Thinking Globally in The Lady’s Magazine, or Polite Companion, 1759-1767

The Lady’s Magazine, or Polite Companion appeared in bookstores and market stalls in 1759, three years into the Seven Years’ War. This monthly magazine confronted an increasingly literate populace—both female and male—with the intensifying realities of an interconnected world. In fact, about one third of the content featured lands and peoples outside Great Britain. This talk will describe how The Lady’s Magazine, or Polite Companion sought to stretch its readers’ knowledge beyond domestic matters by presenting a lively debate about Britain’s relationship to the rest of the planet (human and non-human). The pages of The Lady’s Magazine, or Polite Companion brought public debates into town squares and London coffee houses and encouraged conversations in downstairs kitchens where periodicals were read aloud and discussed. The most prominent and lengthy serialized column concentrated on locations related to the Seven Years’ War such as Prussia, France, Hungary, Spain, Portugal, Italy, and Canada. At the same time, the magazine engaged readers with events and cultures from across the globe, including peoples and histories in Siberia, the Americas, Peru, Africa, and China. While some articles promoted jingoistic military and cultural narratives, others challenged the idea of British exceptionalism. This talk will specifically present and examine content that warned against national hierarchies and criticized supremacist rhetoric.