''The New Monthly Magazine'' was a British monthly magazine published from 1814 to 1884. It was founded by Henry Colburn and published by him through to 1845.

History

Colburn and Frederic Shoberl established ''The New Monthly Magazine and Universal Register'' as a "virulently Tory" competitor to Sir Richard Phillips' '' Monthly Magazine'' in 1814. "The double-column format and the comprehensive contents combined the '' Gentleman's Magazine'' with the '' Annual Register''". In its April 1819 issue it published

John Polidori John William Polidori (7 September 1795 – 24 August 1821) was a British writer and physician. He is known for his associations with the Romantic movement and credited by some as the creator of the vampire genre of fantasy fiction. His most succ ...

's Gothic fiction '' The Vampyre'', the first significant piece of prose vampire literature in English, attributing it to Lord Byron, who partly inspired it. In 1821 Colburn recast the magazine with a more literary and less political focus, retitling it ''The New Monthly Magazine and Literary Journal''. Nominally edited by the poet

Thomas Campbell Thomas Campbell may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Thomas Campbell (poet) (1777–1844), Scottish poet * Thomas Campbell (sculptor) (1790–1858), Scottish sculptor * Thomas Campbell (visual artist) (born 1969), California-based visual artist ...

, most editing fell to the sub-editor

Cyrus Redding Cyrus Redding (1785–1870) was a British journalist and wine writer. Biography Redding was born in Cornwall. The son of a Baptist minister, he was privately educated. He moved to London about 1806, and worked for the ''Pilot'' (est. 1807) before ...

. Colburn paid contributors well, and they included Sydney Morgan,

Thomas Charles Morgan Sir Thomas Charles Morgan (1783 – 28 August 1843) was an English physician and writer with an interest in philosophical and miscellaneous subject matter. His wife was the novelist Lady Morgan. Biography Morgan was born in Charlotte Street, Bloo ...

Peter George Patmore Peter George Patmore (baptized 1786; died 1855) was an English author. Life The son of Peter Patmore, a dealer in plate and jewellery, he was born in his father's house on Ludgate Hill, London. Patmore refused to go into his father's business, an ...

, Mary Shelley, Charles Lamb, Leigh Hunt,

Stendhal Marie-Henri Beyle (; 23 January 1783 – 23 March 1842), better known by his pen name Stendhal (, ; ), was a 19th-century French writer. Best known for the novels ''Le Rouge et le Noir'' (''The Red and the Black'', 1830) and ''La Chartreuse de P ...

, Thomas Noon Talfourd, Letitia Elizabeth Landon, Felicia Hemans, Ugo Foscolo, Richard Lalor Sheil, Mary Russell Mitford,

Edward Bulwer Edward George Earle Lytton Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton, PC (25 May 180318 January 1873) was an English writer and politician. He served as a Whig member of Parliament from 1831 to 1841 and a Conservative from 1851 to 1866. He was Secret ...

, James and Horace Smith, and William Hazlitt. Hazlitt's "

Table-Talk ''Table-Talk'' is a collection of essays by the English cultural critic and social commentator William Hazlitt. It was originally published as two volumes, the first of which appeared in April 1821.Bate 2004. The essays deal with topics such as ...

" essays, begun in the '' London Magazine'', appeared in the ''New Monthly'' from late 1821, his essay "The Fight" appeared in 1822, and his series "The Spirits of the Age'" was later republished, with essays from other sources, in the book ''

The Spirit of the Age ''The Spirit of the Age'' (full title ''The Spirit of the Age: Or, Contemporary Portraits'') is a collection of character sketches by the early 19th century English essayist, literary critic, and social commentator William Hazlitt, portraying ...

'' (1825). Charles Knight's '' London Magazine'' merged with the ''New Monthly'' in 1829, and in that year

Richard Bentley Richard Bentley FRS (; 27 January 1662 – 14 July 1742) was an English classical scholar, critic, and theologian. Considered the "founder of historical philology", Bentley is widely credited with establishing the English school of Hellen ...

became Colburn's business partner. After Redding resigned in 1830, Campbell found himself unable to edit the magazine on his own and

Samuel Carter Hall Samuel Carter Hall (9 May 1800 – 11 March 1889) was an Irish-born Victorian journalist who is best known for his editorship of ''The Art Journal'' and for his much-satirised personality. Early years Hall was born at the Geneva Barracks in Wat ...

became editor for a year. In 1831 the novelist

became editor, turning "the essentially apolitical, slightly Whiggish, literary journal into a vigorous radical organ shouting 'Reform' at the top of its lungs." Hall, a political Conservative, had remained as sub-editor, and resisted Bulwer's efforts: Bulwer resigned in 1833, with Hall taking up the editorship once more. Contributors now included

Catherine Gore Catherine Grace Frances Gore (née Moody; 12 February 1798 – 29 January 1861), a prolific English novelist and dramatist, was the daughter of a wine merchant from Retford, Nottinghamshire. She became among the best known of the silver fork wr ...

Anna Maria Hall Anna Maria Hall (6 January 1800 – 30 January 1881) was an Irish novelist who often published as "Mrs. S. C. Hall". She married Samuel Carter Hall, a writer on art, who described her in ''Retrospect of a Long Life, from 1815 to 1883''. She was ...

, Letitia Elizabeth Landon, Felicia Hemans,

Caroline Norton Caroline Elizabeth Sarah Norton, Lady Stirling-Maxwell (22 March 1808 – 15 June 1877) was an active English social reformer and author.Perkin, pp. 26–28. She left her husband in 1836, who sued her close friend Lord Melbourne, then the Whig ...

Thomas Haynes Bayly Thomas Haynes Bayly (13 October 1797 – 22 April 1839) was an English poet, songwriter, dramatist and writer. Life Bayly was born in Bath on 13 October 1797, the only child of Nathaniel Bayly, an influential citizen of Bath: he was related ...

, and

Theodore Edward Hook Theodore Edward Hook (22 September 1788 – 24 August 1841) was an English man of letters and composer and briefly a civil servant in Mauritius. He is best known for his practical jokes, particularly the Berners Street hoax in 1809. The wo ...

. In 1837 the magazine was retitled ''The New Monthly Magazine and Humorist'', to meet the challenge of '' Bentley's Miscellany''. Now edited by Theodore Hook, it published contributions from Leigh Hunt, Douglas Jerrold, Frederick Marryat, Frances Trollope,

Charles Robert Forrester Charles Robert Forrester (1803, London – 15 January 1850, London) was an English lawyer and writer, who sometimes wrote under the pseudonym Hal Willis, frequently with illustrations provided by his brother Alfred Henry Forrester (1804–1872) wh ...

, and

W. M. Thackeray William Makepeace Thackeray (; 18 July 1811 – 24 December 1863) was a British novelist, author and illustrator. He is known for his satirical works, particularly his 1848 novel '' Vanity Fair'', a panoramic portrait of British society, and ...

. Upon Hook's death in 1841, Thomas Hood was editor until 1843. In 1845 Colburn sold the magazine for £2500 to William Harrison Ainsworth, who had earlier edited ''Bentley's Miscellany'' and who now edited his own ''Ainsworth's Magazine''. Ainsworth edited the ''New Monthly'' with his cousin William Francis Ainsworth as sub-editor. From 1871–79 William Francis Ainsworth was editor.

Titles

Over the years, the magazine had several titles. These are listed at ''Periodicals Online'', (Scroll down to see title listings for ''The New Monthly'', listed below ''The New London Magazine'' and above ''The New Quarterly Magazine'' and comprise: *''The New Monthly Magazine and Universal Register'' – February 1814 to December 1820 *''The New Monthly Magazine and Literary Journal'' – January 1821 to December 1836 *''The New Monthly Magazine and Humorist'' – January 1837 to December 1852 *''The New Monthly Magazine'' – January 1853 to December 1881 *''The New Monthly'' – January to October 1882.

Editors

The editorship of the ''New Monthly Magazine'' was complicated by the frequent use of a deputy position, or "working editor". Hook, Hood, Ainsworth, and Ainsworth alone are named on bound volume title pages. *1814 Frederic Shoberl * John Watkins *1819

Alaric Alexander Watts Alaric Alexander Watts (16 March 1797 – 5 April 1864) was a British poet and journalist, born in London. His life was dedicated to newspaper creation and editing, and he was seen as a conservative writer. It led him to bankruptcy, when a p ...

*1821 Edward Dubois, one issue only *1821–1830

*1821–1830

de facto editor *1830

, sub-editor and then editor *1831–1833

Edward Bulwer-Lytton Edward George Earle Lytton Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton, PC (25 May 180318 January 1873) was an English writer and politician. He served as a Whig member of Parliament from 1831 to 1841 and a Conservative from 1851 to 1866. He was Secret ...

*1837–1841 Theodore Hook *1837–1841 Benson Earle Hill, assistant1839–1840 Francis Foster Barham edited with John Abraham Heraud, according to Thompson Cooper's DNB article on Barham; contradicted by the ODNB biography of Heraud which says it was the '' Monthly Magazine'' 1839–1842, though supported by the ODNB biography of Barham. *1841–1843 Thomas Hood *1841–1853

*1845–1870 William Harrison Ainsworth proprietor-editor *1871 William Francis Ainsworth

References

External links

Listings for ''New Monthly Magazine''
at Internet Archive – primarily the American ''Harper's New Monthly Magazine'' (

Harper's Magazine ''Harper's Magazine'' is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts. Launched in New York City in June 1850, it is the oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the U.S. (''Scientific American'' is older, b ...

, from 1850) {{DEFAULTSORT:New Monthly Magazine 1814 establishments in the United Kingdom 1884 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Monthly magazines published in the United Kingdom Defunct literary magazines published in the United Kingdom Magazines established in 1814 Magazines disestablished in 1884

History

Titles

Editors

References

Further reading

External links