The Chameleon (magazine)
The table of contents of the first and only issue of The Chameleon. | |
| Editor | John Francis Bloxam |
|---|---|
| Format | quarto (10.25 x 7.75") |
| Publisher | Gay and Bird |
| First issue | 1894 |
| Final issue | 1894 |
The Chameleon was a literary magazine edited by Oxford undergraduate John Francis Bloxam. Its first and only issue was published in December 1894. It featured several literary works from the Uranian tradition, concerning the love of adolescent boys.
The magazine gained notoriety when it was invoked repeatedly in the 1895 trials of Oscar Wilde as evidence of Wilde's deviant tendencies. Wilde had contributed "Phrases and Philosophies for the Use of the Young" to the magazine, a set of humorous aphorisms. While the content of "Phrases" was fairly benign, Wilde faced cross-examination about some of the other, more controversial works that appeared in the magazine, particularly the story "The Priest and the Acolyte", which was falsely rumoured to be written by Wilde.
The magazine's subtitle, A Bazaar of Dangerous and Smiling Chances, is a quote from writer Robert Louis Stevenson.