The 1,500 or so documents that constitute its kernel were created in 1988–90 by its former webmaster and editor-in-chief
George P. Landow (Professor of English and Art History Emeritus at Brown University), with his then graduate assistants David Cody, Glenn Everett, and Kathryn Stockton, as part of the IRIS Intermedia Project at
Brown University. This was funded as a proof-of-concept networked hypermedia project by
IBM,
Apple, the
Annenberg Foundation, and other sponsors. It was expanded by contributions from a professor at
Vassar College (Anthony S. Wohl), material from the Intermedia Dickens Web (Landow, Julie Launhardt, and Paul Kahn), material from the In Memoriam Web (Landow, Jon Lanestedt), and other sources. In 1990 its pre-web version received the EDUCOM/ENCRIPTAL Higher Education Software Award from National Center for Research to Improve Postsecondary Teaching and Learning; in 2000 it won the Art History Webmasters Award in Paris; in 2010 the London Times declared it "An outstanding resource for literature and history students," saying that it "also makes for fascinating reading from anyone interested in matters ranging from what aspects of Victorian culture have been lost with decimalisation to how people sent letters in those days and the rhyming slang of the day." It has received many awards both for the entire site and specific sections, such as history, visual arts, evolution, and religion. It has been recommended by Britannica, the BBC, the History Channel, and agencies or organizations in England, France, Italy, Netherlands, Russia, Singapore, Sweden, and the United States. As of 19 February 2026, the Victorian Web has 142,709 documents and images online. Well over 3000 websites link in, and it has received over 1.5 million page-views in a month. Since 2000, hundreds of scholars, chiefly from the UK and North America, have contributed thousands more documents and images. The University Scholars Program of the National University of Singapore hosted the website until 2008. ==Editorial board==