Edinburgh Review

The Edinburgh Review is a literary and cultural magazine, begun in 1802.

The Edinburgh Review is suggested to Mr Norrell by Mr Lascelles as a place where he might publish and thereby advance his opinions on English magic. Norrell however, dislikes the radical positions advocated in the magazine, and further has no inclination to promote the works of others by writing reviews of their works. Mr Lascelles assures Mr Norrell that the true function of the book review form is merely to advocate one's own positions and thoughts, and he need only make the most cursory mention of the work before directing his writing to his own purposes. Despite Lascelles' clever argument, Norrell is inflexible in his thought, and declines further action along this course [11].

The magazine later becomes the venue in which Mr Strange reviews Lord Portishead's Essay on the Extraordinary Revival of English Magic, &c. In keeping with the true nature of the form, the review is in the main advocacy for his own opinions as to the nature and purpose of English magic, and an attack on the conservative interpretation of Mr Norrell [37,38]. It therefore may be argued that the great debate between the Norrellite and Strangite factions began in the pages of the Review [39].

Notes

The Edinburgh Review is in fact the third periodical published under this name, neither of the previous two incarnations having endured more than a few years. More information may be found here.