Category:The Cornish Magazine

Title: The Cornish Magazine

Editor: A. T. Quiller-Couch

Publisher: Joseph Pollared

The Cornish Magazine was a monthly journal only published for one year in Truro, Cornwall, England.^[1] The first issue was published in July of 1898, and the last issue was published in June of 1899. Each issue contained exactly eighty pages. This journal is unique in that it was specifically intended to bring prestige to the region of Cornwall (the most southwestern region of the UK that looks almost like a boot). In fact, in the first issue, there is a note from the editor stating that this magazine is intended for the people of Cornwall and that he hopes it will do something good for the people of that region. The editor also states that each issue will only cost six pence, even though he hopes that it is worth much more than six pence to the people.^[2] Thus, one can see that this was a benevolent sort of endeavor intended to improve the reputation of a countryside region that was far from London.

The magazine contains an equal mix of nonfiction and fiction pieces. In each issue, there is a nonfiction piece featuring someone well-known from the day or a well-known piece of architecture, such as Sir Henry Irving or the Truro Cathedral.^[3] There are many photographs in the magazine of the featured people and places, which is quite impressive. Other nonfiction pieces included news articles, such as the story of some pirate smugglers, entitled “Annals of the Smugglers.”^[4] In almost every issue, there was also a nonfiction piece that pointed out a tourist attraction in the region of Cornwall. Some places that were cited in this magazine were Newquay, Falmouth, and Port Eliot (a famous estate in the region). The other nonfiction piece that can be found in each issue is an opinion section called “One and All.” This section was always written by “Eminent Cornish Men and Others” and included opinions about farming, fishing, and prices of things. There was also a joke section called “Cornish Diamonds” under the “One and All” section.

As for the fiction pieces in each issue, there was always at least one short story in each issue, sometimes two. There were also a few poems in each issue. Some were written by authors, but there was also always a poem that was a transcription of an old folk song or ballad, and that was about a region of Cornwall. The poem was always accompanied by an illustration. These poems were surely intended to give the region of Cornwall a folk identity and to create a kind of grassroots feel that people of the region could relate to. Most of the authors of these short stories and poems were men, but there were a few women that were also published in this magazine. Some of the authors that published multiple times in this magazine were H. B. Lowry, A. T. Quiller-Couch, and Laura Alex Smith.

Notes

1. ↑ WD
2. ↑ A. T. Quiller-Couch, “Editor’s Note,” The Cornish Magazine 1.1 (July 1898): 80.
3. ↑ Aug. B. Donaldson and John Truron, “Truro Cathedral,” The Cornish Magazine 1.1 (July 1898): 1–13.
4. ↑ John B. Cornish, “Annals of the Smugglers,” The Cornish Magazine 1.2 (August 1898): 111–126.

Submitted by: Gessel, Rachel: section 1, Fall 2014