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Sunday at Home was a weekly
magazine published in London by the Religious Tract Society beginning in 1854.
It was one of the most successful examples of the "Sunday reading" genre of
periodicals: inexpensive magazines intended to provide wholesome religious (or
religiously-inspired) entertainment for families to read on Sundays, especially
as a substitute for "pernicious" secular penny weeklies such as The London
Journal or The Family Herald.
It was initially edited by James Macaulay, and later by W. Stevens.[4] Macaulay
and Stevens also edited The Leisure Hour, a similar periodical which debuted two
years earlier and was also published by the Religious Tract Society, though
Sunday at Home was more overtly religious and had a more strongly Sabbatarian
viewpoint. Like The Leisure Hour, a typical issue of Sunday at Home led with a
serialized piece of religious fiction, and included at least one large
illustration.
In addition to the penny weekly format, the magazine was issued in monthly parts
at a price of five pence[4] (raised to 6p in 1863), and annual volumes ranging
in price from around 5 to 10 shillings.
An example of a page with colour illustrations from an 1883 issue. The text of
the Bible verse John 11:25 is illuminated with lilies and other decoration.
In 1862, the magazine began
including colour illustrations, apparently the first penny weekly to do so.[3]
In 1865, the magazine had an annual circulation of 130,000 copies, which
increased steadily up to 1875.
The
1880 issue can be read here in pdf format
Link to
the Wikipedia page for them can be found here |
