GENII, A Monthly Circulating Magazine

presspass — Tue, 28 Nov 2017 15:08:51 +0000

GENII, A Monthly Circulating Magazine, edited by F. J. Osborn, [title page], No. 1, March 1904 (Hertfordshire Archives and Local Studies, DE/FJO/A11/1). Permission for the use of this image has kindly been granted by Hertfordshire Archives and Local Studies (HALS).

Overview

This literary group was a bit unusual in that the members formed solely for the purpose of producing a magazine of original works. While they referred to their group as an ‘Association’ and collected subscriptions, it appears that they did not hold any formal meetings. It started as a group of 10 young men (women were allowed later) that were initially asked to join by F. J. Osborn, who would act as the magazine’s Editor.

Osborn, in his ‘Editorial’ in the first number, explains his methods of persuasion to elicit contributions: after convincing one young man to contribute an article, he would then approach another acquaintance and tell him that ‘Fizgog’ has sent in his contribution. He would then go on to say it was such a poor production that surely he (the acquaintance) could produce something better. This ‘harmless subterfuge’ appears not to have been necessary after the launch of the first issue as contributors were more forthcoming thereafter.

According to the magazine’s rules in the first number, each member of the group was to aim for contributing an article every month, but was certainly to do so at least every three months. The magazine was to be kept for four days only (this would later change to 48 hours) and then passed on to the next member on the list or he would have to pay a fine of 1d per day. Friends were allowed to read the magazine, but the listed member was responsible for its condition. Later on, contributions were accepted from non-members. In the first issues, the Editor re-wrote each of the pieces submitted, and the authors’ artwork was cut and pasted in.

Name of Club, Society or Group That Produced the Magazine

(Currently unknown) (Hertford)

Date of Existence

1904?-1911?

Date of Magazine

March 1904 – May 1911

Number of Issues

Manuscript/Published Magazine

Manuscript and Typescript

Contents and Contributions

Advertisements (humorous); Art/Illustrations (original); Articles (non-fiction); Circulation Lists; Editorials; Essays; Fiction/Narratives; Jokes; Letters to Editor; Magazine Rules; Notices; Prefaces; Puzzles; Readers’ Criticisms; Sketches; Tables of Contents; Title pages

Repository

Hertfordshire Archives and Local Studies (HALS) (Hertford)

Reference

DE/FJO/A11/1-70

St. Stephen’s Literary Society’s Magazine; also St. Stephen’s Young Men’s Guild, Magazine of Literary Section

presspass — Tue, 28 Nov 2017 14:44:34 +0000

St Stephen’s Literary Society, St. Stephen’s Literary Society’s Magazine, [title page], 1883-84, p. 1 (National Records of Scotland, CH2/607/122).

Overview

St Stephen’s Church is located at 105 St Stephen Street in Edinburgh. (For further details about this church, see the article, ‘Saint Stephen’s Stockbridge‘, on the Edinburgh-Stockbridge.com website.) The information that we currently have on this group comes from the manuscript magazine that was produced by a society of young men who were associated with the church.

The contributions to this magazine were originally read aloud at society meetings dedicated to the purpose called ‘Magazine Nights’. These were meetings that were devoted to the reading of original essays (or occasionally poems) written by group members that were submitted to the Magazine Editor beforehand. The Editor would be responsible for collecting, occasionally selecting, and reading the pieces aloud to the group (more rarely this was done by the contributor him/herself) on the appointed night. This would be followed by ‘criticism’ — or discussion on the piece’s positive and negative points — by the group members.

After the meetings, these contributions were sometimes bound and saved in the society’s library (if they had one, and the St Stephen’s group did) or would be kept by one of the office bearers. In these cases, it was intended that the magazine was to be preserved and that group members would have access to it at a later date. It is of note that literary and mutual improvement groups used the term ‘magazine’ to refer to the oral as well as the material medium.

There are four extant issues of this society’s magazine, with the last issue (1889-90) having two parts. Each issue has a variety of articles, essays, original poems and artwork. The contributions are signed by their respective authors/artists using either pen-names, their own names, or sometimes with presumably identifiable initials.

Following each piece in the 1883-84 issue (at least; in the later issues, it is unclear if the blank pages, where present, were intended specifically for criticisms, as very few remarks were added), there are blank pages left for readers to write their ‘criticisms’, a practice that a number of societies encouraged. While some pieces have several readers’ responses, the pages following others were left blank.

The comments run from serious remarks of literary criticism, offering praise and/or ways in which authors might improve their pieces, but it was not uncommon for the reader/writer to speak in jest. For example, after reading a (parodic?) love poem entitled, ‘My Grace’, by ‘A Member’, J.M. wrote, ‘a purer specimen of doggerel was never found printed on the outside of a tea-bag’. Similarly, J.R. wrote:

‘We would consider it very bad Grace did we not express our indebtedness to the author of “My Grace” for his graceful effusion. We laughed so heartily over it, that a severe attack of toothache from which we were suffering was entirely removed. We therefore gracefully record our thanks […]’ (St Stephen’s Parish Church, St. Stephen’s Literary Society Magazine, 1883-84, pp. 27-9).

The light, breezy tone of some of these comments suggest that the members knew each other’s handwriting, style and/or pen-names, and that whilst the magazine was a forum for the ‘improvement’ of members’ writing skills, it could also be used for entertainment and amusement.

Name of Club, Society or Group That Produced the Magazine

St. Stephen’s/Stockbridge Parish Church (Edinburgh)

Date of Existence

1883?-1890?

Dates of Magazine

1883/1884; 1887/1888; 1888/1893; 1889/1890

Number of Issues

Manuscript/Published Magazine

Manuscript

Contents and Contributions

Advertisements (humorous); Essays; Fiction/Narratives; Letters to Editor; Poems (original); Readers’ Criticisms; Tables of Contents; Title pages

Repository

National Records of Scotland

Reference

CH2/607/122;
CH2/607/123;
CH2/607/124;
CH2/607/125/1-2

Advertisement (humorous) – Literary Bonds

GENII, A Monthly Circulating Magazine

Overview

St. Stephen’s Literary Society’s Magazine; also St. Stephen’s Young Men’s Guild, Magazine of Literary Section

Overview