Alphabet, Number 15 (December, 1968)

Date1968

DimensionsOverall: 22.2 x 14.9 cm
Thickness: 0.6 cm

Credit LineGift of Hilary Bates Neary, London, Ontario, 2003

Object number2003.006.002

Label TextJames Reaney's Alphabet magazine, which first appeared in 1960 and ended with a final combined eighteenth and nineteenth issue in 1971, was a literary magazine, part of the “little magazine” movement in Canada. A little magazine is a magazine genre consisting of “artistic work which for reasons of commercial expediency is not acceptable to the money-minded periodicals or presses.” Alphabet was also an integral part of Reaney's work, a vehicle for his interests. These included Canadian drama, concrete poetry and literary graphics, and last, London, Ontario, and its artists, writers, and reviewers. For Reaney, the magazine as object was as important as its editorial scope. He chose the paper and binding for Alphabet with care. Typography, too, was key part of the magazine. In fact, Reaney studied typesetting for the magazine. Besides articles, Alphabet published a variety of poets, including Jay Macpherson, Margaret Atwood, Al Purdy and Milton Acorn; and the work of such artists as Tony Urquhart and Greg Curnoe. After James Reaney (1926-2008) wound up Alphabet, the ideas it represented and tested became a part of is larger work.

NameBook