''The New Age'' was a British weekly magazine (1894–1938), inspired by

Fabian socialism The Fabian Society is a British socialist organisation whose purpose is to advance the principles of social democracy and democratic socialism via gradualist and reformist effort in democracies, rather than by revolutionary overthrow. The Fab ...

, and credited as a major influence on literature and the arts during its heyday from 1907 to 1922, when it was edited by Alfred Richard Orage. It published work by many of the chief political commentators of the day, such as

George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from ...

, H. G. Wells,

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. ...

, G. K. Chesterton and

Arnold Bennett Enoch Arnold Bennett (27 May 1867 – 27 March 1931) was an English author, best known as a novelist. He wrote prolifically: between the 1890s and the 1930s he completed 34 novels, seven volumes of short stories, 13 plays (some in collaboratio ...

History

''The New Age'' began life in 1894 as a publication of the Christian socialist movement, but in 1907, as a radical weekly edited by Joseph Clayton, it was struggling. In May of that year, Orage and

Holbrook Jackson George Holbrook Jackson (31 December 1874 – 16 June 1948) was a British journalist, writer and publisher. He was recognised as one of the leading bibliophiles of his time. Biography Holbrook Jackson was born in Liverpool, England. He worked ...

, who had been running the

Leeds Arts Club The Leeds Arts Club was founded in 1903 by the Leeds primary school teacher Alfred Orage and Holbrook Jackson, a lace merchant and freelance journalist, and was one of the most advanced centres for modernist thinking, radical thought and experime ...

, took over the journal with financial help from

. Jackson acted as co-editor only for the first year, after which Orage edited it alone until he sold it in 1922. By that time his interests had moved towards

mysticism Mysticism is popularly known as becoming one with God or the Absolute, but may refer to any kind of ecstasy or altered state of consciousness which is given a religious or spiritual meaning. It may also refer to the attainment of insight in ...

, and the quality and circulation of the journal had declined. According to a Brown University press release, "''The New Age'' helped to shape modernism in literature and the arts from 1907 to 1922". It ceased publication in 1938. Orage was also associated with '' The New English Weekly'' (1932–1949), as editor, during its first two years of operation ( Philip Mairet took over at his death in 1934).

Content

The magazine began as a journal of Christian liberalism and socialism. Martin, Wallace
''The New Age Under Orage'' (chapter 2)
at the Modernist Journals Project Orage and Jackson re-oriented it to promote the ideas of Nietzsche,

and later a form of guild socialism. But ''The New Age'' did publish opposing viewpoints and arguments, even on issues upon which Orage had strong opinions. Topics covered in detail included: * the role of

private property Private property is a legal designation for the ownership of property by non-governmental legal entities. Private property is distinguishable from public property and personal property, which is owned by a state entity, and from collective or ...

– in a debate between H. G. Wells and Shaw against G. K. Chesterton and

* the need for a socialist party (as distinct from the newly formed Labour Party) *

women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...

On this last point, the editorial line moved from initial support to bitter opposition by 1912. As ''The New Age'' moved away from Fabian politics, the leaders of the Fabian Society, Beatrice and

Sydney Webb Sidney James Webb, 1st Baron Passfield, (13 July 1859 – 13 October 1947) was a British socialist, economist and reformer, who co-founded the London School of Economics. He was an early member of the Fabian Society in 1884, joining, like Ge ...

founded the journal ''The

New Statesman The ''New Statesman'' is a British political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney and Beatrice Webb and other leading members ...

'' to counter its effect in 1913, and this, combined with the growing distance between Orage and the mainstream left, reduced its influence. By then, the editorial line supported guild socialism, expounded in articles by G. D. H. Cole and S. G. Hobson among others. After

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, Orage began to support the social credit theory of

C. H. Douglas Major Clifford Hugh "C. H." Douglas, MIMechE, MIEE (20 January 1879 – 29 September 1952), was a British engineer and pioneer of the social credit economic reform movement. Education and engineering career C.H. Douglas was born in either Edg ...

. ''The New Age'' also concerned itself with the definition and development of

modernism Modernism is both a philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new forms of art, philosophy, an ...

in the visual arts, literature and music, and consistently observed, reviewed and contributed to the activities of the movement. The journal became one of the first places in England in which

Sigmund Freud Sigmund Freud ( , ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating pathologies explained as originating in conflicts i ...

's ideas were discussed before the First World War, in particular by

David Eder (Montague) David Eder (1 August 1865 – 30 March 1936) was a British psychoanalyst, physician, Zionist and writer of Lithuanian Jewish descent. He was best known for advancing psychoanalytic studies in Great Britain. Education and medical train ...

, an early British psychoanalyst.

Production

The journal appeared weekly, and featured a wide cross-section of writers with an interest in literature and the arts, but also politics, spiritualism and economics. With its woodprint illustrations reminiscent of artwork by the German Expressionists, its mixture of culture, politics, Nietzschean philosophy and spiritualism, and its non-standard appearance, ''The New Age'' has been cited as the English equivalent of the German Expressionist periodical '' Der Sturm'', a journal to which it bore a striking resemblance.

Notable contributors

Boris Anrep Boris Vasilyevich Anrep (russian: Борис Васильевич Анреп; 27 September 1883 – 7 June 1969) was a Russian artist, active in Britain, who devoted himself to the art of mosaic. In Britain, he is known for his monumental mosai ...

* Michael Arlen (Dikran Kouyoumdjian) * Belfort Bax *

* Cecil Chesterton * G. K. Chesterton * G. D. H. Cole *

Arthur Kitson Arthur Kitson (6 April 1859, London – 2 October 1937) was a British monetary theorist and inventor. Early life He married Fannie Ernestina Aschenbach in Spring Garden, Philadelphia on 25 March 1886. They had seven children but eventually div ...

* Havelock Ellis * Florence Farr *

Beatrice Hastings Beatrice Hastings was the pen name of Emily Alice Haigh (27 January 1879 – 30 October 1943) an English writer, literary critic, poet and theosophist. Her work was integral to British Magazine ''The New Age'' which she helped edit along with h ...

T. E. Hulme Thomas Ernest Hulme (; 16 September 1883 – 28 September 1917) was an English critic and poet who, through his writings on art, literature and politics, had a notable influence upon modernism. He was an aesthetic philosopher and the 'fathe ...

* Herbert Hughes *

* Oscar Levy *

Anthony Ludovici Anthony Mario Ludovici MBE (8 January 1882 – 3 April 1971) was a British philosopher, sociologist, social critic and polyglot. He is known as a proponent of aristocracy and anti-egalitarianism, and in the early 20th century was a leading ...

* Hugh MacDiarmid * Ramiro de Maeztu * Katherine Mansfield * Dimitrije Mitrinovic * Edwin Muir *

P. D. Ouspensky Pyotr Demianovich Ouspenskii (known in English as Peter D. Ouspensky; rus, Пётр Демья́нович Успе́нский, Pyotr Demyánovich Uspénskiy; 5 March 1878 – 2 October 1947) was a Russian esotericist known for his expositions ...

* Alfred Orage * A. J. Penty * Marmaduke Pickthall *

Ezra Pound Ezra Weston Loomis Pound (30 October 1885 – 1 November 1972) was an expatriate American poet and critic, a major figure in the early modernist poetry movement, and a Fascism, fascist collaborator in Italy during World War II. His works ...

* Herman George Scheffauer * Hugh Pembroke Vowles * H. G. Wells *

Herbert Read Sir Herbert Edward Read, (; 4 December 1893 – 12 June 1968) was an English art historian, poet, literary critic and philosopher, best known for numerous books on art, which included influential volumes on the role of art in education. Read ...

Clifford Sharp Clifford Dyce Sharp (1883–1935) was a British journalist. He was the first editor of the '' New Statesman'' magazine from its foundation in 1913 until 1928; a left-wing magazine founded by Sidney and Beatrice Webb and other members of the socia ...

* Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji *

* Walter Sickert

References

External links

* Complete archive o
''The New Age''
under Orage (1907–1922) at the Modernist Journals Project. PDFs of all 783 weekly issues (and 42 supplements) may be downloaded for free at the MJP website. {{DEFAULTSORT:New Age, The 1894 establishments in the United Kingdom 1938 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Christian socialist publications Defunct literary magazines published in the United Kingdom Defunct political magazines published in the United Kingdom Magazines disestablished in 1938 Magazines established in 1894 Religious magazines published in the United Kingdom Socialist magazines Weekly magazines published in the United Kingdom