Examiner

The Examiner was an influential British magazine founded in 1808 by Leigh Hunt and his brother John. It was a prominent periodical during a time when magazines held significant power. The Examiner advocated for important social and political reforms, including the abolition of the slave trade, Catholic emancipation, and changes to Parliament and the criminal law.1

Leigh Hunt, a key figure in the magazine's history, was also a poet, essayist, and critic, and a friend to poets Percy Bysshe Shelley and John Keats. The Examiner supported these Romantic poets, defending them against criticism. For their political stances, Leigh and John Hunt were imprisoned in 1813, but Leigh continued to edit the magazine from jail, becoming a symbol of liberty. The Examiner is noted for its literary criticism, with Hunt's defense of Keats's work anticipating the Aesthetic movement's views.1