With the addition of some back copies of The Magazine Antiques, we thought it a good opportunity to acquaint our shoppers and readers with the venerable institution.
With its first issue from January 1922, the magazine has been in continuous publication for over a century, and has established its reputation as a thorough and consummate chronicler of various aspects of American antiques, architecture, design, and allied fields.
Its articles have often been focused in-depth studies of more advanced area of collecting, a trait not surprising considering that its founder was a business manager at Dartmouth. This preference for rigor has always limited its readership with Wikipedia reporting that recent print readership is around 20,000, a very small number for such a lavish magazine.
On the other hand, its deep pocketed dealers and readers have been enough to make it a going concern with the relatively high subscription and cover prices mostly a nuisance if that.
The magazine has tended to follow more conservative aspects of American collecting and arts such as 18th and 19th century topics – the type of items one associates – rightly or wrongly – with leading auction houses.
Possibly its most famous editor-in-chief was Wendell Garret (1929-2012) who was an appraiser on the Antiques Roadshow.
Even the editorial content can give way to some of the spectacular pieces of furniture and decorative arts offered by its past dealers, itself a fertile ground for an avid researcher to document and trace.
Given its low publication volumes and the richness of its content, the magazine has become collectible in its own right, and for this reason our dear reader may wish to take an opportunity own them for enlightenment and enjoyment.
