ABSTRACT
The nineteenth century is often regarded as the era of the periodical, and nowhere is this more true than in the provision of literature for young people under the age of about twenty. In 1800 only a handful of magazines for the young existed, whereas in 1900 at least 160 periodicals were intended specifically for children. During the period hundreds of titles had flourished and died. A few juvenile periodicals emerged during the last two decades of the eighteenth century, but they tended to be instructional, remarkably similar in format and presentation, and rarely lasted long. Typical of the genre was the Juvenile Magazine, aimed at ‘young friends who are fond of instruction’. It saw itself as a means of improving the characters of the young with a firm desire ‘to correct their little foibles, and to guide them with propriety’. 1
