The Wellesley Index to Victorian Periodicals,1824-1900

The importance of Victorian periodicals to modern scholars can scarcely be exaggerated. In scores of journals and thousands of articles there is a remarkable record of contemporary thought in every field, with a full range of opinion on every major question - a range exceeding what could be found, in many cases, in such books as were devoted to the topic being investigated. Furthermore, reviews and magazines reflect the current situation and are indispensable for the study of opinion at a given moment or in a short span of years. Because nearly 75 per cent of all the articles in Victorian journals were published anonymously or pseudonymously,the identification of most of these writings is the major contribution of The Wellesley Index to Victorian Periodicals. The Index has made possible, for the first time, bibliographies of the periodical writings of almost ten thousand writers in thrity-five major journals. By assigning an average of 87 per cent of the articles to their contributors, it as enabled the scholar to read them more intelligently by knowing the charactersitic outlook of the author, and has provided the student of a particular writer with the names of the principal critics of his work. By opening up new possibilities for the study of men and ideas, the Wellesley Index is proving to be an invaluable guide to the history of Victorian opinion in the fields of religion, politics, science, economics, travel, law, linguistics, music, the fine arts, and literature.Slingerland, Jean H. is the author of 'The Wellesley Index to Victorian Periodicals,1824-1900', published 1989 under ISBN 9780802027191 and ISBN 0802027199.