The full backfile of The Spectator, from 1828 to 2000, is now available as part of Periodicals Archive Online.
More recent issues (published since 1996) are in the database Academic Research Library.
This major, influential title is the oldest continuously published magazine in the English language and provides a unique record of this period, both in Britain and internationally. To maximize the value of the electronic edition, it has been digitized to a higher specification, with more detailed indexing and a combination of full-colour and grayscale scans, as appropriate.
The front page of the first issue from 1828 had news of the Russo-Turkish war, the disputed crown of Portugal, and Catholic emancipation in Ireland. In the last issue of 2000, the cover stories were ‘How bad is rap?’, ‘Why the BBC hates the Tories’, and ‘The lies men tell’.
