Nearly Two Centuries of The Spectator Coming to Periodicals Archive Online
ProQuest is pleased to announce that the full backfile of The Spectator from 1828 to 2000 will be made available to academic, public, government and corporate libraries exclusively as part of Periodicals Archive Online Collection 7, early in 2009. Digitizing The Spectator's entire backfile and including it in Periodicals Archive Online will allow it to be cross-searched alongside a multitude of humanities and social science academic journals, promising rich new research potential.
“The addition of The Spectator to Periodicals Archive Online is part of the company's ongoing initiative to expand access to the world's most significant research collections,” said Mary Sauer-Games, Vice-President of Publishing for ProQuest. “With its long tradition of high-quality reporting, commentary and reviews, and its interest in international events, The Spectator will be a great resource for the researchers and students who use Periodicals Archive Online around the world.”
The Spectator was established in 1828, and is the oldest continuously published magazine in the English language, providing a unique record of this period, both in Britain and internationally. It has been edited and contributed to by leading figures from history. Past editors include Nigel Lawson, Ian Gilmour and Boris Johnson, and contributors include Auberon Waugh, Anthony Blunt, Graham Greene, Anthony Burgess, Kingsley Amis, Joan Collins, Jeffrey Bernard and Taki.
Events covered by The Spectator in Periodicals Archive Online range from the establishment of Sir Robert Peel’s police force, the (electoral) Reform Act of 1832, the Irish Home Rule bills and the American Civil War, through the Great Depression and the major wars of the twentieth century, to Bill Clinton’s impeachment hearings and the rise of Tony Blair. Far more than a chronicle, The Spectator has featured provocative and controversial content and has also had a significant campaigning role on several issues, including the abolition of capital punishment and reform of the law on homosexuality.
Periodicals Archive Online is a major online periodical archive that makes the backfiles of periodicals in the arts, humanities and social sciences available electronically, providing access to the full text of a growing number of digitized periodicals that have been indexed in its sister database, Periodicals Index Online. Over 500 journals are featured in Periodicals Archive Online, representing more than 13 million pages and almost 200 years of scholarship.
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