''The Dark Blue'' was a London-based literary magazine published monthly from 1871 to 1873 and sold for one shilling per issue.
/ref> The magazine was founded and edited by

John Christian Freund John Christian Freund (November 23, 1848 – June 3, 1924) was a British-American magazine publisher, playwright, and music critic. He founded several magazines, including ''The Music Trades''. Early life Freund was born in London, England. He ...

, who was educated at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

. The title was based upon a magazine ''Dark Blue: An Oxford University Magazine'', which folded in 1867 after publishing one issue. ''The Dark Blue'' was published in London in 1871 by Sampson Low, Son, & Marston and then from 1871 to 1873 by British & Colonial Publishing. ''The Dark Blue'' published essays, stories, poems, and illustrations. Literary contributors of essays or stories included

Mathilde Blind Mathilde Blind (born Mathilda Cohen; 21 March 1841 in Mannheim, Germany – 26 November 1896, in London), was a German-born English poet, fiction writer, biographer, essayist and critic. In the early 1870s she emerged as a pioneering female aest ...

Sidney Colvin Sir Sidney Colvin (18 June 1845 – 11 May 1927) was a British curator and literary and art critic, part of the illustrious Anglo-Indian Colvin family. He is primarily remembered for his friendship with Robert Louis Stevenson. Family and early ...

, W. Bodham Donne,

W.S. Gilbert Sir William Schwenck Gilbert (18 November 1836 – 29 May 1911) was an English dramatist, librettist, poet and illustrator best known for his collaboration with composer Arthur Sullivan, which produced fourteen comic operas. The most f ...

G.A. Henty George Alfred Henty (8 December 1832 – 16 November 1902) was an English novelist and war correspondent. He is most well-known for his works of adventure fiction and historical fiction, including ''The Dragon & The Raven'' (1886), ''For The ...

"A Pipe of Opium"
,

Thomas Hughes Thomas Hughes (20 October 182222 March 1896) was an English lawyer, judge, politician and author. He is most famous for his novel ''Tom Brown's School Days'' (1857), a semi-autobiographical work set at Rugby School, which Hughes had attended. ...

Andrew Lang Andrew Lang (31 March 1844 – 20 July 1912) was a Scottish poet, novelist, literary critic, and contributor to the field of anthropology. He is best known as a collector of folk and fairy tales. The Andrew Lang lectures at the University ...

and A.C. Swinburne. There were translations, such a
''The Story of Frithiof the Bold''
translated from the Icelandic by

William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was a British textile designer, poet, artist, novelist, architectural conservationist, printer, translator and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts Movement. He ...

an
''The Story of Europa''
translated from the Latin of

Horace Quintus Horatius Flaccus (; 8 December 65 – 27 November 8 BC), known in the English-speaking world as Horace (), was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus (also known as Octavian). The rhetorician Quintilian regarded his ' ...

J.J. Sylvester James Joseph Sylvester (3 September 1814 – 15 March 1897) was an English mathematician. He made fundamental contributions to matrix theory, invariant theory, number theory, partition theory, and combinatorics. He played a leadership r ...

. The illustrators included

Ford Madox Brown Ford Madox Brown (16 April 1821 – 6 October 1893) was a British painter of moral and historical subjects, notable for his distinctively graphic and often William Hogarth, Hogarthian version of the Pre-Raphaelite style. Arguably, his mos ...

, W.J. Hennessy, Cecil Lawson and

Simeon Solomon Simeon Solomon (9 October 1840 – 14 August 1905) was a British painter associated with the Pre-Raphaelites who was noted for his depictions of Jewish life and same-sex desire. His career was cut short as a result of public scandal following h ...

. The contributors of poetry included

Alfred Perceval Graves Alfred Perceval Graves (22 July 184627 December 1931), was an Anglo-Irish poet, songwriter and folklorist. He was the father of British poet and critic Robert Graves. Early life Graves was born in Dublin and was the son of The Rt Rev. Cha ...

Theo Marzials Théophile-Jules-Henri "Theo" Marzials (20 December 1850 – 2 February 1920) was a British composer, singer and poet.Howse, Christopher. ''The Daily Telegraph''. 18 October 2006. Did this man really write the worst poem ever?. Retrieved 16 Augu ...

Arthur O'Shaughnessy Arthur William Edgar O'Shaughnessy (14 March 184430 January 1881) was a British poet and herpetologist. Of Irish descent, he was born in London. He is most remembered for his poem "Ode", from his 1874 collection ''Music and Moonlight'', which b ...

William Michael Rossetti William Michael Rossetti (25 September 1829 – 5 February 1919) was an English writer and critic. Early life Born in London, Rossetti was a son of immigrant Italian scholar Gabriele Rossetti and his wife Frances Rossetti ''née'' Polidor ...

and George A. Simcox. ''The Dark Blue'' earned a footnote in the history of

vampire fiction Vampire literature covers the spectrum of literary work concerned principally with the subject of vampires. The literary vampire first appeared in 18th-century poetry, before becoming one of the stock figures of gothic fiction with the publicat ...

by its serial publication of ''

Carmilla ''Carmilla'' is an 1872 Gothic fiction, Gothic novella by Irish author Sheridan Le Fanu and one of the early works of vampire fiction, predating Bram Stoker's ''Dracula'' (1897) by 26 years. First published as a Serial (literature), serial in ' ...

'' by Sheridan Le Fanu.

References

1871 establishments in the United Kingdom 1873 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Defunct literary magazines published in the United Kingdom English-language magazines Magazines published in London Magazines established in 1871 Magazines disestablished in 1873 Monthly magazines published in the United Kingdom {{Lit-mag-stub