To Swell a Scene: Reviewing Books and History in Mookerjee’s Magazine

Abstract:This essay examines the Calcutta-based Mookerjee’s Magazine (1861, 1872–76) as a case to examine shifts in the review function in Indian-edited magazines in the last quarter of the nineteenth century. In the anti-colonial nation-making that swept over much of the Indian subcontinent, book reviews were pressed into the role of producing indigenous histories. The turn to history altered the book review, which morphed from a review of books into a general review—or overview—of an historical moment.