The Athenian Mercury, the first magazine written specifically for women, appeared in 1693. In fact, many magazines jumped at the chance to reach out to women. This influx of female readers also helped magazines flourish as more women sought out the publications as a source of knowledge and entertainment. This growth affected the literary world as a whole, inspiring a large number of female writers to publish novels for female readers (Wolf). Women, who enjoyed a considerable rise in literacy rates, began reading in record numbers. With the arrival of the 18th century came an increase in literacy. This lighter magazine catered to a different reader than did the other, more intellectual publications of the day, offering articles for entertainment and enjoyment rather than for education.

This combination of news and pleasurable reading became incredibly popular, causing other publications to imitate the magazine (Encyclopedia Britannica). Profoundly affected by a general revival of learning during the 1600s, the publications inspired enthusiasm for education.Īnother Frenchman, Jean Donneau de Vizé, published the first “periodical of amusement,” Le Mercure Galant (later renamed Mercure de France), in 1672, which contained news, short stories, and poetry. In 1684, exiled Frenchman Pierre Bayle published Novelles de la République des Lettres in the Netherlands to escape French censorship.

Titled Erbauliche Monaths-Unterredungen, or Edifying Monthly Discussions, Rist’s publication inspired a number of others to begin printing literary journals across Europe: Denis de Sallo’s French Journal des Sçavans (1665), the Royal Society’s English Philosophical Transactions (1665), and Francesco Nazzari’s Italian Giomale de’letterati (1668). German theologian and poet Johann Rist published the first true magazine between 16. Germany, France, and the Netherlands Lead the Way

Italian magazines circulation