The Cornhill Magazine was a highly influential, commercially successful, literary periodical. Founded as a monthly magazine in 1860 by the publishing firm of Smith, Elder & Company, its shilling price was far below the 2s.6d. charged for the old monthlies like Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine. Its enormous initial success facilitated a boom in shilling monthly magazines in the second half of the nineteenth century. The sensation it created is evident in one of Athenaeum's advertisements of 7 January 1860: “It is almost impossible to imagine any further developments, either in quality or in quantity, of the periodical literature of this country, than that which is attained in the new monthly serial issued from the house of Messrs. Smith, Elder & Co. (Sunday Times)” (p. 25).
The initial success of the Cornhill Magazine, with early circulation...
1984 words
Citation: Hadjiafxendi, Kyriaki. "Cornhill Magazine". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 22 May 2008 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=226, accessed 10 December 2025.]
