Oxford is a city in central southern England that is renowned for its university, established in the twelfth century, with its 38 colleges. The University of Oxford is the oldest university in the English-speaking world. Matthew Arnold nicknamed Oxford the “City of Dreaming Spires.”
From March 1871 to March 1873, the journal, Dark Blue, was published monthly in Great Britain. Dark Blue (1871–73) was a monthly magazine, edited by Oxford undergraduate John Christian Freund, which folded two years after a brilliant debut. During its brief run, it brought together a stunning list of literary and artistic contributors, including Dante Gabriel Rossetti, A. C. Swinburne, William Morris, Andrew Lang, Mathilde Blind, Sheridan Le Fanu, Simeon Solomon, and Ford Madox Brown, who produced aesthetically and sexually daring poetry, art, and criticism.