ABSTRACT
KNIGHT’S QUARTERLY MAGAZINE, published and edited by Charles Knight, who became one of the great publishing figures of the first half of the century, was an almost instant failure, even though contributors included Praed, Moultrie, W.S. Walker, H.N. Coleridge, and Macaulay. (All but the last had written for the Etonian.) ‘The three volumes of Knight’s Quarterly cover a year and a half (1823–24). The idea of the quarterly magazine, which several publishers tried about this time, was something of a contradiction in terms, because the light, entertaining features of the magazines could not be stored up and kept for three months, like the learned quarterly reviews, which aimed at lasting value. In an attempt to overcome the natural handicap, this issue contained an exceptionally long feature (pp. 178–328) called “The Anniversary,” in which presumably Praed and the Etonian staff (writing under pseudonyms), discuss all subjects under the sun in an involved dialogue. Embedded in this article are discussions of Shelley’s Posthumous Poems and Mary Shelley’s Valperga.
