Leisure Hour

1886

A.H. Reed Collection, Heritage Collection, Dunedin Public Library

London: Religious Tract Society

The Leisure Hour: A Family Journal of Instruction and Recreation (1852-1905) was a weekly periodical published by the Religious Tract Society. Committed to providing the public with appropriate, moral reading for the Sabbath, the Leisure Hour was usually sold on a Saturday. The contents included religious poetry and stories from the Bible, along with articles detailing the work of missionaries, and fiction that upheld the RTS’s values. The publication was priced at a penny, making it accessible to working-class readers. It occasionally included colour plates, as is exemplified here by the rather startling image of a young man having his head measured by a phrenologist. Contributors included Margaret Oliphant, Frances Browne, and Mary and William Howitt.