''Household Words'' was an English weekly magazine edited 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 ...
in the 1850s. It took its name from the line in
Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
's ''
Henry V Henry V may refer to:
People
* Henry V, Duke of Bavaria (died 1026)
* Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor (1081/86–1125)
* Henry V, Duke of Carinthia (died 1161)
* Henry V, Count Palatine of the Rhine (c. 1173–1227)
* Henry V, Count of Luxembourg (121 ...
'': "Familiar in his mouth as household words."
History
During the planning stages, titles originally considered by Dickens included ''The Robin'', ''The Household Voice'', ''The Comrade'', ''The Lever'', and ''The Highway of Life''.
''Household Words'' was published every Saturday from March 1850 to May 1859. Each number cost a mere
tuppence, thereby ensuring a wide readership. The publication's first edition carried a section covering the paper's principles, entitled "A Preliminary Word":
A longer version of the publication's principles appeared in newspapers such as ''
The Argus'' in September 1850.
Theoretically, the paper championed the cause of the poor and working classes, but in fact it addressed itself almost exclusively to the middle class. Only the name of Dickens, the journal's "conductor", appeared; articles were unsigned (although authors of
serialised novels were identified) and, in spite of its regularly featuring an "advertiser", the paper was unillustrated.
To boost slumping sales Dickens serialised his own novel, ''
Hard Times'', in weekly parts between 1 April and 12 August 1854. It had the desired effect, more than doubling the journal's circulation and encouraging the author, who remarked that he was, "three–parts mad, and the fourth delirious, with perpetual rushing at ''Hard Times''".
That Dickens owned half of the company and his agents,
John Forster and
William Henry Wills William Wills may refer to:
* William Wills, 1st Baron Winterstoke (1830–1911), British businessman and peer
* William Gorman Wills (1828–1891), Irish dramatist and painter
* William Henry Wills (journalist) (1810–1880), journalist, newspape ...
, owned a further quarter of it was insurance that the author would have a free hand in the paper. Wills was also appointed associate editor and, in December 1849, Dickens's acquaintance, writer and poet
Richard Henry Horne
Richard Hengist Horne (born Richard Henry Horne) (31 December 1802 – 13 March 1884) was an English poet and critic most famous for his poem ''Orion''.
Early life
Horne was born at Edmonton, London, son of James Horne, a quarter-master in t ...
was appointed sub-editor at a salary of "five guineas a week".
In 1859, however, owing to a dispute between Dickens and the publishers, Bradbury and Evans, publication ceased and ''Household Words'' was replaced by ''
All the Year Round'', in which he had greater control.
The journal contained a mixture of fiction and nonfiction. A large amount of the non-fiction dealt with the social issues of the time.
Serialized works
Prominent works that were serialised in ''Household Words'' include:
* ''
A Child's History of England'' 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 ...
, published 25 January 1851 – 10 December 1853
* ''
Cranford'', ''
North and South North and South may refer to:
Literature
* ''North and South'' (Gaskell novel), an 1854 novel by Elizabeth Gaskell
* ''North and South'' (trilogy), a series of novels by John Jakes (1982–1987)
** ''North and South'' (Jakes novel), first novel ...
'', and ''
My Lady Ludlow
''My Lady Ludlow'' is a novel (over 77,000 words in the Project Gutenberg text) by Elizabeth Gaskell. It originally appeared in the magazine ''Household Words'' in 1858, and was republished in '' Round the Sofa'' in 1859, with framing passages ...
'' 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 Song of the Western Men
"The Song of the Western Men", also known as "Trelawny", is a Cornish patriotic song, composed by Louisa T. Clare for lyrics by Robert Stephen Hawker. The poem was first published anonymously in ''The Royal Devonport Telegraph and Plymouth Ch ...
" by
Robert Stephen Hawker
Robert Stephen Hawker (1803–1875) was a British Anglican priest, poet, antiquarian and reputed eccentric, known to his parishioners as Parson Hawker. He is best known as the writer of "The Song of the Western Men" with its chorus line of "A ...
* ''
The Dead Secret
''The Dead Secret'' was Wilkie Collins's fourth published novel.
Plot summary
The Secret of the title is the parentage of the heroine, Rosamond Treverton, who has been passed off as the daughter of the wealthy former actress Mrs Treverton of Por ...
'' and ''
A Rogue's Life'' by
Wilkie Collins
Collaborative works
Dickens also collaborated with other staff writers on a number of Christmas stories and plays for seasonal issues of the magazine. These included:
*''The Seven Poor Travellers'' in the Extra Christmas Number (14 December 1854) with Wilkie Collins,
Eliza Lynn Linton,
Adelaide Anne Procter
Adelaide Anne Procter (30 October 1825 – 2 February 1864) was an English poet and philanthropist.
Her literary career began when she was a teenager, her poems appearing in Charles Dickens's periodicals ''Household Words'' and '' All the ...
(under the name "Mary Berwick"), and
George Augustus Henry Sala.
*''The Holly Tree Inn'' in the Extra Christmas Number (15 December 1855) with Wilkie Collins,
William Howitt
William Howitt (18 December 1792 – 3 March 1879), was a prolific English writer on history and other subjects. Howitt Primary Community School in Heanor, Derbyshire, is named after him and his wife.
Biography
Howitt was born at Heanor, Derbysh ...
,
Harriet Parr, and Adelaide Anne Procter.
*''The Wreck of the Golden Mary'' in the Extra Christmas Number (6 December 1856) with Wilkie Collins,
Percy Hetherington Fitzgerald, Adelaide Anne Procter, Harriet Parr, and Rev. James White.
*''
The Frozen Deep'', a play written with Wilkie Collins and initially performed in the converted schoolroom of Dickens's London residence, Tavistock House (6 January 1857).
*''The Lazy Tour of Two Idle Apprentices'', a non-seasonal collaboration (3–31 October 1857) with Wilkie Collins
*''The Perils of Certain English Prisoners'' in the Extra Christmas Number (7 December 1857) with Wilkie Collins
*"
A House to Let" in the Extra Christmas Number (7 December 1858) with Elizabeth Gaskell and Adelaide Anne Procter.
Other contributors to ''Household Words'' included
James Payn,
John Hollingshead,
Harriet Martineau,
Frances Shayle George,
William Duthie and
Henry Morley.
A complete key to who wrote what and for how much in ''Household Words'' was compiled in 1973 by Anne Lohrli, using an analysis of the office account book maintained by Dickens's subeditor,
W. H. Wills.
References
*Lohrli, Anne. ''Household Words: A Weekly Journal 1850–1859''. Toronto:
University of Toronto Press, 1973.
*see also 'Household Words', Faculty of English Library, Cambridge University.
External links
Dickens Journals Online an online edition of Dickens's journals, ''Household Words'' and ''
All the Year Round''.
*
{{Authority control
1850 establishments in the United Kingdom
1859 disestablishments in the United Kingdom
Charles Dickens
Defunct literary magazines published in the United Kingdom
Magazines established in 1850
Magazines disestablished in 1859
Weekly magazines published in the United Kingdom