Wednesday, October 23, 2002

A slang dictionary: Useful! Dictionary of English slang and colloquialisms of the UK: "A monster online dictionary of the rich colourful language we call slang... all from a British perspective, with new slang added every month." 4:45:52 PM     |

And another one! The Penny Magazine of the Society for the diffusion of Useful Knowledge: "This page represents an effort, begun by Laurie Dickinson and Sarah Wadsworth as part of the graduate seminar English 8330: Illustrated Periodicals (Fall 1995) at the University of Minnesota. Our purpose is to make available electronically some of the key issues of the Penny Magazine of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, a popular illustrated weekly of mid-nineteenth century Britain. The publications from the first volume include the full texts of the Preface to that Volume and the text and images from the very first issue of the periodical. The publications from the second volume are of four issues in which the Penny Magazine itself is used as an exemplar to demonstrate the history and technologies of commercial publishing. These four issues are presented in full-page graphical image format and as illustrated annotated texts. In addition, we will be making available bibliographic information and critical essays which pertain to this series." 1:09:56 PM     |

The Penny Magazine is simply fantastic. The german edition (Greno 1985) is long out of print; here is the original and, best of all, it's online. Fabulous. The Penny Magazine, published every Saturday, was aimed at the working class. It was part of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge's program for liberal reform. for its reader, however, it was a source of information on subjects of general interest: everyday things like tea and coffee, well-known places in England, a series on animals and birds of Britain, descriptions of prsent-day manufacturing, even an American alaman and a serial of a personal account of an immigrant's problems. Poetry was published, too, and there are several illustrations in each issue. Penny Magazine Online Home Page 12:42:52 PM     |