Modernist Magazines and Digital Humanities

THE OWL
Maribel Vega/Julie Ostrowski

The Owl was edited by the beloved British war poet, Robert Graves (1895-1985). According to the introduction by Matthew R. Vaughn on the Modern Journals website, The Owl is "notable for its purposeful conservatism". At the behest of his father-in-law, the painter Sir William Nicholson, Graves served as literary editor while Nicholson directed the hiring of its illustrators. Nicholson would not only inspire The Owl, but he also subsidized the journal.

The Owl debuted in May 1919, when its editor, Robert Graves, was just twenty-three. Though it ran only two numbers and was briefly re-run as the Winter Owl for a sole issue in 1923, The Owl's significant contributions as experimental and bold as an advocate for political and literary freedom. The Owl was printed by The Westminster press, by Gerard T. Meynell and the Illustrations were printed by F. Vincent Brooks, both located in London.

The Owl's Mission Statement

The Owl's first issue begins with a forward that describes its mission and the kind of audience it hopes to attract:

"It must be understood that The Owl has no politics, leads no new movement and is not even the organ of any particular generation-for that matter sixty seven years separate the oldest and youngest contributors. But we find in common a love of honest work well done, and a distaste for short cuts to popular success. The Owl will come out quarterly or whenever enough suitable material is in the hands of the editors."

In Vaughn's introduction to The Owl, we also learned that Graves' tastes in literature were influenced by his relationships with the Georgian poets, and he rejected the radical literary giants of his day, allying himself with writers who more closely resembled the principles he held to a benchmark of sorts for The Owl.

The elements of design for The Owl figure prominently in our review of its content. It is worth noting that the owl as a symbol "suggests the Georgian's interest in nature and in promoting a more traditional, conservative brand of poetic wisdom." (Introduction, Vaughn)
 

Sir William Nicholson and his daughter, Nancy, contributed many illustrations for The Owl. Nancy, Robert Graves' wife, was influential in recruiting Pamela Bianco--a 12-year old artistic prodigy whose work was featured in The Owl. "Printed by a method of old-fashioned stone lithography, The Owl's artwork is beautifully reproduced, and, in most cases, vibrantly colored."

For those unfamiliar with "old-fashioned stone lithography", here is a visual example from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, "Nocturne, 1878" by the American painter, James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903).



Interestingly, Pamela Bianco went on to have a successful career that spanned nearly eight decades, and her work was celebrated for its sophistication and vibrancy. Below is a link to a review by Time Magazine in 1924 in reference to a presentation given by Miss Bianco at the Knoedler Galleries--this when she was only 17-years old:

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,718032,00.html?iid=chix-sphere

A monochrome photograph of the noted "child prodigy" can also be found on the Vanity Fair website:

http://www.condenaststore.com/VanityFair/ProdDetail.aspx?prodId=20241

The Owl's reputation, however, was cemented in its approach to the Georgian poetry movement. Edward Marsh, a publisher of Georgian poetry both before and during the war, schooled Graves in the Georgian school of thought, and Graves in turn promoted the Georgians throughout The Owl's short life span.

Marsh's rejection of modernist poetry would later be seen as the final coffin nail for all forms of Georgian poetry. "In most of the scholarly discourse relating to the Georgians, they are consistently portrayed as falling on the wrong side of the critical debates in Modernism." (Introduction, Vaughn)

Despite the declining popularity of the Georgians at the time of The Owl's first publication, Graves remained aggressive about the work his contributors produced for his magazine. Regardless of the harsh criticism the Georgians suffered at the hands of modernist proponents, the work in The Owl is a feast for the eyes as well as for the intellect.

In a fascinating take on why the Georgians were ridiculed for their love of nature as represented in their poetry is the idea that Georgians were choosing to escape the ugliness of war through the advancement of conservative poetry and art. The exotic, for the Georgian mindset, took on an increasingly important role in the tone and texture of The Owl. This impulse-to escape the crudeness of the modern world-was what essentially drove the Georgian rhetoric in art and literary expression. A deep love of childhood, of the innocence of youth, when one has looked at the world through unbiased eyes, really captures The Owl's essence.

Graves' experiences as a veteran of the first world war colored his perspective on what would be acceptable to print in The Owl. Siegfried Sassoon, his friend and confidant, blasted Graves for avoiding the issue of war in his journal; in response, Graves insisted that he was merely 'happy' and that "worrying about the War is no longer a sacred duty with me." (Introduction, Vaughn)

Graves' personal life was marred by creative and emotional upheaval. The failure of his first marriage to Nancy, in addition to confusion over his sexual orientation and the after-effects of shell shock all served to influence his poetry. Graves may have indeed turned to the solace of soothing images from his childhood as a way of coping with the brutality of war in his editorship of The Owl, but we must concede that his ambitious attempt as editor of this largely eclectic and highly refined journal is something of a minor miracle. As a journal of high literary value, The Owl inevitably shaped Robert Graves' own poetry, largely as a vehicle for his first poetic works. If you are interested in reading more about Robert Graves, please visit:

http://www.robertgraves.org

The Focus of Our Work

Since Owl was limited to three issues, I focused on Vol. 1, Issue I, and Julie focused on Vol. 1, Issue 3. In my research, I concentrated on the illustrations throughout the issue, as well as on some of the poetry. I felt that there was a true correlation between the drawings and the poetry. The illustrations added a significant layer of complexity to the journal and truly made it "pop" with color and life. Julie focused on the Freudian overtones of the play Interchange of Selves. The play explores man's quest for spirituality, and the overarching themes of acceptance and understanding in the face of conflict.

The Owl, May 1919

The Owl appears, at first blush, to be "hand made" in its composition. Just glancing at the front cover, with its colorful presentation and the drawing of an owl, one would assume it to be a journal for young children or adolescents. As one pages through the journal, however, it is clear that this is no ordinary literary endeavor. On page 3 of the first issue of The Owl, for example, each contributor has signed his or her name--names like Thomas Hardy, Max Beerbohm, John Galsworthy, and Siegfried Sassoon.

The first actual piece of writing is a poem by Thomas Hardy, "The Master and The Leaves" followed by "Sonnet" by John Masefield. A few pages later, though, we see a full page illustration of a young woman with flowers arranged through her wavy red hair. The colors are visually striking, and the artwork fits well with the themes of the two poems preceding its placement in the journal. The fanciful arrangement of her hair with flowers, nevertheless, denotes the childlike, whimsical influence of Nicholson, whose work as an illustrator of children's books is clear throughout the pages of The Owl.

The masthead for the Contents page of this issue, for example, is drawn, with the word Contents written in long hand in contrast to the typeset list of authors beneath. As a piece of artwork, it procures a magical feeling in the reader, as if one was about to read a story book to a child. Another example of the whimsical illustrations of Nicholson can be found on p. V of the journal. In a very ornate, yet still very childlike hand, Nicholson's words as he tells the story of "The Pianotuner and the Scorpion".

The story itself seems as if it were written for a child, yet the subject matter (the pianotuner is contemplating suicide) is anything but childish. It is incongruent with the somber mood elicited by the poetry before and after the illustration.

The poetry in The Owl is largely traditional in its subject matter and construction. The presence of the colorful illustrations, some by Nancy Nicholson, lends a luminous texture to the journal, elevating it beyond the constraints of a literary journal to a work worthy of display in a gallery or museum.

To see more of the illustrations from the May 1919 issue, please visit our online video presentation:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFYoGn-_w34

In J.C. Squire's poem, "Song", Squires writes of a love that seems shallow and dependent on the love object's mood swings. "You are my sky/beneath your circling kindness/My meadows all take in the light and grow...."

The writing here fits hand in glove with the naturalism favored by the Georgians. In another poem from the same issue entitled "A Frosty Night", Robert Graves writes in a style reminiscent of another time--it is formal and conservative in tone and subject matter, and is redolent with the imagery for which the Georgians were so ridiculed.

"Mother. Ay, the night was frosty/Coldly gaped the moon;/But the birds seemed twittering/Through green boughs of June...." Graves' employment of traditional rhyme and meter in his poetry is out of synch with the new and experimental poetry of modernists Ezra Pound and T. S. Eliot. Perhaps in his negation of the new, and his preference to the old and established forms, Graves was a revolutionary. In the face of change, he held fast to the surety of the past and injected a new passion for the classical into an evolving cultural paradigm.

The Play's The Thing

We also examined The last issue of The Owl, which contains a mini-play, Interchange of Selves, within its pages. Three characters, Mysticus (who seems to stand for what we now commonly regard as new-age mysticism), Liberalis (a name coming from the Latin for freedom, which present-day usage can now mean apt to change, open to new ways of looking at things, progressive), and Practicus (who at the beginning of the play is the champion of commen sense at the expense of other elements). The play revolves largely around a detailed discussion of the nature of consciousness, human conflict, the nature of evil, and spirituality. It is also a commentary on the idiocy of war, and we know the editor of The Owl was injured in World War I and was described as shell-shocked in the introductory essay to this periodical.

The characters are trying to understand the nature of man. There is an exploration of spirituality and spiritual transcendence as a way to reduce or eliminate conflict. One of the more significant aspects of this play is the way in which the characters exchange their viewpoints and convince one another of various arguments. There is emotional harmony among the characters, even when they disagree.

The play has Freudian overtones. There is an emphasis on dreaming. Liberalis dreams, and thinks dreams are important. "You must resort to dreams," he says. Yet at first he is not taken in my Mysticus, the new-age guy. Liberalis, though he understands the importance of dreams, can't comprehend the spiritual. "We must be liberal and broad in our outlook indeed, but must we be positively unbalanced? he asks, not quite buying the existence of a spiritual world. Other Freudian influences are discussed below.

Practicus, the common-sense guy, is representative of reason and reason's imperviousness to spirituality, as well a rejection of Freudian theory. "But is there any sense in believing that the air and Space are shrieking with spirits [...] Or is it even wise to resort to dreams [...]?" Belief in all this new-age stuff is silly, dreams are silly. But Mysticus, Mr. New Age Man, is adamant about the spiritual and believes that mystical in nature talks to us and demands that we listen.

More of Freud's influence can be found in Liberalis, when he talks about war: "we fought a war: why? To end all war, yet the wonder is not that the war has not ended but that we believe that we could end it by war. We chose our villains, discovered our saints, and built shrines where the fallen and the unfallen heroes were to find their eternal peace; and when all this was neatly done, we started fighting again." This reminds one of Freud's theory on the compulsion to repeat even destructive behaviors because to change course is too much of an energy expenditure. A mode of behavior has sprung up which will continue into perpetuity.

The play overwhelmingly promotes peace and good will. "Why can people never see that it is much better to cooperate and live together in peace than to quarrel and go on quarreling. What does one accomplish by quarrelling? And yet nothing is easier than to live in peace or with goodwill! Do we not all desire it, all need it," asks Practicus. Liberalis of course agrees, remarking: "What after all is life for if not to live in peace?" Liberalis also believes that the only way to understand our conflicts are through dreams, a very Freudian concept.

Not only does the play promote the idea of peace, but it also promotes the idea of being in tune with nature. "We are ruled and dominated for good or evil by other agents and spirits who live unseen in the surrounding air and in space," Mysticus says. The play calls to mind the work of H.G. Wells, particularly The Island of Dr. Moreau, regarding its discussion of the man-as-animal idea as the basis for human conflict. Yet still, Mysticus is optimistic in concluding that man "must seek communion with the higher spirits, endow his soul with their blessings before he can stay the evil and reassert the good." There is a sense that spiritualism is important and that adopting an awareness and intuneness with the spiritual world is a prerequisite for ameliorating conflict. We are all part of the universe; we are all one; we are not fundamentally different from our enemies, Mysticus argues.

Practicus is probably the most changed at the end of the play. "It is a fact, the most gruesome and insistent fact, that caprice turns the wheel of life as reason does," he remarks, seemingly believing now in mystical forces. Yet he is uncomfortable: "all this is beyond my depth. I never dared to plunge into the mysteries of life," he confesses. The play here seems to be touching on how we are all somewhat afraid of the spiritual because we don't fully understand it. Yet practical thinking based on reason is too surface and somehow fails to satisfy.

There is an exploration of the idea that man is both the source of conflict but also the source of resolution.

The final words of the play, that mankind should cease resolving conflicts by force and seek "some stricter and more promising path," as Practicus says, calls to mind a desire for spiritual transcendence to resolve the conflicts of the era, namely war. Also, it's important to note here the idea that each of us has the ability to reason (Practicus) to investigate the spirtitual (Mysticus) and to change our thinking as progress demands of us (Liberalis). This idea inherent is that each of these characters can and should be an aspect of one integrated person, thus the play's title.

The Owl's Early Death

Vaughn's introduction lists a number of reasons why The Owl didn't fly. He notes the high price of the journal, at over 12 shillings per issue, a lack of publicity, the absence of advertising revenue, combined with the youth and inexperience of its editor, all contributed to The Owl's early death.

By utilizing simplistic themes like those found in the natural world, The Owl created a new identity as an eclectic alternative to the sometimes nihilistic modernist writers of the "new". The Owl forged an influential voice that, though drowned out in the noise of competing and increasingly more popular forms of writing, still resonates with readers of poetry, drama and prose at their most distilled, pure form.

 

     Daniela Perez, Elon Shore, MaryAnne Guzman

     Wheels is a poetry journal that served as a modernist counterblast to Georgian poetry that showcases the talents of the Sitwells, an English aristocratic family. Wheels, edited by Edith Sitwell, was published annually from 1916 to 1921. Most of the work belonged to the Sitwell siblings: Edith, Osbert, and Sachervell. It also featured work by other poets such as Aldous Huxley, Nancy Cunard, and Iris Tree. Their unique yet cohesive poetic styles represented the “wheel” the Sitwells were trying to illustrate. The journal contains radical poems that used imagery, freestyle verse, and political views that are represented through the poetry, illustrations, layouts, and journal reviews.

     The imagery used captured the essence of the objects described, which were connected to other parts of life. In the beginning, the imagery was tragic. The poets conveyed grave and dark emotions. Other imagery used described nature and how people worked. Upon its initial publication, Wheels concentrated on introducing this imaginative style of poetry to the world by the title they were giving the journal.

     The essence of how they were trying to exemplify imagery is best illustrated in the name of the journal. Wheels is chosen as a symbol of their ideology that demonstrates how everything in the world is connected through the circular image. By it, the journal ultimately creates a poetry genre described as “Sitwells” that contain imagery as an icon. It did not however, have the impact of other poetry movements like the Imagists or other more well-known, Modern movements. It was successful, however, in connecting every part of society together in a representation of the wheel. To ensure the readers did not miss what was trying to be created, the representation of the wheel image is in the beginning page of each issue.

     The poems in the first issue lay the foundation for the entire genre. The first poem, “Wheels” by Nancy Cunard, uses images to bring many different parts of society together with the free-verse style. The poem begins,

“I sometimes think that all our thoughts are wheels
Rolling forever through the painted world,
Moved by the cunning of a thousand clowns
Dressed paper-wise, with blatant rounded masks,
That take their multi-coloured caravans
From place to place, and act and leap and sing,
Catching the spinning hoops when cymbals clash.” (pg 1)

Cunard emphasizes the circular aspects of the world. She brings in many types of thoughts that go in many different directions. This free-verse style is seen throughout the many Wheels journals. The poem emphasizes how the wheel is wrapped together by the fate of “act”, “leap”, and “sing.” The wheel symbol here introduces the world to a connecting wheel as seen in the forthcoming issue.

     The theme in volume one, free-verse style, demonstrates how the poets were fighting against the rigid style of Georgian/Victorian poetry. For supporting, writing, and publishing this style, Edith Sitwell has been referred to by critics as the “Mother of the Free Verse;” poetry that creates its own format. In the free-style Wheels publishes, nouns are free and stand alone in a sentence or are set with other words to form a complete idea. This open-ended style of poetry radiates radicalism and creativity.

     The first two issues of Wheels have covers that express the cyclical aesthetic of the time, while the third and fourth issues deal with the political climate, particularly the economy and warfare.

     “Optimism,” a poem by Iris Tree for example, discusses the economic woes of the time, “What will happen to the starving, and the rebel run from drilling,/ Cowardly, afraid of fighting, and the child who stole a shilling ?/ They shall go to prison black/ With a striped shirt on the back” (pg 61).  The images used in this line are filled with political implications. The boy stealing shows the reader that the poet wants them to look at the poverty and social class structure of the past.
 
     The third issue of Wheels is adorned with the Sky Pilot by Vorticist Lawerence Atkinson. This picture features bold lines and colors that can be considered reflective of the warring climate in 1918. In the fourth issue, Sitwell’s dedication to fallen soldier and celebrated war poet, Wilfred Owen, reflects the somber mood of this period.  The poems found in the issues are as dramatic and bold as the cover illustrations. The bibliographic code of the journals at this time was relative to the atmosphere in England.   For example, the poetry that appears in the fourth issue coincides with the illustrations regarding the war provided by William Moore. Osbert Sitwell’s poem featured Moore’s Corpse Day July 19, 1919 illustration.  Ironically, the date is highly relevant to the poem because on this date London was holding peace celebrations to acknowledge the end of the war.  The poem describes the actual violent state of England through metaphorical visions of Christ from heaven.  This issue also features William Moore’s radical illustration Gun Drill, dark and militant images that demonstrate violence and war. 

     The consistent layout of Wheels has it that the table of contents lists each author and the title of his/her poems. The entire font remains consistent throughout each issue and poem.  This appearance promotes the issues as a whole anthology rather than poems viewed in isolation.  Another consistent trend of the anthology is that the Sitwell family is featured in every issue.  Their writings consisted of their perspectives on war, and a satirical view of English society, namely rejecting the Georgian poetry that presided during this time and their childhood. Lastly, Sitwell prints reviews by different presses, such as The New Age, the Observer, and the Times that critique the works in the journal. According to one review by the Observer, the anthology is “defiant and gloomy, yet clever and stimulating.”  In the same issue, Sitwell publishes the harsh criticism of the Pioneer where they describe the young writers’ work as boring and how they should not be taken seriously by anyone. 
 
     Due to its radical style of poetry, Wheels had an important role in this time even though it was short lived. While hard to find, original digitized copies can be found at the University of Toronto mainly St. Michaels College, University of California at Berkley, and the Scarborough Mansion in Yorkshire England (the former residence of the Sitwells). Wheels was an avenue for many poets to express their ideas and their new style of writing.

 

Interesting note: As part of our research, Miriam emailed Robert Scholes to ask a few questions about Le Petit Journal de Refusees. He in turn directed us to Brad Evans, an associate professor at Rutgers who specializes in nineteenth and early twentieth-century American literature.  We wanted to share his response with all of you since it confirms many of the suppositions we made in our discussion of the journal last week. Email exchange between Cecilia and Brad Evans     The Elusive Burgess and his Le Petit Journal des Refusees  

Publisher and Editor: James Marrion, psuedonym for Gelett Burgess. Published: Ran for only one issue, Summer 1896. Published in San Fransisco, CA Held Copies: Only two known copies in existence. Both copies are in the Princeton Univeristy Library.   

 

            Part One:  “Burgess 101 and his Contributions to Dada and Surrealism”   By Cecilia G. Robles and Miriam L.Wallach  

 

In 1896, a rather short and obscure journal entitled Le Petit Journal des Refusees was published in San Francisco, California by a man named Gelett Burgess. Burgess, whose name was generally associated with humorous, satirical writing, teamed up with Porter Garnett, to produce this one-issued journal. Garnett, like Burgess, was classified as one of the Bohemian writers of San Francisco, was also the assistant curator of the Bankcroft Library from 1907-1912. Both men, well established, came together to produce this journal, of which little is known for sure, but much is supposed.

Burgess began his literary career in 1894 in San Francisco as associate editor of The Wave.   While the cover of Les Petit Journal credits James Marrion 2nd as editor of the journal, Mr. Marrion did not in fact exist. Burgess did not sign his name to the journal, although hints to his identity are woven through the articles. Burgess, working by himself and not with Garnett, was also the editor of The Lark, whose publication overlapped with that of Le Petit Journal. The Lark was printed between1895-1897 and Burgess’s name can be clearly found on some covers and often within texts as well. He took open credit for The Lark while with Les Petit, he did not, using a pseudonym on the cover while alluding to himself and his work in other sections of the text.   The Lark also contained an illustrated version of his famous poem “Purple Cow” in its first edition and while all three periodicals were considered radical departures from conventional magazines, it was The Lark that gained him considerable notoriety. Often associated with his non-sensical writing, his pattern of rhyme and his manuals for writing rhyme, including his Goop series, are considered children’s literary classics. 

 

It is unclear why Burgess did not sign the one issue of Les Petit Journal that was produced.   The journal seems to be dedicated to publishing the voices of ignored and ‘refused’ women, although the names of the women to whom the articles are accredited are barely known or again, unknown because they did not exist. Research shows that there was a real Nellie Hethington, although her married name was not Ford – it was Halbmaier – and her connection to Burgess could not be determined. There are no easily discernable traces of Alisse Rainbird or of Florence Lundberg either, for example.    The Modern Journals Project (MJP) claims that all of the work in this journal seems to be that of one person, which would therefore substantiate the inability to identify these women as authors or writers of their time and further lead one to assume that Burgess (or Marrion, as the case may be) penned all of the articles in the journal.

 

At first glance, even before actually reading an entry, Le Petit Journal de Refusees provides many opportunities to intrigue and peak the interest of any reader. The many facets of the journal that pop out begin with the illustrations and the general shape of the journal itself. The use of whimsical art throughout and bordering every page, the variety in size and application of the font, even the use of outmoded wallpaper that has been cut trapezoidally, all diverge from the common printing practices of the time. Also quite remarkable is the nonsensical writing, both as actual pieces of literature and within the illustrations, deviate from the highly academic and often lofty writing that was being published in small journals of the time.

In comparing the art and illustrations of both Les Petit Journal and The Lark, there are definite stylistic similarities that would also lead one to believe that Burgess was also Marrion. The font styles are similar and so are the curviness of the lines and the feeling of each illustration. Without being an art historian or a curator, a simple study of both illustrations could allow one to deduce that they were both drawn and written by the same hand.

 

Dada was a cultural movement of artists and writers that looked to ridicule contemporary culture and traditional art forms. It was a reaction toward a morally corrupt society that was capable of creating WWI. It was a nihilistic movement that primarily involved the visual arts, literature, theater, and graphic design. The movement produced art objects in unconventional forms that were produced by unconventional methods.

Likewise, Surrealism sought to create the element of surprise through unexpected juxtapositions and the use of non-sequitor. This was accomplished through the use of conversational and literary devices that were absurd to the point of being humorous and confusing. The goal of Surrealism was to transform human experience by freeing people from the restrictive customs and structures of society.

 

The poem “Spring” is one of the many examples of how Burgess’s work plays with the ideas of Dada and Surrealism. While the subject of the poem is traditional, the execution of the subject matter is not. The lines do not follow a conventional pattern or form. In fact, the poem looks as if it is being edited in print. In this, Burgess implements typographical freedom. He chooses not to prescribe to traditional formatting.   The irony in the illustrations perhaps lies in that while the poem speaks lyrically of green fields, buttercups, and cows, the illustration of alley cats climbing around crowded buildings in an urban setting is hinted at in the background.

 

 

Another example in the publication is “Our Clubbing List – refused by The Complete Alphabet of Freaks.” In this section, Burgess takes a very traditional practice used to help children learn the alphabet, and creates a very humorous, and at times scathing, list. He makes reference to fellow writers, artists, and publishers, sometimes in a complementary way, “B is for [Aubrey] Beardsley, this idol supreme. Whose drawings are not half so bad as they, seem”. Others are more scathing, “I am an Idiot, awful result of reading the rot of the Yellow Book cult” and “O is for Oblivion – ultimate fate Of most magazines, published of late”.

 

 

The illustrations on these four pages vary from page to page but all have a theme of interconnectedness. The first page of “The Clubbing List” features Burgess’s ‘Goops’ which were to become his trademark illustration.    

As can be seen from these two examples, Burgess’s ventures into nonsense verse and cartoonesque illustrations were an attempt to refute literary realism through the affirmation of imaginative absurdity.  In another twenty years, this would become the goal of Dadaism and then Surrealism as modernist movement.

 

Part Two: “A Method to His Madness? Burgess’s Possible Intentions” By Charlene Nicholson

 

 

Burgess’s new and unorthodox style of presenting his ideologies in Le Petit Journal des Refusees shows his radical nature as well as his determination to prove to those who have rejected the creativity of his work that there was an audience awaiting literature and art of an extraordinary nature. Johanna Drucker believes that Burgess’s journal has value because she is able to see “the relationship between various vanguard ideologies and the physical characteristics” of his work (Art Journal, Vol.3 p 95). She further contends that the work is “visually striking (the sinewy lines of its imitation Beardsley drawings) with innovative patterns-though the thrust of its literary jabs may be blunted by time or obscured, the volume functions as a thing unto itself, replete and redolent with spirit, energy, and ideas (96). His literary jabs are still biting and his absurd innovations still leave his readers awed.

 

Ephemeral bibelot is the name given to Le Petit Journal des Refusees. The bibelots, according to F.W. Faxon in Bibliography of Modern Chap-Books, “own their origin to probably the Chap-Books, a little semi-monthly magazine which was born in Cambridge on May 15, 1894” (p 3). These were in great demand and the collectors were willing to pay much more than the original price once they could get the copies to the public. This ushered in the proliferation of “little magazines” and paved the way for young writers to present readers with readings, which will allow them to escape from the seriousness of the more established magazines. Many of these bibelots might have been written by writers who felt they had works of aesthetic value but they were not known and therefore they were not accepted. Faxon supposed that there might be a large waiting public for the new writers since the author of the established magazines might not reach this readership probably because the author’s manuscript was rejected or because the readership which he targeted did not subscribe to those older and more recognized monthlies and quarterlies [p5]. Even though many of the Chap-Books were short lived they had an interesting audience during their existence. Due to the highly intellectual style of expression in this journal one can conclude that the readership was of “a particular kind of aesthetic sensibility and expression” (Faxon, 20).

 

Le Petit Journal des Refuses was born in San Francisco and like many others it seemed to have been only in circulation in that small sphere. I also think it proved itself well as a note worthy work for in collaboration with others, Burgess was able to publish a journal which displayed only works which according to him were refused a place in the major magazines. It is ironic that he is able to mock those who felt he and his work were not of their high standard and the same work proved them otherwise as it gained recognition and acclamation. The readership appears to be economically stable since they craved the bibelots and would pay much more than the actual cost. Yet these journals were not close to the number of established journals and magazines sold. This proved that people were hungering for writings with aesthetic values as well as writings, which could give them some humor such as Le Petit Journal des Refusees with its satire. Burgess also used this journal to express a major concern of his time and that was the issue with women writers and how they were not being acknowledged.

 

In Conclusion…

While journals are not popular medium today, there would have been a place for Burgess’s satirical wit in modern culture had he written for a magazine, wrote his own column or been a regular commentator on a late night talk show.   It is interesting, however, that he seems to have been so popular in his day that he could produce one single issue of a journal at the time when he was already producing another successful journal, clearly confident that his fans and readership would appreciate it and make the purchase. Writing under a pseudonym also added to the journal’s intrigue and witty nature. Adorned with detailed illustrations, the mere format of Le Petit Journal framed to its whimsical nature, making it fun to read, to hold, to simply look through and to find Burgess’s hidden references to himself.   The single issue of this journal clearly had a purpose – like one episode of a beloved sitcom that is trying to ‘make a point,’ or an editorial that deviates from its standard format to deliver a particular message, although the writer’s intentions are not all apparent or clear. Regardless, Burgess and Le Petit Journal succeeded in one of its goal – to allow readers to read more than what was simply the printed word on the page but instead, to immerse them in what would be the joyful, provocative and intriguing experience of his sixteen page journal. 

Rehana Afzal, Hilda Ronquillo, Eli Shoshani

           

       Tyro (1921-22) was Wyndham Lewis's post-war attempt to reincarnate Blast and reignite conversation about avant-garde ideals for a London audience.  The editor faced a number of obstacles in pulling off this second-act: 1. Ezra Pound, notable contributor to Blast, had become the European Editor of The Little Review 2. There was a declining interest in the avant-garde in London  3. Mainstay contributors to Blast, T.E. Hulme and Gaudier-Brzeska, had died in WWI. (Lewis himself had served in the Great War, and considered it a monumental waste of time, fueling his desire to return to his former productivity.)                                                      

          With its cover page, Tyro positions itself as a Review Of The Arts Of Painting Sculpture And Design (note the caption’s lack of punctuation and the cover's sans serif type of varying sizes, similar to that of Blast's). Launched in conjunction with Wyndham Lewis’s first major solo art exhibit, “Tyros and Portraits,” it was a publication by artists for artists--and not to be understood except by an artist.  Pound (of all people!) chided Lewis for this elitist approach.  Lewis needed to attract readers, not rely on a select coterie.  Otherwise "we may regard our work as a private luxury, having no aims but our own pleasure.  = You can't expect people to pay you for enjoying yourself," Pound wrote in a letter to Lewis.    

            Notable Tyro contributors were T.S. Eliot and Wyndham Lewis whose articles open the magazine prominently.  Other contributors largely consisted of members of the Rebel Arts Center and Group X.   Lewis sent out a rallying call "to those painters for whom 'painting' signifies not a lucrative or sentimental calling, but a constant and perpetually renewed effort” (1:2) (i.e. I can't pay you guys). 

            

    Publisher Information:

THE EGOIST PRESS, *(aptly named) 2, ROBERT STREET, ADELPH1. TO BE PRODUCED AT INTERVALS OF TWO OR THREE MONTHS. *(signalling its tentative nature)

PUBLISHED AT 1s. 6d, subscription for 4 numbers, 6s. 6d, with postage. *(only two issues were actually published in total)

Printed by Bradley & Son, Ltd., Little Crown Yard, Mill Lane,Reading.

 

                Tyro's most immediate problem was financial.  Lewis claimed he would use his inheritance money to split the funding costs with contributing author Sidney Schiff (who agreed to back the paper anonymously so that contributors wouldn't expect to be paid).  However, citing financial difficulties, Lewis reneged on his promise; but Tyro was published regardless.    

            The periodical's financial difficulties are reflected in direct appeals to readers. Originally, Lewis claimed that the periodical would be produced at intervals of two to three months, but in the opening note admitted the appearance of the Tyro will be "spasmodic" (1:2). Since they had expanded the journal (the second issue was 6 times as long as the first--made possible by ads, which were completely absent from Issue #1) but cut down the number of issues, Lewis wrote that in good faith the terms of subscription should be considered fulfilled (2:3) with fewer issues.

            On a basic level, Tyro was a doomed enterprise because the tyros did not connect with their audience.  What is a tyro?  The tyro ('tiro' in Medieval Latin: 'beginning soldier'/'recruit') was a symbol of an uncertain post-war society composed of novices, their teeth jutting out in a barbaric, tentative smile.  They were not only esoteric but off-putting.  Ironically, Pound whose highbrow work had been viciously mocked, attempted to steer Wyndham Lewis in a mainstream direction.  Lewis seemed to grow aware that the tyros were alienating readership. Indeed, Lewis promises the appearance of ten tyros in the following issue, but no tyros appear other than the one on the cover. 

Eventually, Lewis himself admitted that the Tyros "were not easy to like."

            Compare the two tyros on the covers: the Tyro of issue #2 is marginalized, reduced, almost boxed out of existence, where the first issue's Tyro had confrontationally leered out at the title.  The second issue now takes on a more subdued and less polemical tone, but too late to win over the public.

        

            After two issues, Lewis took 600 copies on a trip to Paris and gave an inscribed copy to James Joyce in an effort to to pump life into Tyro but neither tactic helped save the publication.  Lewis acknowledged defeat, admitting in Tyro 2 that the magazine hadn't changed much in the art world.  It had failed to reconstitute a dialogue about art and innovation for the post-war era.  The periodical folded by default, with Lewis never publishing another issue. 

            Even afterwards, Lewis chose to "go down with his ship," stubbornly remaining commited to an elitist view promulgated by Blast.  He further isolated himself and wrote critically of his contributors to Tyro--those authors like Schiff who had written for free, and even provided financing!    

 

 Tyro: Attitudes, Politics, Aesthetics

In examining The Tyro, one can immediately sense the difference between this periodical and that of The New Age. Wyndham Lewis has sought to make a favorable argument towards Abstract Art. The overall manifestos are not that of critical begrudging men seeking to demean anything “modern”. Rather, the articles and reviews (save for a surprisingly cynical T.S Elliot) are positive, and painstakingly try to explain why the new art movement should be valued and acknowledged.                                                                                                           

The name Tyro (a beginner or learner in anything; one who has mastered the rudiments only of any branch or knowledge) may be a play against the way Wyndham approaches his ideals of Art appreciation. He attacks any notion that Abstract art is elementary and without aesthetic, and his contributors sing his praises (and that of fellow artists) as well.

In Issue 1 (there were only two issues), there is a sufficient amount of art supplements which are considered modern. Besides the Tyros, which Wyndham presents with a brief history and a tongue in cheek introduction, there are sketchings and drawings by a variety of artists including Wyndham himself. In fact, as the second issue immerses Wyndham is responsible for the bulk of the artwork, accompanied with a few massive essays as well.

The political climate in this issue is one of aggression, both towards the elitist attitude of the English, and organized religion as well. There is one fascinating manifesto by Raymond Drey who speaks of “Emotional Aesthetics” and its role in the art world.  Drey states, “We must consider how far emotion enters at all into the making of works of art”. (Drey 10)   He infers that art that is seen as elementary is done so because it appears to be created out of an impulsive and irrational moment; free from structure. Nevertheless, he maintains that this method does not render an artist without talent. Drey states: “Work that is done in a very short space of time may be the cumulative result of the experience of years…Every fine work of art pre-supposes a period of contemplation…the slowness or rapidity with which the idea is developed to its ultimate form depends on the temperament of the particular artist.” (10)

Unlike the mixed reviews of multiple patrons in The New Age, Wyndham presents firm supporters who share his vision and ideas.

Issue 2, was a great deal denser and included many more works of art displaying everything from Cubist-like drawings to Dobson’s sculptures. I was concerned more with the massive amount of text explaining the movement of modern art and its colossal relevance to art history.

Wyndham, (who not surprisingly includes many of his own works) defends in great detail the “standards of modern art”. Wyndham says “suppose we say that Vorticism and Cubism is at an end. What do you expect is going to be there in its place?”

In other words, there have been great works before this movement and there will be great works after it, so to state that photographic like paintings are the only way to self expression, would be to place Art in a labeled criteria which is impossible.

Raymond Drey who also writes for the second issue says: “Abstract pictorial art is only the invention of our own time in the sense that never in the past has painting depended solely on the appeal of pure form.”

Wyndham, in yet another lengthy manifesto (this time on plastic art) compares art to philosophy because of all the different degrees of arguments that have arisen because of it. Also because like philosophy, rather than trying to ascertain an answer, philosophers and artists alike are more concerned with the question or piece at hand and the discussions that stem from it. The constant attempts to rate art based on method infuriate Wyndham, he states: “In art there are no laws, as there are in science. There is the general law to sharpen your taste and intelligence in every way you can.” He speaks of the future of art as grim, if society continues to view the art world through traditional lenses.

In conclusion Wyndham’s arrangement, in terms of aesthetics, is far more pleasing than previous periodicals reviewed. His focus and intent to persuade the masses is evident. As the editor, clearly his editorial policies would serve to express and deliver his ideas which would make it somewhat bias, yet less hypocritical (in my opinion) than The New Age, which seemed like closet conservatives wearing progressive masks.

 

Tyro in Context

In understanding the importance of the “The Tyro” it was important to read about the specific time frame. I picked the first issue, which appeared in 1921. In so doing, I was able to analyze the works present within the journal from a perspective very much similar to the analysis of Rayonnism. The journal was very unique as it concerned itself mainly with art and painting. Unlike the “New Age Journal,” which was quite substantial and methodical in its presentation, “The Tyro” was a collective presentation of paintings, poems, and satires although its modalities of expression and it originated in London.

The majority of the journal was written by Wyndham Lewis, a major part of the Vorticist movement, which originated in London after the era of cubism. This new style of art, which lasted relatively short period of time was very much similar to Rayonnism, where it tried to externalize the emotions, feelings, perceptions, and realities of the mechanistic society through painting. The movement had a great influence on the magazine, which appeared years after the movement had ceased to be prominent. The first issue contained a series of poems, and included some great paintings, which upon examination fully reify the stances of the movement in discussion. In addressing the newness or the avant-garde nature of the magazine, the Tyro concerned itself with elemental, the raw essence of art, which shifted after World War I as various paradigms within the artistic world saw a renaissance while others died down. Some of the highlights include Cubism, Rayonnism, and Dadaism.

The magazine came at a time of prosperity in the U.S., as historically the 1920s were referred to as the roaring twenties, it was a period of post- war growth and that greatly impacted how the public perceived the magazine and how the magazine chose to sustain itself. The magazine did not go past two issues as Lewis noted that it would see increases in the number of volumes based directly on the perception and need for more input.

I specifically focused on the painting on page 5, as that concerned itself with the evolution of the industrial man. Somehow, the look of sheer greed on the man’s face personifies the roaring twenties, as many individuals amassed a great deal of profit during that decade. However, the face also goes along with the changes brought forth by the industrial revolution where it represents the rise of the entrepreneur. In a similar vein, the painting on page 7 shows two men meeting one another. In this case also there is a connection between the men. Artistically the style of both men is the same, however, these caricatures of real individuals really offer a new way to see how individuals interacted with one another. These two paintings can be seen as a way to represent the tyros during this great period of change. As the movement concerned itself with gauging the impact of the industrial revolution and the WWI, it focused on the elementals, the avant-garde. The paintings were not subtle, as seen through the aforementioned analysis, but they were very much the product of social, political, and economical forces which exerted a great deal of influence on the artist.

Lewis’s painting of a woman seating at a table (pg. 11) sheds light on another facet of society. Where the woman looks perfectly healthy, here eyes are not there. It seems as if this could be related to the women’s suffrage movement, as even after the historic right to vote, women were still oppressed in society due to the existence and entrenched beliefs in socio-political, religious and economic norms. Also, the woman’s features are greatly exaggerated and thus appear to be animated. The over all effect is that it is very difficult to tell how the women sees herself or society, because she does not have eye sight. Also, the women can be a caricature of lower class immigrant women, but lacked financial means of self-advancement.

The first issue of the magazine did not focus on a great deal of issues; it just addressed the realm of artistic expression as Lewis himself stated in the introduction, “…The object of this paper- to be a rallying point for those painters, or persons interested in this country…” (pg. 2). Currently, the journal can be accessed at the following locations:      

National Library of Australia http://rmc.library.cornell.edu/EAD/htmldocs/RMM04612.html- Cornell Library

Project Muse- http://muse.jhu.edu/

These sources continue to draw the attention of those interested in the growth of modernism and change in the art movement.

 *Note: If you have a hankering to get your hands on a copy of The Tyro in book format, it is available in many libraries such as NYPL, Cornell, Wesleyan, Boston U., Harvard, Suny Buffalo, and Oxford if you are ever in the neighborhood.

 

 

 

 

 

Who were the editors of BLAST and at what times?

    * Wyndham Lewis was the editor of BLAST for both of its issues from 1914 to 1915.
    * Lewis also started magazines Tyro and Enemy, though both publications were as short-lived as BLAST.  Lewis was one of the fathers of the Vorticist movement, which combined the color and geometry of Cubism with the industrialism of Futurism.  The typographical adventurousness of BLAST was cited as a major influence in graphic design of the 1920’s and 1930’s.

 

Above is artist William Robert's rendering of BLAST's intimate circle of Vorticists.  Seated left to right: Cuthbert Hamilton, Ezra Pound, William Roberts, Wyndham Lewis, Frederick Etchells and Edward Wadsworth. Standing in the doorway are Jessica Dismorr, Freda Kahlo, and Helen Saunders.

Where was BLAST printed and by which firm?

    * BLAST was published in New York and in London by John Lane (John Lane Company in New York and Bodley Head in London). 
    * Lane was a self-educated man who was mainly associated with publishing controversial and audacious texts for small sophisticated audiences, including The Yellow Book and Lane’s Keynote Series.  His nephew, Allen, later went on to found P Penguin Books.

The Yellow Book, 1894.

Coterie was founded by Chaman Lall, an Oxford University student who also served as editor from the magazine’s inception in 1919 until 1921 when co-founder Russell Green inherited the post.  Having published only five issues over a two and a half year span, Coterie assumes a place amongst a plethora of other early modern magazines whose lifespan was as short as their impact was great.  Notwithstanding, a most superficial view of Coterie will attest to a rather pronounced distinction between that magazine and its historical counterparts.

     Published in its entirety in London by Hendersons, Coterie prided itself in being a magazine that existed with the sole intent of collecting and disseminating purely creative works.  Unlike other little magazines of the period that sought to promulgate certain socio-political views, Coterie assumed an apolitical stance, asserting itself as an outlet for post-World War I and avant-garde poetry and art, especially the works of young, budding writers and artists.  Proof of the magazine’s adherence to this policy lies in the absence of editorials (save in the very last issue) and the arrangement of poems not by like political assertions, but by author.  The prominence of the poetry is highlighted in the stark presentation of a single artist's work on the page, void of any juxtaposition between other writings and artwork.  In this way, the reader confronts each work as an individual entity rather than as a representation of a political or aesthetic ideal. 

Indeed, Coterie represented no one school of thought, but opted to publish poetry and visual artistry that oftentimes were of opposing persuasions.  Examples of this are the magazine’s publication of both abstract and representational art and the inclusion of novice, traditional, and avant-garde materials, sometimes even placed alongside each other.  Additionally, in stark contrast to other turn-of-the-century periodicals that heavily relied on commercial advertisements for survival (a fact that might have determined to some extent who and what they published), Coterie included ads only from “The Bomb Shop,” the magazine’s primary distributor in London.  Furthermore, such advertisements are minimal and are completely absent from the first two issues.  As a result of this refusal to allow Coterie to become laden with commercialist motivations, contributors to the magazine often went unpaid.  Apparently, having one’s work appear in the periodical sufficed as compensation.

Circulation was relatively small, peaking at 1000 for select issues.  It is logical to say that the readership was elite (more so in selectivity than in intellectual acuity), a fact that fails to surprise when one considers the willingness of the magazine’s founder to accept the title, “Coterie,” at the time a term that had come to be associated with artistic snobbery.  In spite of its moderate circulation in London, Coterie enjoyed transatlantic status, gaining both readership and an editorial staff in the United States by the publication of its third issue in December 1919.  Reproduced copies of Coterie can be found in distinguished university libraries across the United States, including those of the University of Pennsylvania, Emory University, and Vanderbilt University.  Ironically, none of the searches completed for this paper found copies (original or otherwise) in the United Kingdom.

Tanya Palmer

 

I noted in general that the magazine changes as the issues progress. The first two issues do not contain any mention of the general editors or editorial staff. However, by the third issue there is mention of the staff, and of a general board of editors. In the first two issues, this seemed to highlight the fact that this was a magazine primairly about the work itself--it is the actual art and content that matters the most. The prominence of the poems themselves are also highlighted in the stark presentation of a single artist's work centered on the page, without any overlapping between different writers and artwork, so the reader confronts each work separately. In the first two issues, there are a few spare pen and ink drawings, but there doesn’t seems to be much of a collaboration between the artwork and poetry, or if there is one, it is confusing. For example, in the 2nd issue, right before the poem “Leda,” by Aldous Huxely, there is a pen and ink drawing of a nude woman by Nina Hamnett who seems to have extremely masculine legs and back, not a young beautiful girl and swan.

 

Although the magazine's cover changes as the issues progress, and by the second issue there is spare artwork included., The magazine doesn't contain any distracting commercial advertisements, although at the end of the second issue there is a feature for the publisher of the magazine, and bookseller, “The Bomb Shop.”

 

However, by the third issue, the magazine has already changed its title from being merely a poetry magazine, from being “art, prose and poetry.” Huxley seems to have been a regular contributor, but his prose pieces, such as in the fourth issue seem extremely trashy. His romance piece opens with a reference to his poem Leda from the last issue, but is on nowhere near the level of the poetry. However, it seems that in this magazine, there is a growing emphasis placed on giving the readership the choices to decide on what is fine or not. Perhaps this is why the magazine opened and features a largely absent editorial staff, to place more emphasis on the readers, to allow them into the “Coterie” of deciding what is good taste and what isn’t. The readership was actually quite high for this type of magazine, and averaging about a 1,000 per issue, considering how expensive this journal was to produce and considering that it didn’t include any everyday commercial advertising interspersed between the issues, just literary advertisements and booksellers.

The art included as well in the fourth and fifth issues are more of their own pieces, less of illustrations and more of their own work, as the new title implies.

 

Rachel Borg

 

Due to conflicting schedules, our group worked separately for this project on Dana; Nicholai focused primarily on the literary work in Volume One, while Klarisa and Lori focused heavily on the overall autonomy of the magazine as a separate entity, as well as Volume Twelve.

Version 1

Sean Latham mentioned in the introductory section to Dana, that the magazine was edited by Frederick Ryan and W.K. Magee between May 1904 and April 1905. Dana was printed and published in Dublin, Ireland by Figgis Hodges and Company Limited. Only twelve issues of the magazine were published. According to Latham, Frederick Ryan was an economist, journalist and playwright who lived from 1876-1913. At one point of his life, he was a member of the Irish Socialist Republican Party—he was also very active in politics. Frederick Ryan sometimes went by the pseudonym Irial in his writings. W.K. Magee was an essayist who worked as a librarian at the National Library of Ireland for a period of time in the early 1900s. He subscribed to the notion of romantic individualism, and had the view that art should not be used for political ends. Magee went by the pseudonym John Eglinton. “Both were active participants in the city’s cultural life and shared a deep suspicion of the growing interest in a narrowly conceived vision of Irish culture that looked toward a mythic past obscure warriors and heroes whose deeds were recorded in a language now spoken only by a small, rural minority. Dana sought to bring forth a fundamentally new and regenerative Irish culture”    (Latham ¶ 6).

At the time Dana was written Ireland was under British rule, and there was a growing feeling of Irish nationalism among the people of Ireland. There was also a struggle and schism between various cultural and political factions. “It was precisely into this breach between two civilizations that Eglinton and Ryan stepped with the first number of Dana in 1904. That opening image they evoke, of a culture striking at flints to light the fire of knowledge, explicitly positions the magazine in opposition to a narrowly conceived revivalism attempting to found national identity upon a mythic past” (¶ 16). The magazine sought to appeal to a broad Irish audience with diverse political and cultural views. 

Our group researched and found that 48 different university libraries within the United States house copies of the magazine in various formats; five of the universities are: Adelphi University, Princeton University, Yale University Library, University of Delaware, and Williams College. Due to time constraints we focused on volume number 1 and number 12. Nicholai focused on volume 1 and Klarisa and Lori focused on volume 12.

In volume number 1, the introductory page bares the title, “Dana” in bold print and the subtitle “A magazine of Independent Thought.” The introduction was written by both of the editors. I think the editors wanted to convey the notion that the publication was open to freedom of expression, and was a rebuttal to the manner in which the nationalists were conducting themselves. “The endeavour to achieve through sincere confessions of poets and the strenuous operation of thought the elemental freedom of the human mind, which is really essential of all independent and therefore national literature, has hardly made its appearance in the Irish literary movement. We invite the thinkers, dreamers, and observers dispersed throughout Ireland and elsewhere, who do not despair of humanity in Ireland, to communicate through our pages their thoughts, reveries and observations…” (p. 2-3).

Volume 1 consists of the cover page, table of contents, introductory, five essays, two poems, and a literary notices section which is featured on the last pages of the magazine. Dana appears to be void of substantive commercial advertising. Following the introduction by the editors, is a poem titled “The Sower” written by an author named Edward Dowden. I think the poem depicts the authors feelings concerning the conditions of Ireland that existed at that time. The poem used biblical language and seemed to be religious in nature. Beginning on page 5 of the volume is an essay titled “Moods and Memories” written by George Moore. The essay in my opinion, was very descriptive and eloquent in nature. The author expressed feelings of nostalgia for the pass—he seemed to prefer the English culture of the past, and appeared dismayed by the cultural changes that were taking place at that time. “Park Lane dips in a narrow and old-fashioned way as it enters Piccadilly. Piccadilly has not yet grown vulgar, only a little modern, a little out of keeping with the beauty of the Green Park, of that beautiful dell, about whose mounds I should like to see a comedy of the Restoration acted. I used to stand here, at this very spot, twenty years ago, to watch the moonlight between the trees, and the shadows of the trees floating over the beautiful dell; I used to think of Wycherly’s comedy, ‘Love in St. James Park,’ and I think of it still” (p. 7-8).

After that, there is an essay written by John Eglinton titled “The Breaking of The Ice.” Eglinton was critiquing the writings of a Catholic priest named Father Sheehan. Eglinton was promoting the notion of  individuality and freedom of expression, and rejecting the pre-eminence of organized religion. “We feel in reading Father Sheehan as if the stock of mankind were rotten. [W]e must declare a holy war against books of this cast of pietism, which, under the guise of amenity and culture, enter the camp of the moderns to ‘spy out the land:’ to find flaws, for example, in the sublime intellectual integrity and spiritual ardour of men like Kant and Shelly. A fig for that belief in God which implies as its obverse a disbelief in man” (p12, 16).  A poem titled “ The Omen” written by an author known only by the initial M. appears after the Eglinton piece. I am not sure if I fully understand the message portrayed by the poem, but I think the author was expressing a longing for freedom from British rule. Following the poem is an essay titled “ The Abbe Loisy” written by Ed. Dujardin. The author was also criticizing the Catholic Church. An author named Ossorian wrote about Imperialism. Ossorian was comparing and contrasting the perspectives of imperialists and those under their rule. He explained that the British Empire brought some good to Ireland and probably had good intentions, but its desire to maintain power led to great harm and suffering. “But power is the antithesis to freedom, power means discipline, unquestionable authority, unity, centralization. It means the opposite of everything that freedom means. But the world exists for the individual, not the individual for the world, and power, gained at the cost of human vitality and freedom, is a loss, and the greatest of losses” (p. 26).

The final essay was by Frederic Ryan. He criticized the Catholic Church and some of the political factions for their manipulation of the Irish public. He likened the conduct of the Catholic Church and various political factions to that of the British imperialists. Frederic mirrored the sentiments of Eglinton. “The vices of the dominant faction, ruling without consent and without sympathy, corrupt the whole body politic, so that in such a soil, race and religious passion waxes strong, and political science is at a discount. The Irish people, trampled by alien and unsympathetic rule, have looked with aching eyes to a heaven of bliss, and they have, more or less contentedly, lain down in their chains soothed by the hope of after-reward… We need in Ireland a spirit of intellectual freedom, and a recognition of the supremacy of humanity” (p. 27, 31).

Based on the reading of volume 1, I wonder if the mythic past to which Latham referred was religion. It appears to me that the authors were advocating a movement away from deep religious believes to an embracing of science.

 

Version 2

Dana: An Irish Magazine of Independent Thought was a small magazine, self explanatory in its’ title, and published in the early twentieth century. Only twelve issues were published in Dublin from May 1904 to April 1905; the twelfth and final issue focused primarily on the same types of ideology as the first issue. The publishers were Hodges, Figgis & Co., Ltd and David Nutt. Dana had two editors, Frederick Ryan and William Kirkpatrick Magee, whom was better known by the pseudonym John Eglinton. Frederick Ryan was an economist, journalist, and playwright. He was politically active working as a part of the Irish Socialist Republican Party, then in 1909 becoming the secretary of the Socialist Part of Ireland. Ryan occasionally used the pseudonym Irial to write in Dana as well as Arthur Griffith's nationalist paper, Sinn Féin. William Kirkpatrick Magee was a literary journalist who worked as a librarian. Many of his essays appeared in Dana.

During our first quick observation of Dana we noticed that there was no art or advertising in any of the issues. We also noticed something quite peculiar when we were skimming through each volume as a whole; the first and the last two pages looked different; darker and more vintage unlike the thirty something pages in the middle that are bright white, easily read, and just plain text.  Upon further investigation, we realized that all twelve issues had the same trait of having the first and the last two pages authentic.  Our suspicions were aroused regarding the scanning of the original magazine; it was quite obvious that the Modern Journal Project at some point had in their possession the authentic Dana magazine but chose to scan a very limited amount of it.  We were perplexed by the decision that the Modern Journal Project made not to scan the entire authentic Dana magazine, which in hand led us on a quest to get a hold of the original magazine.

  

After several unsuccessful search attempts including the Brooklyn College Library and the New York City Public Library, we’ve located a published reproduction of Dana in a book published in 1970 containing Issues 1-12.  It is located in St. Mary’s University, in Halifax, Canada.  In addition, based on www.worldcat.org search, there are over 40 various forms of the magazine in the United States: As an example, New York University Library has Issues 1-12 on a Bobst Microform.  Thankfully we were able to obtain a copy of the 1970 published book of Dana: An Irish Magazine of Independent Thought, Volume 1, May 1904 to April 1905.  Upon inspection of the text we quickly realized that the Modern Journal Project used this or a very similar text to scan into their database.  The evidence of this was quite remarkably apparent in the way the pages are numbered and the overall layout of the book. In the book text it clearly states that this is “an unabridged republication of the periodicals complete run published in Dublin”.

 

It is our belief that in 1970 what was meant by that statement is that the actual literary text content was untouched, but the possible surrounding aesthetic of the magazine might be missing.  We are basing that theory on the fact that the entire book is very monotone in appearance, and the few examples of the authentic text in the beginning and at the end of each volume seem to vary in font size and layout.  With this information, we are quite concerned whether or not we’re getting the full true feel and understanding of Dana. The original magazine seen in its’ intended form might change our opinions and the meaning behind it.  Sadly, due to the time constraints, we are unable to vouch one way or the other of the authenticity of which way Dana was originally published in 1904-1905.

As a footnote, the contents pages in the book are quite helpful in locating the exact pages for a particular poem, essay, sonnet or replies in the entire magazine, and we would highly recommend for the Modern Journal Project to include this helpful information.  

Similar to The New Age, Dana did not portray only one side of an issue. Instead, it was a medium that fostered “cultural and literary debates”. It was written to appeal to an Irish audience that shared different philosophical, political, and cultural views. According to the Introduction, “[t]o open the first issue of Dana in this way, therefore, was immediately to court controversy by suggesting that Irish culture must be born in the crucible of the present- and, significantly in the medium of English-rather than in a utopian Gaelic past.”(Introduction)  Dana attempted to appeal to more then just the narrow-minded, stereotypically mystical idea of what an Irish man is.  It wanted to embody everything Irish, including but not limited to the educated, opinionated, artistic and vocal individuals that have built Ireland.  

To truly understand Dana, one needs to understand a small bit of Irish history and nationalism which would undoubtedly include a quick biography of one named Charles Stewart Parnell who was “an Anglo –Irishman who had effectively forged the Irish members of the British Parliament into a powerful voting block that had all but secured the long sought goal of the home rule”.  Parnell’s failure in getting successful independence for Ireland in 1891 was a national letdown for a country that has been under British oppression for over two hundred years. (Introduction)  Although Parnell was unsuccessful, the core belief of an independent Ireland state was the backbone for Dana. 

The very last issue of Dana continued to be heavily focused on the concept of an independent state.  It was quite visible in an essay by Lionel Vane Wanted: A Democratic Spirit, where he mentions the “Parnell split” (No.12 pg. 353) as the turning point in Ireland.  He insinuated that the recent “new movements” might not want independence but instead want to “capture the old orthodoxy”. (No.12 pg. 354)  Lionel Vane believed in a democratic state which values humanity and a better, more humane way of life. Some may view his opinions to be borderlining Communist ideas based on his strong allegiance with the working class and poor.  He is also openly critical of the British ruling mass.

Unlike other bourgeois periodicals during the early 1900’s, Dana focused primarily on the ordinary man and his everyday life.  Although there were many poems and essays that depicted life and politics in the 12 volumes of Dana, a wonderful example of simplicity and beauty of an ordinary man’s journey in Ireland can be read in a short story by Jane Barlow called “Michael , a Meditator”.  This ordinary man named Michael Doherty lived his entire life meditating and pondering everything small and grand.  He taught for 30 years until he was ousted under new management.  Being a very complacent man, he left without a fight.  He loved the lavish secluded nature of Ireland and adored reading.  By all means Michael Doherty was an educated Irish man without expectations of grandeur; “he led a fairly contended and suitable sort of existence” (No.12 pg. 360). Though the ending of the story was quite anti-climactic, the meaning behind the ordinary might be the strongest in the final sentence, “In fact, one way or the other, he had as many opportunities for discourse as he desired” (No.12 pg. 363). That statement alone could be a metaphor for how the author saw the demise of Irish society and culture.  Though educated and wise, with hidden beauty, not passionate enough to fight.

In conclusion, outing of bigotry of race, the knocking down of outdated views of Ireland, and creating a new venue to help develop a new national culture separate from Britain yet not be cut off from England and Europe were some of the main driving forces behind Dana: An Irish Magazine of Independent Thought magazine.  To paraphrase the ending of an essay by R.W. Lynd The Nation and the Man of Letters, if Ireland does everything by British standards, they would never have their own national identity, art, and culture. (No. 12 pg. 376)

Shawna Love, Lisa Accardi, Roseanne Honan

Readership and Overview of The Blue Review

It has been difficult to gather evidence regarding the readership and social-economic-political positions of The Blue Review. What has been gleaned, however, has allowed for new methods of comparison and contrast, as well as the illumination of a different facet of the modernist period. In its short span, The Blue Review allowed for the publication of many poems, illustrations and short stories by well-known Georgian and modernist authors and artists. Although considered “interesting” due to its contributing writers, there seems to be an undercurrent of conservatism that may have led to The Blue Review’s short life span.

The Blue Review could be considered a more accessible avant-garde literary magazine. Katherine Mansfield, a New Zealand expatriate and author, and John Middleton Murry, a literary critic with working-class ties, created the magazine following the demise of Rhythm. Distinctions can be made after researching both The New Age and The Blue Review, as The New Age had clear inclinations towards a certain agenda, despite its open criticisms and discourses. The Blue Review has no manifesto or editorial summation of a particular political standpoint. 

The geographical base of The Blue Review was clearly situated in England, as the magazine was published in London. Murry and Mansfield did find inspiration from the French, perhaps in both style and presentation. Little was found in regards to the numbers of subscribers to the magazine during my research, but it seems that it must have proved disappointing for a reader who paid for a long-term subscription of a magazine which subsequently folded in a three-month span. There were obvious plans to extend the magazine’s publication, which is noted in another part of this essay.

What has been noted in the research of The Blue Review, and what can be speculated is that the readership of the magazine would be more inclined to read literary works devoid of pointed political opinion. The Blue Review was less an exchange of ideas, but rather a means to transmit the works of certain authors of the time. There seems to be quite an emphasis on poetry. One of the more notable which reflects a traditional or romantic nod with a dash of witticism was “To His Friend, To Try Another Tavern” by Oliver Gogarty (Volume 1, Issue 1). In addition to poetry, complete short stories abound in The Blue Review, with contributions by its co-editor, Katherine Mansfield, in each issue. Some works continue on for more than five pages, such as “The Soiled Rose” by D.H, Lawrence (Volume 1, Issue 1), a friend of both Mansfield and Murry.

Despite its apparent “conservative” or traditionalist slant, The Blue Review is still considered part of the Modernist Journal Project, and continues to be researched. This may be due to the interest in the personal lives of both Murry and Mansfield, who are researched as literary critic and author, respectively. This did seem to hinder the research, as any mention of The Blue Review in Murry’s and Mansfield’s biographies were short. There are available editions of the original Blue Review, which can be found in the British Library (call number P.P5938.g). Closer to home, the New York Public Library has the magazine in microform. Through a search of www.worldcat.org, text editions can be procured at the University of Central Oklahoma, Whitworth University in Spokane, Washington and Washington State University. The Modernist Magazine Project also continues its research of little magazines and modernist magazines, “both fugitive and more established magazines,” according to their website. Professor Peter Brooker at Sussex University will continue researching for an as-of-yet published three-volume collection entitled Critical and Cultural History of Modernist Magazines. During research, I stumbled upon a website associated with this collection (the first volume in the series is slated for publication in 2009):

Problems of survival, maintaining a position and readership. ... (1911-13), The Blue Review (1913) and Signature (1915) (Peter Brooker, Nottingham) ...
www.cts.dmu.ac.uk/modmags/critical/volone.php

This website would have proved invaluable for my research into the readership and position of The Blue Review, but it will have to wait until next year.

Its short span as a literary magazine may be equated with failure, but the editors of The Blue Review can be lauded for their efforts in publishing the works of writers and artists, both well-known and obscured in history. Small literary magazines such as The Blue Review allowed for the expression of ideas, which embodies the modernist spirit. 

Addendum

During research, we could not help but to draw parallels between The Blue Review and modern literary journals, such as New York’s Hudson Review and online publications like Glimmertrain. These types of literary publications showcase the works of artists and authors, just as The Blue Review seems to do for the editors’ friends and colleagues. To contrast, there are still several modern magazines that hearken back to The New Age’s open discourse. Zoetrope, movie director Francis Ford Coppola’s virtual, interactive website where writers, poets screenwriters and artists can post their work online and have it critiqued by fellow artists, may well become part of the relevant discourse of literary society. 

INTERESTING FACT: The editorial headquarters of The Blue Review was located at 57 Chancery Lane, London. The same address now houses The Labor Press, an anarchist magazine which publishes Liberty’s Library.

History of The Blue Review

In order to adequately discuss The Blue Review, we must explore its history, which actually pre-dates its existence. The Blue Review existed solely because of the demise of its predecessor, Rhythm, which was said to have no specific political implications. John Middleton Murry was inspired to start the avant-garde magazine, Rhythm, with his friend J.D. Fergusson by the Parisian art world. During this period, Paris was regarded as the most artistically avant-garde city of the time.

Murry met Katherine Mansfield (who would later become his wife) while they were both contributors to The New Age. Later in the publication of Rhythm, Mansfield joined Murry as co-editor. They began to edit under the pseudonym “The Two Tigers.” Murry’s lack of business knowledge led Rhythm into large financial debt with its printers. Murry and Mansfield were forced to move out of their country home and into a one room apartment, which would later serve as the office for both Rhythm and The Blue Review. Many of those in the literary circle in London admired the pair for struggling to make the magazine survive and offered to contribute pieces free of charge. Despite these kind actions, the financial difficulties were too great to bear and Rhythm folded in March of 1913.

Murry and Mansfield

In May of 1913, Murry and Mansfield created and edited Rhythm’s replacement, The Blue Review. Murry was so committed to making his publication work that he assumed the financial risk himself. The Blue Review was published in London by Martin Secker and lasted only three issues. The Blue Review was published in May, June and July of 1913 before it too folded due to financial difficulties. Finances were such an issue that shortly thereafter Murry was forced to file bankruptcy.

During the short run of The Blue Review, Murry and Mansfield contributed a number of pieces to the magazine, selling each eighty-five page issue for only one shilling. Although Murry grew up poor, he was classically educated. This, as well as his love of art and admiration for the French may have been reflected in pieces included in The Blue Review. Murry managed The Blue Review on a cooperative basis. This meant that writers were to contribute to The Blue Review for nine months without payment. After nine months, all of the profits were to be divided amongst the contributors after deducting production expenses. This idea was similar to those followed with much success in some French reviews, most markedly, Le Mercure de France. Since The Blue Review only lasted three months before it folded, it is safe to speculate that the contributors never got paid. 

The Style and Format of The Blue Review

In its three issues, The Blue Review sought to provide readers with a magazine that contained literature, drama, art and music.  The journal was written in a style similar to that of a book in that each page dedicated to writing did not include any advertisements or photos.  Unlike publications such as The New Age, or even John Middleton Murry’s previous publication, Rhythm, The Blue Review’s poetry and short stories were printed from beginning to end, without interruption or extraneous material on the page.  In fact, if a poem or short story ended at the top of a page, the remaining space on the page was left blank.  Within issue 2 there is a short story titled “Anger and Dismay.”  The story runs from pages 18-26 and ends at the very top of page 26.  More than three-quarters of page 26 is simply left as white space. Perhaps leaving blank space on a page gave readers the opportunity to immerse themselves in the literature without distraction. 

The pages of the journal were formatted into one column and numbered at the bottom in the center, which also gave it a book-like appearance.   It is also fascinating to note that The Blue Review’s pagination ran straight through all three issues.  Issue 1 begins on page 1 and ends on page 76.  Neither the art nor the advertisements are paginated.  Issue 2 picks up on page 77 and issue 3 begins on page 149.  This gives the journal a feeling of continuity, or perhaps it was a marketing ploy. Readers may have felt as if they missed out on something of importance in a previous issue if the current issue did not begin on page 1.  Thus, they may have sought out the earlier issue.

The first issue and last issue of The Blue Review had the contents or contributors listed on the cover and again two pages into the journal.  However, the second issue did not list this information on the cover.  One can infer that citing a journal’s contents on the cover would help to sell the publication and perhaps it was poor sales that prompted The Blue Review to revert to listing its contents on the cover of the last issue.

   

The publication was arranged so that after the contents, the first few pages were devoted to advertising, followed by one or two works of art.  Poetry followed the artwork, then short stories, reviews and further advertisements.  In the first two issues, artwork was sprinkled throughout the journal.  However, in issue 3, the last issue of the journal, only one page of artwork is printed and is located at the beginning of the issue.  This work is a drawing titled, “Post Georgian,” by X. Marcel Boulestin.  Unlike most of the realistic art published in The Blue Review, this piece is modern in that the facial features of the subject are distorted, out of proportion and misplaced.  Notably, X. Marcel Boulestin also contributed writing to The Blue Review and his piece titled “Recent French Novels” was published in the 2nd issue of the journal.  He later went on to become a famous French chef. 

Other art contributors to the journal also had works published in other literary magazines of the time.  Max Beerbohm, whose “A Study of Dubiety” was printed in the first issue of The Blue Review, had cartoons and other various artwork published in both The New Age and The Owl. 

Unfortunately, the art in The Blue Review “never manages to match the vigorous modern visual art that makes its predecessor (Rhythm) especially interesting,” according to The Modernist Journals Project.  This is certainly evidenced by the single work of art in the last issue.

Advertisements were listed in both the very front of The Blue Review and again on the last two pages.  Curiously, several advertisements are written in French – one for a French literary magazine, La Nouvelle Revue Francaise and another for a French periodical, La vie des Lettres.  Perhaps The Blue Review had a French readership, or subscribers were interested in the French culture. 

 

At least three advertisements were related to products for the home or beauty.  In the very first issue, the second page contains a full page ad, printed in blue, for a store that specializes in linens patterned with “designs by modern artists.”  In the second issue, there is an ad for The Parma Room, a place that customers can seek “scientific hair brushing” and “face treatment.”  Maud Barham specialized in “gowns of beautiful lines & subtlety of colour” and also printed an advertisement in the second issue of The Blue Review.  These ads seem to prove that the journal had a large female readership. 

 

One advertiser remained with the publication throughout its tenure.  The publishers of Carnival, “Compton Mackenzie’s famous novel” printed an ad in all three issues of The Blue Review, but strangely, the author was not a contributor to the journal.

Rhythm: Art Music Literature Quarterly

Eugenia, Noriela, Christina

            Our group analyzed and discussed the journal of Rhythm from the Modernist Journal Project.  This journal ran from the summer of 1911 until 1913.  The main editor was John Middleton Murry and his assistants were Michael T.H. Sadler and John Duncan Ferguson, who was mainly the art editor.  In June of 1912, Katherine Mansfield joined Rhythm as the assistant editor and she became the co-editor in 1913.  She and John Murray started a long tumultuous affair.  They were married years later around 1918.  We focused on Volume One, Issue One, Summer of 1911, Volume Two, Issue Nine, October 1912 and Issue Fourteen, March 1913.  After doing some further research into the lives of Murry and Mansfield we discovered that there were many poems and stories written about their romance such as the poem Torment written by Murray in Issue Nine in Volume Two.  He writes about his torment of being the other man. Murray's writing in this poem shows his lust and desire to be with his mistress forever.  According to the end of the first Volume, Issue One, the Aim and Ideals of Rhythm were to seek out the strong things in art.  " Before art can be human it must learn to be brutal.  Our intention is to provide art, be it drawing, literature, or criticism." 

Rhythm was published in London by The Saint Catherine Press Stephen Swift and Company LTD Martin Secker from 1911-1912.  In 1912 Secker continued on as publisher in 1913 and into The Blue Review Journal which was a follow up to Rhythm.  Through WorldCat we found that the original magazine is in New Zealand.  The journal is at the Alexander Turnbill Library, the National Library of New Zealand.  We corresponded with the library and they have informed us that they indeed do have Rhythm.  They wanted our address to send us relevant information about the journal.  Unfortunately, the New Zealand library said it would take up to three weeks to get more information to us.  Maybe you are wondering why the original Rhythm is in New Zealand? Well Katherine Mansfield was born in the country.  She lived there until she moved to England to pursue her writing dreams.  Mansfield was one of few prominant literary artists from  New Zealand and therefore she was recognized and respected there.  Our theory is that the original is in New Zealand to honor their local writer.

Bibliographic Descriptions:

The cover of each magazine is the same.  It is blue with a picture of a naked woman that seems to represent Eve.  We assume that the lady is a representation o because she is next to a tree holding an apple in her hand.  The print is fairly large and bold.  Most pages have pictures on them with distinct bold lines and harsh colors.  "This is why many artists connected to Rhythm were later considered Vorticists." 

 

The pictures were on pages with stories and poems and some were on a page by themselves.  Noticeably many of the drawings were displayed in a sexual manner.  There were instances where the drawings also directly followed the related poetry, stories or reviews.  The artists who drew the pictures were real artists, fairly well known from different countries such as France, England and Italy. Many of the magazines also had self portraits of the artists and the editors of the journal.  For example, the following sketch is of the co-editor Katherine Mansfield.

 

In the earlier journal their were no advertisements.  It was not until the third journal that "announcements" were installed.  This is the name they used for advertisements.  Jet'Aime is an example of an advertisemnt that followed a poem about love and romance.  Jet'Aime means I love you.  This company still exists today and has evolved into a Bridal Shoppe in New Zealand.  The adverisements in Issue Nine (1912) were primarily ads for Art.  Such as advertisements for museums, galleries, exhibitions and stores selling or showing art.  There were also many ads for theatrical readings, plays and shows around the region.

Political and Social Economic Positioning:

Based on reading and scanning the three issues we have chosen, I have come to the conclusion that Rhythm did have some strong positioning on Art and Philosophy.  Its editors did have opinions as far as social class and gender.  In looking into some of the authors of the stories and poems I read, I found that most of them were well established in areas such as science fiction and fantasy.  My assumption is that writing for Rhythm enabled these writers to express their positioning on Art and voice what they felt  was going on economically and politically within the time period.  For example, to start of with I want to dicuss Volume I, Issue One's article Art and Philosophy written by its main editor John Middleton Murry.  I think this article sums up what Rhythm was continuously trying to accomplish throughout the years.  The article is based on the French Philosopher Bergson's theories.  The belief in free will, real truth and eternality of Art were some of his thoeries that Murry stands behind.  Art should continue from generation to generation.  You only become individualized from the past's inheritance.  "Art doesn't break from the past, but a path to the future."  The present presents a fresh path of progress.  You do not forget the past, you embrace it and move forward with changes of the times and truth within your heart.  Aetheticism is how one should create their art.  False Aetheticism cripples Art. Art has many forms and Murry continues to state that having just the past is one aspect of art.  Using the past to create the future "harmonizes" the two into a beautiful song. 

Later on, however, I believe that some of the magazine issues do delve into the political and veer away from being totally aesthetic.  There is aestheticism in this issue within the poetry. Two poems of Arthur Crossthwaite's convey love and depression.  He uses a lot of imagery and metaphor in Songe D' ete and Ennui.  You get the sense he is writing from the heart and perhaps a loved one.  He uses a flower and color to represent women.  It seems as if the class of women is below a man and a lonely life.  The women depicted in some of these poems and stories is portrayed as a dreamer, dreaming because she is stuck with no place to go and is controlled by society; particularly men.  We see this in Volume Two, Issue Fourteen  in two stories: The Little Town and The Clown.  Both stories depict the women as puppets.  The Little Town shows how society is manipulated by the governing or popular factor.  No matter what the women does she cannot stop the manipulation.  The poem the "Mocking Fairy" is also a representation of a women who is not truly free to express herself within Art.  She is stuck in her home sheltered away from the rest of the world even the mystical one.  It is interesting the poems and stories I have mentioned were written by men.  I think this is because the men writing in Rhythm believed in the same philosophy as Bergson and wanted an aestheticism in art and life for everyone.  It was time to use the past to create a productive future.  Changes were neccesary and needed for the equality of genders and the productiveness of society.

Flipping back to the middle section of journals with Volume Two, Issue Nine, the magazine relates work to its editors Murry and Middleton's love affair. Throughout there are some stories that hindge on religion which as I believe to know it would not be in the aestheticism way.  At first, I thought the journal was harping on religion based on skimming through various articles. From skimming religions seemed present because the use of many theological terms were present.  But it is my inclination now that I was wrong and Rhythm does not overwhelmingly procure specific teachings of one particular religion in the articles I read.  There was a snippet of mention in the story The Little Girl only because they went to church.  But, the main focus was on the little girl's relationship with her father.  Instead this story brings up issues of class and roles of the family.  The stereotype that the father in the household is the boss and that a child should be scared of him.  As opposed to the woman figures in the home such as her mother or grandmother.  The story also implies a certain class status of wealth due to the fact they own a piano, soft silk pillows, extra rooms in the house and servants to help out.  The author Lili Heron shows you a stereotype of the past and then at the end of her story she enables the reader to see how change benefits the role of the family when the father can take his daugher in his arms and be just as maternal as a grandma would be. A different type of story called Fuel written by Dusany links back to the earlier theories of Art and Philosophy.  I sensed as strong tone of sarcasm in his writing.  Dusany whose background is in fantasty uses this genre, he knows so well, and creates a story that mixes fantasy with metaphorical satire.  He associates the coal as the unwanted poets of the time.  He analyses how the poets are neglected and that their ideals are mocked.  "Staying left in the past keeps Art at hold like an anchored ship."  Dusany wants to see the old ways come down.  He declares he'd sit down and listen to a poet any old day or time.  He feels it is important to talk and share dreams and hopes with your friends and loved ones before you die. In another comparison, Dusany uses the magic children feel Christmas Eve night and sacred ritual it is as a way to say that people should feel that mystery and magical spark about Art.

From what I have read and observed Rhythm was an entertaining journal.  It had a mixture of literature for everyone.  It had artwork that was bold, daring and compelling to the eye.  The stories and poems were both enjoyable, and intense.  They inclined you to be socially aware of the present and how to move forward into the future.  Their advertisements were passionate about institutionalizing the arts into every day life.  For the most part the editors of Rhythm sustained their mission to have aesthetic viewpoints on Art and to continue to adhere into the future not negating the past, just changing it.

Now concernning their spiritual beliefs a thought was sparked when I first read their first story in Volume 1 which was called the 'The New Thelema'. At first when I read it, I questioned whether this was a story or was it their philosophy on life.  Therefore I looked up the word Thelema and I found that it was a philosophy which was developed by Francois Rabelais in 1532. Then around 1904 an English poet and author called Alesister Crowley, developed this philosophy even furthur. The main beliefs are "Do what thou wilt, shall be the whole of the law."They believed that every man and woman is a star and that each have a unique path in the universe. Therefore, because of this unique path in the universe they must do what they will in order to obtain their fulfillment and freedom in life. Another main belief is, "Love is the law, love under will". They believe that the entire universe of  humans are united by this power of love.

In conclusion this philosophy focuses on freedom and individuality and love and when you come to think of it, that is what Rhythm is all about.One can see individuality and freedom through their paintings and one can definitely sense the power of love through their poems.