The Times Literary Supplement recently published its 6,000th issue, marking the event with a reprint of its inaugural 1902 edition along with its regular offerings.
The TLS first appeared in January 1902, as part of the regular run of the London Times. The literary review broke away as a separate weekly publication in 1914.
The reprinted 1902 edition shows a dominant print culture. Although the technology had existed for some time, the first TLS has no photographs or illustrations to break the columns of gray type. The reviews are strung together one after another, with little differentation between them. The headlines have a small point size, with a dreary gray font, as if boldface or italics had not been invented.
While the small type is difficult to read - the TLS probably had to reduce the first issue from its broadsheet original to fit its current tabloid format - the reviews are still legible, and reward the effort to peruse them.
As a follower of Britain's Romantic era, I was intrigued by a review that praised a new 1902 edition of Leigh Hunt's autobiography. Hunt, a 19th century publisher, poet and critic, had a fascinating literary career in which he had close friendships with both Keats and Dickens.
Early in his publishing days, Hunt spent time in prison for criticizing a member of the royal family. The prison was not that orduous; he was able to bring his own books and furniture into his cell, receive family visits and have his own meals prepared. Reading a 1902 review about one of Britain's most colorful literary characters was a special treat.
An omnibus look at scientific developments didn't seem that outmoded. I imagined H.G. Wells reading the piece at his breakfast table and gleaning ideas for his science fiction books.
A physics reference mentions studies on light and the radiation it emits. Marconi is mentioned among the researchers, but not Einstein, who was just beginning his work at the patent office in Berlin. The light research described seems to anticipate Einstein's theory of relativity, indicating a multi-sided move away from the age of Newton.
Also covered is work on circulation of the blood, a basis for modern medicine, and efforts to begin widespread electricity transmissions from a central location, heralding a new age of power.
Small signs of a long past era rise. A new book by Leslie Stephen, Viriginia Woolf's father, is noted. Stephens would die in 1905, but his daughter was just beginning her career as a professional writer.
The writing is accessible, revealing a far different world. The British empire still ruled the globe, and no one had heard of Woolf, James Joyce, Marcel Proust, Picasso, Einstein, Hitler, Walt Disney, Winnie the Pooh and so on. Queen Victoria had just recently died. World War I and World War II were far away. Churchill was a young man.
Eerie references are made to developments expected in years to come, such as 1908. What they saw as the future is long past for us.
To mark the 6,000th issue, the TLS' regular front and back covers show small portraits of British writers who span the publication's history. They range from Susan Sontag, Sylvia Plath, Angela Carter, Martin Amis (not Kingsley), George Orwell and Muriel Spark to Henry James, Thomas Hardy, T.S. Eliot, Virginia Woolf and Doris Lessing.
Those who made the lineup represent different eras and literary movements. From the world of film, the only art represented, Martin Scorsese appears.
The TLS has been there to record cultural shifts from the dawn of the 20th century to the present. It remains a vital publication with its own blend of authority, tradition and openness to new voices.
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