The Tatler

The Tatler
source
Name	The Tatler
Type	Periodical
Founder	Richard Steele
Founded	1709
Country	Kingdom of Great Britain
Headquarters	London
Language	English

The Tatler

The Tatler was an influential early 18th‑century British periodical founded in the reign of Queen Anne. It shaped periodical literature alongside contemporaries such as The Spectator and influenced figures in the circles of Fleet Street, St James's, and the coffeehouse culture centered on Lloyd's Coffee House, Will's Coffee House, and Button's Coffee House. Its essays and miscellanies engaged readers connected to Marylebone, Westminster, Twickenham, and the wider provincial reading public including subscribers in Edinburgh, Dublin, and Bristol.

History

Launched in April 1709 in London by printer and essayist Richard Steele, The Tatler appeared contemporaneously with publications like The Spectator and drew readership from patrons such as members of the Kit-Cat Club, aristocrats frequenting St James's Square, and literati associated with Oxford and Cambridge. Steele modeled format on the epistolary and observational traditions established by writers connected to the Restoration scene exemplified by John Dryden and Aphra Behn, while responding to political currents involving figures such as Robert Harley and Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke. The paper's short lifespan saw editorial handoffs and contributions from collaborators tied to Grub Street and the print trade networks that involved booksellers on Paternoster Row and printers like those who produced works for Samuel Johnson. Its cessation and legacy intersected with later revivals and 19th‑century miscellany practices inspired by William Makepeace Thackeray and editors in Victorian periodical publishing.

Editorial Profile and Content

The Tatler adopted a voice of sociable commentary, using a persona—reportedly a fictional coffeehouse observer—to report on fashion, gossip, and public morals relevant to readers connected to Piccadilly, The Mall, Covent Garden, and households in Mayfair. Topics ranged from accounts of theatrical performances at Drury Lane Theatre and Haymarket Theatre to accounts of parliamentary sessions at Palace of Westminster and literary notices concerning authors such as Jonathan Swift, Alexander Pope, and Thomas Gray. The periodical mixed satire with didactic pieces addressing conduct prized by circles around Lord Chesterfield, salon conversations influenced by correspondents like Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, and notices of society events attended by figures linked to Catherine of Braganza's cultural legacy. It employed sketches, letters, and dialogues that referenced legal disputes adjudicated at King's Bench and commercial developments tied to traders frequenting Royal Exchange.

Contributors and Notable Pieces

Primary authorship credited to Richard Steele included essays that later informed the canon alongside contributions by writers whose networks connected them to institutions such as The Royal Society, theaters managed by Colley Cibber, and patrons including members of the Hanoverian court. Notable pieces addressed the manners of assembly rooms in Bath, portraits of public characters reminiscent of dramatists like William Congreve, and moral reflections consonant with contemporaries including Daniel Defoe and Eliza Haywood. The Tatler published anonymous letters, biographical sketches, and parodic pieces that circulated among subscribers and influenced essays in later outlets edited by figures tied to Blackwood's Magazine and The Edinburgh Review. Its mode of persona journalism anticipated techniques later used by editors such as James Boswell and essayists who corresponded with literary figures in Paris and Rome.

Circulation, Ownership, and Business Model

Originally funded through subscription sales and single‑issue purchases distributed by booksellers on Paternoster Row and stalls near Temple Bar, the periodical fit within early commercial models linking printers, booksellers, and news vendors operating in Covent Garden and Southwark. Revenue depended on copy sales to subscribers among the gentry of Surrey and merchants of Limehouse as well as donations and patronage from aristocrats with town houses in St James's. Ownership and editorial control involved partnerships between Steele and publishers who negotiated printing contracts with presses that also produced materials for institutions such as Trinity College, Cambridge and Christ Church, Oxford. The Tatler's approach to single‑issue pamphleteering and collected volumes later influenced business practices adopted by magazines such as Punch and journals that emerged in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Cultural Influence and Reception

Contemporaries received The Tatler with interest and occasional censure from figures aligned with rival political and literary camps such as supporters of Robert Walpole and critics in Grub Street pamphlets. Its influence extended to social registers chronicling fashions in Ranelagh Gardens and to theatre criticism shaping repertory at Covent Garden Theatre. Later literary historians traced its impact in the development of the English essay form alongside works by Samuel Johnson, the epistolary novels of Samuel Richardson, and the social sketches of Charles Dickens. Institutions preserving its issues include libraries and archives in British Library, university collections at Bodleian Library, and special collections in National Library of Scotland, where scholars referenced its pieces when studying 18th‑century print culture, salon networks, and the formation of public opinion in urban centers such as Leeds, Liverpool, and Newcastle upon Tyne.

Category:18th century publications