A good many readers will sympathise with the "great regret" felt by the proprietors of the Cornhill Magazine in making the announcement that it will appear no more after the present month, at least for the duration of the war.
The present increased cost of paper and production have forced them to this decision, not to mention other difficulties.
The first number of the Cornhill appeared for January, 1860, so that, as a magazine, it may be said to have had a fairly long life.
A melancholy incident attaches to the publication of its first number. On the 28th December, 1859, Lord Macaulay was found dying, sitting in his library in an easy chair, with the new Cornhill lying open before him.
The Cornhill Magazine was noted for its fine writing, and not a few regarded it as a great stronghold of English literature and culture.
It was launched under happy auspices; the sale of the first number reached 120,000. The great Thackeray was its first editor. He named the new venture the Cornhill, after its publishing house.
In this shilling monthly - which was illustrated - appeared some of his stories in serial form, but his most popular contribution was the "Roundabout Papers." Anthony Trollope was asked for a story, and his "Framley Parsonage," a clerical story, proved a popular serial for the new magazine.
Among other famous writers who contributed to the Cornhill in its early years was George Eliot, who received £7,000 for the copyright of "Romola," which ran through fourteen numbers of the magazine. She was offered £10,000 at first for this story, but had a difference with her publisher over its serial division - he wished to spread the story over sixteen numbers.
Sir Leslie Stephen was another famous editor, who also wrote much for the Cornhill. He numbered among his contributors Robert Louis Stevenson and Thomas Hardy, who penned for the Cornhill, "Far from the Madding Crowd," his most popular novel.
The Irish Times, December 29th, 1939.