Notes and Queries

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Notes and Queries

Notes and Queries is a long-running quarterly journal about English language and literature, lexicography, history, and scholarly antiquarianism. It emphasizes factual information rather than speculation.

- Founded in 1849 in London and now published by Oxford University Press. It began as a correspondence magazine where scholars and interested amateurs shared short findings (Notes) and questions with answers (Queries). Early entries were often just a sentence or two.
- The journal’s subtitle has changed over time—from a broad “medium of inter-communication for literary men, artists, antiquaries, genealogists, etc.” to “For readers and writers, collectors and librarians.” Its motto used to be “When found, make a note of” from Captain Cuttle in Dickens’s Dombey and Son.
- Notes and Queries is highly influential, ranking as the 250th-most-quoted source in the Oxford English Dictionary, with about 1,633 quotations.
- Notable early contributors include Walter W. Skeat, a key figure in English etymology, and Eliza Gutch (St Swithin), who helped found The Folklore Society and contributed to the journal for over 70 years.
- Today it is an academic journal with longer articles, though still shorter than typical journals. The Notes sections now far outnumber the Queries, and book reviews are included.
- The format inspired many regional “Notes and Queries” titles across England, such as Gloucestershire Notes and Queries (1879) and Devon and Cornwall Notes and Queries (1900); some of these survive. There have also been American, Canadian, and New Zealand Versions.
- The name has been used for other publications, including a Notes & Queries column in The Guardian since 1989.
- Anthologies of selections from Notes and Queries have been published.