Unbound by commercial constraints, a young publication gathers the defiant voices of a new century to challenge artistic conventions and social norms.
In Short
This second issue of Margaret C. Anderson’s avant-garde periodical The Little Review captures the intellectual turmoil of early twentieth-century modernism. Through a fiery collection of essays, book reviews, poetry, and letters, various contributors debate the merits of radical thinkers like Nietzsche, assess new literature, and champion women's economic independence. Published in Chicago in April 1914, the journal serves as a vital platform for unfettered expression. It has lasted as a primary document of a cultural awakening, preserving the raw momentum of writers who stripped away Victorian sentimentalism to embrace uncompromising truth.
The Story
The issue opens with an homage to "The Germ," the short-lived 1850 magazine of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. Founded by a twenty-two-year-old Dante Gabriel Rossetti alongside young idealists like Millais and Holman Hunt, "The Germ" folded after four months. Yet, its commitment to nature and artistic rebellion allowed it to survive as a legendary catalyst. This retrospective sets a bold precedent for The Little Review, signaling its intention to publish uncompromising, revolutionary art regardless of commercial survival.
From this historical launching pad, the volume dives into contemporary philosophical and social battles. George Burman Foster examines Friedrich Nietzsche, framing his radical critique of culture as a essential demand for human growth over material progress. Nietzsche's scorn for mere comfort challenges a generation obsessed with industrial expansion to consider whether modern civilization actually produces greater human beings. The issue then moves to creative and social freedom, reviewing Inez Haynes Gillmore's feminist fantasy Angel Island and analyzing the modern woman’s struggle for economic independence. Commentators trace the evolution of feminist thought through key texts by Charlotte Perkins Gilman and Olive Schreiner, arguing that women are noble creators degraded by the denial of productive labor.
Literary criticism forms the magazine's core narrative arc. A heated debate erupts over H. G. Wells: one reader scorns his characters as morally degenerate, while an editorial defense dismantles the "little old Victorian lady" who knits a sentimental web to hide ugly realities like sex. Meanwhile, Sherwood Anderson offers a intimate essay on the craft of writing, urging critics and authors to trust their inner experiences with childlike honesty to forge a true partnership between hand and brain.
The publication reaches a crescendo with coverage of major contemporary figures. William Butler Yeats addresses American poets, urging them to abandon abstract rhetoric, embrace simplicity, and follow the raw example of François Villon. Yeats highlights the experimental verse libre of a young Ezra Pound as the future of poetry. Finally, the issue turns inward, publishing candid readers' letters that range from lavish praise to sharp accusations of youthful vanity, before concluding with publisher advertisements for new works by Henry James, Gerhart Hauptmann, and John Galsworthy.
How It Unfolds
The radical lineage The journal invokes the spirit of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood’s 1850 publication "The Germ," proving that short-lived, youthful magazines can leave a permanent mark on culture.
The Nietzschean challenge Philosophical essays interrogate modern civilization, using Nietzsche's biting critique to ask whether modern societal progress actually fosters greater individual human capacity.
Feminism and literary realism Debates over current fiction and feminist texts confront Victorian morality, praising authors who tear down artificial social barriers and acknowledge the complex realities of human desire.
The craft of authenticity Sherwood Anderson advocates for a deeply personal approach to writing and criticism, instructing writers to record their own internal truths during periods of creative failure.
A call to the poets W. B. Yeats delivers a speech calling on American writers to reject empty rhetoric in favor of simple, heart-felt imagery, pointing to Ezra Pound's experimental rhythm as a guide.
The readers speak back Letters to the editor expose a lively dialogue with the public, balancing enthusiastic praise with sharp critiques of the magazine's youthful arrogance.
The People
- Margaret C. Anderson: The ambitious editor and owner of The Little Review. She seeks to cultivate an uninhibited, aesthetically pure space for new voices, refusing to compromise for timid readers.
- Friedrich Nietzsche: The absent philosopher whose iconoclastic ideas haunt the issue. He demands that human development, rather than material or industrial comfort, remain the ultimate measure of culture.
- H. G. Wells: The contentious novelist who serves as a battleground for readers. Opponents view his realism as moral decay, while supporters celebrate his refusal to conceal basic human truths like sex behind Victorian sentimentalism.
- Sherwood Anderson: A contributor offering practical wisdom on creative expression. He urges writers to cultivate childlike self-trust and maintain an honest record of their own mental workings.
- William Butler Yeats: The renowned Irish poet who counsels a new generation of American writers. He preaches humility, the removal of abstract poetic diction, and a return to style as simple as prose.
In Its Own Voice
"Sex," says Wells in effect in every one of his novels, "is a disturbing element, the disturbing element, in life."
An editorial essay defends H. G. Wells against conservative readers who prefer polite, artificial fictions.
Whenever he finds himself baffled in drawing a character or in judging one drawn by another, let him turn thus in upon himself, trusting with child-like simplicity and honesty the truth that lives in his own mind.
Sherwood Anderson counsels aspiring literary critics on how to ground their judgments in authentic personal experience.
Real enjoyment of a beautiful thing is not achieved when a poet tries to teach. It is not the business of a poet to instruct his age.
W. B. Yeats cautions American poets against using their art to preach or deliver moral lectures.
What It's Really About
At its core, this issue is an argument for intellectual freedom and artistic renewal. It asks whether a culture should prioritize industrial efficiency and traditional morality or the uninhibited growth of the individual. By placing poetry, social commentary, and philosophical inquiry side-by-side, the collection asserts that true art must dismantle artificial Victorian conventions. It champions an authentic, often uncomfortable realism in both literature and daily life, insisting that modern society cannot progress without facing basic truths about human nature, labor, and gender roles.
Why Read It Today
This issue offers a rare, unfiltered glimpse into the birth of American modernism as it happened. Reading it feels like sitting in a noisy Chicago cafe in 1914, listening to impassioned idealists argue over poetry, politics, and philosophy. It captures a pivotal cultural moment right before the outbreak of World War I, when young writers were eager to tear down nineteenth-century gentility and construct a raw, honest aesthetic.
While modern readers may find the references to obscure contemporary books challenging, the issue's vital energy easily bridges the century gap. The sharp debates over artistic censorship, the purpose of education, and the struggle for women's autonomy feel strikingly modern. It will deeply satisfy anyone interested in literary history, the evolution of little magazines, or the timeless impulse of youth to rebel against established tradition.
This summary was written by AI (g4f/auto) on 2026-08-25 and is a guide to the book, not a replacement for it — it can be incomplete or wrong. The book itself is public domain. Copyright & AI disclosure · Report a problem
