Modest Attempt

Not very many people ever heard of The Midland, a bi-monthly magazine. Since its birth 16 years ago at the University of Iowa its circulation has never exceeded 1,500, has averaged less. But Henry Louis Mencken called it "probably the most important literary magazine ever established in America." Edward J. O'Brien, in his annual collection of Best Short Stories, gave Midland a higher rating for 16 years than any other U. S. magazine. Last fortnight Midland subscribers were told by Founder-Editor John Towner Frederick that, unless enough subscriptions or gifts were pledged for next year, the December issue will be the last of The Midland.

Tall, dark-haired Editor Frederick was an undergraduate in 1915 when he established The Midland as "a modest attempt to encourage the making of literature in the Middle West." Like all such idealistic enterprises, The Midland had a severe struggle for subsistence; like few, it subsisted, probably because it clung to its simple purpose of printing good fiction and good poetry in unostentatious form. Witter Bynner, Clement Wood, William Ellery Leonard, the late Leonard Cline have contributed to The Midland. But the magazine is proudest of its encouragement to unknowns. Ruth Suckow was discov ered by Midland; so were Edna Bryner, Philip Stevenson, Roger L. Sergei. William March's The Little Wife, widely reprinted, appeared first in The Midland. When Editor Frederick became a teacher of English, traveling from one university to another, he and his wife Esther took The Midland with them, editing it wherever they were, mailing the material back to Iowa for publication. From 1925 until last year they had as co-editor Frank Luther Mott, now head of Iowa University's School of Journalism, author of History of American Journalism. He still serves as book reviewer. Neither editors nor contributors ever received a penny for their work. Advertising in the magazine was negligible. Once in a while the income from subscriptions would meet the cost of printing & mailing, but for most of the 16 years Editor Frederick paid the losses from his own pocket. One particularly heavy deficit he met with the proceeds of a lecture tour. Gifts from subscribers ranged in total from $50 to $350 in a year.

Last year, when he was appointed to the faculty of Northwestern University, Editor Frederick took The Midland to Chicago. In a tiny office in the Monadnock Building he and his round-faced, bob-haired wife tried to build the magazine into a monthly of larger circulation. The circulation did not come. The deficit for the year ended Sept. 1 was $2,040. The Fredericks will meet the debt, as before. But they are not prepared to meet another one next year.

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