Index of Periodical Reviews
about Literary Annuals
This index is intended to provide a context for the literary annual genre during its initial rise in popularity 1823-1830. As you will notice a
majority of the articles are from the Monthly Review, which was the most prolific reviewer of the annuals and easily accessible in yearly bound volumes. (These are also
reviews which made their way into my dissertation -- hence the selection is subjective at best.) In order to appear objective, reviews were published anonymously. (Most
contributors/reviewers are identified in the Wellesley Index and Poole's Index.) However, anonymity did not prevent the critical periodicals from falling into "trade criticism"
or "puffery": a practice of favorably reviewing books published by the publisher of the periodical or inserting social gossip into the journals to gain publicity for
an author. Since annuals were published and marketed in November and December for the Christmas and New Year's season, most reviews precede the year in the annuals'
title.
Each entry is
arranged alphabetically according to the annual title and year published. Click on the specific review to read a transcript. Some reviews are loaded with material excerpted
from an annual. The excerpted material is identified but not transcribed. Each review will open into a separate window.
To gain more insight into the production of the annuals as well as their reception with literati, consult the
General Reflections index or the collected letters of
various authors who published during the early nineteenth century (e.g., Thomas Hood, Felicia Hemans, Letitia Elizabeth Landon, Charles Lamb, Alaric A. Watts, William
Wordsworth, Samuel T. Coleridge, etc.). For more information on the Forget Me Not volumes included here, click the FMN title to access transcripts and facsimiles
from those volumes. |
|
|
Amulet 1827 |
- Monthly Review, Nov. 1826
|
|
Amulet 1828 |
- Monthly Review, Nov. 1827
|
|
Bijou 1828 |
- Monthly Review, Dec, 1827
|
|
Forget Me Not 1826 |
|
|
Forget Me Not 1827 |
- Monthly Review, Nov. 1826
|
|
Forget Me Not 1828 |
- Monthly Review, Nov. 1827
|
|
Friendship's Offering 1826 |
|
|
Friendship's Offering 1827 |
- Monthly Review, Jan. 1827
|
|
Janus 1826 |
- Monthly Review, Feb. 1826
|
|
Literary Souvenir 1825 |
|
|
Literary Souvenir 1827 |
- Monthly Review, Dec. 1826
|
|
Literary Souvenir 1828 |
- Monthly Review, Dec. 1827
|
|
Poetical Souvenir 1827 |
- Monthly Review, Jan. 1827
|