Chapter 2

May 11, 1833 issue of The National Standard, the first issue edited by Thackeray. *EC85 T3255 LN213s (A).

• Complete Image
• HOLLIS Catalog Entry

Owning and editing The National Standard, May 1833-February 1834

After coming into his fortune, Thackeray used a large portion to purchase a two-penny weekly paper, The National Standard, for which he served as proprietor, editor, and main contributor. With its guardianship, Thackeray earned entrée into the community of pressmen, and learned about the kind of writing the reading public enjoyed.

In his first number as editor, Thackeray explained to his readers his new ownership, and let them know of his literary aspirations for the paper once it received more notice. “But we shall prove to [the reader]…that the sort of Paper we shall give them for two-pence is not to be despised.”
Due to a dwindling readership, however, the paper collapsed in 1834.

*EC85 T3255 LN213s (A).  Gift of Harold T. White and Mrs. Hugh D. Marshall, 1941.