Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 11.djvu/417

 THE LITERARY INTERESTS OF CHICAGO 401

rebuilt, still stands at the corner of Clark and Adams Streets, materially reminiscent of the high enterprise. The great fire of 1871 destroyed the new building and seriously crippled the busi- ness, so that book and magazine publishing in Chicago did not then assume the proportions reasonably promised at the outset of the new organization. A division of interests was made, and from that time on the sole responsibility of the magazine rested with Mr. Browne.

The character and quality of the Lakeside became notable, and its distinctive literary tone became pronounced, editor and contributors seriously striving to maintain the point of view of the creative artist. An endeavor was made to present the con- tents in such form as to interest American readers not only resid- ing in the Middle West, but in all parts of the country, and also the English-reading lovers of beauty residing in the Old World as well. This outlook was from a height which no previous periodical in Chicago had attained. The appeal to the aesthetic interest was supplemented with an appeal to the interest in knowl- edge, through the publication of many profound articles of solid information. A scholarly tone resulted. The men connected with the popular and sensational magazines today, on reading the files of the Lakeside, are inclined to ridicule this characteristic. They call it didactic. Such didactics, however, served to empha- size the fact that the purely literary contributions to the magazine were measured critically by a standard derived from classic literature.

The retention of a decidedly western character was another marked feature of the Lakeside. Mr. Browne tried always to get material that was indigenous, racy of the soil, expressive of the fertility and virility of the Mississippi Valley. The fiction, poetry, and essays in the files of the Lakeside show success in expression of the life of the Midland West. In the Far West the picturesque freshness of the mountains inspired a like use of local color in Bret Harte's Overland Monthly, which was contemporary with the Lakeside Monthly, as it in the Middle West was with the Atlantic Monthly in New England. Most of the men and women who wrote for the Lakeside lived in Chicago and the Middle