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The bulk of my collection consists of Girl's Own Paper and The Strand, in the form of annuals and half-annuals (i.e., six-month collections). I will also be posting several "one-off" publications -- magazine of which I found only one or two copies. Please visit the Magazine Index to view the list of volumes currently archived on this site; click each title to view the complete table of contents for that issue, with links to the articles posted on the site.
Girls' Own PaperThe Girls' Own Paper was founded in 1880 as a 16-page weekly that sold for one penny. At the end of each year, the issues from October through September were bound into annuals, which sometimes included the year's extra summer and/or Christmas issues. The magazine was originally edited by Charles Peters, who remained its editor for 28 years. His goal was "to foster and develop that which was highest and noblest in the girlhood and womanhood of England.... putting the best things first, and banishing the worthless from his pages." Peters died in 1907, whereupon the position was taken by Flora Klickmann, who made the magazine a monthly and changed its title to The Girls' Own Paper and Woman's Magazine (though the annuals retained the original title). Peters' magazine, though quintessentially Victorian in its promotion of the various virtues of womanhood, managed to avoid being overly preachy (or, more accurately, the degree of "preachiness" decreased as the magazine evolved). Many articles aimed to instruct "girls" on how to be "good Christians" in their attitudes and deeds, but the magazine manages to avoid being a typical "Sunday weekly" of the day. Under Klickmann's tenure, the magazine becomes more overtly evangelical; Klickmann also focuses more on needlework and sewing than on "current fashions." While Peters' magazine certainly offers plenty of "how-to" features (such as cooking), it is clearly aimed at the "gentlewoman," whereas Klickmann focuses more on the needs of the working woman and the woman who must manage the affairs (including financial and legal affairs) of the home. The magazine's articles cover the gamut of science, art, history, folklore, fashion, arts and crafts, and more -- as well as its dominant feature, the serial story. Every issue contained two or three (or more) serials, some of which would run for the entire year. (It is to the credit of the magazine, however, that serials were always completed within each annual, so that anyone purchasing the annual would not need to wait until the next year to see how a story "came out.") Most of the stories revolve around a young woman's quest for love (in the form of a good husband), though some begin with a quest for a career (which usually results in finding a good husband). The magazine ceased publication in 1956.
The StrandThe Strand is synonymous with "Sherlock Holmes." Founded in 1891 (and you'll find those first issues here!), The Strand was a true "general-interest magazine," offering short stories for men (daring adventures in the unexplored places of the world), women (love and romance), and children (typically retold fairy tales from around the world). It featured humor, history, current events, political satire, biographical accounts of contemporary notables and royalty, and much more. It's the ideal magazine to find glimpses of contemporary Victorian life (such as "A Day with the Thames Police" or "The Metropolitan Fire Brigade"). The magazine was edited by George Newnes, and was wildly popular. In 1891, a new "light" appeared on Newnes' horizon: Arthur Conan Doyle (not a "Sir" just yet), who had already sold one story to the magazine that was published anonymously and now put in a second appearance with a little thing called "A Scandal in Bohemia." Newnes as thrilled (and, I have to say, having read quite a bit of the other fiction in The Strand, I can see why...) Doyle was less thrilled to find that the public wanted more and more "Holmes" stories when Doyle himself was far more interested in writing other things; hence, while an online account of The Strand points out that few annuals were without a contribution from Doyle, a great many of those contributions were something other than stories about Sherlock Holmes. Doyle wanted to write historical fiction, so if you pick up a random volume of The Strand you're more likely to find something like "Rodney Stone," "The Exploits of Brigadier Gerard," or "The Tragedy of the Korosko." The Strand was also noteworthy for its extensive (and excellent) use of photography. Newnes wanted virtually every page spread to have an illustration of some kind, so the issues from the 1890's include both photography and artwork (including the illustrations, by Sydney Paget, that have more or less crystallized our visualization of Holmes, deerstalker cap and all). Monthly issues of The Strand were compiled into 6-month "half-annual" volumes (January-June, July-December). The magazine ceased publication in 1950; the title was resurrected by an American publisher in 2000, and is now a popular mystery magazine.
Sunday Strand and HomeIn the early 1900s, a magazine titled The Sunday Strand and Home, edited by George Newnes, appears. This magazine appears to be primarily an incarnation of Home Magazine (one of the first Victorian magazines I discovered), which was a (very) religious publication. SS&H bears no resemblance to The Strand, and I have not yet been able to track down the connection between it and The Strand proper (which would have still existed in its own right). SS&H consists of about 50% fiction and 50% articles with a religious slant (such as biographies of religious notables of the day). It does have one area of great appeal, however, and that is the serialized tales of G.P. Farrow (which began to appear in the 1800's in Home Magazine. Farrow wrote humorous Victorian fantasies that were ostensibly for children but that, like so many of today's animated "children's" movies, have more "in" jokes for adults than for kids.
Gentleman's MagazineFounded in London in 1731 and edited by Edward Cave, GM was a monthly digest of news, articles, literature, reviews of recently published books, poetry and even excerpts from current plays. For the antiquarian, an element of interest in this publication is the regular publication of the proceeds from meetings of various antiquarian/archaeological societies throughout Britain, including details of members' most recent finds and researches. The magazine covered international news, society news (such as marriages and notable deaths), and economic news such as corn prices. Many articles focused upon reviews of current literature, plays and poetry, but others covered historical topics (such as The Arms, Armour and Military Usages of the 14th Century, folklore, geography and significant buildings, etc. The one problem with this magazine is that a "gentleman" in the mid-1800's was expected to be as fluent in French and Latin as in English, which can render some portions of the magazine a bit inaccessible to the more modern (and less multilingual) reader! GM ceased publication in 1907.
Windsor MagazineFounded in 1895, Windsor Magazine was a general interest publication very similar to The Strand, with a combination of fiction and articles. It closed in 1939. I've only acquired one issue, so I don't know a great deal about it, but there's an excellent article online that includes the introduction to the first issue: http://bearalley.blogspot.com/2008/05/windsor-magazine.html.
ChatterboxA halfpenny weekly paper for older children founded in 1866 by J. Erskine Clarke, which ran for some 90 years in the UK and 60 in the USA. Ironically, this could be considered my "first" Victorian magazine, as we had a couple of copies in the household when I was a kid, and I eventually read them both from cover to cover. (I've even seen those same copies at bookstores, but haven't re-acquired them.) At present I have one issue of Chatterbox to be posted.
Little FolksAnother weekly for children, with charming illustrations. So far I haven't found much information online about this magazine.
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