PERIODICALS AND MAGAZINES IN THE HISTORY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE

🔴 PERIODICALS AND MAGAZINES IN THE HISTORY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE 🔴 part 1 

1️⃣TATLER, a periodical founded by R. *Steele, of which the

first issue appeared on 12 Apr. 1709; it appeared thrice

weekly until 2 Jan. 1711.

According to No. 1, it was to include 'Accounts of

Gallantry, Pleasure and Entertainment . . . under the

Article of White's Chocolate House'; poetry under that

of Will's Coffee House; foreign and domestic news

from St James's Coffee-house; learning from the

Grecian; and so on. Gradually it adopted a loftier

tone; the evils of duelling and gambling are denounced

in some of the earlier numbers, and presently all

questions of good manners are discussed from the

standpoint of a more humane civilization, and a new

standard of taste is established. The ideal of a gentleman

is examined, and its essence is found to lie in

forbearance. The author assumes the character of

Swift's *Bickerstaff, the marriage of whose sister,

Jenny Distaff, with Tranquillus gives occasion for

treating of happy married life. The rake and the

coquette are exposed, and virtue is held up to admiration

in the person of Lady Elizabeth Hastings (1682-

1739), somewhat inappropriately named Aspasia—'to

love her is a liberal education.' Anecdotes, essays, and

short stories illustrate the principles advanced. From an early stage in the history of the Tatler Steele

had the collaboration of * Addison, who contributed

notes, suggestions, and a number of complete papers.

It was succeeded by the * Spectator, which they edited

jointly. There is a scholarly edition ed. Donald F. Bond

(3 vols, 1987).

2️⃣SPECTATOR (1) a periodical conducted by *Steele and

* Addison, from 1 Mar. 1711 to 6 Dec. 1712. It was

revived by Addison in 1714, when 80 numbers (556-

635) were issued, but the first series has been generally

considered superior, except by *Macaulay, who found

the last volume to contain 'perhaps the finest Essays,

both serious and playful, in the English language'

(*Edinburgh Review, July 1843). ^ appeared daily, and

was immensely popular, particularly with the new

growing middle-class readership. Addison and Steele

were the principal contributors, in about equal proportions;

other contributors included *Pope, *Tickell,

*Budgell, A. *Philips, *Eusden, and Lady M. W.

*Montagu.

It purported to be conducted (see the first two

numbers) by a small club, including Sir Roger de

*Coverley, who represents the country gentry, Sir

Andrew Freeport, Captain Sentry, and Will Honeycomb,

representing respectively commerce, the army,

and the town. Mr Spectator himself, who writes the

papers, is a man of travel and learning, who frequents

London as an observer, but keeps clear of political

strife. The papers are mainly concerned with manners,

morals, and literature. Their object is 'to enliven

morality with wit, and to temper wit with morality',

and succeeding generations of readers endorsed *E.

Young's view that the periodical (which succeeded the

*Tatler) provided 'a wholesome and pleasant regimen';

both its style and its morals were considered exemplary

by Dr *Johnson, H. *Blair, and other arbiters.

There is a five-volume edition by Donald F. Bond,

published 1965.

(2) A weekly periodical started in 1828 by Robert

Stephen Rintoul, with funds provided by Joseph Hume

and others, as an organ of 'educated radicalism'. It

supported Lord John Russell's * Reform Bill of 1831

with a demand for 'the Bill, the whole Bill, and nothing

but the Bill'. R. H. *Hutton was joint editor, 1861-97.

John St Loe Strachey (1860-1927) was editor and

proprietor from 1898 to 1925, and his cousin Lytton

* Strachey was a frequent contributor. Other notable

contributors in later years include P. *Fleming, G. *Greene, E. *Waugh, P. *Quennell, K. *Amis, Clive

James, Bernard Levin, Peregrine Worsthorne, Katharine

Whitehorn, and Auberon *Waugh: a lively new

wave of younger writers is represented by Simon

Heffer, Andrew Roberts, and Boris Johnson (editor,

!999).