Monday, September 30, 2013

Random-ise: The Edinburgh Review and the spelling of -ize suffix verbs

The Edinburgh Review (the second of this title), was founded in 1802, and became one of the most influential British magazines of the 19th century, alongside its literary ald political rivals The Quarterly Review, and Blackwood's Magazine, the latter also published in Edinburgh.
This is part of an investigation I've been doing into the use and spelling of -ize suffix verbs and their spelling (-ize or -ise) in British English. For more details, related posts and the methods I've used, see the -ize / -ise page. For more on the spelling of -ize verbs in periodicals, see the Periodicals start page.

The Edinburgh Review 1802 - 1929

Started on 10 October 1802 by Francis Jeffrey, Sydney Smith and Henry Brougham, it was published by Archibald Constable in quarterly issues until 1929. It began as a literary and political review. Under its first permanent editor, Francis Jeffrey (the first issue was edited by Sydney Smith), it was a strong supporter of the Whig party and liberal politics, and regularly called for political reform. Its main rival was the Quarterly Review which supported the Tories. The magazine was also noted for its attacks on the Lake Poets, particularly William Wordsworth. Wikipedia
In terms of the spelling of -ize suffix verbs, The Edinburgh Review follows a very similar pattern to its rivals, Blackwood's and The Quarterly. That's to say, it started off with z spellings being dominant, although not exclusively. The use of s spellings gradually increases as the nineteenth century progresses, led especially by the recognise family. Then z spellings make a last-ditch fight, only to finally lose out with a definitive move to s spellings.
The change, when it came, was overwhelming. Just as much as a change from z to s, it was a change from spelling chaos to spelling consistency.
What is fascinating about the change at the Review is that it came within a year or two of a similar change at its Edinburgh-based rival, Blackwood's Magazine, which changed difinitively in 1847. It is all the more frustrating, therefore, not to be able to pinpoint the change quite so accurately at the Review, but unfortunately, the relevant volumes don't seem to be available at Google Books, and I can't find any facsimiles elsewhere.

Main table comparing -ize verbs spelt with a z and with an s.

These figures are taken from looking at individual volumes at Google Books. Below these tables you can find checkable tables for the individual volumes. At the end is a list of all the volumes I've ben able to find at Google Books.
-ize-ise
-ize-ized-izing-izationtotal-ise-ised-ising-isationtotal
Vol 1 1802 143342576 213
Vol 10 1807 112441655 0
Vol 20 1812 163331365 3418
Vol 30 1818 81231336 812121
Vol 39 1824 4274641 57416
Vol 50 1829-30 11244544 192841869
Vol 59 1834 122242058 920222473
Vol 70 1839-40 73931564 142542669
Vol 80 1844 93322165 7180025
Vol 81 1845 102731151 8230031
Vol 83 1846 74413587 17362055
Vol 85 1847 82612055 12292952
Vol 91 1849-50 00000 1884844154
Vol 100 1854 00000 36791049174
Vol 110 1859 00000 1854549126
Vol 121 1865 00000 2552832117
Vol 130 1869 00000 2255539121
Vol 135 1872 00000 2859661154

The story of recognise

There was a very strong tendency to spell recognise and its variants with an s well before there was a general shift to s. This reflects practice elsewhere, at Blackwood's, and in book publishing. Recognise is one of the most commonly used -ize verbs.
-ize-ise
-ize-ized-izing-ization-ise-ised-ising-isation
Vol 1 1802 5611
Vol 10 1807 34
Vol 20 1812 55232
Vol 30 1817 8111
Vol 39 1824 462
Vol 50 1829-30 7201
Vol 59 1834 7132
Vol 70 1839-40 712
Vol 80 1844 414
Vol 91 1849-50 4192
Vol 100 1854 10235

Individual volumes

Click on the numbers to see the instances at Google Books.

Vol 1 1802

Verb-ize-ise
-ize-ized-izing-ization-ise-ised-ising-isation
apologise 1
authorise 121
characterise 31
civilise 11012
criticise 112
monopolise 21
organise 1712
realise 211
recognise 5611
sympathise 2
totals 1433425 21

Vol 10 1807

Verb-ize-ise
-ize-ized-izing-ization-ise-ised-ising-isation
apologise 3
authorise
characterise 15
civilise 9313
criticise 11
monopolise 12
organise 33
realise 1
recognise 34
sympathise 2
totals 1124416

Vol 20 1812

Verb-ize-ise
-ize-ized-izing-ization-ise-ised-ising-isation
apologise 11
authorise 211
characterise 451
civilise 119
criticise
monopolise 1
organise 33
realise 371
recognise 55232
sympathise 31
totals 1633313 341

Vol 30 18187

Verb-ize-ise
-ize-ized-izing-ization-ise-ised-ising-isation
apologise
authorise 321
characterise 1
civilise 1
criticise 611
monopolise 11
organise 22
realise 3
recognise 8111
sympathise 111
totals 812313 8121

Vol 39 1824

Verb-ize-ise
-ize-ized-izing-ization-ise-ised-ising-isation
apologise 1
authorise 14
characterise 25
civilise 1016
criticise 1
monopolise 11
organise 61
realise 21
recognise 462
sympathise 11
totals 42746 574

Vol 50 1829-30

Verb-ize-ise
-ize-ized-izing-ization-ise-ised-ising-isation
apologise 1
authorise 2243
characterise 11211
civilise 9116
criticise 42
monopolise 3
organise 352
realise 29313
recognise 7201
sympathise 31
totals 112445 1928418

Vol 59 1834

Verb-ize-ise
-ize-ized-izing-ization-ise-ised-ising-isation
apologise
authorise 15
characterise 27
civilise 6124
criticise
monopolise
organise 17218
realise 5411
recognise 7132
sympathise 51
totals 1222420 920224

Vol 70 1839-40

Verb-ize-ise
-ize-ized-izing-ization-ise-ised-ising-isation
apologise 1
authorise 2111
characterise 3592
civilise 163126
criticise 132
monopolise 1
organise 11011
realise 2811
recognise 712
sympathise 11
totals 739315 1425426

Vol 80 1844

Verb-ize-ise
-ize-ized-izing-ization-ise-ised-ising-isation
apologise 2
authorise 171
characterise 143
civilise 1015
criticise 211
monopolise 1
organise 54
realise 4512
recognise 414
sympathise 11
totals 933221 71800

Vol 81 1845

Verb-ize-ise
-ize-ized-izing-ization-ise-ised-ising-isation
apologise 11
authorise 101
characterise 2
civilise 1651
criticise 21
monopolise
organise 256
realise 121
recognise 111620
sympathise 311
totals 1027311 82300

Vol 83 1846

Verb-ize-ise
-ize-ized-izing-ization-ise-ised-ising-isation
apologise 2
authorise 1101
characterise 2445
civilise 2020
criticise 111
monopolise 111
organise 4141
realise 131
recognise 211261
sympathise 21
totals 744135 173620

Vol 85 1847

Verb-ize-ise
-ize-ized-izing-ization-ise-ised-ising-isation
apologise
authorise 2216
characterise 12
civilise 131388
criticise 11
monopolise 2
organise 341
realise 5411131
recognise 21512
sympathise 12
totals 826120 122929

Vol 91 1849-50

Verb-ize-ise
-ize-ized-izing-ization-ise-ised-ising-isation
apologise
authorise 24
characterise 191
civilise 2125
criticise 11
monopolise 1
organise 318318
realise 2101
recognise 4192
sympathise 521
totals 0000 1884844

Vol 100 1854

Verb-ize-ise
-ize-ized-izing-ization-ise-ised-ising-isation
apologise
authorise 2151
characterise 5
civilise 31729
criticise 341
monopolise 1
organise 415218
realise 642
recognise 10235
sympathise 211
totals 0000 36791049

Vol 110 1859

Verb-ize-ise
-ize-ized-izing-ization-ise-ised-ising-isation
apologise
authorise 31
characterise 38
civilise 715
criticise 26
monopolise
organise 543
realise 751
recognise 5183
sympathise 12
totals 0000 1854549

Vol 121 1865

Verb-ize-ise
-ize-ized-izing-ization-ise-ised-ising-isation
apologise 1
authorise 91
characterise 44
civilise 717
criticise 31
monopolise 3
organise 6315
realise 610
recognise 7162
sympathise 11
totals 0000 2552832

Vol 130 1869

Verb-ize-ise
-ize-ized-izing-ization-ise-ised-ising-isation
apologise 111
authorise 7
characterise 2
civilise 1325
criticise 1
monopolise 11
organise 1813
realise 6611
recognise 10172
sympathise 3
totals 0000 2255539

Vol 135 1872

Verb-ize-ise
-ize-ized-izing-ization-ise-ised-ising-isation
apologise
authorise 4
characterise 4
civilise 18332
criticise 12
monopolise 1
organise 5127
realise 652
recognise 13232
sympathise 32
totals 0000 2859661

The Edinburgh Review 1802-1929 at Google Books (NF = not found)

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