Social Democracy History Archive: Commonweal 1885 - 1891
Commonweal, Volume 1 (1885)
The Official Journal of the Socialist LeagueThis page lists PDF scans of the first volume of Commonweal, covering the first year of the paper, from February to January 1885, during which it was issued monthly. The scans were originally put in the public domain by the University of Michigan. If you have a better copy of an issue please let MIA know!
The newly-formed Socialist League rented 'an extensive premises at 13 Farringdon Road (near Holbon Viaduct)', which included a printing and publishing office. The paper was 'printed and published' by William Morris and Joseph Lane. Actual typesetting and printing was at first carried out by a commercial printer.
For its first year Commonweal" was a monthly, with William Morris and Edward Aveling as editors. The first issues carried articles by William Morris, Friedrich Engels, Stepniak, Belfort Bax, Edward Aveling, Edouard Vaillant, Paul Lafargue, and Bernard Shaw. Eleanor Marx-Aveling was the regular contributor for international news.
A separate supplement was soon needed for each issue to accomodate the available articles. The first General Meeting of the Socialist League discussed the contents and management of the Commonweal, including ways in which it could move to a weekly format. The discussion was reported in great detail in the August issue.
1885 February Volume 1, No. 1 February, 1885 [Poor quality] March Volume 1, No. 2 March, 1885 April Volume 1, No. 3 April, 1885 May Volume 1, No. 4 May, 1885 June Volume 1, No. 5 June, 1885 July Volume 1, No. 6 July, 1885 August Volume 1, No. 7 August, 1885 September Volume 1, No. 8 September, 1885 October Volume 1, No. 9 October, 1885 November Volume 1, No. 10 November, 1885 December Volume 1, No. 11 December, 1885