Notes and Queries/Series 5/Volume 11/Number 279/“The Literary Magnet”
“The Literary Magnet” (5th S. xi. 307.)—The full title of this publication at its commencement was—
“The Literary Magnet of the Belles Lettres, Science, and the Fine Arts, consisting of 1. Original satirical essays of permanent interest; 2. Sketches of society, humourous and sentimental; 3. Original poetry; 4. Miscellaneous matters; forming a body of original and elegant literature. . . . With numerous engravings on steel, copper, and wood. Edited by Tobias Merton, Gent., assisted by various wits of the day. London, William Charlton Wright, 65, Paternoster Row; Ewbank, Brussels. 1824. 8vo.”
Vol. i. contains 452 pages, brought out in six monthly numbers; vol. ii. 416 pages, published in a similar manner. With vol. iii. there was a change in the imprint, the magazine being published by George Wightman, 46, Fleet Street, and coloured plates were introduced. In the absence of the original wrappers in the bound copy which I have seen, it is not easy to say what other changes took place, but it seems probable that during the course of this volume the monthly number was divided into two parts, 1. The Literary Magnet, 2. The Monthly Journal. Vol. iv., dated 1825, brought this series to an end. With the new series there was a change in the title, which is The Literary Magnet, or Monthly Journal of the Belles Lettres, consisting of, &c. Vol. I. New Series. London, printed for Charles Knight, Pal Mall East, 1826, 8vo. Vol. i. was for Jan. to June, 1826; vol. ii., July to Dec., 1826; vol. iii. Jan. to June, 1827; vol. iv., July to Dec., 1827. In the volumes brought out by Charles Knight are found an interesting series of papers called “The Living Poets of England,” a tale named “The Gentleman in Black,” verses by J. H. Wiffen, ballads by John Clare, poems by William and Mary Howitt, epigrams, &c., by S. T. Coleridge, poetry by Mrs. Henry Rolls, stanzas by Mary Anne Browne, &c. It is not, however, always easy, from the way the magazine is edited, to say precisely which are the original articles and which only reprints. The eight volumes described above I believe form a complete set of The Literary Magnet. In conclusion, I wish to make the inquiry, Who was the editor of the first series of this magazine who used the pseudonym of “Tobias Merton, Gent.”? Geo. C. Boase.
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