The Idler

This was a noted illustrated gentleman’s magazine published in London and also unusual for the times distributed in America. It first appeared in February 1892 and ran until its final edition in March 1911. Its founder was a Scots-Canadian named Robert Barr, (1849-1912) and he recruited as co-editor, Jerome Klapka Jerome, (1859-1927) who was by then a well-known London based playwright. During its life, the magazine was known for short stories, interviews and a variety of illustrations from contributors who included Mark Twain, Arthur Conan Doyle, Israel Zangwill, Robert Louis Stevenson, Sidney Sime and Starr Wood. It also discussed with both drawings and photographs the work and homes of famed artists of the day such as Louis Wain, Leonard Raven-Hill, Dudley Hardy, Caton Woodville, Bernard Partridge, Aubrey Beardsley and Fred Pegram.

Although initially successful in November 1897 Jerome lost a libellous high court lawsuit which cost him £9000 (nearly £1,2million in today's money) and he was forced to sell The Idler and other assets. The following year Sidney Sime inherited a fortune from a rich uncle and he not only married fellow artist Mary Susan Pickett (1867-1949) in 1898 but used his newfound wealth to buy The Idler. He then devoted his time between residences in Aberfoyle, Perthshire and Worplesdon, Surrey. However, the magazine gradually began to suffer largely over price against competition that included The Strand, Pearson’s, and the English Illustrated Magazine and others on sale for about half the price of The Idler which sold for one shilling. He sold the magazine in 1901 and it continued under the editorship Robert Barr until its final issue in March 1911 a few months before Barr's demise.