''The Fortnightly Review'' was one of the most prominent and influential magazines in nineteenth-century

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. It was founded in 1865 by

Anthony Trollope Anthony Trollope ( ; 24 April 1815 – 6 December 1882) was an English novelist and civil servant of the Victorian era. Among the best-known of his 47 novels are two series of six novels each collectively known as the ''Chronicles of Barsetshire ...

Frederic Harrison Frederic Harrison (18 October 1831 – 14 January 1923) was a British jurist and historian. A leading figure in the English Positivist movement and a disciple of Auguste Comte, he was known for his wide-ranging contributions to political ph ...

, Edward Spencer Beesly, and six others with an investment of £9,000; the first edition appeared on 15 May 1865.

George Henry Lewes George Henry Lewes (; 18 April 1817 – 30 November 1878) was an English philosopher and critic of literature and theatre. He was also an amateur Physiology, physiologist. American feminist Margaret Fuller called Lewes a "witty, French, flippan ...

, the partner 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 ...

, was its first editor, followed by

John Morley John Morley, 1st Viscount Morley of Blackburn, (24 December 1838 – 23 September 1923), was a British Liberal statesman, writer and newspaper editor. Initially a journalist in the North of England and then editor of the newly Liberal-leani ...

. The print magazine ceased publication in 1954. An online "new series" started to appear in 2009.

History

''The Fortnightly Review'' aimed to offer a platform for a range of ideas, in reaction to the highly partisan journalism of its day. Indeed, in announcing the first issue of the ''Fortnightly'' in the ''Saturday Review'' of 13 May 1865, G. H. Lewes wrote, "The object of ''THE FORTNIGHTLY REVIEW'' is to become the organ of the unbiassed expression of many and various minds on topics of general interest in Politics, Literature, Philosophy, Science, and Art." But by the time Lewes left due to ill health and was replaced by 28-year-old

, the ''Fortnightly'' had become known as a partisan and Liberal magazine. It was one of the first publications to name the authors of its articles at a time when work usually appeared anonymously or under a pseudonym. As might be expected from its name, it appeared every two weeks during its first year, at 2 shillings a copy, but was published monthly thereafter. John Sutherland called it an English '' Revue des Deux Mondes'' and noted that it was "pitched at a higher level than other English journals of its class". The ''Fortnightly'' prospered under

, its sales increasing to 2,500 by 1872. Morley, a liberal, published articles favouring reform in academia, work place relations, female emancipation and religion. A host of famous and soon-to-be-famous literary figures were featured in its pages, with three novels by

and two by

George Meredith George Meredith (12 February 1828 – 18 May 1909) was an English novelist and poet of the Victorian era. At first, his focus was poetry, influenced by John Keats among others, but Meredith gradually established a reputation as a novelist. '' ...

appearing in serial form. The first novel serialised in the magazine was Trollope's '' The Belton Estate'', from 15 May 1865 to 1 January 1866. Trollope's ''

The Eustace Diamonds ''The Eustace Diamonds'' is a novel by Anthony Trollope, first published between 1871 and 1873 as a serial in the '' Fortnightly Review''. It is the third of the " Palliser" series of novels, though the characters of Plantagenet Palliser and hi ...

'' and his radical novel ''Lady Anna'' also made their first appearance there. The ''Fortnightly'' also published the poetry of

Algernon Charles Swinburne Algernon Charles Swinburne (5 April 1837 – 10 April 1909) was an English poet, playwright, novelist and critic. He wrote many plays – all tragedies – and collections of poetry such as '' Poems and Ballads'', and contributed to the Eleve ...

Dante Gabriel Rossetti Gabriel Charles Dante Rossetti (12 May 1828 – 9 April 1882), generally known as Dante Gabriel Rossetti ( ; ), was an English poet, illustrator, painter, translator, and member of the Rossetti family. He founded the Pre-Raphaelite Brother ...

, and

William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was an English textile designer, poet, artist, writer, and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts movement. He was a major contributor to the revival of traditiona ...

. Morley fell out of favour with the more conservative publishers of the journal and was replaced by T. H. S. Escott in 1882. The new editor published political articles from across the spectrum in a return to the ''Review''s original intention. Ill health forced him to relinquish the reins in 1886 when

Frank Harris Frank Harris (14 February 1856 – 26 August 1931) was an Irish-American editor, novelist, short story writer, journalist and publisher, who was friendly with many well-known figures of his day. Born in Ireland, he emigrated to the United State ...

took over for eight successful years. Houghton reports that "almost every distinguished English writer and critic of the day was among his contributors". Harris' liberal views led to his replacement as editor in 1894 by the long serving W. L. Courtney (1894–1928), who featured work from some of the giants of early 20th century literature, including

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (born James Augusta Joyce; 2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influentia ...

, W. B. Yeats, and

Ezra Pound Ezra Weston Loomis Pound (30 October 1885 – 1 November 1972) was an List of poets from the United States, American poet and critic, a major figure in the early modernist poetry movement, and a Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Ita ...

. In addition to literature and politics, the magazine also published several articles on science, notably

astronomy Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and the phenomena that occur in the cosmos. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and their overall evolution. Objects of interest includ ...

, animal behaviour and topical issues of instinct and morality, including women's rights items by Virginia Crawford.

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Fflahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish author, poet, and playwright. After writing in different literary styles throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular and influential playwright ...

's aphoristic preface to ''

The Picture of Dorian Gray ''The Picture of Dorian Gray'' is an 1890 philosophical fiction and Gothic fiction, Gothic horror fiction, horror novel by Irish writer Oscar Wilde. A shorter novella-length version was published in the July 1890 issue of the American period ...

'' was published in the March 1891 issue; and

George Orwell Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950) was an English novelist, poet, essayist, journalist, and critic who wrote under the pen name of George Orwell. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to a ...

's essay " Bookshop Memories" appeared in November 1936.Orwell, Sonia and Angus, Ian (eds.). ''The Collected Essays, Journalism and Letters of George Orwell Volume 1: An Age Like This (1920–1940)'' (Penguin). ''The Fortnightly Review'' also published several ghost stories by

Oliver Onions George Oliver Onions (13 November 1873 – 9 April 1961), who published under the name Oliver Onions, was an English writer of short stories and novels. He wrote in various genres, but is perhaps best remembered for his ghost stories, notably ...

. The print magazine changed its name to ''The Fortnightly''. It ceased publication in 1954 and was absorbed by the ''

Contemporary Review ''The Contemporary Review'' is a British biannual, formerly quarterly, magazine. It has an uncertain future as of 2013. History The magazine was established in 1866 by Alexander Strahan and a group of intellectuals intent on promoting their v ...

'' in 1956.

Online series

In 2009 a group of British and American scholars and writers, including philosopher

Anthony O'Hear Anthony O'Hear (born 1942 in Cleethorpes) is a British philosopher. He is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Buckingham and Head of the Department of Education. He held the role of Honorary Director of the Royal Institute of Philosoph ...

, OBE, director of the

Royal Institute of Philosophy The Royal Institute of Philosophy, founded in 1925, is a charitable organisation that holds and funds lectures and events on philosophical topics. It publishes two journals and offers grant programmes as part of its mission to share philosophica ...

, began publication of a "new series" online a
fortnightlyreview.co.uk
with the aim of extending Lewes's original editorial ambitions to modern politics, literature, philosophy, science, and art. New articles are sometimes juxtaposed with significant archival material and scholars are given assistance in research that involves the ''Fortnightly Review''. In partnership with the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States. Two branch campuses are in the Kansas City metropolitan area on the Kansas side: the university's medical school and hospital ...

, where Harris once attended, the ''Fortnightly'' publishes the winning essay of the Trollope Prize and a series of books and monographs under its "Odd Volumes" imprint. The current editors are Prof.

Alan Macfarlane Alan Donald James Macfarlane (born 20 December 1941) is a British anthropologist and historian, and a Professor Emeritus of King's College, Cambridge. He is the author or editor of 20 books and numerous articles on the anthropology and histo ...

, FBA (

King's College, Cambridge King's College, formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, is a List of colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college lies beside the River Cam and faces ...

), and Simon Collings. A former editor, Denis Boyles, PhD (CAMRI,

University of Westminster The University of Westminster is a public university, public university based in London, United Kingdom. Founded in 1838 as the Royal Polytechnic Institution, it was the first Polytechnic (United Kingdom), polytechnic to open in London. The Po ...

), died in 2023.

References

Sources

External links

The Fortnightly Review
index from

The Online Books Page The Online Books Page is an index of e-text books available on the Internet. It is edited by John Mark Ockerbloom and is hosted by the library of the University of Pennsylvania. The Online Books Page lists over 2 million books and has several fe ...

''The Fortnightly Review''
(New Series)

of selected volumes.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fortnightly Review 1865 establishments in England 1954 disestablishments in England Defunct literary magazines published in the United Kingdom Defunct political magazines published in the United Kingdom Magazines established in 1865 Magazines disestablished in 1954 Magazines established in 2009 Online literary magazines Online magazines published in the United Kingdom Online magazines with defunct print editions

History

Online series

References

Sources

Further reading

External links