Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, October 1853

Read Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, October 1853 online, or download the free EPUB (works on Kindle too) or PDF.

Edition from Project Gutenberg. Public-domain rules differ by country, so check yours before downloading.

A little about the book

Blackwood’s was one of the great British magazines of the 19th century. This October 1853 issue opens with a long review of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, published the year before and already a sensation. It weighs Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel and her attack on slavery.

The rest of the issue mixes politics, fiction and travel. There’s an instalment of the serial Lady Lee’s Widowhood, new readings in Shakespeare and a travel piece on Spain by rail and saddle. Reading it is like opening a Victorian reader’s monthly post.

Is it for you?

You’ll enjoy it if you like

Victorian magazines
19th-century reactions to Uncle Tom's Cabin
dipping into varied short pieces

Maybe not if you want one continuous story.

Where to start

Start with the opening review of Uncle Tom's Cabin, then dip into the rest.

Things You May Not Know About Blackwood’s Magazine, October 1853

Known as Maga. Readers called Blackwood’s ‘Maga’, and it ran from 1817 to 1980.
Reviewing a bestseller. Uncle Tom’s Cabin sold hundreds of thousands of copies in Britain within a year.
Serial fiction. Novels were often published in monthly parts in magazines like this one.
A Tory voice. Blackwood’s was founded as a Tory rival to the Whig Edinburgh Review.