''The Californian'' was a

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

literary

periodical A periodical literature (also called a periodical publication or simply a periodical) is a published work that appears in a new edition on a regular schedule. The most familiar example is a newspaper, but a magazine or a journal are also example ...

issued monthly during 1880–1882, published by Anton Roman who had helped found the earlier (and later) '' Overland Monthly''. ''The Californian'' was a continuation of the ''Overland Monthly'' after its 1875 cessation, and changed back into the ''Overland Monthly'' in late 1882.

History

''The Californian'' was first edited by Frederick M. Somers as a purely Western-focused magazine. Some have called it "Somers' Californian" to distinguish it from an earlier 1860s newspaper, ''The Californian'', and from the later ''Californian Illustrated Magazine'' funded by

Charles Frederick Holder Charles Frederick Holder (1851–1915) was an American naturalist, conservationist, and writer who produced over 40 books and thousands of articles. Known as a pioneer of big-game fishing, he founded and led the Tuna Club of Avalon, credited ...

and edited by

Edmund Clarence Stedman Edmund Clarence Stedman (October 8, 1833January 18, 1908) was an American poet, critic, essayist, banker, and scientist. Early life Edmund Clarence Stedman was born in Hartford, Connecticut, on October 8, 1833; his father, Major Edmund B ...

. The first editorial statement, in the first issue, was Contributors included

Joaquin Miller Cincinnatus Heine Miller (; September 8, 1837 – February 17, 1913), better known by his pen name Joaquin Miller (), was an American poet, author, and frontiersman. He is nicknamed the "Poet of the Sierras" after the Sierra Nevada, about which h ...

Edward Rowland Sill Edward Rowland Sill (April 29, 1841February 27, 1887) was an American poet and educator. Biography Born in Windsor, Connecticut, he graduated from Yale in 1861, where he was Class Poet and a member of Skull and Bones. He engaged in business in ...

Ambrose Bierce Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce (June 24, 1842 – ) was an American short story writer, journalist, poet, and American Civil War veteran. His book '' The Devil's Dictionary'' was named as one of "The 100 Greatest Masterpieces of American Literature" by ...

John Muir John Muir ( ; April 21, 1838December 24, 1914), also known as "John of the Mountains" and "Father of the National Parks", was an influential Scottish-American naturalist, author, environmental philosopher, botanist, zoologist, glaciologist ...

Josiah Royce Josiah Royce (; November 20, 1855 – September 14, 1916) was an American objective idealist philosopher and the founder of American idealism. His philosophical ideas included his version of personalism, defense of absolutism, idealism and his ...

, Joseph LeConte, Charles Edwin Markham

Yda Hillis Addis Yda Hillis Addis, (born 1857, disappeared 1902 in California, U.S.) was the first American writer to translate ancient Mexican oral stories and histories into English, some of which she submitted to San Francisco-based newspaper ''The Argonaut' ...

Katharine Lee Bates Katharine Lee Bates (August 12, 1859 – March 28, 1929) was an American author and poet, chiefly remembered for her anthem "America the Beautiful", but also for her many books and articles on social reform, on which she was a noted speaker. Bat ...

, Kate Douglas Wiggin and

Ina Coolbrith Ina Donna Coolbrith (born Josephine Donna Smith; March 10, 1841 – February 29, 1928) was an American poet, writer, librarian, and a prominent figure in the San Francisco Bay Area literary community. Called the "Sweet Singer of California", sh ...

.Purdy, Helen Throop
''San Francisco: As it Was, as it Is, and how to See it''
Paul Elder & Company, 1912. A half year after publication began, the reaction in other periodicals was good. In California, the ''San Francisco Bulletin'' said the new magazine was "a serial which more and more proves its claim to be no unworthy successor of ''The Overland''..."''The Californian'', Volume II, September 1880, pp. 291–292.
/ref> The ''

Oakland Tribune The ''Oakland Tribune'' is a weekly newspaper published in Oakland, California, by the Bay Area News Group (BANG), a subsidiary of MediaNews Group. Founded in 1874, the ''Tribune'' rose to become an influential daily newspaper. With the declin ...

'' wrote that " is a capital magazine, creditable to its editor and contributors, and a proud monument to the originality and culture of the Pacific Coast." Praise for the magazine spread eastward, too. The '' Daily Hawkeye'' in Burlington, Iowa noted that "the articles it contains are fully equal to those in the Eastern periodicals. It is a credit to the Pacific Coast". In

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

, the ''Chronicle-Herald'' noticed that "many of the contributors are women, some of whom write with much grace and force. There is the odor of the Pacific about the whole publication, which deserves to win its way into many Eastern homes." Lawyer and poet Charles Henry Phelps followed Somers as editor. Mighels, Ella Sterling
''The Story of the Files''
Cooperative Printing Company, 1893 Phelps edited the periodical until it folded in September 1882. The editors and contributors published ''The Californian and Overland Monthly'' for three months beginning in October 1882,Library of Congress Online Catalog
''The Californian and Overland Monthly''
Retrieved on July 31. 2009. then in January, 1883 dropped the word "Californian" entirely to revive the old ''Overland Monthly''.

History

References

External links