''Notes and Queries'', also styled ''Notes & Queries'', is a long-running

quarterly A magazine is a periodical literature, periodical publication, print or digital, produced on a regular schedule, that contains any of a variety of subject-oriented textual and visual content (media), content forms. Magazines are generally fin ...

scholarly journal An academic journal (or scholarly journal or scientific journal) is a periodical publication in which scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. They serve as permanent and transparent forums for the dissemination, scr ...

that publishes short articles related to " English language and literature,

lexicography Lexicography is the study of lexicons and the art of compiling dictionaries. It is divided into two separate academic disciplines: * Practical lexicography is the art or craft of compiling, writing and editing dictionaries. * Theoretical le ...

history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

, and scholarly

antiquarian An antiquarian or antiquary () is an aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artefacts, archaeological and historic si ...

ism".From the inner sleeve of all modern issues of ''Notes and Queries''. Its emphasis is on "the factual rather than the speculative". The journal has a long history, having been established in 1849 in London;''Notes and Queries'', Series 1, Volume 1, Nov 1849 - May 1850
via

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

it is now published by

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

. The journal was originally subtitled "a medium of inter-communication for literary men, artists, antiquaries,

genealogist Genealogy () is the study of families, family history, and the tracing of their Lineage (anthropology), lineages. Genealogists use oral interviews, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family ...

s, etc". It is now subtitled "For readers and writers, collectors and librarians". Its motto was once "When found, make a note of", the catchphrase of Capt. Cuttle, a character in

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

's novel '' Dombey and Son''. It is the 250th-most-quoted source in the ''

Oxford English Dictionary The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the principal historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP), a University of Oxford publishing house. The dictionary, which published its first editio ...

'' (3rd ed.), giving 1,633 quotations, many being first evidence of a word or a particular meaning.

Format

''Notes and Queries'' was first published in 1849 as a weekly

periodical Periodical literature (singularly called a periodical publication or simply a periodical) consists of Publication, published works that appear in new releases on a regular schedule (''issues'' or ''numbers'', often numerically divided into annu ...

edited by W. J. Thoms. It was founded as an academic correspondence

magazine A magazine is a periodical literature, periodical publication, print or digital, produced on a regular schedule, that contains any of a variety of subject-oriented textual and visual content (media), content forms. Magazines are generally fin ...

, in which scholars and interested amateurs could exchange knowledge on

folklore Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, culture or subculture. This includes oral traditions such as Narrative, tales, myths, legends, proverbs, Poetry, poems, jokes, and other oral traditions. This also ...

literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...

and

. The format consisted of "Notes" (miscellaneous findings of correspondents that they and the editors considered of interest to the readership), and "Queries" (and responses to queries), which formed the bulk of the publication. The magazine has been likened to a 19th-century version of a moderated Internet

newsgroup A Usenet newsgroup is a repository usually within the Usenet system for messages posted from users in different locations using the Internet. They are not only discussion groups or conversations, but also a repository to publish articles, start ...

. Many of the entries in the journal for its first seventy years were only a few paragraphs long, and occasionally as short as a sentence or two. Very frequent contributors include the Rev. Walter W. Skeat, one of the most important figures in the field of English

etymology Etymology ( ) is the study of the origin and evolution of words—including their constituent units of sound and meaning—across time. In the 21st century a subfield within linguistics, etymology has become a more rigorously scientific study. ...

, and Eliza Gutch, a founding member of

The Folklore Society The Folklore Society (FLS) is a registered charity under English law based in London, England for the study of folklore. Its office is at 50 Fitzroy Street, London home of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland. It w ...

. The foundation of such a society was suggested by Gutch through a query to the publication. Gutch contributed to the publication for over seventy years, using the pseudonym "St Swithin".Jacqueline Simpson (Editor), Steve Roud (Editor) (2003). ''A Dictionary of English Folklore''.

Today the magazine is produced as an

academic journal An academic journal (or scholarly journal or scientific journal) is a periodical publication in which Scholarly method, scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. They serve as permanent and transparent forums for the ...

. The articles are typically much longer than they were during the journal's early years, though they are still shorter than those of the typical academic journal. In addition, the "Notes" now far outweigh the "Queries", and book reviews have also been introduced. The focus is now almost entirely on literature.

19th- and 20th-century editors

Namesakes

Over 20

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

or regional publications across England, mostly launched in the late 19th century, adopted a similar "notes and queries" format; 16 of which, beginning with ''Gloucestershire Notes and Queries'' in 1879, included the term within their titles. ''Notes and Queries for Somerset and Dorset'' (launched in 1888) and ''Devon and Cornwall Notes and Queries'' (launched 1900) both survive in regular publication. There have been several incarnations of '' American Notes and Queries''. There are also '' Canadian Notes & Queries'' and ''Kōtare: New Zealand Notes and Queries''. ''Notes and Queries'' has also given its name to a number of columns and sections within wider-ranging publications. These include a regular " Notes & Queries" feature in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' newspaper, started in November 1989.

Anthologies

The following anthologies of selections from ''Notes and Queries'' have appeared.

References

External links

* {{Official, https://academic.oup.com/nq
Online Index of ''Notes and Queries'' (November 1849 – June 1922)
copies online at

Project Gutenberg Project Gutenberg (PG) is a volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, as well as to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks." It was founded in 1971 by American writer Michael S. Hart and is the oldest digital li ...

and

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