Good Words

Intended readership and content

Good Words was directed at evangelicals and nonconformists, particularly of the lower middle classes. It included overtly religious material, but also fiction and non-fiction articles on general subjects, including science. The standard for content was that the devout should be able to read it on Sundays without sin. It became known as a "fireside read", which could be shared and enjoyed by adults, servants and masters.

Good Words was known for illustrations by such artists as John Everett Millais and Arthur Boyd Houghton, engraved by the Brothers Dalziel.

Circulation

In 1863, Norman Macleod wrote that the magazine had a circulation of 70,000. In the following year, it advertised a monthly circulation of 160,000, but the number is probably exaggerated.

In 1906, Good Words was amalgamated with the weekly Sunday Magazine, and published in that format until 1910.

References

References

1. "William Isbister Collection, circa 1860-1906".
2. ''The New Cambridge Bibliography of English Literature'', ed. by George Watson. Cambridge University Press, 1969. Vol. 3, column 1849.
3. Eyre-Todd, George. [http://gdl.cdlr.strath.ac.uk/eyrwho/eyrwho1230.htm "Donald Macleod"] in ''[http://gdl.cdlr.strath.ac.uk/eyrwho/index.html Who's Who in Glasgow in 1909]''. Retrieved 1 June 2011.
4. Gray, Donald. (1987). "Review of The Yearbook of English Studies, Volume 16: Literary Periodicals Special Number; Alexander Strahan: Victorian Publisher". Victorian Studies.
5. James Pope-Hennessy (1978). ''Anthony Trollope'' (Phoenix Press paperback ed., 2001) pp. 261–263.
6. Judith Wittosch Malcolm. "Good Words", ''The Oxford Reader's Companion to Trollope'' (R. C. Terry, ed., Oxford University Press, 1999) pp. 219–221.
7. R. H. Super (1990). ''The Chronicler of Barsetshire: A Life of Anthony Trollope'' (University of Michigan Press) pp. 150–155.
8. Sutherland, John. (1987). "Review of Alexander Strahan: Victorian Publisher.; The Common Writer: Life in Nineteenth-Century Grub Street.; The Literature of Labour: Two Hundred Years of Working-Class Writing.; The Servant's Hand: English Fiction from Below.". Nineteenth-Century Literature.
9. Simon Cooke, PhD. [http://www.victorianweb.org/periodicals/goodwords/cooke.html.] "Good Words", ''The Victorian Web''. Retrieved 27 March 2020.