''Belgravia'' was a monthly

London London is the capital and 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 down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

illustrated

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 letter ...

of the late 19th century that was founded by

Mary Elizabeth Braddon Mary Elizabeth Braddon (4 October 1835 – 4 February 1915) was an English popular novelist of the Victorian era. She is best known for her 1862 sensation novel ''Lady Audley's Secret'', which has also been dramatised and filmed several times. ...

History

Established in 1866, ''Belgravia'' featured serialized novels, poems, travel narratives, and biographies, as well as essays on fashion, history, and science. Under the editorship of Braddon (1866–1876), the magazine was best known for publishing sensation fiction. In 1876,

Chatto & Windus Chatto & Windus is an imprint of Penguin Random House that was formerly an independent book publishing company founded in London in 1855 by John Camden Hotten. Following Hotten's death, the firm would reorganize under the names of his business ...

purchased the magazine and

Andrew Chatto Andrew Chatto (11 November 184015 March 1913) was an English book publisher who was renowned for the cordial relations he maintained with his authors. Early life Chatto was born on 11 November 1840 at 55 Pratt Street, Camden Town London. His pa ...

replaced Braddon as editor. Under Chatto, ''Belgravia'' moved away from sensation fiction and began publishing works by such authors as Charles Reade,

Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has p ...

Wilkie Collins William Wilkie Collins (8 January 1824 – 23 September 1889) was an English novelist and playwright known especially for ''The Woman in White (novel), The Woman in White'' (1859), a mystery novel and early "sensation novel", and for ''The Moons ...

Arthur Conan Doyle Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for ''A Study in Scarlet'', the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Ho ...

, and

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 Word ...

. ''Belgravias circulation peaked at 18,000 in 1868, and was at 15,000 when it was sold to Chatto & Windus. As it dropped its focus on sensation literature, sales of the magazine plummeted, and by 1877 its circulation was down to 3,000. The magazine was issued monthly, and often an "annual" issue would be issued near the end of the year. The magazine published a total of 406 issues, with the first edition being published in November 1866 and the last edition being published in June 1899.

Complete titles

The complete title of the magazine varied slightly over the years: *''Belgravia: A London Magazine'' (1866–1876) *''Belgravia: An Illustrated London Magazine'' (1876–1888) *''Belgravia: A London Magazine'' (1888–1899)

References

*Laurel Brake and Marysa Demoor (2009). ''Dictionary of Nineteenth-century Journalism in Great Britain and Ireland'' (Gent: Academia Press, {{ISBN, 978-90-382-1340-8) pp. 44–45.

External links

''Belgravia''
Magazine Data File
''Belgravia'' - Indexes to Fiction (Victorian Fiction Research Guide) by P D Edwards, I. G. Sibley and Margaret Versteeg
__NOTOC__ 19th century in London 1866 establishments in the United Kingdom 1899 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Defunct literary magazines published in the United Kingdom Magazines published in London Magazines established in 1866 Magazines disestablished in 1899 Monthly magazines published in the United Kingdom