Walter Hilliard Bidwell must figure prominently in any serious review of scholarly nineteenth century theological periodicals produced in the United States. During his eighty-three years Bidwell published, owned, or edited four such publications, mostly in Pennsylvania and New York. His academic training at Yale University and the Yale Divinity School and his experience as a pastor of a Congregational Church in Massachusetts prepared him well in the content area of his publications.

The Eclectic Magazine of Foreign Literature was the only nontheological periodical with which Bidwell was associated. Although religious and theological themes occasionally could be found in its pages, the Eclectic lived up to its name and presented an assortment of articles, poems, and commentaries, generally of a semischolarly nature, dealing with a wide variety of secular topics. Partly as a remedy for poor health and partly in pursuit of material for the Eclectic, Bidwell spent a...