TheEdinburgh Review is the title of five distinct intellectual and culturalmagazines. The best known, longest-lasting, and most influential of the four was the third, which was published regularly from 1802 to 1929.
The firstEdinburgh Review was a short-lived venture initiated in 1755 bythe Select Society, a group ofScottish men of letters concerned with the Enlightenment goals of social and intellectual improvement. According to the preface of the inaugural issue, the journal's purpose was to "demonstrate 'the progressive state of learning in this country' and thereby to incite Scots 'to a more eager pursuit of learning, to distinguish themselves, and to do honour to their country.'" As a means to these ends, it would "give a full account of all books published in Scotland within the compass of half a year; and ... take some notice of such books published elsewhere, as are most read in this country, or seem to have any title to draw the public attention." Among the most notable of the foreign publications it observed wasJean-Jacques Rousseau'sDiscourse on Inequality, whichAdam Smith reviewed in the journal's second and final issue, published in March 1756. Its premature folding was due in large part to the partisan attacks the Moderate editors received from their opponents in the Church of Scotland, the Popular Party.[1]
A short-lived magazine with similar purposes,Edinburgh Magazine and Review, was published monthly between 1773 and 1776.
| First issue | 1802 |
|---|---|
| Final issue | 1929 |
| Country | Scotland |
| Language | English |
The thirdEdinburgh Review became one of the most influential British magazines of the 19th century. It promotedRomanticism andWhig politics.[2] (It was also, however, notoriously critical of some major Romantic poetry.)[3]
Started on 10 October 1802 byFrancis Jeffrey,Sydney Smith,Henry Brougham, andFrancis Horner,[4] it was published byArchibald Constable in quarterly issues until 1929. It began as a literary and political review. Under its first permanent editor,Francis Jeffrey (the first issue was edited by Sydney Smith), it was a strong supporter of the Whig party andliberal politics, and regularly called for political reform. Its main rival was theQuarterly Review which supported theTories. The magazine was also noted for its attacks on theLake Poets, particularlyWilliam Wordsworth.[2]
It was owned at one point by John Stewart, whose wife Louisa Hooper Stewart (1818–1918) was an early advocate ofwomen's suffrage, having been educated at the Quaker school ofNewington Academy for Girls.[5]
It took itsLatin mottojudex damnatur cum nocens absolvitur ("the judge is condemned when the guilty is acquitted") fromPublilius Syrus.
The magazine ceased publication in 1929.
The Scottish cultural magazineNew Edinburgh Review was founded in 1969. It was published byEdinburgh University Student Publications Board (EUSPB). The most famous issues of theNew Edinburgh Review were the 1974 issues, supervised by C.K. Maisels, that discussed the philosophy ofAntonio Gramsci.[6] James Campbell edited fifteen issues of the magazine between 1978 and 1982. Other editors included David Cubitt, Julian Pollock, Brian Torode,Henry Drucker andOwen Dudley Edwards.[7] Notable contributors included:
In 1984 (from the combined issue 67/68) the magazine adopted the titleEdinburgh Review, along with the mottoTo gather all the rays of culture into one. From 2007 to 2012 it was part of theEurozine network.[8] Editors ofEdinburgh Review includedPeter Kravitz, Murdo Macdonald,Robert Alan Jamieson, Gavin Wallace, Sophy Dale andFrank Kuppner.Edinburgh Review was a partner of theEurozine network from February 2007 to December 2012. Notable contributors included: