1817-1980
In December the last of the great British literary magazines ceased publication. It started off as a vitriolic Tory rag making life uncomfortable for the Whigs. It matured to become a literary pioneer, giving many of the great names of Victorian literature
(Trollope, Reade, George Eliot , Conrad ...) their opportunity to establish a reputation. Latterly it became a bastion of the Empire, publishing stories of exploration and derring-do from all corners of the globe.
Leslie Gardiner takes a personal look at the evolution of what had seemed an immortal literary institution.
Producer MARTIN GOLDMAN BBC Scotland