Before the American Revolution only about 15 periodicals, with an average life of 10 months, were published. Andrew Bradford's American Magazine; or, A Monthly View of the Political State of the British Colonies (Philadelphia, 1741), Benjamin Franklin's General Magazine and Historical Chronicle (Philadelphia, 1741), and William Bradford's American Magazine and Monthly Chronicle (Philadelphia, 1757–58) were the most notable. During the Revolution outstanding periodicals included the Pennsylvania Magazine (Philadelphia, 1775–76), edited by Thomas Paine, and the United States Magazine (Philadelphia, 1779).
After the war periodicals appeared in large numbers. Of more than 70 established before 1800 the most notable were the Columbian Magazine (1786–92); the Massachusetts Magazine (1789–96); and the New York Magazine (1790–97). One of the best-known American magazines of the early 19th cent. was the Port Folio (Philadelphia, 1801–27). The most important review in America was the North American Review (1815–1940). Among its editors were Jared Sparks, Edward Everett, E. T. Channing, James Russell Lowell, and Henry Adams. The New-York Mirror (1823–57) attained eminence for literary reviews and superior typography and illustration. Edgar Allan Poe contributed critical essays.
The period from 1830 to 1850 saw the rise of nationally circulated monthlies. Advertising, a minor factor since its introduction in 1741 in the General Magazine and Historical Chronicle, became a mainstay of publishing. Godey's Lady's Book (Philadelphia, 1830–92; New York, 1892–98), edited from 1837 to 1877 by Sarah Josepha Hale, was among the most famous periodicals for women; its colored fashion plates are valued today by collectors.
Among the notable American periodicals with long histories are the Atlantic Monthly (Boston, 1857–), edited for 10 years (1871–81) by William Dean Howells; Harper's Magazine (New York, 1850–), which, fully illustrated with woodcuts and carrying serial installments of English novels, achieved new heights of popularity; and the weekly Saturday Evening Post (Philadelphia, 1821–1971). Scribner's Monthly was renamed the Century Illustrated Magazine (1881) and the Century Monthly (1925) and united (1929) with the Forum to form the Forum and Century (1930–40).
Noted American weeklies included Harper's Weekly (New York, 1857–1916), for which George W. Curtis wrote famous editorials and Thomas Nast drew cartoons; and the Independent (New York and Boston, 1848–1928), at first Congregationalist under Henry Ward Beecher (1861–63) and Theodore Tilton (1863–70) but later a nonsectarian, crusading publication. The Overland Monthly (San Francisco, 1868–1935) had many distinguished contributors and was edited (1868–70) by Bret Harte. The sensational exposés by the muckrakers of political, social, and economic injustices brought fame to McClure's (New York, 1893–1928); Hampton's Magazine (New York, 1898–1912); Cosmopolitan (New York, 1886–, greatly altered in 1965); Collier's (New York, 1880–1957); and others.
The New Yorker (1925–) is known for urbane humor and high literary standards. Reader's Digest (1922–), a small-format monthly, first offered condensations of books and magazine articles, and now prints original reports as well. It has built a vast circulation and issues many foreign-language editions. News is summarized, analyzed, and categorized according to topics each week in Time (New York, 1923–); Newsweek (New York, in print 1933–2012, 2014–; online only 2013–14), which formerly competed more directly with Time, now emphasizes opinion and commentary. The great picture weeklies Life (1936) and Look (1937), despite their enormous circulations, succumbed in the late 1960s and early 70s to the pressure of rising production costs and television competition that profoundly injured all but special-interest magazine publishing. Life was revived from 1978 to 2000 as a monthly and has since been reissued in occasional special editions and as a newspaper insert (2004–7).
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