§5. "The Oxford Magazine". V. University Journalism. Vol. 14. The Victorian Age, Part Two. The Cambridge History of English and American Literature: An Encyclopedia in Eighteen Volumes. 1907

The Cambridge History of English and American Literature in 18 Volumes (1907–21).
Volume XIV. The Victorian Age, Part Two.

V. University Journalism.

§ 5. The Oxford Magazine.

The Oxford Magazine, which was started in 1883, has lasted till to-day, and secured a recognised position as a commentator on university affairs. Resembling The Cambridge Review in general, it differs in being the organ of the don. The talent for writing English is more widely valued at Oxford than at Cambridge; essays figure largely in examinations; and the Oxford paper is more elaborately written than its contemporary. It is, in fact, almost too well written, and loses, sometimes, in irony and paraphrase what it would have gained by naturalness. It has that excessive use of negative forms of expression which is characteristic of Jane Austen and it has maintained an excellent standard of serious verse. The pieces in Echoes from the Oxford Magazine: being reprints of Seven Years (1890) form a collection unrivalled for brilliancy. R. W. Raper is supreme in his parody of Whitman. The volume is also strong in that humour which comes from imitating in English the style and manner of an ancient author. “L’Envoy,” concerning the purpose of The Magazine, is a good specimen of Oxford prose.