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

Whilst becoming more proficient in their rhetorical skills at their meetings, the purpose of starting a society magazine was so that members might improve their writing. The preface is in part a manifesto for the magazine, and quotes Lord Bacon: ‘reading makes a full man, speaking a ready man, and writing a correct man’. This was to become an oft-used phrase by literary societies more generally over the course of the nineteenth century.

Name of Club, Society or Group That Produced the Magazine

Literary Debating Society (Glasgow)

Date of Existence

1845?-1846?

Date of Magazine

Nos. 1-3, 1 December 1845 – 13 February 1846

Number of Issues

3

Manuscript/Published Magazine

Print

Contents and Contributions

Articles (non-fiction); Notice (printed); Poem (translation); Preface; Song (vernacular)

Repository

University of Glasgow Special Collections

Reference

The Literary Magazine, ed. by members of the Literary Debating Society, No. 1 (Glasgow: Printed by George Richardson, 1845); The Literary Magazine, ed. by members of the Literary Debating Society, Dec. 1845-Feb. 1846 (Glasgow: George Richardson 1846) (Sp Coll Mu1-d.13; Sp Coll RB 3049)

[Note: the University of Glasgow Special Collections holds two copies]

Additional Notes

From the University of Glasgow online catalogue: ‘Library holds: No. 1-3, 1 Dec. 1845-13 Feb. 1846. Copy at Mu1-d.13 has front and back covers of no.1 & 2, and front cover of no. 3, bound in. Copy at RB 3049 is item 1 of 5 bound together’ [accessed 31 January 2018].

See also entry for Literary Debating Society on our sister website, Glasgow’s Literary Bonds.

Overview

The only surviving manuscript magazine from an all-female society in Dundee. The Editorial Preface pre-empts criticism by giving a very modest account of the work: “However much ladies in general, are disposed to self delusion, we can not imagine that our book or magazine, which has nothing to recommend it, can be recommended by the editor’s preface.”

The magazine evidently had an interested readership awaiting it, though, as indicated by the inside cover bearing a warning that readers who keep the volume longer than two days will be fined. The contributions are very much in keeping with what other societies were producing at a comparable time, including essays, poetry, and short reflections on topics including Literature and Slavery. Like several other magazines, the entries have all been written out by an editor so the handwriting is consistent.

Name of Club, Society or Group That Produced the Magazine

Diagnostic Society? (Note: it is currently unclear if this is the group that produced this magazine) (Dundee)

Date of Existence

1848?-?

Date of Magazine

Vol. I, No. 1, 1848

Number of Issues

1

Manuscript/Published Magazine

Manuscript

Contents and Contributions

Articles (non-fiction); Editorial; Essays; Magazine Rules; Poems (original); Title page

Repository

Dundee District Central Library, The Wellgate

Reference

L266(2), Lamb Collection

Additional Notes

These magazines were collected in the 1860s by A.C. Lamb, a Dundee temperance hotelier. Many of the societies represented met on premises owned by either himself or, in earlier decades, in his father Thomas’ coffee house. Lamb was often involved in society life himself, and his collection of over 450 boxes covers a wide range of material relating to literature, poetry, culture and politics in Victorian Dundee. For more information on this material, please contact local.history@leisureandculturedundee.com.

Overview

A summary of the history of the St. Stephen’s Literary Association is available on our sister website, Glasgow’s Literary Bonds (see ‘Additional Notes’ below).

Name of Club, Society or Group That Produced the Magazine

St. Stephen’s Literary Association (Glasgow)

Date of Existence

1892?-?

Date of Magazine

1895

Number of Issues

1

Manuscript/Published Magazine

Manuscript

Contents and Contributions

Repository

Glasgow City Archives

Reference

CH2/1373/12

Additional Notes

See also entry for St. Stephen’s Literary Association on our sister website, Glasgow’s Literary Bonds.

Overview

A summary of the history of the Free Anderston Church Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Society is available on our sister website, Glasgow’s Literary Bonds (see ‘Additional Notes’ below).

This society appears to have had a dynamic group of members that contributed to and supported the production of this magazine for over twenty years. The magazine was issued (mostly) monthly during the yearly session, which ran from October until April; like most societies, there were no meetings held (nor magazines issued) during the summer.

The length of each issue varies a good deal, and is dependent upon the number of pieces and the length of each contribution, which did not appear to have a limit as did some magazines. Each bound volume contains roughly a couple hundred pages (e.g. Vols. II-II, bound into one hardcover book, has 410 pages, while Vol. XIII, one of the slimmest, has approximately 200).

Each contribution is in the author’s own handwriting, but the authors are on the whole not identifiable: pieces are either anonymous, signed with a pen-name, or more rarely with an initial or initials. However, when accompanied by artwork and/or other materials, each contributor’s individuality and creativity shines through, and the care that was taken in the magazine’s production is quite evident. These issues were valued and intended to be preserved.

There is a wide variety of subjects covered in the articles, essays, and poems. There is also a range of means used to illustrate these contributions: each issue (particularly the later ones) includes much good quality, detailed artwork in a range of media (pen-and-ink and watercolour being the most popular, although oil paintings are not uncommon). There are also a number of photographs, swatches of fabric, and cuttings from various printed media, which includes a map that has been folded and bound into one of the volumes. Most issues have an elaborate illustrated cover, as shown in the example of the photograph included here.

It was only in the 1890s in the later issues of the resurrected monthly entitled The Literary Magazine that Readers’ Criticisms’ — the comments that readers wrote into the blank pages of the magazine left for this purpose — were introduced. This section is located at the back of each issue, and readers mostly used pen-names. In a few cases, individual members can be identified by their initials.

The circulation lists for The Literary Bond only list men that are presumably members. The lists from the later 1890s issues show that by this time the society allowed women to join, and, from the ‘Readers’ Criticisms’, we know that they contributed many of the pieces to the magazine.

Name of Club, Society or Group That Produced the Magazine

Free Anderston Church Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Society (later became the Free Anderston Church Literary Society) (Glasgow)

Date of Existence

1849-1897?

Dates of Magazine

The Literary Bond: the Mitchell Library has Vol. 2 (Sept. 1862) – Vol. 13 (Dec. 1875), Vol. 16, No. 1 (Oct. 1876) – Vol. 18 (October 1879), and Vol. 21 (October 1881) – Vol. 22, No. 6 (March 1883) (Vols. 14, 15, 19 and 20 no longer extant?);

The Literary Magazine: the Mitchell Library has Vol. 1, No. 1 (Jan. 1896) – Vol. 2, No. 2 (Feb. 1897)

Number of Issues

The Literary Bond: 15 bound volumes containing a total of 121 issues;

The Literary Magazine: 2 bound volumes. (The total number of issues for this later magazine is currently unknown as Volume 2 was unavailable for viewing at time of research.)

Manuscript/Published Magazine

Manuscript

Contents and Contributions

Annotations; Art/Illustrations (original); Articles (non-fiction); Circulation Lists; Cuttings (printed materials); Editorials; Essays; Fiction/Narrative; Letters; Letters to Editor; Magazine Rules; Music; Photographs; Poems (original); Prefaces; Readers’ Criticisms; Reviews; Serial articles/stories; Sketches; Tables of Contents

Repository

Mitchell Library Special Collections

Reference

Mitchell (AL), 891310 (The Literary Bond)

Mitchell (AL), 891311 (The Literary Magazine)

Additional Notes

See also entry for Free Anderston Church Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Society on our sister website, Glasgow’s Literary Bonds.

Overview

Name of Club, Society or Group That Produced the Magazine

S.L.I.G.O. (Aberdeen)

Date of Existence

1823?-?

Date of Magazine

No. 1, 1823

Number of Issues

1

Manuscript/Published Magazine

Manuscript

Contents and Contributions

Repository

Aberdeen City Library, Central Library

Reference

(In ‘Aberdeen Pamphlets’, p. 379)

Overview

A summary of the history of the New Literary Club (which later became the Literary Twenty-One Club) is available on our sister website, Glasgow’s Literary Bonds (see ‘Additional Notes’ below).

There is one (extant) issue of this club’s magazine, which clearly carries on the format and style of the previous issues that were produced by the group under its former name, the New Literary Club, with several of its old members staying on. (See entry for New Literary Club Magazine.)

There are 107 pages in this issue. At the front, there is a list of 20 members with their respective addresses. The 15 contributions (see accompanying photo of the ‘Contents’) are mostly prose pieces with only one original poem; an article on Robert Burns, however, transcribes extracts of several of his poems. The artwork in this issue is in various media, the most common being watercolour. There are also several photographs.

Of interest is a recurring feature called a ‘Page of Confessions’, which is a list of ‘favourite’ items that must be filled in (e.g. ‘Your favourite Author’; ‘Your favourite Book’, etc., ending with ‘What is the height of your ambition’). There are three examples of these ‘confessions’ in this issue. While one contributor professed to love Charles Lamb and the Bible, another’s reported favourite author was the French Renaissance writer and philosopher, Michael Sieur de Montaigne (1533-1592) and favourite book was The Compleat Angler (1653). One example of the ‘Page of Confessions’ also appears in The Holyrood Magazine, which was produced later.

Name of Club, Society or Group That Produced the Magazine

Literary Twenty-One Club (Glasgow)

Date of Existence

21 Apr. 1896-26 Mar. 1898

Date of Magazine

1896

Number of Issues

1

Manuscript/Published Magazine

Manuscript

Contents and Contributions

Art/Illustrations (original); Articles (non-fiction); Circulation List; Editorial; Essays; Frontispiece; Map; Music; Photographs; Poem (original); Poem (republished material); Readers’ criticisms (pages left blank); Sketch; Table of Contents

Repository

Mitchell Library Special Collections

Reference

(Note: The records for this club are housed together with the records of The Holyrood Club (891047))

Additional Notes

See also entry for New Literary Club (later became Literary Twenty-One Club) on our sister website, Glasgow’s Literary Bonds.