PERIODICAL. The term "periodical" refers to reviews and magazines appearing monthly or at longer intervals; it has also been applied to weekly and other newspapers but these are for the most part excluded here. The date in parentheses is the date when the periodical was first published.
The general output of literature reflects changes in the consti tution of society (in the large sense) and of the political outlook, but whereas in books we find an index to the life and thought of a generation, the periodical is, or should be, a mental chart record ing from day to day the level of average educated intelligence of its readers.
It may be said, generally, that there have been five definite epochs in periodical literature: its birth in the seventeenth cen tury; its jubilee in the eighteenth century, when Addison and Steele did their brilliant work; its rapid expansion in the first half of the nineteenth century; the revolt of the specialists in the latter half ; and the vast output of the present, with popular approbation as its objective.
The beginning of the periodical was in the 57th century, when catalogues of books (1646) were first issued. The bare titles of books, however, did not seem sufficiently attractive, catalogues being, in the opinion of many, "dry things scarce able to raise in men that gust and appetite to learning." Short notices were added by the bookseller or by his hack. The amalgamation of the titles and the commentaries brought the "no tices" into greater prominence until they became the leading fea tures. A further strong impetus was given to this new departure by the Journal des Scavans, which began to be printed in France in 1665, and by Britain's Acta Philosophica (1665), from both of which editors drew material. A little later they also made ab stracts from the Acta Eruditorum, issued in Germany in 1682. The French Journal was entirely devoted to giving its readers summaries of books. Its publication has continued up to the present time, with only one short break at the end of the eighteenth century. The Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society (1665) followed in imitation of, and with a similar scow to, the French Journal. The aim was stated to be "to give sorhe account of the present undertakings, studies and labours of the Ingenious in many considerable parts of the world." These two journals were, in reality, the parents of the periodical. In the Weekly Memorials for the Ingenious (1682) a further develop ment may be registered, when an original contribution made its appearance for the first time. A few years after it was followed by the Universal Historical Bibliotheque (1686), which announced its intention of printing reviews of the most important books and the "quality of the author if known." This seems to be the first attempt at periodical criticism, and the first time that it is recorded that an editor asked for contributions from the learned. The innovation was welcome. Periodicals began at once to in crease. An interesting attempt, on account of its novelty and
originality, was the Athenian Gazette (1690), the forerunner of Notes and Queries and Answers, in which undertaking Samuel Wesley was partner with John Dunton, the editor. Defoe appears as one of the contributors to this magazine when it was issued under the name of the Athenian Mercury. In 1692 Dunton issued supplements in which natural history and natural phenomena were dealt with, thus still further widening the scope of the peri odical. The Compleat Library (1691-92, also printed for John Dunton) came next in order of time and importance with a defi nite plan allotting a given space to original contributors and to the reviews of books. This magazine contained the elements of criticism as understood to-day. The Works of the Learned, 1691, by J. de la Crose deserves mention because it has been said to be the first literary periodical. Side by side with these attempts at giving the public serious reading were periodicals which, though vulgar and obscene, reflect the manners of the day. The best known was Edward Ward's London Spy, which is full of well drawn sketches of London life.
A new phase in periodical literature began with the eighteenth century. The chief representatives are the Tatler (1709), which established the essay periodical as a type, the Spectator (1711), the Guardian (1712), and the Examiner (17I0). Politics now became
with liter ature. All the great writers then were politicians. Swift and Bolingbroke wrote diatribes for the Examiner and filled its pages with personal attacks against the leading men and women of the day; Addison and Steele used their pens in the Spectator and Guardian to defend Whig principles. The former attained such popularity for its outspoken articles that its sale rose to 4,000. These journals were the only medium then existing of telling men what was happening in politics, and the only guide available for those who desired a lead. Addison and Steele owed their position as public men to the brilliant essays they wrote. The pen was their only weapon, for neither was an orator. The success they achieved, however, was checked by the Stamp Act, passed to curb the licence of the Press and to restrain frank criticism. Owing to its restriction, several periodicals were com pelled to cease printing. They had gone a step further than their predecessors in giving current news, social and legal, and in criticising books on literature, history and travel. Perhaps the two most interesting of the century are the North Briton (1762) and Gentleman's Magazine (1731). The former was edited by John Wilkes (q.v. for its history).
The latter, the Gentleman's Magazine, though not then the leading monthly, is better known to us than any other of the older periodicals. It contained summaries of events at home and abroad, scraps of art and antiquity, and short and accurate obituary notices now so often consulted by the genealogist.