Periodicals
The 18th century print culture provided readers with a variety of texts in different physical formats, from pamphlets to newspapers. The purpose of these periodicals depended on the writer: some were political, others simply chronicled the scandal.
The readers of such periodicals would have been bombarded by an array of different intentions of competing authors: "At once educational and recreational, the papers are the precursors to today's ubiquitous "life-style" magazines. The Tatler and The Spectator serve as guides, leading readers through the vast array of moral, cultural, consumer, and social choices that accompanied their relationships with one another and themselves..." (Mackie 3). These guides could be perused and discussed publicly, creating a new sphere of social interaction.
It is this genre that manifested in the public space. These periodicals flourished in the coffeehouse, a public space open to discourse, as noted by Mackie: "Steele founds his association with both coffeehouse and periodical in an explicitly distanced and critical manner. Setting out to organize a truly rational and reformative sphere of discourse and identification, he takes great pains to maintain a distinction between the Tatler, and the newspaper..." (Public Sphere, Mackie 91). However, some females were able to break into the genre, despite its traditional male dominance. The Female Tatler, though received many male contributors, also provided a space for women to write.
Other periodicals and authors of interest:
The Bee, Eustace Budgell
The Sphere, Clement Shorter
The Female Tatler, Delarivier Manley
Monthly Magazine, Sir Richard Phillips
The Gentleman's Magazine, Edward Cave
The Observer, W.S. Bourne
The Monthly Mirror, Thomas Bellamy
The Watchman, Samuel Taylor Coleridge
The Critical Review, Tobias Smollett
The Rambler, Samuel Johnson
The 18th century print culture provided readers with a variety of texts in different physical formats, from pamphlets to newspapers. The purpose of these periodicals depended on the writer: some were political, others simply chronicled the scandal.
The readers of such periodicals would have been bombarded by an array of different intentions of competing authors: "At once educational and recreational, the papers are the precursors to today's ubiquitous "life-style" magazines. The Tatler and The Spectator serve as guides, leading readers through the vast array of moral, cultural, consumer, and social choices that accompanied their relationships with one another and themselves..." (Mackie 3). These guides could be perused and discussed publicly, creating a new sphere of social interaction.
It is this genre that manifested in the public space. These periodicals flourished in the coffeehouse, a public space open to discourse, as noted by Mackie: "Steele founds his association with both coffeehouse and periodical in an explicitly distanced and critical manner. Setting out to organize a truly rational and reformative sphere of discourse and identification, he takes great pains to maintain a distinction between the Tatler, and the newspaper..." (Public Sphere, Mackie 91). However, some females were able to break into the genre, despite its traditional male dominance. The Female Tatler, though received many male contributors, also provided a space for women to write.
Other periodicals and authors of interest:
The Bee, Eustace Budgell
The Sphere, Clement Shorter
The Female Tatler, Delarivier Manley
Monthly Magazine, Sir Richard Phillips
The Gentleman's Magazine, Edward Cave
The Observer, W.S. Bourne
The Monthly Mirror, Thomas Bellamy
The Watchman, Samuel Taylor Coleridge
The Critical Review, Tobias Smollett
The Rambler, Samuel Johnson