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Household Words was an English weekly literary magazine “conducted” by Charles Dickens from 1850 until 1859.[1] It took its name from the line in Shakespeare’s Henry V declaration to each survivor of Agincourt (1415) that the names of his King and leaders would ever be “familiar in his mouth as household words”.[2] The magazine was also issued as bound annual volumes.[3]
The magazine appeared every Wednesday, with a publication date of the following Saturday, and cost twopence, equivalent to about £1.20 as at 2025.[a]Calculated using the retail price index.[4] It was entirely unillustrated. Contributors inluded such well-known names as Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Wilkie Collins, Mrs Gaskell and T. A. Trollope, but all items were unattributed, except for those written by Dickens himself. The dramatist and journalist Douglas Jerrold refused to contribute to the magazine, on the basis that “although theoretically anonymous, all good items in the journal would in practice be ‘mononymous’, and attributed to Dickens”, as his name appeared on every page.[2]
The magazine did not concern itself solely with “literary entertainment”. It also included articles on a wide range of scientific subjects, and about a third of its content dealt with social issues such as the need to improve urban sanitation, and the establishment of free schools for the poor.[2]
Household Words was produced in partnership with the publisher Bradbury and Evans, who had been Dickens’ publisher since 1844. In the 12 June 1858 edition of Household Words, Dickens published a statement defending his separation from his wife Catherine in response to accusations of his adultery, expecting that it would be reprinted in Punch, another Bradbury and Evans publication. Furious when it was not, Dickens founded a new magazine, All The Year Round, which he decided would be editorially independent of any publisher. Bradbury and Evans responded by founding Once a Week
British weekly illustrated literary magazine published from 1859 to 1880., which although also a literary weekly, differentiated itself from Dickens’ offering by including illustrations from some of the best artists and engravers available.[5]
The final edition of Household Words appeared on 28 May 1859.[2]
