The Companion. Vol. 1

n.p. n.p. n.d. c1830, 1830. An unpublished manuscript literary magazine in twelve numbers. 178x120mm. pp. [2], 256, [2]. Brown half calf notebook with marbled paper covered boards. Joints a little worn and split at the foot of the spine at the lower cover. Chipping to head and foot of spine. Paper label to spine printed with the title "The Companion". Hinges are worn and splitting in places and there is some slight soiling but overall it is in good condition. The text is very clear and although it appears to have been written by more than one hand, the exceptionally neat italic style is uniform throughout. The contributors are referred to only by their initials (R, E, J.D. and V, although one is called "Theta"). On the title page is the epigraph "The first quality in a Companion is Truth" - Sir William Temple. This is printed on a small piece of paper and pasted onto the leaf. It has almost certainly been cut out of a copy of Leigh Hunt's literary journal, also called The Companion where this epigraph appears on the title page in exactly the same typeface and layout. The paper is watermarked 1828 and on the front free endpaper is the inscription "Charles Wilkinson 1830" hidden (but legible) under a glued piece of paper torn from the facing leaf. � Wilkinson's The Companion is in twelve parts, the first number dated "September 12" with the rest unnumbered. It is a collection of short stories, extracts from plays, essays, poems and witticisms. The stories and plays are a mixture of historical adventures - with titles such as "Voyage to Fairyland", "Charles Deloraine: A tale of the Pretender", and "De Warren - a dramatic fragment" set in the fifteenth century - and contemporary light comedy including an amusing dreamlike tale taking the recent "Edinburgh murders" of Burke and Hare as its starting point. The poetry is in a light romantic vein and the essays cover a wide range of subjects including swearing, snuff, cant, women, marriage, dinner and the history of drama. Many of the issues end with a short note addressed "To Correspondents" informing readers of communications received, advertising stories or essays to come in future issues or requesting contributions. The journal is clearly modelled on, and incorporates many of the same elements as, Leigh Hunt's The Companion which was published during 1828 running only from January to July that year. Although the editor addresses his readers and invites contributions for future issues, it is not clear that the journal existed in any form other than this manuscript. We can find no record of its having been printed or circulated. It seems that it might have been a private project involving no more than half a dozen people. We are unable to identify Charles Wilkinson but one possible candidate might be Charles Allix Wilkinson (1813-1889). In later life he became a priest but in 1830 he was a schoolboy at Eton. He is recorded as the author of three books, the most well-known of which is a Reminiscence of Eton although it must be said that this recalls much about sport and nothing about a journal called The Companion. However, if this schoolboy is our Charles Wilkinson, then it does explain the occasional tone of a creative writing exercise. The final piece of the first number requests questions from readers who should also supply an answer (these are essentially essay questions such as "What is Fame?"). The editor goes on to say that "as this work is intended chiefly to improve our writing style all pieces must be original". The Companion begins with a somewhat high-toned introduction suggesting that people who attain knowledge but do not share it are like misers who hoard money. Accordingly the purpose of the journal is to dispense "amusement" as well as "instruction" and "to impress upon the mind that good order is the basis of felicity". The final piece of Issue Twelve is a little more relaxed: "We make no pretence to fine writing; our aim has been to please rather than to shine". Whether this book is instructive or amusing (or both) is up to the reader to decide. What it does show is how, in this golden age for small scale, short-lived literary periodicals, the example of journals such as Leigh Hunt's Examiner, Indicator and The Companion encouraged readers to produce their own private, amateur and highly assured imitations.