AICE Media Studies: HISTORY OF MAGAZINES PT1

Welcome back readers!

For today's blog I wanted to talk about the history of magazines. I think that taking the time to research different components that make a magazine so diverting is to look at their origin. So by learning a little of where they came from I can therefore create a magazine that has all the right elements.

A magazine is described by Merriam Webster as a print periodical containing miscellaneous pieces that include articles, stories and poems and that they often have illustrations. Magazines are pieces of literature in a thin book that include images and various topics. Usually the creators of magazines have to do extensive research about the topics. The word Magazine comes from the Arabic word "Makhazin" which means storehouse and also similarity, the French word "magazine" means store. The reason behind it is that magazines are technically a storehouse for different information and are a collective under a name. Johannes Gutenberg invited the printing press in 1440. He created a way for newspaper, books, pamphlets and any other piece of literature everywhere to be mass-produced. The printing press became widespread through Europe before it was used anywhere else.

The first magazine ever published was in Germany from 1663 to 1668. German theologian and poet Johann Rist created a periodical called Erbauliche Monaths-Unterredungen (edifying monthly discussions). They began as brochures, pamphlets, and almanacs. This new innovation of publications inspired many others to put their own ideas on paper as well. For example, The Royal Society published the first and the longest running journal about science. It was launched in March of 1665 by Henry Oldenburg. He combined his wide range of European natural philosophers, the Royal Society's activities, and his expertise as a linguist and academic writer to create a new type of print. Its purpose was to further the cause of the early stages of scientific discovery with the possibility of profit. The journal cost one shilling and was published once a month. Another example is Francesco Nazzari’s Giomale de’letterati. This journal was published in Rome, Italy in 1668. Nazzari wanted to provide summaries of literary and scientific findings that were happening in Europe. He wrote most of the articles but he also had help from others in the journals.

In 1672, the "periodical of amusements” was published, it was later changed to Mercure de France. It was created by French writer and playwright Jean Donneau de vizé. He would often talk about news, songs, short verses, gossip, and reviews. He’s known to be one of the first to introduce the concepts of fashion into writing, being mentioned in this periodicals could sometimes be seen as scandalous. new way of writing became very popular, since it’s very distinct from others. This periodicals focused more of entertainment rather than education. In 1684 a French writer who had been exiled, Pierre Bayle published Novelles de la République des lettres. He published this in the Netherlands to escape from the French censorship. This caused for a revival in learning in the 1660s it inspired many to become more educated. As the 18th century arrived there was an increase in women literature. This helped magazines reach a larger audience as women saw publications to listen and also be entertained. Many magazines wanted to bring women into their audience. The Athenian Mercury was the first women’s magazine published in 1693.

On the next blog I’ll explore more on the history of magazines, see you in the next blog!

Credits:

Cover graphic and timeline created/used from Canva.com

Articles:

1. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/magazine

2. https://open.lib.umn.edu/mediaandculture/chapter/5-2-history-of-magazine-publishing/

3. https://www.britannica.com/topic/publishing/The-19th-century-and-the-start-of-mass-circulation

4. https://www.britannica.com/topic/magazine-publishing

5. https://royalsociety.org/journals/publishing-activities/publishing350/history-philosophical-transactions/

6. https://thefashionglobe.com/fashion-journalism

7.https://www.tumblr.com/historyofthemagazine/96740396960/academic-journal-giornale-deletterati-1668

8.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercure_de_France