Research: History of magazine publishing

 A brief history of Magazine publishing

History

Magazines were not originally used for entertainment. They were originally used for sharing information and news. The new technology changes affected the way magazines were published massively. The format of magazines were different to how they are today, they used to come in forms of information sheets and pamphlets.

1660

Johanne Wrist produced the first magazine in 1663. This magazine was later followed by two further magazines in 1665. Denis de Sallo published his French journal ‘Des Scavans’ and ‘The royal society’s English philosophical transactions’. A further magazine called ‘Giomale de’letterati’ by an Italian named Francesco Nazzari in 1668.

1672

In 1672 Jean Donneau introduced the idea of containing short stories within magazines. They published the ‘Perdiodical of amusement’. Following this, the combination of news and pleasurable reading became popular amongst viewers.

18^th century

The 18^th century led to an increased literacy rate. There was a noticeable increase in women reading and grew in record numbers, which affected literacy altogether. The increased numbers of female readers helped magazines flourish as a whole. Many magazine companies jumped on the idea of targeting women in their magazines and were successful. Following this occurrence, females were encouraged to publish novels.

1693

In 1693 the magazine ‘The Ladies’ Mercury’ was published. This first magazine written and published by a woman. During this period of time we also saw the arrival of British magazines. Names such as Daniel Defoe’s the ‘Review’ and Sir Richard Steele’s ‘The Tatler’.

American Magazines

in 1741 we see the first American magazines produced. Andrew Bradford published his ‘American Magazine’ and Benjamin Franklin published his version called ‘General Magazine’. Both magazines were a failure, only lasting three months. Writers discovered that Americans didn’t have enough leisure time to read, so they went on to create magazines targeted towards working men. These magazines began to flourish in the late 18^th Century.

1730s

During the period of the 1730s, magazine companies no longer focused on the elite class. They took the opportunity to target groups of new audience, such as women, children and the lower class.

The Saturday evening post:

The Saturday Evening Post was the first truly successful mass circulation magazine in the United States. The companies began printing in 1821 and by 1855 the magazine had a circulation of 90,000 copies per year. The magazine remained in regular print production until 1969. In 1971, the producers acquired a new owner, who remodelled the magazine. The magazine was focused upon