With the Rev'd Ralph Mansfield as editor and Dr John Lhotsky in charge of 'the Department of Natural History', the
New South Wales Magazine was established as a monthly journal 'decidedly Colonial in character'.
According the Prospectus, the journal was to be: 'an explorer of Colonial resources; a recorder of Colonial facts; a nursery of Colonial genius; an advocate of Colonial interests; and a channel of discussion upon all questions bearing upon the Colonial welfare.' A list of subjects to be covered in the journal included 'Colonial Literature' and 'Poetry'. In relation to the latter, the editor wrote: 'to this department the most esteemed Poets in the Colony have undertaken to contribute; and we shall study to enrich it by occasional selections from the bet compositions of the Mother Country'.
The Prospectus further noted that 'one of the principal objects' of the
New South Wales Magazine would be 'to encourage emigration'.
Source: '
Prospectus of the New South Wales Magazine',
Sydney Monitor, 8.574 (12 June 1833): 3
