The Idler (1892-1911)
Encyclopedia
The Idler was an illustrated
monthly magazine published in Great Britain
from 1892 to 1911. It was founded by the author Robert Barr
, who brought in the humorist Jerome K. Jerome
as co-editor, and its contributors included many of the leading writers and illustrators of the time.
, serialised novels, humour
pieces, poetry
, memoirs, travel writing
, book and theatre reviews
and interview
s. It also included a monthly feature called 'The Idlers' Club,' in which a number of writers would offer their views on a particular topic.
Most of The Idler's contributors where popular and prolific writers of the time. Some of them, such as Rudyard Kipling
and Mark Twain
, are still read today.
Illustration
An illustration is a displayed visualization form presented as a drawing, painting, photograph or other work of art that is created to elucidate or dictate sensual information by providing a visual representation graphically.- Early history :The earliest forms of illustration were prehistoric...
monthly magazine published in Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
from 1892 to 1911. It was founded by the author Robert Barr
Robert Barr (writer)
Robert Barr was a British-Canadian short story writer and novelist, born in Glasgow, Scotland.-Early Years in Canada:...
, who brought in the humorist Jerome K. Jerome
Jerome K. Jerome
Jerome Klapka Jerome was an English writer and humorist, best known for the humorous travelogue Three Men in a Boat.Jerome was born in Caldmore, Walsall, England, and was brought up in poverty in London...
as co-editor, and its contributors included many of the leading writers and illustrators of the time.
Content
The Idler generally catered to the popular taste, printing light pieces and sensational fiction. The magazine published short storiesShort story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
, serialised novels, humour
Humour
Humour or humor is the tendency of particular cognitive experiences to provoke laughter and provide amusement...
pieces, poetry
Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
, memoirs, travel writing
Travel writing
Travel writing is a genre that has, as its focus, accounts of real or imaginary places. The genre encompasses a number of styles that may range from the documentary to the evocative, from literary to journalistic, and from the humorous to the serious....
, book and theatre reviews
Literary criticism
Literary criticism is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often informed by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of its methods and goals...
and interview
Interview
An interview is a conversation between two people where questions are asked by the interviewer to obtain information from the interviewee.- Interview as a Method for Qualitative Research:"Definition" -...
s. It also included a monthly feature called 'The Idlers' Club,' in which a number of writers would offer their views on a particular topic.
Most of The Idler's contributors where popular and prolific writers of the time. Some of them, such as Rudyard Kipling
Rudyard Kipling
Joseph Rudyard Kipling was an English poet, short-story writer, and novelist chiefly remembered for his celebration of British imperialism, tales and poems of British soldiers in India, and his tales for children. Kipling received the 1907 Nobel Prize for Literature...
and Mark Twain
Mark Twain
Samuel Langhorne Clemens , better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist...
, are still read today.
Writers
- William Livingston Alden
- Robert Barr
- Max BeerbohmMax BeerbohmSir Henry Maximilian "Max" Beerbohm was an English essayist, parodist and caricaturist best known today for his 1911 novel Zuleika Dobson.-Early life:...
- Raymond Blathwayt
- Mary Elizabeth BraddonMary Elizabeth BraddonMary Elizabeth Braddon was a British Victorian era popular novelist. She is best known for her 1862 sensation novel Lady Audley's Secret.-Life:...
- Hall CaineHall CaineSir Thomas Henry Hall Caine CH, KBE , usually known as Hall Caine, was a Manx author. He is best known as a novelist and playwright of the late Victorian and the Edwardian eras. In his time he was exceedingly popular, and at the peak of his success his novels outsold those of his...
- William CantonWilliam CantonWilliam Canton was a British poet, journalist and writer, now best known for his contributions to children's literature. These include his series of three books, beginning with The Invisible Playmate, written for his daughter Winifred Vida...
- Albert ChevalierAlbert ChevalierAlbert Onesime Britannicus Gwathveoyd Louis Chevalier was an English comedian and actor.-Early life:Albert Chevalier was born in the Royal Crescent, in London's Notting Hill...
- Roy Compton
- May CrommelinMay CrommelinMaria Henrietta de la Cherois Crommelin, known as May de la Cherois Crommelin, was a novelist and travel writer born in Ulster, Ireland at Carrowdore Castle in County Down....
- Aleister CrowleyAleister CrowleyAleister Crowley , born Edward Alexander Crowley, and also known as both Frater Perdurabo and The Great Beast, was an influential English occultist, astrologer, mystic and ceremonial magician, responsible for founding the religious philosophy of Thelema. He was also successful in various other...
- Guy de MaupassantGuy de MaupassantHenri René Albert Guy de Maupassant was a popular 19th-century French writer, considered one of the fathers of the modern short story and one of the form's finest exponents....
- Arthur Conan DoyleArthur Conan DoyleSir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle DL was a Scottish physician and writer, most noted for his stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes, generally considered a milestone in the field of crime fiction, and for the adventures of Professor Challenger...
- Archibald ForbesArchibald ForbesArchibald Forbes was a British war correspondent, the son of a Presbyterian minister in Morayshire, Scotland; educated at the University of Aberdeen. Entering the Royal Dragoons as a private, he gained, while in the service, considerable practical experience of military life and affairs...
- Kirby Hare
- H. Rider HaggardH. Rider HaggardSir Henry Rider Haggard, KBE was an English writer of adventure novels set in exotic locations, predominantly Africa, and a founder of the Lost World literary genre. He was also involved in agricultural reform around the British Empire...
- William Hope HodgsonWilliam Hope HodgsonWilliam Hope Hodgson was an English author. He produced a large body of work, consisting of essays, short fiction, and novels, spanning several overlapping genres including horror, fantastic fiction and science fiction. Early in his writing career he dedicated effort to poetry, although few of his...
- Jerome K. JeromeJerome K. JeromeJerome Klapka Jerome was an English writer and humorist, best known for the humorous travelogue Three Men in a Boat.Jerome was born in Caldmore, Walsall, England, and was brought up in poverty in London...
- Rudyard KiplingRudyard KiplingJoseph Rudyard Kipling was an English poet, short-story writer, and novelist chiefly remembered for his celebration of British imperialism, tales and poems of British soldiers in India, and his tales for children. Kipling received the 1907 Nobel Prize for Literature...
- Arthur H. Lawrence
- Eliza Lynn LintonEliza Lynn LintonEliza Lynn Linton , was a British novelist, essayist, and journalist.-Life:The daughter of a clergyman and granddaughter of a bishop of Carlisle, she arrived in London in 1845 as the protégé of poet Walter Savage Landor. In the following year she produced her first novel, Azeth, the Egyptian;...
- Frank Mathew
- Barry PainBarry PainBarry Eric Odell Pain was an English journalist, poet and writer.-Biography:Born in Cambridge, Barry Pain was educated at Sedbergh School and Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. He became a prominent contributor to The Granta...
- Joseph Parker
- Eden PhillpottsEden PhillpottsEden Phillpotts was an English author, poet and dramatist. He was born in India, educated in Plymouth, Devon, and worked as an insurance officer for 10 years before studying for the stage and eventually becoming a writer....
- Arthur Quiller-CouchArthur Quiller-CouchSir Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch was a Cornish writer, who published under the pen name of Q. He is primarily remembered for the monumental Oxford Book Of English Verse 1250–1900 , and for his literary criticism...
- Lilian Quiller-Couch
- Jean RichepinJean RichepinJean Richepin , French poet, novelist and dramatist, the son of an army doctor, was born at Médéa, French Algeria.At school and at the École Normale Supérieure he gave evidence of brilliant, if somewhat undisciplined, powers, for which he found physical vent in different directions—first as a...
- Morley RobertsMorley RobertsMorley Roberts was an English novelist and short story writer, best known for The Private Life of Henry Maitland.-Early life:Roberts was born in London, the son of a superintending inspector of income tax...
- William Clark RussellWilliam Clark RussellWilliam Clark Russell was a popular American writer of nautical novels and horror stories.Born in New York City, he gained his experience of sea life during eight years' service as a sailor...
- George Robert SimsGeorge Robert SimsGeorge Robert Sims was an English journalist, poet, dramatist, novelist and bon vivant.Sims began writing lively humour and satiric pieces for Fun magazine and The Referee, but he was soon concentrating on social reform, particularly the plight of the poor in London's slums...
- Mark TwainMark TwainSamuel Langhorne Clemens , better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist...
- Allen UpwardAllen UpwardAllen Upward was a poet, lawyer, politician and teacher. His work was included in the first anthology of Imagist poetry, Des Imagistes, which was edited by Ezra Pound and published in 1914....
- H. G. WellsH. G. WellsHerbert George Wells was an English author, now best known for his work in the science fiction genre. He was also a prolific writer in many other genres, including contemporary novels, history, politics and social commentary, even writing text books and rules for war games...
- John Strange WinterJohn Strange WinterJohn Strange Winter was the pen-name of Henrietta Eliza Vaughan Stannard , an English novelist.She was the daughter of Reverent H. V. Palmer, rector of St Margarets, York. She early began to write fiction for different magazines, producing sentimental stories, chiefly of army life...
- Israel ZangwillIsrael ZangwillIsrael Zangwill was a British humorist and writer.-Biography:Zangwill was born in London on January 21, 1864 in a family of Jewish immigrants from Czarist Russia, to Moses Zangwill from what is now Latvia and Ellen Hannah Marks Zangwill from what is now Poland. He dedicated his life to championing...
Artists
- Frank Barnard
- Ada Bowley
- Archibald Stevenson Forrest (1869 - 1963)
- Florence Fuller
- James Grieg
- John Gulich
- George HutchinsonGeorge HutchinsonGeorge Henry Hutchinson was a professional footballer who played for Huddersfield Town, Sheffield United, Tottenham Hotspur, Guildford City, Leeds United, Halifax Town & Skegness Town. He served in the RAF during National Service and was stationed at Ballykelly in Northern Ireland & RAF Cosford...
- Richard JackRichard JackRichard Jack was a painter of portraits, figure subjects, interiors and landscapes, and prominent war artist for Canada.-Biography:...
- Ernest Jessop
- John Bernard PartridgeJohn Bernard PartridgeJohn Bernard Partridge was an English illustrator. Born in London, he was the son of Professor Richard Partridge, F.R.S., president of the Royal College of Surgeons, and nephew of John Partridge, portrait-painter extraordinary to Queen Victoria.Partridge was educated at Stonyhurst College, and...
- Frederick Pegram
- Andrew Scott Rankin
- Sidney SimeSidney SimeSidney Sime was an English artist in the late Victorian and succeeding periods, mostly remembered for his fantastic and satirical artwork, especially his story illustrations for Irish author Lord Dunsany.-Early life:...
- Frederic VilliersFrederic VilliersFrederic Villiers , British war artist and correspondent.Along with William Simpson and Melton Prior, Villiers was one of the most notable 'special' artists of the later 19th century...
- Aubrey BeardsleyAubrey BeardsleyAubrey Vincent Beardsley was an English illustrator and author. His drawings, done in black ink and influenced by the style of Japanese woodcuts, emphasized the grotesque, the decadent, and the erotic. He was a leading figure in the Aesthetic movement which also included Oscar Wilde and James A....
External links
- Full text online from Project GutenbergProject GutenbergProject Gutenberg is a volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks". Founded in 1971 by Michael S. Hart, it is the oldest digital library. Most of the items in its collection are the full texts of public domain books...
:
- Vol. 3, iss. 13, February 1893.
- Vol. 3, April 1893.
- Vol. 3, May 1893.
- Interview with Louis WainLouis WainLouis Wain was an English artist best known for his drawings, which consistently featured anthropomorphised large-eyed cats and kittens. In his later years he suffered from schizophrenia, which, according to some psychologists, can be seen in his works.- Life and work :Louis William Wain was...
, originally published in The Idler in 1898.
- Interview with Louis Wain