While originally a paper of low circulation – numbering only a few thousand in its first edition – the Penny Journal's popularity led to increased production.

[2] By the cessation of publication in 1836, 206 works had been published in four volumes,[3] and were sold wholesale in London, Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Glasgow, New York City, Philadelphia, Boston, and Paris.

[4] The inclusion of several pieces of Irish culture, heritage and legend attracted a number of nationalist works; including Terence O'Toole's National Emblems, which opened the second publication on 7 July with "Sir - Your wood-cut is, to my apprehension, as full of meaning to an Irishman, as any emblematic device I have seen.

[3] This was published in June 1834 from the newly acquired Penny Journal Office in Dublin, and featured a harp and crown on the cover, cast above various items of Irish symbolism, including weapons and shamrocks.

The preface took note of comments by Henry Brougham, then Lord High Chancellor of England, that an inexpensive journal could not be produced for widespread circulation, and made point to state "we have performed it.