This is a tribute to Horizon, the US magazine of the arts, in its hardcover quarterly version published by American Heritage from 1959 to 1978. Perhaps it was too beautiful to last any longer.
My father subscribed from 1965 to 1969, and I still have all those issues. Thanks to the wonders of eBay I have now bought up as many copies of later issues as I can find.
Lavishly illustrated, it featured articles on art (old and new), literature, history, archaeology, biography and society. Contributors ranged from the historian J.H. Plumb to the novelist and critic Anthony Burgess and the travel writer James (now Jan) Morris.
Each blog entry looks at one issue. (That’s the plan anyway…) I hope it spurs you to seek them out as I have.
This is a non-profit educational site. Material is published on this site as fair dealing, purely for educational purposes.
David Morgan
Contact me at: DavidMorgan207 AT gmail DOT com
Horizon (1959-1978) 
David
Your site is fascinating. I found it because I’m staying in a cabin up in the San bernadino mountains (running springs) and there’s about 75 bound editions of Horizon here. It’s been the most diverting experience looking through them and I was eager to learn more, hence finding your site.
Amazing resource.
Warmest regards, sophia (teamgloria, inc)
Hello Sophia,
Glad to hear from someone who’s experienced the Horizon magic. After my father had stopped subscribing in 1969 I’d often wondered what became of it – it wasn’t available in newsagents in Australia, and cost the princely sum of $5.00 per issue by subscription. When I went to university I found it in the library there and was saddened, but not surprised, to find that it hadn’t survived in hardcover beyond 1978. It was both beautiful, and beautifully written.
David
I came upon your site on the day that, with the arrival in the post of the May 1977 issue, I completed my collection of “classic” hardbound Horizons, and I’m glad to find someone else who appreciates that wonderful publication. The closest thing to it today (in spirit, anyway) that I can think of might be Lapham’s Quarterly.
My own rather less ambitious attempt at a tribute may be found here:
http://urschleim.blogspot.com/2012/10/on-american-mid-century-middlebrow.html
Eerily, I too have copies from the Time-Life “Great Ages of Man” series – “The Reformation” and “The Age of Enlightenment” – picked up recently at a school jumble sale. I remember “The Reformation” being given out as a prize in a competition on a kids’ TV show in the early 70s.
And yet another example of middle to upper-middlebrow from that period that came to Australia from America: the World Book Encyclopedia. We had the 1974 edition. Not as demanding as Britannica, but one you could (well, I could) sit down and dip into until you realised you’d read the whole thing. It had four supplementary volumes – two each for Australasia and the British Isles.