THE LADY'S MAGAZINE OR ENTERTAINING COMPANION FOR THE FAIR SEX, APPROPRIATED SOLELY TO THEIR USE AND AMUSEMENT: VOL. XXXVIII FOR THE YEAR 1807

London, England: Printed for G. Robinson, 1809. Hardcover. Very Good. Large octavo (8 3/4 in. x 5 1/2 in.). Black leather over red textured cloth over boards, half-bound with dark green leather. Rubbing to extremities. Front board gilt along boards, and elagorate gilt vignettes within (unhubbed) spine compartments. Pumpkin orange endpapers.A few stains to board, and some rubbing along joints. Rear hinge just started -- binding unaffected and tight. Bookplate of one F.A. Gilfillan. Contains the following issues:
1807: January, April, May, June, September. 1809: January, February, May, June, September. Ten color plates, 23 engravings, and 13 foldout engravings. At the end a portrait gallery of sorts, featuring full-page engravings of George, Prince of Wales; Anna Bullen (complete with broad axe at bottom of image); Catherine Howard, Queen of King Henry VIII; Earl of Derby; Wentworth, Earl of Strafford; Lord Balmerino; Lord Capel; Earl of Kilmarnock; Sr. Cha. Lucas; Sir Thomas More. 432 pp. plus ten portraits, printed on heavy laid paper. "...Conceived by the London bookseller John Coote and the publisher John Wheble, The Lady's Magazine first appeared in print in August 1770, and featured articles on fiction, poetry, fashion, music, and social gossip. The magazine claimed a readership of 16,000, ...dominated the market for most of its run, and led to imitations like the Lady's Monthly Museum and the New Lady's Magazine.

The Lady's Magazine was not the first women's magazine.It was John Huddlestone Wynne, an early editor of the magazine, also edited several other contemporary publications.In early 1771, John Coote sold his interest in the magazine to its new publisher George Robinson

The Lady's Magazine dominated the market from its founding to 1830.It claimed a readership of 16,000, and its success led to imitations like the Lady's Monthly Museum and the New Lady's Magazine.

Cheaply priced at sixpence per copy THE LADY'S MAGAZINE continued to be published until 1847. Up to 1830, it was titled Lady's Magazine; or Entertaining Companion for the Fair Sex, Appropriated Solely to Their Use and Amusement. After 1830, the publication was renamed to Lady's Magazine or Mirror of the Belles Lettres, Fine Arts, Music, Drama, Fashions, etc., and in 1832 it merged with the Lady's Monthly Museum to become known as the Lady's Magazine and Museum of the Belles Lettres, Fine Arts, Music, Drama, Fashions, etc. It ceased publication in 1847.

Unlike many men's publications, however, the Lady's Magazine largely stayed out of the political sphere and did not report on political events; for instance, in the lead-up to the French Revolutionary Wars, Lady's Magazine readers are reassured that France is no match for British naval power, while readers of The Gentleman's Magazine are warned that Europe is "at the present moment [in a state of] alarm and danger". Mary Poovey, a professor of English, posits that The Lady's Magazine's projection of national strength was intended to avoid alarming its female readers and thus causing anxiety in the domestic sphere; conversely, men's magazines sought to arouse anger over an emerging enemy and thus encourage male readers to be ready to undertake an active military role.

While not classified as a fashion magazine, it did feature the subject in detai It was lavishly illustrated and including needlework patterns for embroidery women's, men's and children's clothing and household objects. In addition to fashion and dress, other featured subjects included fiction, music, and biographies. The scholar Margaret Beetham argues that by featuring these topics, Lady's Magazine "came to define 'the woman's magazine' for the next century".[13] The Lady's Magazine, with its diverse range of subjects, helped normalise such magazines among upper-class readers.[2][13] In the magazine's first issue, it promised that in its content, "the housewife as well as the peeress shall meet with something suitable to their different walks of life"The magazine is also notable as being the first to print extracts of upcoming books..."