AICE Media Studies: History of a Magazine Pt. 1

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Today we will be going over the History of a Magazine. It’s important to know the background of something before you even begin to create it. So without further ado, here is Pt.1 of The History of a Magazine.

Cambridge definition of a magazine:

“ a type of thin book with large pages and a paper cover that contains articles and photographs and is published every week or month.”

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/magazine

Early “Magazines”

The earliest “magazine” came in the form of brochures, pamphlets, and almanacs ( annual calendar containing important dates and statistical information). So, if you think about it, magazines are a culmination of these three forms of early “magazines”.

Once the printing press in Europe became a repeated use for early publishers, it became the standing ground for the actual concept of the earliest versions of the modern magazine. Ideas for this concept started circling during the 17th century. After a while, generalized topics became too big of a feat to reach being as it required much work. Publishers soon found a way to lessen the work load and maximize efficiency, targeted audience. Publishers started catering to specific interests for different types of audiences. This was the first step to the evolution of the modern magazine we see today, however, this was only the beginning as the early magazine was nowhere near the criteria to be considered “pleasure reading” as well as not having enough news source to be a considered a newspaper. The early magazine can placed in the middle spot between a modern magazine and a newspaper, but it was getting there.

Paving the path- Germany, France, and the Netherlands.

Johann Rist: Theologian and poet

Published Edifying Monthly Discussions( English title), Erbauliche Monaths-Unterredungen( German title), a physiology newspaper issued between 1663 and 1668, which he considered to be the “first true magazine”. This periodical was said to have inspired others to create and print literary journals across Europe.

Journals such as:

Denis de Sallo’s French Journal des Sçavans (1665)
The Royal Society’s English Philosophical Transactions (1665)
Francesco Nazzari’s Italian Giomale de’letterati (1668)

Pierre Bayle: French philosopher and author

In 1675, Bayle was appointed the chair of philosophy at the Protestant academy of Sedan, in 1681 that academy became oppressed by the government against Protestants. Right before this event, Bayle fled to the Dutch Repulblic where he was appointed professor of philosophy and history at École Illustre in Rotterdam. From 1684 and 1687, Bayle published Novelles de la République des Lettres, a journal,of literary criticism in protest and to escape French censorship. Since Bayle had the experience of being a professor almost all over Europe, his journal sparked a “revival of learning” during the 1600s and inspired zeal for education.

Jean Donneau de Vizé: French journalist, royal historian, playwright and publicist.

Published the first “periodical of amusement”, Le Mercure Galant (later renamed Mercure de France) in 1672. This is a step closer to a modern magazine because they are mostly made to entertain, such as a tabloid which is meant to create drama. This periodical contained a combination of news and entertainment, short stories, and poetry. This inspired other publishers to use the same theme in their later magazines. The shift from wanting to be educated to the need for entertainment increased pretty quickly after Jean’s version of a magazine.

As the 18th century started approaching, the increase in literacy became known, especially for women. Before this lighter magazine was created, periodicals consisted of more intellectual publications such as articles, news, statistics. This then shifted to a more popular need, entertainment. The approach of the 18th century brought along women wanting to be educated as well. Women increase the reading record which created the inspiration for writers to publish for female reader. This increase helped magazines grow in popularity as women craved information as well as entertainment. This went as far as to reaching out to women and considering them as a target audience for magazines. An example would be “The Athenian Mercury” written specifically for women in 1693.

British Magazines

During the early 18th century, Great Britain followed Europe’s example in creating magazines.

Three major magazines published regularly in Great Britain:

Robinson Crusoe author Daniel Defoe’s the Review( domestic or foreign affairs)
Sir Richard Steele’s the Tatler( emphasized living, culture, and virtuous behavior) added targeted audience for women, “Female Tatler in 1709 and Female Spectator in 1744.”
Joseph Addison and Steele’s the Spectator.( emphasized living, culture, and virtuous behavior) added targeted audience for women, “Female Tatler in 1709 and Female Spectator in 1744.”

These magazines were published either daily or weekly. The supply timeline is closer compared to that of newspapers however the content related closer to magazines. These three magazines focused on politics, welfare, health, and culture. Two of the three created a more inclusive type of content to increase supply and demand by targeting a female audience. “Female Tatler in 1709 and Female Spectator in 1744”, were created to generate and draw a large number of women readers.

American Magazines

There was not much success for American magazines although it did leave an impression and proved the cause of a decrease in the selling of magazines. This gave information on what helps sell magazines and what doesn’t.

In 1741, Andrew Bradford’s American Magazine and Benjamin Franklin’s General Magazine became publicized in Philadelphia. American Magazine failed after 3 months and General Magazine failed after 6 months. These publications failed because there were few readers, prices were too high, attracted a very limited audience, expensive distribution systems and publishing costs. This taught us that even if these magazines failed, magazines in general will still be viewed as popular universally especially during the first half of the 18th century and the end of the 1700s. More than 100 magazines appeared in the US, however despite this number, colonial magazines still recorded low transmission figures and were considered intellectual.

*Graphic created in Canva

Sources used for research:

https://open.lib.umn.edu/mediaandculture/chapter/5-2-history-of-magazine-publishing/#:~:text=The%20first%20magazine%20was%20published,including%20the%20elite%20and%20women.

https://interlatina.org/en/7/news/10-things-you-didnt-know-about-germany#:~:text=In%201663%2C%20the%20German%20poet,the%20highest%20number%20on%20earth.

https://geniuses.club/genius/pierre-bayle

https://dbpedia.org/page/Jean_Donneau_de_Visé

Sources used for pictures in timeline for Early Magazines:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Athenian_Mercury

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercure_de_France

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mercure_de_France,_October_1749.png

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Pierre-Bayle

https://www.xwhos.com/person/jean_donneau_de_vise-whois.html