The Penny Magazine

Charles Knight created it for the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge in response to Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, which started two months earlier.

[5] This outlook has been supported by Mitchell who also feels that the lack of controversial material was significant "in the Penny Magazine's appeal to a mass audience.

The publisher Charles Knight favoured using the new reproductive medium of wood-engraving, which was cheaper and speedier than the steel-engraving alternative, to attract readers to his publication.

[6] Knight also had an advantage, due to being based inside London, he had access to a number of skilled engravers such as William Harvey, John Orrin Smith and Edmund Evans among others.

It was through his association with inventor Edward Cowper, as well as the timing of the Industrial Revolution, that enabled him to take advantage of the steam printing press to produce more illustrations for The Penny Magazine.

[7] Similarly, in 1841 over 30% of males and nearly 50% of females were still illiterate, therefore using illustrations Knight was able to appeal to an audience with limited reading skills, while also enabling self-education.

Austin argues that the idea of the snake striking at its prey was more likely to stir the reader’s emotions and entice them into purchasing the magazine.