Periodicals

This is an overview of the change to s spellings in nineteenth century British periodicals. As I investigate more publications, the main findings will be added to this page. For more detailed information, and to check my findings, you can look at the posts for individual publications listed at the end.
This is part of an investigation I've been doing into the use and spelling of -ize suffix verbs and their spelling (-ize or -ise) in British English. For more details, related posts and the methods I've used, see the -ize / -ise page.

Periodicals in the nineteenth century

Periodicals were incredibly popular in the nineteenth century. For an overview of Victorian periodicals, you could have a look at the Victorian Research website, listed in the links at the end. For a more detailed account of their importance and variety, I recommend the bulletin from the Newberry Library, Chicago. For a representative list, which I hope to slowly work through, see the Wellesley Index. For individual publications, you could look at the Victorian Web Publications Index. All these are linked to at the end.
Of course, periodicals differ from books in that each issue consisted of material from various different sources. On top of that they included advertising, so it is perhaps not surprising that the spelling of -ize suffix verbs was even less consistent than in book publishing.

Changing from -ize to -ise

The change from z to s in British publishing is very evident when you look at 19th century periodicals. Most seem to have started off the century as mainly z, but with a lot of inconsistencies. The number of s spellings gradually increased during the first half of the century. Intriguingly, in some cases z seems to have made a bit of a rearguard action, before being vanquished more or less completely by s.
Blackwood's Magazine moved definitively to s in 1847, and within a couple of years The Edinburgh Review had followed suit. Between 1849 and 1871, Notes and Queries used predomonantly s endings, with a few stray zs, mainly as far as I can see, in advertisements. An 1870 issue of The Illustrated London News uses s exclusively, and The Quarterly Review finally changed over to s sometime at the end of the nineteenth century.

Timeline

  • 1847 Blackwood's Magazine changed definitively to s spellings
  • 1848-9 The Edinburgh Review changed definitively to s spellings
  • 1849 Notes & Queries first published - s spellings dominate
  • 1854 Bentley's Miscellany first published in 1837 goes definitively s
  • 1861 Temple Bar first published - 100% s endings although a few z endings creep in later
  • 1865 The Fortnightly Review first published - almost all s endings
  • 1867 St Paul's Magazine first published (edited by Anthony Trollope). Vol 1 all s, Vol 4 85% s, most z seem to be in two articles
  • 1870 Illustrated London News (introduced 1842, with a mix of s and z endings) all s spellings
  • 1873 The Spectator definitively changes to s spellings
  • By 1905 The Quarterly Review had changed to s spellings

Blackwood's Magazine

-ize-ise
-ize-ized-izing-izationtotal-ise-ised-ising-isationtotal
Vol 1 1817 93041558 13251140
Vol 7 1820 9215944 814123
Vol 14 1823 2147826122 268
Vol 20 1828 2253940124 7156129
Vol 25 1829 11274547 13326758
Vol 33 1833 23601213108 213032579
Vol 40 1836 845101255 28223964
Vol 46 1839 17561114108 2341432100
Vol 50 1841 21911847177 14145336
Vol 54 1843 35761252175 5193128
Vol 57 1845 233822891 1010727
Vol 60 1846 7171631 3161939140
Vol 61 1847 5132527 3674720127
Vol 62 1847 11 37701928154
Vol 64 1848 0 43971664200
Vol 81 1857 213 33781238161
Vol 91 1862 0 4379736165
Vol 108 1870 0 49731127160

The Edinburgh Review

-ize-ise
-ize-ized-izing-izationtotal-ise-ised-ising-isationtotal
Vol 1 1802 143342576 213
Vol 10 1807 112441655 0
Vol 20 1812 163331365 3418
Vol 30 1818 81231336 812121
Vol 39 1824 4274641 57416
Vol 50 1829-30 11244544 192841869
Vol 59 1834 122242058 920222473
Vol 70 1839-40 73931564 142542669
Vol 80 1844 93322165 71825
Vol 81 1845 102731151 82331
Vol 83 1846 74413587 1736255
Vol 85 1847 82612055 12292952
Vol 91 1849-50 0 1884844154
Vol 100 1854 0 36791049174
Vol 110 1859 0 1854549126
Vol 121 1865 0 2552832117
Vol 130 1869 0 2255539121
Vol 135 1872 0 2859661154

Notes and Queries

From a run of 40 volumes, from 1849 to 1869 at the ILEJ
Verb-ize-ise
-ize-ized-izing-ization-ise-ised-ising-isation
apologise 11731518
authorise 333173555278
characterise 13518511
civilise 18279201214
criticise 384425
monopolise 571
organise 1621068657
realise 2114771702422
recognise 223053545
sympathise 11321214
totals 1060333 5821611162303

Bentley's Miscellany

-ize-ise
-ize-ized-izing-izationtotal-ise-ised-ising-isationtotal
Vol 1 1837 151512 1714738
Vol 2 1837 36615 13356155
Vol 5 1839 6124527 8254239
Vol 14 1843 3112723 131528
Vol 21 1847 7173431 11182637
Vol 26 1849 82732159 10216239
Vol 31 1852 1126102370 11153130
Vol 33 1853 133471771 711119
Vol 34 1853 122841660 7136531
Vol 35 1854 162514 172381563
Vol 36 1854 41139 154531477
Vol 37 1855 0 174072084
Vol 38 1855 0 153741672
Vol 41 1857 0 27427783
Vol 44 1858 22 2550725107

Temple Bar

-ize-ise
-ize-ized-izing-izationtotal-ise-ised-ising-isationtotal
Vol 1 1861 00000 15336963
Vol 5 1862 00000 183981176
Vol 15 1865 00000 264581493
Vol 30 1870 220610 103261260
Vol 40 1874 081110 153261164

The Fortnightly Review

-ize-ise
-ize-ized-izing-izationtotal-ise-ised-ising-isationtotal
Vol 1 1865 471113 40901650196
Vol 3 1866 00000 39951141186
Vol 5 1866 00000 38671637158
Vol 12 1869 030912 40771061188
Vol 18 1872 103283383 3444528111
Vol 31 1879 1338547103 731411968301
Vol 41 1884 61342447 67923536230
Vol 51 1889 51762048 64831744208
Vol 61 1894 92052357 911452083339
Vol 70 1898 73233173 981532169341
Vol 75 1901 31521333 13718631115469
Vol 80 1903 10001 8715634140417
Vol 110 1918 00000 721592297350
Vol 137 1932 163052778 48651261186
Vol 150 1953 5362651172 00011

St. Paul's Magazine

-ize-ise
-ize-ized-izing-izationtotal-ise-ised-ising-isationtotal
Vol 1 1868 00000 32481224116
Vol 4 1869 360514 2663922120

The Spectator

-ize-ise
-ize-ized-izing-izationtotal-ise-ised-ising-isationtotal
Vol 6 1833 1273154068550 16226751
Vol 10 1837 14329165119618 143731872
Vol 15 1842 781623960339 351312
Vol 20 1847 14434778105674 781319
Vol 25 1852 16134882153744 491317
Vol 32 1859 7924426106455 10192233
Vol 35 1862 11818649135488 20139648
Vol 37 1864 12520339113480 516
Vol 41 1868 1171594195412 11114
Vol 43 1870 12822045154547 1214
Vol 44 1871 1121494599405 3115
Vol 45 1872 941493897378 41561319129
Vol 46 1873 1337 16523966150620
Vol 48 1875 123 276379116220991
Vol 51 1878 11 17027943154646
Vol 54 1881 246 19427246175687
Vol 60 1887 0 20424573164686

The Quarterly Review

-ize-ise
-ize-ized-izing-izationtotal-ise-ised-ising-isationtotal
1809 Vol 1 2747821103 41610131
1816 Vol 14 173721066 145
1826 Vol 33 16384967 123
1833 Vol 49 9327755 6511
1836 Vol 57 112511754 417122
1848 Vol 83 93534289 272110664
1853 Vol 94 72832260 1046102591
1869 Vol 126 81119 2363815109
1869 Vol 127 212510 2646534111
1870 Vol 128 93113 2572828133
1871 Vol 130 71932150 2853745133
1871 Vol 131 132873585 213392184
1872 Vol 133 26531327119 9215237
1874 Vol 136 442313 39771130157
1875 Vol 138 46818 2980634149
1877 Vol 143 123 24541246136
1877 Vol 144 112 42601147160
1880 Vol 149 2357644130 4116
1891 Vol 172 371031030180 39214
1905 Vol 203 220 391091060218
1907 Vol 206 0 38872082227
1913 Vol 219 0 42761344175
1923 Vol 240 0 26421425107
1958 Vol 296 3271860171 11

List of posts on individual publications

Wellesley Index

  • Ainsworth's Magazine
  • The Atlantis
  • Bentley's Miscellany - posted
  • Bentley's Quarterly Review
  • Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine - posted
  • British and Foreign Review
  • British Quarterly Review
  • Contemporary Review
  • Cornhill Magazine
  • Dark Blue
  • Dublin Review
  • Dublin University Magazine
  • Eclectic Review
  • Edinburgh Review (including 1802-1823) - posted
  • Foreign Quarterly Review
  • Foreign Review, 1828-1830
  • Fortnightly Review - checked but not posted
  • Fraser's Magazine -
  • Home and Foreign Review
  • London and Westminster Review (1836-1840)
  • London Quarterly Review
  • London Review (1829)
  • London Review (1835-1836)
  • Longmans Magazine
  • Macmillan's Magazine
  • Modern Review
  • Monthly Chronicle
  • National Review (1855-1864)
  • National Review (1883-)
  • New Monthly Magazine (1821-1854)
  • New Quarterly Magazine
  • New Review
  • Nineteenth Century
  • North British Review
  • Oxford and Cambridge Magazine
  • Prospective Review
  • Quarterly Review - posted
  • Rambler
  • Saint Paul's - checked but not posted
  • Scottish Review (1882-1900)
  • Tait's Edinburgh Magazine (1832-1855)
  • Temple Bar - checked but not posted
  • Theological Review
  • University Magazine
  • Westminster Review (1824-1836, 1840-1900)
  • Others
  • The Spectator - 1828 > posted

Links

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