Then as today, magazines (both men’s & women’s) featured celebrity gossip. Rather than rock and movie stars, the subjects were members of Fashionable Society. Then as now, as well, the celebrities sued.
According to Alexander Andrews’s The History of British Journalism Vol 2 (1859), “on the 17th of March 1840, Lady Bulwer got fifty pounds damages from the Court Journal for an alleged libel." The Duchess of Richmond sued, too.
Here's a sample from 1835:
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| From edition of 2 May 1835 |
—The Court Journal: Court Circular & Fashionable Gazette,* Volume 7, 1835
*published 1829 to at least 1915
One of us -- 
5 comments:
Delightful! There are about six book ideas in that few inches of copy, and every one of them great fun. Thanks abounding!
Wow, the Court Journal seems a particularly difficult source to get a hold of -- WORLDCAT lists only two libraries in the U.S. that have partial runs...
Are there other, more widely available journals from the opening decades of the 19th century that you use in your research?
That was great. I agree with Grace, there is a lot of potenial there.
Ooh, love this! Thanks for posting!
The more things change, the more they stay the same. Tabloids have been present since forever as gossip seems to be a human need. :D
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