Digital Victorian Periodical Poetry

The DVPP index of poems, indexing poetry and translations up to the end of 1901, is organized by periodical and by year. Clicking on the periodical title takes users to the complete list of poems in each periodical, or users can select a specific year to view the relevant poems indexed by date. The table of poems in the index can be arranged by title, poet, date, volume, and whether the poem is transcribed or not. To perform a granular search with multiple filter options, go to Search for poems.

For helpful resources on Victorian periodicals, see The Waterloo Directory of English Periodicals and Newspapers, 1800-1900 and The Dictionary of Nineteenth-Century Journalism, ed. Laurel Brake and Marysa Demoor (Academia Press and The British Library, 2009).

A full list of periodicals and a publication timeline appear below. Note that the indexing of Argosy is still in process, and we include here the first 30 volumes (1865-1880).

List of periodicals

• All the Year Round (AYR). A weekly middle-class family magazine (28 January 1859 - 30 March 1895), priced at 2d per issue, incorporating Household Words, and edited by Charles Dickens (to 1870) and then his son, Charles Dickens Jr. Poems in All the Year Round are generally unsigned. The magazine is published in three series: First Series (1859-1868), Second Series (1868-1888), Third Series (1889-1895).
• The Argosy (Argosy). An illustrated shilling monthly launched as The Argosy: A Magazine of Tales, Travels, Essays, and Poems (1865-1901) by Alexander Strahan. The sensation fiction novelist Ellen Price Wood (Mrs Henry Wood) became the editor in 1867, and under her name the magazine’s circulation was boosted. On her death in 1887, her son, Charles Wood, became editor. The monthly parts were numbered for the first four volumes.
• Atalanta (Atal). A monthly illustrated magazine (October 1887 – September 1898), Atalanta was priced at 6d and aimed at girls and young women (including the “New Girl” reader). The initial editor was L. T. Meade. Atalanta incorporated Victorian Magazine (1891-1892) in December 1892. The numbering of monthly numbers is not consistent across collated volumes, although we index issues as continuous for clarity.
• Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine (Maga). A monthly periodical (April 1817 – 1980), founded as a Tory rival to the Whiggish Edinburgh Review, published from October 1817 by Blackwood’s publishing house. DVPP indexes poems until the end of 1901.
• The Century Guild Hobby Horse (CGHH). A quarterly aestheticist magazine (April 1884, January 1886-October 1892), also issued annually, The Century Guild Hobby Horse had a a small circulation (up to 500 subscribers), and was edited by Herbert Horne and Arthur H. Mackmurdo as the organ of the Arts and Crafts Century Guild.
• Chambers’s Edinburgh Journal (CEJ). Aimed at a lower and middle-class readership, Chambers’s (1832-1956), was a weekly popular interest periodical, unillustrated and priced ½d. Chambers’s was initially edited by Robert and William Chambers. In 1854 “Edinburgh” was dropped from the title. DVPP indexes poems until the end of 1901, and in that timeframe the weekly was published in 6 series: First Series (1832-1843), Second Series (1844-1854), Third Series (1854-1863), Fourth Series (1864-1883), Fifth Series (1884-1897), Sixth Series (1898-1910).
• The Chartist Circular (Chartist). An unstamped weekly (28 September 1839 – 9 July 1842), one of the most popular Chartist publications, published in Glasgow by the Universal Suffrage Committee for Scotland, and aimed at a lower and middle-class readership.
• The Cornhill Magazine (Cornhill). A shilling monthly illustrated magazine (1860-1975), aimed at a middle-class family readership, and initially edited by William Thackeray. DVPP indexes poems until the end of 1901.
• The Dark Blue (DarkBl). A shilling monthly illustrated magazine (1871-1873), edited by John H. Freund, with the title referring to the University of Oxford and associated with aestheticism.
• The English Woman’s Journal (EWJ). A feminist monthly periodical (1858-1864), edited by Bessie Parkes and Matilda Mary Hayes, and closely associated with Barbara Bodichon’s Langham Place Circle.
• Forget-Me-Not (FmeN). A literary annual (1822-1847), edited by Rudolph Ackermann and Frederic Shoberl (1823-1834). Illustrated poetry in Forget-Me-Not was written for expensive copper engravings of paintings, so that the poem illustrated the picture.
• Good Words (GoodW). An illustrated non-denominational religious magazine (1860-1911), published by Alexander Strahan and initially edited by Rev. Norman Macleod. Good Words was published weekly until January 1861, when it became a monthly. DVPP’s indexing of Good Words poems is based on the collated annual volumes that sometimes do not distinguish between monthly parts, although we make inferences where possible that are based on poetry’s proximity to seasonal contributions.DVPP indexes poems until the end of 1901.
• Household Words (HHWords). A middle-class weekly family magazine, unillustrated and costing 2d, Household Words (1850-1859) was “conducted” by Charles Dickens. Christmas issues were particularly successful Poems in Household Words are generally unsigned and often featured poetry. The magazine was amalgamated into All the Year Round, following Dickens’ dispute with the publishers. Unless otherwise noted, poet attribution is from Anne Lohrli’s Household Words: A Weekly Journal 1850-1859 (University of Toronto Press, 1973).
• The Keepsake (Keepske). A literary annual (1827-1857), edited by a series of high profile figures including the Countess of Blessington and Frederic Mansell Reynolds. Illustrated poetry in The Keepsake was written for expensive engravings of paintings, so that the poem illustrated the picture.
• Macmillan’s Magazine (MacsMag). A shilling monthly, unillustrated and aimed at a liberal upper middle class readership, Macmillan’s Magazine (1859-1907) was closely associated with its publisher, Alexander Macmillan. DVPP indexes poems until the end of 1901.
• The Nineteenth Century (19thC). A prominent highbrow liberal monthly, and unillustrated, The Nineteenth Century (1877-1901) was founded and initially edited by James Knowles. In 1901 the title changed to The Nineteenth Century and After, and in 1951 to The Twentieth Century. DVPP indexes poems until the end of 1901.
• Once a Week (OnceAW). Launched by Bradbury and Evans, the publisher of Household Words, after their split with Dickens, Once a Week (1859-1880) was a weekly middle-class family magazine that prominently featured illustrations. Published in 5 series: First Series (1859-1865), Second Series (“New Series”) (1866-1867), Third Series (“new series”) (1868-1874), Fourth Series (1874-1879), Fifth series (1880).
• Pageant (Pagnt). Pageant (1896-1897) was a decadent gift book published in two annual volumes, and prominently featured illustrations. The editors were Gleeson White and Charles H. Shannon.
• The Penny Magazine (Penny). Launched, like Chambers’s Edinburgh Journal, in response to the debates around the first reform Bill, The Penny Magazine (1832-1845) was aimed at a popular audience and published and edited by Charles Knight on behalf of the Society for the Diffusion of Christian Knowledge. Priced 1d, the unstamped weekly featured wood cuts.
• Victorian Magazine (VicMag). A monthly illustrated magazine (1891-1892) edited by Alex Balfour Symington. By October 1892 the magazine was amalgamated with Atalanta although still bound separately, and by December 1892 Atalanta fully incorporated Victorian Magazine.
• Woman’s World (WWorld). Published by Cassell and Co., Woman’s World (1887-1890) was an illustrated monthly aimed at middle and upper-class women, and with feminist orientated content covering women’s education, employment, as well as fashion. Woman’s World was edited by Oscar Wilde, who relaunched its predecessor The Lady’s World, although he resigned in October 1889. Special Collections at the University of Victoria has some separate monthly parts (November 1887 - October 1889, although missing January 1888, November 1888, January 1889), as well as collated annual volumes, and DVPP’s indexing is based on the monthly issues where available.
• The Yellow Book (YellowB). An illustrated quarterly, bound in cloth and priced at 5s, The Yellow Book (1894-1897) presented itself as a cross between a book and a periodical. Edited by Henry Harland and Aubrey Beardsley, The Yellow Book was an innovative decadent publication.​.

Publication timeline