The Athenaeum

Literary/ Cultural Context Essay

Chris Baldick (Goldsmiths College, University of London)

Ed. by Chris Baldick, Goldsmiths College, University of London
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.08: English Writing and Culture of the early Twentieth Century , 1900-1945.
Vol. editors: Chris Baldick (Goldsmiths College, University of London), Peter Childs (Birmingham Newman University), Louise McDonald (Birmingham Newman University), Andrew Radford (University of Glasgow)

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Periodicals

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Date of occurrence 1828-1931

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England (Location)

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The Athenaeum was a weekly review of literature and the arts, established in 1828 by James Silk Buckingham and published from London. Its title suggests a shrine to Athena, Greek goddess of wisdom, and thus a venue for literary and scientific learning, as also in the case of the unrelated Athenaeum Club (est. 1824). The editorship of the Liberal politician Charles Wentworth Dilke between 1829 and 1846 established the review’s influential position in English literary culture. Notable among his successors were William Hepworth Dixon (editor 1853-69) and Norman MacColl (editor 1871-1900). In its Victorian period, the magazine attracted distinguished contributors including Thomas Carlyle, W. S. Landor, Robert Browning, G. H. Lewes, and Walter Pater. Regular contributors included Geraldine Jewsbury, as fiction reviewer from 1849 to 1880; Theodore Watts-Dunton as lead poetry critic, 1875-98; and Frederick...

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561 words

Citation: Baldick, Chris. "The Athenaeum". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 19 March 2021 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=1415, accessed 09 June 2026.]

The Athenaeum

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