Comprising the following single issues in the original paper wrappers: Issue Number 1, October, 1840 * Issue Number 3, February 1841 * Volume 1, Numbers 2, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 12. May, July, August, September, October, November & December, 1841 * Volume 2, Numbers 1, 2, 3, 10. January, February, March, July, 1842. * Volume 3, Numbers 1 through 11, October 1842 through August, 1843 * Volume 4, Numbers 1-4 & 6-12, November, 1843 - February, 1844 & April - October, 1844 * Volume 5, Numbers 3-12, March-December, 1845. * The New England Offering, February, 1850. Also included: Bound volume of Volumes 1 & 2 (complete but lacking the common title page for Volume 1) of The Lowell Offering in a contemporary half morocco binding, 1841-1842. * Bound volume of Volumes 1 & 2 of the New England Offering in modern black cloth, 1848-1849.
The Lowell Offering, 1840-1845, was written and published by the young women working in the fabric mills of Lowell, Massachusetts. The magazine was founded and edited by the Rev. Abel Charles Thomas, pastor of the First Universalist Church of Lowell. Beginning in October, 1842 and until its final issue in December, 1845 it was edited by Harriot F. Curtis and Harriet Farley. In 1848 the periodical resumed publication as the New England offering, edited by Harriet Farley. Begun by Thomas in October 1840 the magazine quickly gained popularity. As it grew, workers contributed poems, ballads, essays and fiction, often using their characters to report on conditions and situations in their lives. Later issues, particularly in the wake of labor unrest in the factories, included articles about the value of organizing and, notably, an essay about suicide among the Lowell girls. Single issues of this periodical are quite scarce, a collection of this scope is unlikely to be encountered again.