Introduction

Abstract

The nineteenth century saw the rapid growth of the magazine industry in Britain. Whereas a handful of quarterly reviews dominated the market in the beginning of the century, by the 1860s hundreds of weeklies and monthlies were appearing. In the decades that followed, the number of periodical titles listed in Mitchell’s Newspaper Press Directory tripled, from 537 in 1864 to 1,752 in 1890. This increased frequency and proliferation of new magazines led to an expansion of the workforce in the industry and opened up new opportunities for female employment. Women from a variety of backgrounds made a living by contributing stories, poems or needlework patterns to the periodical press. Others worked as editors, sought employment in the printing rooms or opened newsagents’ shops. As Harriet Martineau enthused in her seminal treatise on ‘Female Industry’ in the April 1859 issue of the Edinburgh Review: ‘Our countrywomen have the free command of the press; and they use it abundantly.’¹