''The Speaker'' was a weekly review of politics, literature, science and the arts published in London from 1890 to 1907. A total 895 issues were published. ''The Speaker'' was published under the title ''The Speaker: A Review of Politics, Letters, Science and the Arts'' from 4 January 1890 to 30 September 1899 and then under the title ''The Speaker: The Liberal Review'' from 7 October 1899 to 23 February 1907 (its last issue). As ''The Speaker; A Review of Politics, Letters, Science and the Arts'', the issues were numbered vol. 1, no. 1 (Jan. 4, 1890) through vol. 20, no. 509 (Sept. 30, 1899). As ''The Speaker: The Liberal Review'', the issues were numbered new ser., vol. 1, no. 1 (Oct. 7, 1899) through vol. 15, no. 386 (Feb. 23, 1907).

G. K. Chesterton Gilbert Keith Chesterton (29 May 1874 – 14 June 1936) was an English writer, philosopher, Christian apologist, and literary and art critic. He has been referred to as the "prince of paradox". Of his writing style, ''Time'' observed: "Wh ...

contributed about 100 articles to ''The Speaker''. Some other famous contributors were

Lord Acton John Emerich Edward Dalberg-Acton, 1st Baron Acton, 13th Marquess of Groppoli, (10 January 1834 – 19 June 1902), better known as Lord Acton, was an English Catholic historian, politician, and writer. He is best remembered for the remark he ...

Hilaire Belloc Joseph Hilaire Pierre René Belloc (, ; 27 July 187016 July 1953) was a Franco-English writer and historian of the early twentieth century. Belloc was also an orator, poet, sailor, satirist, writer of letters, soldier, and political activist. ...

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 th ...

John Morley John Morley, 1st Viscount Morley of Blackburn, (24 December 1838 – 23 September 1923) was a British Liberal statesman, writer and newspaper editor. Initially, a journalist in the North of England and then editor of the newly Liberal-lean ...

, and Sidney Webb. In 1901 W.B. Yeats wrote his Shakespearean dramatic manifesto, 'At Stratford-on-Avon', for the journal.

Arthur Quiller-Couch Sir Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch (; 21 November 186312 May 1944) was a British writer who published using the pseudonym Q. Although a prolific novelist, he is remembered mainly for the monumental publication '' The Oxford Book of English Verse ...

was an assistant editor and contributed from 1890 to 1899. Other contributors to the weekly included

Charles Bradlaugh Charles Bradlaugh (; 26 September 1833 – 30 January 1891) was an English political activist and atheist. He founded the National Secular Society in 1866, 15 years after George Holyoake had coined the term "secularism" in 1851. In 1880, Br ...

Marion Spielmann Marion Harry Alexander Spielmann ( London, 22 May 1858 – 1948) was a prolific Victorian art critic and scholar who was the editor of '' The Connoisseur'' and '' Magazine of Art''. Among his voluminous output, he wrote a history of '' Punch ...

Arthur Symons Arthur William Symons (28 February 186522 January 1945) was a British poet, critic and magazine editor. Life Born in Milford Haven, Wales, to Cornish parents, Symons was educated privately, spending much of his time in France and Italy. In 1884 ...

John O'Connor Power John O'Connor Power (13 February 1846 – 21 February 1919) was an Irish Fenian and a Home Rule League and Irish Parliamentary Party politician and as MP in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland represented Ma ...

A. B. Walkley Arthur Bingham Walkley (17 December 1855 – 7 October 1926), usually known as A B Walkley was an English public servant and drama critic. As a civil servant he worked for the General Post Office from 1877 to 1919, in increasingly senior posts; ...

, and

Charles Whibley Charles Whibley (9 December 1859 – 4 March 1930) was an English literary journalist and author. In literature and the arts, his views were progressive. He supported James Abbott McNeill Whistler (they had married sisters). He also recommended T ...

. The late nineteenth century English novelist

George Gissing George Robert Gissing (; 22 November 1857 – 28 December 1903) was an English novelist, who published 23 novels between 1880 and 1903. His best-known works have reappeared in modern editions. They include '' The Nether World'' (1889), '' New Gr ...

bought a copy in April 1890 and wrote that he 'found it immensely dull'. Wemyss Reid was the editor-in-chief from January 1890 to September 1899 and pursued an editorial policy as a moderate Liberal (in the vein of Gladstone) as contrasted to the "New Liberalism". In October 1899, replacing Wemyss Reid, John Lawrence Hammond became the editor-in-chief of ''The Speaker'' and instituted an editorial policy against the British actions in the

Second Anglo-Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sout ...

and in favour of the policies that eventually resulted in the

Liberal welfare reforms The Liberal welfare reforms (1906–1914) were a series of acts of social legislation passed by the Liberal Party after the 1906 general election. They represent the emergence of the modern welfare state in the United Kingdom. The reforms demonst ...

of 1906–1914. After the Saturday, 25 August 1906 issue, Hammond ceased to be the editor, and Arthur Clutton-Brock ceased to be the literary editor. In 1907, ''The Speaker'' became ''The Nation'' and was published under that title until February 1921 when it was merged into '' The Nation and Athenaeum''.

References

External links

The Speaker. 35 volumes, Hathi Trust Digital Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:Speaker, The Defunct magazines published in the United Kingdom Magazines established in 1890 Magazines disestablished in 1907 1890 establishments in England Magazines published in London 1907 disestablishments in England