In
the autumn of 1911, Katherine Mansfield submitted two stories
to Rhythm. The first was rejected, but the second appeared
in the spring issue of 1912 - The Woman at the Store. John
Middleton Murry moved into Katherine’s flat in April
1912. Almost immediately there was a financial crisis, due
to over-ordering, and Murry was made liable for the printing
bill. Katherine arranged for her publisher Stephen Swift to
take over responsibility for Rhythm and it was hoped that
under good management the debt would soon be paid off.
Murry asked Katherine to become an assistant
editor and it was agreed that the magazine would now be published
monthly. When the June 1912 issue of Rhythm appeared, it had
a new blue cover, although it retained Fergusson’s original
design. Katherine’s name was printed under Murry’s,
but in front of Michael Sadler’s. He was not pleased.
In subsequent issues only Katherine’s name appeared
on the cover. She wrote regularly for the magazine under her
own name, also using the pseudonyms of Lili Heron, The Tiger,
and Boris Petrovsky.
Rhythm’s style and content was regularly
made fun of by its rival the New Age (which had published
Katherine’s earlier work), and the magazine was satirised
as ‘Phlegm’ - the ‘Model Boys-will-be-Boys
Pseudo Intellectual Magazine’. Katherine’s poetry
(‘translated from the Phlegmish’) was singled
out for particular ridicule.
In October 1912 Stephen Swift absconded and
it was revealed that he had been living under a pseudonym
and was actually a convicted bigamist. He left Katherine and
John Murry with a large bill for the costs of Rhythm. The
magazine finally foundered in March 1913 and was briefly re-incarnated
as the Blue Review. Murry was declared bankrupt as a result
of the debt although it was acknowledged that the fault was
not his.
The following are some little known or uncollected pieces
from Rhythm by Katherine
Mansfield. |
