Liberty (British newspaper)

Liberty
Front cover of the April 1895 edition
TypeMonthly paper
EditorJames Tochatti
FoundedJanuary 1894
Political alignmentAnarcho-communist
Ceased publicationDecember 1896
HeadquartersHammersmith
CityLondon
CountryEngland

Liberty: A Journal of Anarchist Communism was a monthly anarcho-communist paper published in London from 1894 to 1896, mostly comprising political essays.[1] The paper was edited and published by James Tochatti from his shop in Hammersmith, London, with help from regular contributor Louisa Sarah Bevington.[2][3]

Tochatti launched the paper in January 1894 in response to the violent rhetoric being used in the newspaper Commonweal. Liberty was to be avowedly against political violence and "bombastic talk", with Tochatti arguing that it only served to alienate people from the anarchist cause.[3] Occasional contributors to the paper included William Morris, Peter Kropotkin, Elisée Reclus, Louise Michel, George Bernard Shaw, Voltairine de Cleyre, and Errico Malatesta.

Liberty also published a series of pamphlets by, amongst others, Kropotkin, Malatesta, Morris, Reclus and Bevington.[4]

The paper ceased publication in December 1896 citing Tochatti's poor health, though finances were likely a contributing factor.[2][3]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Oliver, Hermia (1983). The International Anarchist Movement in Late Victorian London. London: Croom Helm. p. 125. ISBN 0-312-41958-9. OCLC 9282798.
  2. ^ a b Williams, Stephen; Boos, Florence (Winter 2017). "James Tochatti: A Little-Known Morris Socialist Comrade" (PDF). Useful and Beautiful. 2017 (2): 25–28. Archived (PDF) from the original on 23 March 2022. Retrieved 16 October 2022.
  3. ^ a b c Quail, John (2019). The Slow Burning Fuse: The Lost History of the British Anarchists. Constance Bantman, Nick Heath. Internet Archive. Oakland and London: PM Press and Freedom Press. pp. 177, 228, 372. ISBN 978-1-62963-633-7. OCLC 1089126285.
  4. ^ "Liberty Bookshelf" (PDF). Liberty. III (II): 116. November 1896. Archived (PDF) from the original on 16 October 2022. Retrieved 16 October 2022 – via libcom.org.

External links[edit]