First issue of Nature published

Background. Nature was established in the autumn of 1869 by Norman Lockyer, a former editor of The Reader. The journal took its name from a line by William Wordsworth. It was conceived to provide cultivated readers with an accessible forum for reading about advances in scientific knowledge, distinguishing itself from the refereed journals of the Royal Society.

Publication Details. The first issue was circulated by Norman Lockyer and Alexander Macmillan. The journal was first owned and published by Macmillan, whose financial backing allowed the publication to flourish more freely than previous scientific journals. The early editions often featured articles by members of the X Club, a group of scientists with liberal and progressive beliefs.

Predecessor Journals. Nature was not the first magazine of its kind in Britain. It followed journals such as Recreative Science, Popular Science Review, and The Reader. The Reader, which terminated in 1867, was most closely related to Nature in editorship and format, mixing science with literature and art to reach a broader audience.