This is a past event
In Britain between 1822 and 1825, at least seven new periodical publications were established for engineers, artisans and mechanics. These new technical periodicals offered commercial potential and gave editors the opportunity to build credibility and status that could support other careers, such as patent agency, engineering consultancy, technical authorship or teaching.
In this paper, I will explore the almost universal aspiration among those editors to include reading audiences in the production of their publications. Frequently this was a result of needing ‘free’ copy or in the hope of generating sensationalised debate, but in some cases there was a genuine desire amongst editors to improve the writing style of British mechanics such that their correspondence could ‘do honour to any work’.
By comparing the attempts that different editors made to include their readers in their productions, I hope to demonstrate the variety of ways in which editors of these new publications of the 1820s encouraged, educated and managed their correspondents.
- Speaker
- Ellen Packham, University of Aberdeen
- Venue
- via Teams