the ''Athenaeum''. The poet and critic

Thomas Kibble Hervey Thomas Kibble Hervey (4 February 1799 – 27 February 1859) was a Scottish-born poet and critic. He rose to be the Editor of the ''Athenaeum'', a leading British literary magazine in the 19th century. Youth Thomas Kibble Hervey was born in Pai ...

succeeded Dilke as editor and served from 1846 until his resignation due to ill health in 1853. Historian and traveller William Hepworth Dixon succeeded Hervey in 1853, and remained editor until 1869.

Contributors

George Darley George Darley (1795–1846) was an Irish poet, novelist, literary critic, and author of mathematical texts. Friends with such literary luminaries as Charles Lamb, Thomas Carlyle, and John Clare, he was considered by some to be on a level with Te ...

was a staff critic during the early years, and

Gerald Massey Gerald Massey (; 29 May 1828 – 29 October 1907) was an English poet and writer on Spiritualism and Ancient Egypt. Early life Massey was born near Tring, Hertfordshire in England to poor parents. When little more than a child, he was made to ...

contributed many literary reviews – mainly on poetry – during the period 1858 to 1868.

George Henry Caunter George Henry Caunter (24 February 1791 – 6 August 1843) was an English judge and miscellaneous writer. Having been President of the Vice Admiralty Court in Mauritius, he was convicted in France of bigamy and, returning to England, wrote abou ...

was one of the principal early contributors, writing reviews of French-language books. His brother

John Hobart Caunter John Hobart Caunter (21 June 1792 – 14 November 1851) was an English cleric and writer. Serving briefly in India as a cadet, he entered the Church and was for 19 years the Incumbent Minister of Portland Chapel in Marylebone, London. He wrote ...

also contributed reviews. 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.

Theodore Watts-Dunton Theodore Watts-Dunton (12 October 1832 – 6 June 1914), from St Ives, Huntingdonshire, was an English poetry critic with major periodicals, and himself a poet. He is remembered particularly as the friend and minder of Algernon Charles Swinbu ...

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 Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passa ...

; Stephens continued to contribute book reviews and obituaries until 1904.

Arthur Symons Arthur William Symons (28 February 186522 January 1945) was a British poet, critic and magazine editor. Life Born in Milford Haven, Wales, to Cornish parents, Symons was educated privately, spending much of his time in France and Italy. In 188 ...

joined the staff in 1891. Editor from 1871 to 1900 was

Norman MacColl Norman MacColl (1843–1904) was a Scottish man of letters, known as a Hispanist and editor of the '' Athenæum''. Life Born on 31 August 1843 at 28 Ann Street, Edinburgh, he was the only child of Alexander Stewart MacColl and his wife Eliza F ...

. During the 19th century, the ''Athenaeum'' received contributions from Lord Kelvin. During the early 20th Century, its contributors included

Max Beerbohm Sir Henry Maximilian Beerbohm (24 August 1872 – 20 May 1956) was an English essayist, Parody, parodist and Caricature, caricaturist under the signature Max. He first became known in the 1890s as a dandy and a humorist. He was the drama critic ...

Edmund Blunden Edmund Charles Blunden (1 November 1896 – 20 January 1974) 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 a ...

, T. S. Eliot,

Robert Graves Captain Robert von Ranke Graves (24 July 1895 – 7 December 1985) was a British poet, historical novelist and critic. His father was Alfred Perceval Graves, a celebrated Irish poet and figure in the Gaelic revival; they were both Celt ...

Thomas Hardy Thomas Hardy (2 June 1840 – 11 January 1928) was an English novelist and poet. A Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he was influenced both in his novels and in his poetry by Romanticism, including the poetry of William Wor ...

Aldous Huxley Aldous Leonard Huxley (26 July 1894 – 22 November 1963) was an English writer and philosopher. He wrote nearly 50 books, both novels and non-fiction works, as well as wide-ranging essays, narratives, and poems. Born into the prominent Huxle ...

Julian Huxley Sir Julian Sorell Huxley (22 June 1887 – 14 February 1975) was an English evolutionary biologist, eugenicist, and internationalist. He was a proponent of natural selection, and a leading figure in the mid-twentieth century modern synthesis. ...

, Katherine Mansfield,

George Santayana Jorge Agustín Nicolás Ruiz de Santayana y Borrás, known in English as George Santayana (; December 16, 1863 – September 26, 1952), was a Spanish and US-American philosopher, essayist, poet, and novelist. Born in Spain, Santayana was raised ...

Edith Sitwell Dame Edith Louisa Sitwell (7 September 1887 – 9 December 1964) was a British poet and critic and the eldest of the three literary Sitwells. She reacted badly to her eccentric, unloving parents and lived much of her life with her governess ...

, and

Virginia Woolf Adeline Virginia Woolf (; ; 25 January 1882 28 March 1941) was an English writer, considered one of the most important modernist 20th-century authors and a pioneer in the use of stream of consciousness as a narrative device. Woolf was born ...

. From 1849 to 1880

Geraldine Jewsbury Geraldine Endsor Jewsbury (22 August 1812 – 23 September 1880) was an English novelist, book reviewer and literary figure in London, best known for popular novels such as ''Zoe: the History of Two Lives'' and reviews for the literary periodica ...

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 Victorian literature refers to English literature during the reign of Queen Victoria (1837–1901). The 19th century is considered by some to be the Golden Age of English Literature, especially for British novels. It was in the Victorian era tha ...

. During the second half of the 1850s, Jewsbury was entrusted with editing the "New Novels" section.

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 Cricket has been the most popular sport in India in modern era since the British Raj, and is played almost everywhere in the country. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is the governing body of Indian cricket and conduct all do ...

. 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 The ''New Statesman'' is a British political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney and Beatrice Webb and other leading members ...

'', to form the ''New Statesman and Nation'', eliminating the name ''Athenaeum'' after 97 years.

References

External links

* ttp://athenaeum.soi.city.ac.uk/athall.html 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 Mary Ann Evans (22 November 1819 – 22 December 1880; alternatively Mary Anne or Marian), known by her pen name George Eliot, was an English novelist, poet, journalist, translator, and one of the leading writers of the Victorian era. She wrot ...

's The Mill on the Floss by

, (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. :: Internet Archive : The following volumes are available : {{DEFAULTSORT:Athenaeum Defunct literary magazines published in the United Kingdom Magazines published in London Magazines established in 1828 Magazines disestablished in 1921 1828 establishments in England 1921 disestablishments in England

Foundation

Contributors

Legacy

References

Further reading

External links

''The Athenaeum'' on-line