Founded early in 1828 by John Silk Buckingham, its name reflected the desire of its founders to create an impartial, intellectual sphere, independent of the commercial demands of publishing. Shortly after its founding the Athenaeum was acquired by a group of friends inspired by the social and spiritual reforming aims of The Apostles, also a source of inspiration for the Oxford and Cambridge Magazine. The Athenaeum 's first editor, the Christian Socialist, F.D. Maurice, was succeeded in 1830 by the radical Charles Wentworth Dilke, who established the Athenaeum 's reputation for authority on a wide spectrum of cultural interests. Broadly liberal in politics and religion, the Athenaeum attempted to avoid controversy, aiming for earnestness and respectability. It had close connections with the radical London Magazine which folded in 1829, both Dilke and Darley having been involved in that periodical. The Athenaeum also included among its contributors Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861) and Robert Browning (1812-1889), Charles Lamb (1775-1834), and Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881),