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y separately published work icon The Atlas newspaper  
Alternative title: The Atlas : The Sydney Weekly Journal of Politics, Commerce and Literature
Date: 1847-1848
Date: 1845-1847
Date: 1844
Date: 1844-1845
Issue Details: First known date: 1844... 1844 The Atlas
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

The Atlas, a weekly newspaper published in Sydney, was largely devoted to reporting and commenting on the political activities of the New South Wales colony, and advancing the political agenda of its editors. Detailed reports were included on the debates and decisions of the Legislative Council and opinion pieces criticised and satirised the main political protagonists. (The Atlas was particularly strident in its denunciation of Governor George Gipps's administration.) In the issue of 23 August 1845, the editors declared: 'All along it has been our aim to speak of public measures and of public men with an honest, fearless independence, and to show the people of this colony what a free press really is ... our independent tone may have given offence to some parties, but ... we shall have no cause to regret the line of conduct which we have adopted.' (1.39 (1845): 466)

The activities of the courts and the conflicts within the Anglican Church (largely over Puseyism) were covered extensively. Columns announcing 'Births, Deaths and Marriages' and shipping movements were regular features, together with occasional sections on theatricals and musical entertainments. Advertising columns were included and featured promotions for drapers, tailors, wine merchants, stock and station agencies, and other small businesses.

In an editorial column headed 'Literature', in the first issue of the Atlas, the editors declared their resolve 'to reserve one green and pleasant spot, where the turbulence, the virulence, the personality of politics shall not come; where the mind shall be able, without toil or labour, to turn from the converse of factious controversy, and saunter through the instructive paths of science, and over the widespread and flower-spangled fields of literature! Here we will elevate our readers above the vapours and the storms which deform and disturb the political hemisphere.' The column notes that, 'in looking about us for the materials to begin our course', little has yet been found of a suitable nature from Australian sources. Because of this, 'we must for the present content ourselves with looking to Europe for the materials for the main department of the Literary Atlas, and with proffering a quiet niche for the offerings of such of our colonial friends as may occasionally wander from the cold realms of utilitarianism to the warm regions of the emotional and the imaginative.'

Early in the Atlas's publication life, sales agents outside Sydney were established in Bathurst, Melbourne and London. Additional agents were soon found in Berrima, Wollongong, the Clarence River, Singleton, Maitland, Gundagai, Jerry's Plains, Parramatta, Windsor and Yass. In early 1846, an agent for Hobart and Launceston (the bookseller U. B. Barfoot) was added.

The Atlas ceased publication in December 1848. The proprietors announced the decision in the 16 December issue, stating: 'we now find it impossible to obtain from our subscribers that measure of justice so long withheld from us, the payment of their accounts, amounting now nearly to the sum of [pounds]1,000, much of it very long standing'. Rather than 'throw away our time and labour for such an unworthy return', they decided to 'withdraw the publication altogether' (4.212 (16 December 1848): 613) and 'suspend our labours at the end of the present year'. (4.214 (30 December 1848: 629)

Notes

  • AustLit records for issues of the Atlas list all literary material by Australian authors. The record for each issue also notes non-Australian literary inclusions including reviews of overseas publications, poetry from overseas authors, and extracts and serialisations of non-Australian fiction.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

First known date: 1844
    • Sydney, New South Wales,: D. L. Welch , 1844-1848 .
      Link: U7792Web resource Digital copy of print publication via Australian Periodical Publications 1840-1845.
      Note/s:
      • Printed and published by Daniel Lovett Welch.
      • Printed from the Atlas Office in George Street Sydney. The office moved from opposite the Post Office to 485 George Street ('opposite the Barrack Gate, and next door to Mr Ellard's Music Saloon') in February 1847.

Works about this Work

Modern Reading History and Literary History: Australian Perspectives Tim Dolin , 2010 single work criticism
— Appears in: Modern Australian Criticism and Theory 2010; (p. 127-138)
Tim Dolin argues that 'a literary history that is sensitive to reading histories can challenge the view that settler colonial readers were docile front-line agents in long-distance political domination.' Source: Modern Australian Criticism and Theory (2010)
The Three Editors of The Atlas, a Sydney Journal 1844 - 1849 Victor Crittenden , 2008 single work column
— Appears in: Margin , July/August no. 75 2008; (p. 4-7)
y separately published work icon The Atlas : Sydney Weekly : Journal of Politics, Commerce and Literature : Index Victor Crittenden , Canberra : Mulini Press , 2006 Z1305264 2006 reference index '... lists the many plays and operas performed in Sydney during the period. The index includes references to a wide range of General Subjects, Authors, Persons, Place Names, Book Reviews and Advertisements' - Back cover.
y separately published work icon Robert Lowe : Viscount Sherbrooke James Francis Hogan , London : Ward and Downey , 1893 Z1863035 1893 single work biography
The Atlas 1849 single work column
— Appears in: The Geelong Advertiser , 14 April vol. 9 no. 922 1849; (p. 1)
An announcement from the proprietors of the Atlas proclaiming their intention to resume publication of their newspaper. (The paper had abruptly ceased publication with the 30 December 1848 issue.)
y separately published work icon The Atlas : Sydney Weekly : Journal of Politics, Commerce and Literature : Index Victor Crittenden , Canberra : Mulini Press , 2006 Z1305264 2006 reference index '... lists the many plays and operas performed in Sydney during the period. The index includes references to a wide range of General Subjects, Authors, Persons, Place Names, Book Reviews and Advertisements' - Back cover.
The Three Editors of The Atlas, a Sydney Journal 1844 - 1849 Victor Crittenden , 2008 single work column
— Appears in: Margin , July/August no. 75 2008; (p. 4-7)
The Colonial Newspapers i "Though my mind is contracted, my body extended", 1845 single work poetry satire
— Appears in: The Atlas , 26 April vol. 1 no. 22 1845; (p. 260)
A letter in verse form, supposedly from the editor of the Sydney Morning Herald to the governor, Sir George Gipps. The editor offers the view that the Atlas newspaper should be crushed for supporting the cause of the squatter. (Gipps and the Sydney Morning Herald were viewed as opposing the squatter's cause.)
The Atlas State Trials No.2 : Court of Areopagus 1845 single work column satire
— Appears in: The Atlas , 25 January vol. 1 no. 9 1845; (p. 98-99)
Mesmeric Phenomenon i "As when the leader of a Coach falls ill", 1845 single work poetry
— Appears in: The Atlas , 29 March vol. 1 no. 18 1845; (p. 205)
This poem uses the imagery of a cart-horse replacing the leader in pulling a coach. The poem alludes to the competition offered to the Sydney Morning Herald by the advent of the Atlas.

PeriodicalNewspaper Details

ISSN: 1440-365X
Subtitle:
The Sydney Weekly Journal of Politics, Commerce and Literature
Frequency:
Weekly. Published every Saturday at one o'clock.
Range:
Vol.1, no.1 (30 November 1844) - vol.4 no.214 (30 December 1848)
Price:
Eightpence per issue, or eight shillings and sixpence per quarter.
Note:

Victor Crittenden in 'The Three Editors of The Atlas, a Sydney Journal 1844 - 1849', Margin 75 (July/August 2008): 4-7, lists the names and dates of the three editors of The Atlas, Richard Thompson, James Martin and Angus Mackay. Crittenden writes that although Richard Thompson was the official editor of the journal, Robert Lowe (q.v.) 'certainly influenced its policy in its early years and is believed to have written many of its editorials.' (5).
(Robert Lowe is acknowledged as the first editor of the Atlas in issue 1.27 (31 May 1845): 316.)

Has serialised

Last amended 4 Sep 2013 17:12:18
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