Overview

This magazine was produced by a mutual improvement class based at Eastville Free Methodist Church, which was located on Fishponds Road in Eastville (northeast of Bristol). (For a brief history of this church see ‘Eastville Methodist Church (now Pentecostal City Mission), Eastville, Fishponds‘ on the Places of Worship Database website.) The lists of members at the front of the extant 1893 and 1894 issues have 26 and 24 names respectively. It was a mixed-gender class with perhaps a fairly equal number of men and women (there are several names on these lists where only the surname is given). No addresses are given after these names, but these can be found by consulting the entries for the parents in the church register, also available in the archives. The group members were pro-temperance, and two pieces by different authors in their magazine mention attending a Band of Hope meeting. (For more information about the Band of Hope, see the article, ‘Band of Hope‘ on the Spartacus Educational website.)

There are only two extant issues of the manuscript magazine that this class produced. These are roughly A5 in size, with a brown paper cover and are hand-stitched. It is unclear if there was a set production date for each issue (e.g. monthly, bi-monthly, etc.), but it might have been tied to the semester schedule. The format of the contributions vary: some are written solely on one side of the paper, whilst others are on both front and back, which is a bit usual for these magazines. All the contributions — the majority of which are essays on a variety of topics — are in the authors’ own handwriting. With few exceptions, all of the contributors and reviewers use their own initials. There is no original poetry and no illustrations or artwork in either issue. Readers were allowed one week to view the magazine.

The issues are compact not only in size but in the number of contributions: there are 68 pages (unpaginated) in total in the 1893 issue with 7 contributions followed by four readers’ responses over 10 pages in the ‘Notes and Comments’ section, and 30 pages with 5 contributions in the 1894 issue. Interestingly, whilst there are also a number of blank pages left for readers to provide their responses in the ‘Notes and Comments’ section in the later issue, none of the readers chose to use this space.

Name of Club, Society or Group That Produced the Magazine

Eastville Free Methodist Mutual Improvement Class

Date of Existence

1894?-1895?

Date of Magazine

No. 1, October 1893 and No. 5, October 1894

Number of Issues

2 (extant)

Manuscript/Published Magazine

Manuscript

Contents and Contributions

Annotations; Articles (non-fiction); Circulation Lists; Editorials; Essays; Extracts of published works; Letters to Editor; Magazine Rules; Poems (republished material); Readers’ Criticisms; Serial articles/stories; Tables of Contents;  Title pages

Repository

Bristol Archives & Record Office

Reference

40836/EP/95-96

Overview

There are nine extant issues of the manuscript magazine that was produced by this mutual improvement society. The title was taken from the poem, ‘Excelsior’, written in 1841 by the American poet, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and the poem’s message of struggling towards a righteous, distant goal was used as the group’s own precept. We do not know very much about the group itself as there are no other (known) records. Most likely, the society was associated with a local church in Liverpool as many of the contributions discuss religion and/or the Bible (e.g. a serial essay entitled, ‘Praising God, No. 2′), and it was firmly pro-temperance.

We do know that it was a fairly small society: there are 17 members listed in an (undated) magazine circulation list. It was a mixed-gender group, with 13 men and four unmarried women. The members lived in and around the Toxteth area of the city. (For more information about this area, see ‘History of Toxteth‘ on the Historic Liverpool website.) One of the women, however, lived in London.

Each issue of The Excelsior is approximately 100 pages with roughly 20 contributions apiece, and contain a mixture of prose and poetry, articles and essays, a couple of short musical scores, with a small number of original illustrations (mostly pen-and-ink, to which should be added the detailed artwork on the covers on Nos. 7, 8 and 10).

There are a couple of unique elements to this magazine. First, the contributors seemed to particularly like writing serials, both non-fiction and fictional pieces, with pieces commonly running through most of the issues. Second, the members appear to have taken the ‘improving’ element to heart, as beginning in the sixth issue, a ‘List of Errors in Spelling’ is added to the back, which ran up to five pages in issue No. 10. Finally, whilst not including a separate section for readers’ ‘criticisms’ per se, the Editor none-the-less allowed readers to write in to him with their remarks and he would include them in the next issue, a practice that readers took to with particular enthusiasm, or rather with vehemence; many of these are long letters outlining in detail the particular merits — and by no means neglecting the demerits — of the contributions.

Name of Club, Society or Group That Produced the Magazine

(currently unknown)

Date of Existence

1860?-1862?

Date of Magazine

No. 1, 1 October 1860; No. 2, 1 November 1860;  No. 3, [no date given], December 1860; [No. 4], January and February 1861; No. 5, March & April 1861; No. 6, 1 December 1861; No. 7, January 1862; No. 8, February 1862; [No. 9 no longer extant?]; No. 10, April 1862

Number of Issues

9

Manuscript/Published Magazine

Manuscript

Contents and Contributions

Annotations; Art/Illustrations (original); Article s(non-fiction); Circulation List; Correspondence column; Editorials; Essays; Extracts (previously published works); Fiction/Narratives; Hymn; Letters to Editor; Lists of spelling errors; Music; Newspaper cutting; Poems (original); Poems (republished material); Poems (w/ original illustrations); Prefaces; Puzzle; Readers’ Criticisms; Serial articles/stories; Tables of Contents; Title pages

Repository

Liverpool Record Office, Central Library

Reference

H050 EXC

Members of this literary club were enrolled at Edinburgh Collegiate College. Opened in 1868, the College was located at Nos. 27/28, Charlotte Square, Edinburgh. From a photograph of the group in the 1871 magazine, the club was quite small (if all members were indeed present), there being only five boys in the photo.

The number of contributions to this magazine is unusually large: there are 51 pieces, and 39 illustrations that are listed separately in the table of contents at the front. The entire issue has a hefty total of 694 pages, particularly considering that it only had 13 contributors that included non-members of the group (see below). It may be that the pieces were written over a number of months and were collected and bound into one volume for a Christmas number.

According to the magazine’s list of rules, contributors did not have to be a member of the club. Although anonymous contributions were permitted, many of the authors signed their names at the end of their pieces. The order of the contributions was determined by the date when they were received by the Editor, who could reject any unsuitable material. Swearing and ‘bad language’ was not allowed.

Further, the group voted for those who were allowed to contribute, and could democratically dismiss them as well. Contributors had to submit a piece of not less than four pages to every other issue of the magazine. The order of reading was determined by the order in which the contributions were received, and each reader only had 2 nights to keep the issue. Emphasis was placed on original stories and artwork. Interestingly, the group wished to underscore the seriousness of their endeavours and of their club’s rules by punishing transgressors: Rule XI states ‘That Punishment be determined by ballot.’

Perhaps not surprising for this age group, this magazine is more of a boys’ adventure magazine, with serial fictional stories by the contributors, with simple accompanying illustrations of ships, campfire scenes, or of imaginative exotic places, many of the stories even having their own illustrated title page at the start. Other contributions include filler materials like enigmas and riddles.

The next extant issue of The Edinburgh Collegiate Magazine dates from March 1890 and is a print magazine. According to the ‘Editorial’, the College magazine was being revived after lapsing around 1885. This is a slimmer volume with 12 contributions including the editorial, ‘Correspondence’ and ‘Notice to Contributors’ features. Primarily, it reports on the College’s activities and this issue focuses on the sports clubs. The next extant issue dates from February 1891 and also contains college news and sports, but includes articles on Emily Bronte and a couple of travel stories.

Name of Club, Society or Group That Produced the Magazine

Edinburgh Collegiate Club

Date of Existence

1871?-1891?

Date of Magazine

Christmas 1871; No. 1, March 1890; Vol. II, No. 1, February 1891

Number of Issues

3 (extant)

Manuscript/Published Magazine

Manuscript (Christmas 1871); Print (No. 1, March 1890; Vol. II, No. 1, February 1891)

Contents and Contributions

Art/Illustrations (original); Articles (non-fiction); Correspondence column; Editorials; Essays; Letter to Editor; List of contributors; Magazine Rules; Photograph (members); Poems (original); Puzzles; Riddles;  Serial articles/stories; Table of Contents; Title page

Repository

Edinburgh Central Library (ECL) (Christmas 1871; No. 1, March 1890; Vol. II, No. 1, February 1891)

National Library of Scotland (NLS) (Vol. II, No. 1, February 1891)

Reference

ECL reference for Christmas Number: Class No. YLF 1135 E23 C; Book No. C5564;

ECL reference for 1890-91 print magazines: Class No. qYLF 1135 E23 C; Book No. 21311

NLS reference for Vol. II, No. 1, February 1891: Q.50

Name of Club, Society or Group That Produced the Magazine

Derker Congregational Mutual Improvement Society (Oldham, near Manchester)

Date of Existence

1886?-1887?

Date of Magazine

1886-1887

Number of Issues

1

Manuscript/Published Magazine

Manuscript

Contents and Contributions

Repository

Oldham Local Studies & Archives

Reference

C-ECHO (Exercise book, containing copies of letters ‘To the Editor of the Echo’)

Name of Club, Society or Group That Produced the Magazine

United Presbyterian Church Sabbath School (MSS mag of the teachers of the Church Sabbath School, Mar. 1855-Apr. 1858)

Note: later, the name of the MSS mag is adopted by a new society at the church: the Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Society of Junction Street United Presbyterian Church (later becomes the Young Men’s Literary Society?) (Edinburgh)

Date of Existence

Teachers’ MSS mag: 1855?-1858?;

Junction Street United Presbyterian Church Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Society: 1870-1948?

Date of Magazine

Teachers’ MSS mag: Vol. 2, No. 5, Mar. 1855; No. 6, Oct. 1855 (in 2 parts); New Series, No. 1, Nov. 1857; New Series, No. 3, Apr. 1858;

Junction Street United Presbyterian Church Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Society: Oct. 1869-1949

Number of Issues

Total=69 dating from 1855-1948 (missing Vol. 48)

Note: only Vols. I-XLVI [46], 1869-1915, fall within the date range of this study;

Total included in this study=46 volumes

Manuscript/Published Magazine

Manuscript

Contents and Contributions

Repository

Edinburgh Central Library

Reference

Class No. YAS 122 L53 J;
Book No. C29914; C29915-C29982

Name of Club, Society or Group That Produced the Magazine

(Currently unknown)

Date of Existence

1851?-?

Date of Magazine

No. 5, 1851

Number of Issues

1

Manuscript/Published Magazine

Manuscript

Contents and Contributions

Repository

Elgin Public Library

Reference

L 805, Barcode: 00369281

Overview

Name of Club, Society or Group That Produced the Magazine

Senior Scholars’ Mutual Improvement Class (Manchester, Chorlton-on-Medlock, Grosvenor Street Church and School)

Date of Existence

1890?-1902?

Date of Magazine

(The Endeavour) 1890-1891 (Nos. 1-6, 8-9, 11-14); 1892-1893 (Nos. 15-24);

(The New Endeavour) 1897 (Nos. 2-3);

(The Endeavour) 1900-1902 (Vols. III-IV, Nos. 13-21)

Number of Issues

32 total (30 issues of The Endeavour; 2 issues of The New Endeavour)

Manuscript/Published Magazine

Manuscript

Contents and Contributions

Repository

Manchester Archives and Local Studies

Reference

GB127.M641/50 (5 boxes)

Overview

A summary of the history of the Pollokshields Free Church Literary Institute is available on our sister website, Glasgow’s Literary Bonds (see ‘Additional Notes’ below).

One 74 page volume (the second) survives of this magazine. The volume is neatly written in the same or very similar hand throughout, and contains a list of members on the inside cover: six names are listed as editors of the M.S. Magazine. The editor’s Preface states that contributions show that their writers are ‘desirous – nay, determined – to take advantage of the written, as well as the spoken, means of improvement in literary efforts’, that they preserve the memory of good talks given at weekly meetings, and that they show the ‘degree of literary merit’ expressed at these meetings.

Of particular interest in this magazine is the focus in several contributions on the dangers of ‘theories of scepticism and infidelity’ current in the 1880s (‘Stray Reflections’ by ‘A Moderate’). Hugh Smith, for example, in ‘The Advantages of Literary Institutes’, notes as one of the additional advantages of literary institutes that they enable young men to ‘understand and discriminate between false and true argument’, meaning that they are less likely to question their Christian beliefs.

The magazine contains reflective and descriptive essays on various subjects, including ‘Stray Reflections on Study’, ‘The Advantages of Literary Institutes’, ‘A Day on Scuir-na-Gillean’ (Skye), ‘Temper’, ‘Life on the Stage’, ‘Home Mission Effort’ and ‘General Knowledge’.

Name of Club, Society or Group That Produced the Magazine

Pollokshields Free Church Literary Institute (Glasgow)

Date of Existence

1883?-1887?

Date of Magazine

No. 2, Session 1883-84 (Carbon duplicate of MS)

Number of Issues

1 (extant)

Manuscript/Published Magazine

Manuscript

Contents and Contributions

Articles (non-fiction); Editorial; Essays; List of Office Bearers; Membership list; Table of Contents; Title page

Repository

Mitchell Library Special Collections

Reference

97615, 285-2/G

Additional Notes

See also entry for Pollokshields Free Church Literary Institute on our sister website, Glasgow’s Literary Bonds.