Projects > Little-known Periodicals

The Botanical Miscellany was the first in a series of periodicals established and edited by William Jackson Hooker (1785-1865), Regius Professor of Botany at the University of Glasgow.

The teenage entomologist Thomas Blackburn (1844-1912) was not easily discouraged.

‘Why do entomologists need a weekly newspaper?’ asked the very first number of the Entomologist’s Weekly Intelligencer in April 1856.

The Gardener's Chronicle differs from other science periodicals in that it resembles a newspaper rather than a magazine, being printed in three columns and published on a weekly basis.

Hardwicke's Science-Gossip took the first part of its title from Robert Hardwicke (1822-75), who was a prolific publisher of scientific books and journals.

Hooker's Journal of Botany is the fourth and final iteration in a series of periodicals edited by William Jackson Hooker (1785-1865).

In 1941, the British Medical Journal celebrated the 75th anniversary of the Indian Medical Gazette. Launched in 1866, the Gazette was by this point the longest-running medical journal on the subcontinent.

My last blog post profiled the Indian Medical Gazette, a long-running journal affiliated with the Indian Medical Service (IMS). This week I’m looking at one of its major rivals, the Indian Medical Record, which proudly proclaimed its independence from the

The Journal of Botany, edited by William Jackson Hooker (1785-1865), continued from where his previous periodical, the Botanical Miscellany (1830-33), had ended.

The Journal of Horticulture was edited by George William Johnson (1802-86), a writer on gardening subjects, and Robert Hogg (1818-97), a nurseryman and botanist (specialising in pomology, the cultivation of fruit).

The Microscopical Society of London was founded in 1839, becoming the Royal Microscopical Society in 1866. They began publishing their Transactions in the 1840s, but in 1878 the decision was made to launch a new journal that contained all the papers read

The Journal of the Quekett Microscopical Club is unusual in that it would probably never have existed without another periodical, Hardwicke's Science-Gossip (1865-93).

This periodical is the third in a series of botanical journals to be edited by William Jackson Hooker (1785-1865). Once again, he changed the title and publisher, but much of the contents remained very similar to previous versions.

One of the pleasures of working with a physical collection of journals is serendipity.

Recreative Science was a short-lived periodical (even by nineteenth-century standards), and as its title suggests, it was aimed at a broad audience who were interested in natural history as an enjoyable hobby.

The Doctor – later styled as The New Doctor – was a general medical weekly aimed at lay readers.

The Entomologist’s Monthly Magazine was not the only periodical launched in 1864 that catered exclusively to those who collected and studied insects.

In 1890, a schoolmaster and lepidopterist named James William Tutt (1858-1911) established a periodical intended to ‘supply a magazine devoted entirely to the wants of British entomologists’.

The Field Naturalist was established and edited by James Rennie, a Scottish naturalist who was Professor of Natural History at King's College, London, from 1830-34. He was therefore unusual in this period for earning a salary through his scientific work.

The Gardener's Magazine was edited by John Claudius Loudon (1783-1843), a Scottish botanist and influential garden designer.

The story of the Geologist is inseparable from that of its editor, Samuel Joseph Mackie (1823-1902), who is in many ways representative of so many individuals who attempted (and very often failed) to earn a living from science.

One of the earliest illustrated natural history periodicals in Britain, the Magazine of Natural History was established in 1828 by the influential Scottish botanist and garden designer John Claudius Loudon (1783-1843).

In 1876, natural history societies and 'field clubs' from across the British Midlands (and parts of Wales) formed into a network named the Midland Union of Literary and Scientific Societies.

The year 1864 was a busy one for the business of natural history periodical publishing.

The Geological Society of London was founded in 1807, essentially as a dining club where gentlemen could meet to enjoy scientific conversation over a good meal (and plenty of drink).

The first volume of the Entomologist's Weekly Intelligencer ended in September 1856, having begun in April that year.

After five years of publication, the Entomologist's Weekly Intelligencer was discontinued in 1861.

The nineteenth century saw a proliferation of periodicals dedicated to natural history in its various forms.

The Medical Mirror was a general medical monthly, published in London. It was originally edited by metropolitan physician William Abbotts Smith.

The Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine was (and remains) the official publication of the Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Society.