, 1868 The
Overland Monthly was founded in 1868 by Anton Roman, a
Bavarian-born bookseller who moved to
California during the
Gold Rush. He had recently published the poems of
Charles Warren Stoddard and a collection of verse by California writers called
Outcroppings. The magazine's first issue was published in July 1868, edited by
Bret Harte in
San Francisco, and continued until late 1875. Roman, who hoped his magazine would "help the material development of this Coast", was originally concerned that Harte would "lean too much toward the purely literary". Harte, who had been editor of both
The Golden Era and
The Californian, was in turn skeptical at first that there would be enough quality content provided from local authors. The first issue included contributions from the "Golden State Trinity": Harte, Stoddard, and
Ina Coolbrith. Despite the positive response from critics and the magazine's profitability, publisher Anton Roman sold the
Overland Monthly in June 1869 for $7,500 to John Carmany. Harte immediately offered the new owner a list of demands, including a raise to $200 a month and a guarantee of his complete editorial control of each issue. Carmany agreed to his terms, and Harte was able to leave his job at the
San Francisco Mint to devote his full attention to the
Overland Monthly. The publication continued to thrive in this period;
Mark Twain reported that he had "heard it handsomely praised by some of the most ponderous of America's literary chiefs." The original publishers, in 1880, started
The Californian, which became
The Californian and Overland Monthly in October 1882. In January 1883, the effort reverted to
The Overland Monthly (starting again with Volume I, number 1). The 1884 volume contained a commitment to present content "free of advertising taint," explaining that no article would appear that was not "in good faith what it appears to be." Milicent Shinn wrote about her years as editor from 1883 to 1894. The Overland Monthly was based in San Francisco until at least 1921. In 1923 the magazine merged with
Out West to become
Overland Monthly and the Out West magazine, and ended publication in July 1935. ==Contributors==