The Curran Index now has new RSVP-sponsored interface at www.curranindex.org. Now, a user can not only take a traditional table-of-contents view of a periodical or probe a bibliography of a specific contributor, but also can also create a list of articles using an optional title word and any combination of one or more contributor(s), one or more periodical(s), and any desired period of time.

Along with this interface there are thousands of newly indexed articles. Of particular note is the Curran Index’s first weekly, Once a Week (1859-1864). Over 500 identified contributors have been matched to almost 2,500 articles and poems; one can readily identify the writings of a prolific contributor such as Harriet Martineau; explore the contributions of both the well-known and the obscure; and follow the trail of payments from magazine to contributors.

Additionally, verse in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine from 1824 to 1854 has now been indexed. In combination with earlier work on Ainsworth’s Magazine (1842-1854), Bentley’s Miscellany (1837-1854), Fraser’s Magazine (1830-1854), the Metropolitan Magazine (1831-1850), and the New Monthly Magazine (1821-1854), over 6,000 poems or poem groups in early Victorian monthlies have been indexed with a composite attribution rate of over 75%.

Additional capabilities -- including the ability to compute aggregates involving article counts and sums for various categories and the ability to sort contributors by gender, education, nationality, or key biographical terms – are planned for next year. As always your potential attributions are most welcome, as are comments and suggestions (on or off list) regarding the new web interface and its potential future capabilities. Please help shape a research tool which hopefully will be used for many years to come.


Last modified 1 June 2016