''The Cornhill Magazine'' (1860–1975) was a monthly Victorian magazine and literary journal named after the street address of the founding publisher Smith, Elder & Co. at 65 Cornhill 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 ...

.Laurel Brake and Marysa Demoor, ''Dictionary of Nineteenth-Century Journalism in Great Britain and Ireland''. Ghent: Academia Press and London: British Library, 2009. (p. 145). In the 1860s, under the editorship of William Makepeace Thackeray, the paper's large circulation peaked around 110,000. Due to emerging competitors, circulation fell to 20,000 by 1870. The following year, Leslie Stephen took over as editor. When Stephen left in 1882, circulation had further fallen to 12,000. ''The Cornhill'' was purchased by John Murray in 1912, and continued to publish issues until 1975.

History

''The Cornhill'' was founded by

George Murray Smith George Murray Smith (19 March 1824 – 6 April 1901) was a British publisher. He was the son of George Smith (1789–1846), who, with Alexander Elder (1790–1876), started the Victorian publishing firm of Smith, Elder & Co. in 1816. His br ...

in 1859, and the first issue displayed the cover date January 1860. A literary journal with articles on diverse subjects and serialisations of new novels, it continued until 1975. Smith had hoped to gain some of the readership enjoyed by '' All the Year Round'', a similar magazine owned by

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian er ...

; toward this end, he employed as editor William Thackeray, Dickens's great literary rival at the time. Subsequent editors included G. H. Lewes, Leslie Stephen, Ronald Gorell Barnes, James Payn, Peter Quennell and Leonard Huxley. The magazine was initially successful, selling more issues than expected, but within a few years circulation dropped rapidly as it failed to keep pace with changes in popular taste. It also gained a reputation for rather safe, inoffensive content in the late

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwa ...

. A mark of the high regard in which it had been held was its publication of ''Leaves from the Journal of Our Life in the Highlands'' by

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previ ...

. Stories were often illustrated by pre-eminent artists of the time, including George du Maurier, Edwin Landseer,

Frederic Leighton Frederic Leighton, 1st Baron Leighton, (3 December 1830 – 25 January 1896), known as Sir Frederic Leighton between 1878 and 1896, was a British painter, draughtsman, and sculptor. His works depicted historical, biblical, and classical subjec ...

and

John Everett Millais Sir John Everett Millais, 1st Baronet, ( , ; 8 June 1829 – 13 August 1896) was an English painter and illustrator who was one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. He was a child prodigy who, aged eleven, became the youngest ...

. From 1917 the magazine was published by John Murray of

Albemarle Street Albemarle Street is a street in Mayfair in central London, off Piccadilly. It has historic associations with Lord Byron, whose publisher John Murray was based here, and Oscar Wilde, a member of the Albemarle Club, where an insult he received ...

, London. Contributors to ''The Cornhill'' in the 1930s and 1940s included Elizabeth Bowen, Rose Macaulay, Mary Webb,

D. K. Broster Dorothy Kathleen Broster (2 September 1877 – 7 February 1950), usually known as D. K. Broster, was an English novelist and short-story writer. Her fiction consists mainly of historical romances set in the 18th or early 19th centuries. Her best k ...

and Nugent Barker.Jack Adrian, "Introduction" to ''The Ash-Tree Press Annual Macabre 2003: Ghosts at 'The Cornhill' 1931–1939'' Ash-Tree Press, 2003, . 1862 CorhillMagazine January

Notable works published

Important works serialised in the magazine include the following: *''

Framley Parsonage ''Framley Parsonage'' is a novel by English author Anthony Trollope. It was first published in serial form in the ''Cornhill Magazine'' in 1860, then in book form in April 1861. It is the fourth book in the ''Chronicles of Barsetshire'' series, p ...

'' by

Anthony Trollope Anthony Trollope (; 24 April 1815 – 6 December 1882) was an English novelist and civil servant of the Victorian era. Among his best-known works is a series of novels collectively known as the '' Chronicles of Barsetshire'', which revolves ar ...

*'' Wives and Daughters'' by

Elizabeth Gaskell Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell (''née'' Stevenson; 29 September 1810 – 12 November 1865), often referred to as Mrs Gaskell, was an English novelist, biographer and short story writer. Her novels offer a detailed portrait of the lives of many st ...

*''

The White Company ''The White Company'' is a historical adventure by British writer Arthur Conan Doyle, set during the Hundred Years' War. The story is set in England, France and Spain, in the years 1366 and 1367, against the background of the campaign of Edward ...

'' and ''

J. Habakuk Jephson's Statement "J. Habakuk Jephson's Statement" is an 1884 short story by Arthur Conan Doyle. It is in the form of a first-person testimony by a survivor of the ''Marie Celeste'', a fictionalised version of the ''Mary Celeste'', a ship found mysteriously aband ...

'' by Arthur Conan Doyle *''

Tithonus In Greek mythology, Tithonus ( or ; grc, Τιθωνός, Tithonos) was the lover of Eos, Goddess of the Dawn. He was a prince of Troy, the son of King Laomedon by the Naiad Strymo (Στρυμώ). The mythology reflected by the fifth-century vas ...

'' by Alfred Tennyson *'' Washington Square'' by

Henry James Henry James ( – ) was an American-British author. He is regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language. He was the ...

*'' Culture and Anarchy'' by Matthew Arnold *''

Romola ''Romola'' (1862–63) is a historical novel written by Mary Ann Evans under the pen name of George Eliot set in the fifteenth century. It is "a deep study of life in the city of Florence from an intellectual, artistic, religious, and social poin ...

'' by George Eliot *"

The Lagoon "The Lagoon" is a short story by Joseph Conrad composed in 1896 and first published in ''The Cornhill Magazine'' in 1897. The story is about a white man, referred to as "Tuan" (the equivalent of "Lord" or "Sir"), who is travelling through an In ...

" by Joseph Conrad *'' Far from the Madding Crowd'' by Thomas Hardy *'' Unto This Last'' by

John Ruskin John Ruskin (8 February 1819 20 January 1900) was an English writer, philosopher, art critic and polymath of the Victorian era. He wrote on subjects as varied as geology, architecture, myth, ornithology, literature, education, botany and pol ...

*'' Armadale'' by Wilkie Collins *'' Emma'' (Posthumous Fragment) by Charlotte Brontë *''

Daisy Miller ''Daisy Miller'' is a novella by Henry James that first appeared in '' The Cornhill Magazine'' in June–July 1878, and in book form the following year. It portrays the courtship of the beautiful American girl Daisy Miller by Winterbourne, a s ...

'' by

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cornhill Magazine 1859 establishments in the United Kingdom 1975 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Monthly magazines published in the United Kingdom Defunct literary magazines published in the United Kingdom Magazines established in 1859 Magazines disestablished in 1975 Smith, Elder & Co books

History

Notable works published

Archives

References

Further reading

External links