''John O'London's Weekly'' was a weekly literary magazine that was published by

George Newnes Ltd George Newnes Ltd is a British publisher. The company was founded in 1891 by George Newnes (1851–1910), considered a founding father of popular journalism. Newnes published such magazines and periodicals as '' Tit-Bits'', '' The Wide World Ma ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

between 1919 and 1954. In 1960 it was briefly brought back into circulation (writer Peter Green's biography lists him as having been film critic at ''John O'London's'' between 1961 and 1963). Regarded as the leading literary magazine in the British Empire, at its height it had a circulation of 80,000, and it was popular among young and older readers alike. Founded in April 1919, ''John O'London's Weekly'' took its title from the pen name of one of its early editors, Wilfred Whitten, and its content featured contributions from the best known literary names of the day as well as from newer less well known writers. Regular contributors included Robert Wilson Lynd,

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...

Rebecca West Dame Cecily Isabel Fairfield (21 December 1892 – 15 March 1983), known as Rebecca West, or Dame Rebecca West, was a British author, journalist, literary critic and travel writer. An author who wrote in many genres, West reviewed books ...

, H. E. Bates,

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

Max Beerbohm Sir Henry Maximilian Beerbohm (24 August 1872 – 20 May 1956) was an English essayist, Parody, parodist and Caricature, caricaturist under the signature Max. He first became known in the 1890s as a dandy and a humorist. He was the theatre crit ...

, John Brophy,

W. Somerset Maugham William Somerset Maugham ( ; 25 January 1874 – 16 December 1965) was an English writer, known for his plays, novels and short stories. Born in Paris, where he spent his first ten years, Maugham was schooled in England and went to a German un ...

and

H. L. A. Hart Herbert Lionel Adolphus Hart (; 18 July 190719 December 1992) was a British legal philosopher. One of the most influential legal theorists of the 20th century, he was instrumental in the development of the theory of legal positivism, which wa ...

. The magazine regularly featured a literate section on

English grammar English grammar is the set of structural rules of the English language. This includes the structure of words, phrases, clauses, Sentence (linguistics), sentences, and whole texts. Overview This article describes a generalized, present-day Standar ...

and word usage, and would recommend carefully selected good books. Although ''John O'London's Weekly'' was very popular during the inter-war years, the outbreak of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

had a dramatic impact on its circulation. Sales were reduced due to newsprint regulations and as many of its readers joined the services. High costs and changing tastes meant that sales did not recover after the war, and in September 1954 the magazine's publishers announced that publication would cease.

References in popular culture

''John O'London's Weekly'' appears in Frank McCourt's 1996 memoir '' Angela's Ashes''. While McCourt is delivering magazines to shops for the company Eason's, his boss learns from the

Irish government The Government of Ireland () is the executive authority of Ireland, headed by the , the head of government. The government – also known as the cabinet – is composed of ministers, each of whom must be a member of the , which consists of ...

that copies of ''John O'London's Weekly'' must be censored because they contain an article about

birth control Birth control, also known as contraception, anticonception, and fertility control, is the use of methods or devices to prevent pregnancy. Birth control has been used since ancient times, but effective and safe methods of birth control only be ...

. McCourt tells of how he and his boss visit newsagents around

Limerick Limerick ( ; ) is a city in western Ireland, in County Limerick. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. W ...

to tear pages from copies of the magazine, much to the disdain of the shop owners.

References

External links

"The Press: ''John O'London's'' Dies"
''

Time Magazine ''Time'' (stylized in all caps as ''TIME'') is an American news magazine based in New York City. It was published weekly for nearly a century. Starting in March 2020, it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York Cit ...

'', 20 September 1954. * Dr Jonathan Wild
"''John O'London's Weekly'' and the New Reading Public"
British Academy, 26 April 2005. Defunct literary magazines published in the United Kingdom Weekly magazines published in the United Kingdom Magazines established in 1919 Magazines disestablished in 1954 Magazines published in London George Newnes Ltd magazines {{UK-lit-mag-stub