ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the nineteenth-century periodical networks that enabled the careers of two prolific writers for the periodical press, the husband and wife team of William Howitt and Mary Howitt. It explores the range of networks that the Howitts tapped into and utilized in their exceptionally long writing lives. The chapter suggests that they themselves, both as the proprietors of Howitt's Journal and in their writing careers after the journal, became nodes for new networks of writers, most of whom also wrote for the periodical press. It also explores the radical political circles in London with whose views William Howitt was sympathetic, searching for networks or individuals who might have served as a link to a specific periodical. The chapter assess the strengths and some of the limitations of the new digital resources in researching periodical networks, a process which by its nature involves piecing together and assessing a variety of disparate sources.
