''The Athenæum'' was a British literary magazine published in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, England, from 1828 to 1921.

Foundation

Initiated in 1828 by

James Silk Buckingham James Silk Buckingham (25 August 1786 – 30 June 1855) was a British author, journalist and traveller, known for his contributions to Indian journalism. He was a pioneer among the Europeans who fought for a liberal press in India. Early life B ...

, 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. Lite ...

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 succeeded Dilke as editor and served from 1846 until his resignation due to ill health in 1853. Historian and traveller

William Hepworth Dixon William Hepworth Dixon (30 June 1821 – 26 December 1879) was an English historian and traveller from Manchester. He was active in organizing London's Great Exhibition of 1851. Early life Dixon was born on 30 June 1821, at Great Ancoats in Manc ...

succeeded Hervey in 1853, and remained editor until 1869.

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. His brother John Hobart Caunter 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 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 Roger Eliot Fry (14 December 1866 – 9 September 1934) was an English painter and art critic, 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 ...

because of his unfashionable disapproval of

Impressionism Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...

; Stephens continued to contribute book reviews and obituaries until 1904. Arthur Symons joined the staff in 1891. Editor from 1871 to 1900 was Norman MacColl. During the 19th century, the ''Athenaeum'' received contributions from

Lord Kelvin William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin (26 June 182417 December 1907), was a British mathematician, Mathematical physics, mathematical physicist and engineer. Born in Belfast, he was the Professor of Natural Philosophy (Glasgow), professor of Natur ...

. 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 theatre crit ...

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 als ...

T. S. Eliot Thomas Stearns Eliot (26 September 18884 January 1965) was a poet, essayist and playwright.Bush, Ronald. "T. S. Eliot's Life and Career", in John A Garraty and Mark C. Carnes (eds), ''American National Biography''. New York: Oxford University ...

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

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

Aldous Huxley Aldous Leonard Huxley ( ; 26 July 1894 – 22 November 1963) was an English writer and philosopher. His bibliography spans nearly 50 books, including non-fiction novel, non-fiction works, as well as essays, narratives, and poems. Born into the ...

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

Katherine Mansfield Kathleen Mansfield Murry (née Beauchamp; 14 October 1888 – 9 January 1923) was a New Zealand writer and critic who was an important figure in the Literary modernism, modernist movement. Her works are celebrated across the world and have been ...

George Santayana George Santayana (born Jorge Agustín Nicolás Ruiz de Santayana y Borrás, December 16, 1863 – September 26, 1952) was a Spanish-American philosopher, essayist, poet, and novelist. Born in Spain, Santayana was raised and educated in the Un ...

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 and one of the most influential 20th-century modernist authors. She helped to pioneer the use of stream of consciousness narration as a literary device. Vir ...

. 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 "Fallen woman" is an archaic term which was used to describe a woman who has "lost her innocence", and fallen from the grace of God. In 19th-century Britain especially, the meaning came to be closely associated with the loss or surrender of a ...

" theme, which was common in

Victorian literature Victorian era, Victorian literature is English literature during the reign of Queen Victoria (1837–1901). In the Victorian era, the novel became the leading literary genre in English. English writing from this era reflects the major transform ...

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

Legacy

A letter from J. S. Cotton, printed during 1905, definitively tells of the first-ever reference to the playing of a match of

cricket in India Cricket is the most popular sport in India. It is played almost everywhere in the country. The Board of Control for Cricket in India is the governing body of Indian cricket and conduct all domestic tournaments and select the players for the In ...

. In 1921, with decreasing circulation, the ''Athenaeum'' was incorporated into its younger competitor: the ''Nation'', becoming ''

The Nation and Athenaeum ''The Nation and Athenaeum'', or simply ''The Nation'', was a United Kingdom political weekly newspaper with a Liberal/ Labour viewpoint. It was formed in 1921 from the merger of the '' Athenaeum'', a literary magazine published in London since ...

''. In 1931, this successor publication merged with the ''

New Statesman ''The New Statesman'' (known from 1931 to 1964 as the ''New Statesman and Nation'') is a British political and cultural news magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first c ...

'', 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 ...

The Mill on the Floss ''The Mill on the Floss'' is a novel by English author George Eliot, pen name of Mary Ann Evans, first published in three volumes on 4 April 1860 by William Blackwood and Sons. The first American edition was published by Harper & Brothers, Pub ...

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. :: Internet Archive : The following volumes are available
''The Athenæum''
: {{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