The Penny Magazine of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge

1 June 1833

Shoults Ec 1832 P 1833

London: The Society

In the 1830s, a number of inexpensive weekly journals attempted to attract the growing number of Britain’s working-class readers. The Penny Magazine (1832-1845) was a Whig competitor to the more conservative Chambers’s Edinburgh Journal. Sponsored by the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge,the Penny Magazine was known for the striking wood engravings on its cover pages. Early sales were strong, and the journal achieved a weekly circulation of 200,000 in its first year.