Atlantic Monthly, The, a well known American periodical. The magazine was established in 1857. The projector of the enterprise, Francis H. Underwood, had been revolving plans for such an undertaking for four years previous to the first issue. He had interested many of the foremost literary men and women of the time. The first number, not dissimilar in general appearance to the magazine of today, bore the title THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY Devoted to Literature, Art, and Politics. On an inner page was a full statement of the aim of the magazine, with a long list of those interested in the undertaking. The list included the names of Emerson, Bryant, Longfellow, Prescott, Hawthorne, Whittier, Motley, Holmes, Lowell, Curtis, Trowbridge, Mrs. Stowe, Wilkie Collins, and many others. In this issue appeared the first installment of The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table. There were contributions from Longfellow, Emerson, Mrs. Stowe, Prescott, and others. According to the custom of the day, these articles were unsigned. Even in the table of contents the titles of articles appeared invariably without the names of writers. The first publishers of the Atlantic were Phillips, Sampson & Co., a Boston firm. After two years this firm was dissolved, the magazine passing into the hands of Ticknor & Fields. Later it was sol to Hurd & Houghton, which firm in turn united with J. R. Osgood. The present publishers are Houghton, Mifflin & Co., with offices in Boston and New York. Lowell was the first editor with Mr. Underwood as his assistant. Among the early contributors, besides those already named, Agassiz, Aldrich, Henry James, Lydia Maria Child, James Freeman Clarke, Rose Terry, Edith Wharton, Bret Harte, Rebecca Harding Davis, Colonel Higginson, J. G. Holland, Mark Twain, Charles Reade, Donald G. Mitchell, Francis Parkman, Alice Cary, Thoreau, Bayard Taylor, Elizabeth Stuart Phelps, Richard Grant White, and Edward Everett Hale may be mentioned. A serial story running through three numbers was contributed by Charles Dickens, a poem by Tennyson, and several by Browning; but, for the most part, the magazine has relied upon American writers. While not especially adapted for the routine work of the editorial office, Mr. Lowell maintained a high standard in the matter of literary selection. Rejecting the crude and commonplace, he showed rare insight in detecting signs of ability in a young writer. In his Literary Leaders of America, Burton says that "Lowell made it (The Atlantic) what it has ever since remained,--the best literary magazine in the United States." His successors in the editorial chair, Fields, Howells, Aldrich, and Scudder, have aimed to follow in his footsteps. The Atlantic, therefore, may claim the honor of bringing out a long list of young writers whose names rank high in literature. The Atlantic is not to be classed among money-making periodicals. Its editors and supporters have aimed to encourage the development of American letters, to create and maintain lofty ideals, rather than at financial emolument.