 | A series of talks on the history of the written word 39b. Newspapers and periodicals 1600-1800. (Contents list) |
Over the centuries the newspaper has come to mean quick current information while the periodical implies
regular entertainment or instruction but the distinction evolved gradually over more than two centuries.
The origin of newsletters was in the trade fairs of Venice, Antwerp, Frankfurt, Strassburg and
Augsburg. Trade centres after all are also news centres. By the mid 15th century personal communication
had begun to develop into public news through the use of couriers. The term intelligence was used.
Besides supplying the employer the courier or intelligencer also acted as a news writers to booksellers
retailing marvels and atrocities. The main source of news in the 16th century was the Turks: in 1453 they
captured Constantinople, in 1459 Serbia and 1463 Bosnia and in 1501 they took the Adriatic colonies from
Venice, but at the same time Lesbos was recaptured from the Turks. In 1502 a Neue Zeitung vom Orient
appeared for German readers describing the recapture of Lesbos. The word Zeitung means tidings and is today
the German word for newspaper. War sadly remains one of the main subjects of newspapers today.
Personal newsletters long survived the arrival of printed news sheets. The format was usually a
single or double folded sheet with the last page plain for the address. It was written throughout in
manuscript, either for a single private person subscribing through a bookseller or for a number of
subscribers. They were produced as an article of commerce. At first only the ruler and his circle needed
these couriers, but a new merchant class was growing, also bankers and the ruling classes in general. They
appreciated the value of news and obtained agents to write for them. The Augsburg firm of Fuggers was
amongst the most notable customers, and their newsletters were even released to privileged outsiders.
The sources of news varied. Some letters were written from the field of battle. Headings such as
"Before the camp at …" were common in manuscript but not so much in print. Others were from home sources.
It was common however for news to be collected in various news gathering centres by services which retailed
them to bankers or politicians. Venice was a main centre. Statesmen would arrange for letters addressed
to them personally: "My humble duty remembered to your Lordship" and signed by the agent. But this was not
necessarily an exclusive service; collectors of news would sell the same news twice if they could.
Although a letter to the Earl of Shrewsbury in 1568 from one Hugh Fitzwilliam has a personal style ("may it
please your Honour" etc) as was common to the mid 17th century, it was a commercial job all the same.
These men were known as intelligencers, employed full time in gathering and copying intelligence either for
booksellers or politicians directly.
The English government first secured regular news under Sir Francis Walsingham and the system was brought
to perfection by Sir Robert Cecil 1st Earl of Salisbury. They were fashionably called spies but were no
more so than today's reporters.
The Reformation brought a great boost to news. The excommunication of Luther in 1520 and the execution of
Moore in 1535 was a concern to all, parts of a vast religious and political upheaval. Protagonists relied
heavily on propaganda machines. This was especially true of Zurich. Bullinger, the successor of the
Zwingli, made use of journalistic invention of Mattaus Schiner, a warlord, bishop and cardinal who had
initiated a news sheet which became regular by 1513 called the "Neue Zeitung". This was revived in 1552 by
Bollinger and compiled news by correspondence and distributed it by missionaries. But it was not a
periodical in the modern sense. It required a regular supply of news through an organized system of posts.
The same was true when Neue Zeitung went into print in 1567.
More general written newsletters were in a style suitable for multiplication in quantity and start without
politeness: "Between the 23rd day in July and the 30th day of the same month there died and was buried in
London and the suburbs thereof in the whole number 359 persons." Such newsletters were begun in England by
1563. The format was 8 ½ by 12 ¼ inches folded like the corantos of 50 years later. Unsigned, they could be
called a written newspaper although they were not regular. News was a scarce commodity. A 1589 letter ends
with the promise "When there is anything worthy of you, you shall not fail of it". But the curse of
invented news alienated subscribers even then. However they were not as badly off as printers of news, who
had censorship to face. It is one reason why the written newspapers, already firmly established, survived
the printing press for so long.The death knell in England rang out 21 April 1695; Frederick Leach, who
founded the "London newsletter", writes: "It was against my inclination to appear in print, to recover, if
I can, some of my former customers and preserve those few I have left who, as they have often told me, will
rather read a printed paper than a written one." This going over to print was a virtual end of
competition, but Ichabod Dawkes newsletter from the 1696 was printed in a specially engraved script type.
Also many forms of letter writing were preserved in expressions such as "our own correspondent".
Printed newsbooks had been long established by 1695; the 1502 account of the recapture of Lesbos has
already been mentioned.
The first English printed newsbook dates from 1513: Trewe encounter or battle lately done between England
and Scotland, an account of the battle of Flodden, published by Richard Faques the son of William Faques
the King's printer. Twelve pages in length, each 7 ½ by 5 inches, it was in book format. There was no
precedent for the headline, so he offered a summary of the contents. Note the word "lately"; newspapers
until the 20th century used the term "late edition". Faques realised the appeal of eyewitness accounts and
also gave a list of the Scottish slain and a list of the English who had excelled themselves and there was
also a woodcut to appeal to the semi-literate, a vigorous picture of fighting and the King coming out of
his tent, but probably not cut for the occasion. A manuscript account also survives, probably the the
original of the printed text which is more corrupt for example "left wing" becomes" last wing.
It was not intended as part of a series and other news pamphlets are rare until the end of the century. One
example for 1565 is the fragment by Thomas Marsh: A copy of the last advertisement that came out of
Malta of the miraculous recovery of the isle from the ... Turk. There are also eyewitness accounts of
the Anglo Scottish wars published by Grafton. A Devon example is The true lamentable discourse of the
burning of Teuerton in Deuon-shire the third day of Aprill last past, about the hower of one of the clocke
in the after-noone being Market day, 1598. At what time there was consumed to ashes about the number of 400
houses with all the money and goods that was therein: and fyftie persons burnt aliue through the vehemencie
of the same fyer. The sixteen-page booklet was "printed by Thomas Purfoot for Thomas Millington and are
to be sould at his shop in Corn-hill, vnder St. Peters Church.
Periodical printed news began late in the 16th century. In 1566 numbered news sheets appeared in
Basle and Strassburg which declared themselves as part of a series. Between 1594 and 1615 In Augsburg a
series of unnumbered news sheets wes published by Samuel Dilbaum. In January 1597 he started a monthly
"Historical relation or narrative of the most important and noteworthy actions and events which took place
in the month [...] 1597". It was arranged by country with six to twelve leaves in each book and trailers
for the next issue. An annual title page was also issued. But it ceased after the first year, although he
continued to issue news books in other formats. He possibly failed because it was printed not Augsburg but
in a small Swiss town of Rohrschach on Lake Constance.
After 1590 English newsbooks became popular. Between 1590 and 1620 250 survive and 200 more are
known from the Stationers' Company's registers. That is the equivalent of one per fortnight but there was
no single publisher and they were far from regular. The contents were not miscellaneous as today. Each
book usually reported one item and, if there was no news, then no newsbooks appeared. There was a wide
range of foreign news but the English government banned all but trivial domestic news. However the
broadside ballad form was popular with semi-literate. There was also a lack of authenticity, the reuse of
dying speeches and of woodcut illustrations for example. The format was that of a book; it had a title
page and the news began on page three.
John Wolfe was the first to see that news publishing differed from book publication, but although he
was the father of the English news publishing he was not the father of periodical publication. He was
ambitions but started life with few advantages. He was not related to Reyner Wolfe and was apprenticed to
John Day and then travelled abroad. He returned to see the trade controlled by patent holders. He printed
what he pleased and planned to reform printing just as Luther had reformed religion. But he was bought off
by being allowed shares in Day's ABC. He soon became an official of the Stationers' Company and a zealous
rooter out of piracy. He began news printing in about 1589. There was little change in the basic format
but he standardised the layout of the title page and the wording of the title itself. He stripped the
title page of everything except a short title, house block and imprint; there was no crowded summary of the
contents as in the Tiverton example quoted previously. The public knew they were buying John Wolfe's news.
He also contributed to the techniques of obtaining news, possibly using contacts made during his travels
abroad and often translating foreign newsbooks. Some of his publications bear the legend "published by
authority", rare in the period when the government only released a trickle of news, but Wolfe had contacts
with the clerk to the Privy Council, Thomas Wilkes, an able diplomat who was interested in printing. He
also used letters from private individuals on missions including one T. B. (Thomas Barnes a correspondent
of Thomas Phelippes, the major news editor of the day and supplier of intelligence to the government).
Wolfe was no editor and he printed T. B's news unabridged. He openers: "My good friend, the manifold
courtesies by me sundry ways received at your hands makes me not unmindful of you" or refers to "our last
conference together at your lodging". He was aware of the importance of illustration and once included a
map of a battle although the sea coast fort was inappropriate to an account of the siege of a Paris suburb.
In 1591 he was on the verge of making a contract with the reader for regular publication; a nicely printed
advertisement states: "If I may find this to be acceptable to the reader, I shall be willing to acquaint
him with the rest as it shall come into my hands." But soon after he became printer to the City of London
and this was the end of his news publications.
The earliest regular newsbooks were continental; Britain lagged behind, having to wait for the development
of regular postal services. In January 1609 there were two dated and numbered newsbooks from Wolfenbuttel
or Augsburg the Avisa Relation oder Zeitung no. 1 dated 15 January and from Strassburg Relation
... Zeitung aus Coln vom 8 Jenner 1609 which could not have been published before the 17th of the
month. In 1610 In Köln appeared Gedenkwurdige Zeitung but they were little copied until later in the
decade.
Holland was the first country to establish a regular weekly continuous dated and printed news
service in their Corantos.
In Amsterdam in 1618 appeared Courante uit Italien Duitsland &c. Coranto was a popular term for
current affairs; Krant in Dutch means newspaper today. The earliest number contained four news items:
Venice, 1st of June; Prague, the 2nd of June; Köln, the 11th of June; the Hague the 13th of June. They
were not signed until May 1619 when we find the name of Ioris Veseler. The series survived for more than
fifty years under father and son. They were not dated until summer 1620 but were clearly regular before
then.
In about February 1619 appeared Tidinghen uit verscheyde Quartieren, published by Broer Janszon. It
was a rival publication; both were in the form of a folded sheet printed at first only on one side.
Also in Amsterdam in 1620 appeared the first French newspaper Courant d'Italie It was usually a
translation of a Coranto. Only in 1631 was the first regular news book printed in France: Nouvelles
ordinaires de divers endroits. This was soon killed off by a rival Gazette which had the support
of Cardinal Richelieu.
In 1620, again in Amsterdam, appeared the first English newspaper, published by Pieter Van De Keere
and printed by Ioris Veseker. It was a translation of a Dutch news sheet and the first extant copy is dated
"Decemember 2 1620" but there were probably earlier issues as this is headed: "The new tidings out of Italy
are not yet come". Sixteen issues survive, the last dated September 18, 1621. At first it was in roman type
later in black letter.
In April 1621 in Amsterdam the second English news sheet appeared, this one by by Janszon appeared. By
August 1621 he had anglicized his name to Johnson. Some were printed on the verso unlike the Dutch news
sheet style, leaving blanks possibly for English booksellers own news. It has been thought some Johnson
corantos were printed in London and that Thomas Archer printed some corantos in 1621 but there is no
certainty of this. On the 22nd of September, 1621 a Joseph Meade wrties: "My corantoer Archer was laid by
the heels (that is to say imprisoned) for making or adding to corantos. But now there is another that hath
got licence to print them."
In September and October 1621 in London there was a dated but unnumbered newspaper. It was in the Dutch
style of sheet not a newsbook. Seven appeared in all, printed for N. B. - the first dated September. One
was entitled Courant or weekly news.
In London on 21 May 1622 the first successful series began, published by Nicholas Bourne and Thomas Archer,
with Nathaniel Butter joining later although he was probably the prime mover. They were in a newsbook
format and called Weekly news from Italy and Germany. The first issue was probably 14 May and it
was not stictly weekly, the title varying, for example A continuation of more news or A
relation. Various numbers were published by different combinations of booksellers. Dating was adopted
from the first but numbering was almost by accident. On October 15, 1622 two issues appeared, one being a
continuation and the other a separate parcel of news; these were numbered one and two. After missing one
issue, numbering was consistent. The title still varied; Weekly news was used for issues 14 to 16
in January to February 1623 but then was lost again. Butter did "purpose to continue weekly by God's
assistance".
Nathaniel Butter is an attractive to the figure in the trade. He was full of bright ideas. In 1611
he had a primer printed abroad and imported. This brought the wrath of the Stationers' Company on his
head. He had come to rely on small copies such as the quarto edition of King Lear and news books.
Nicholas Bourne was a cautious man and had no such record, so probably it was probably Butter who organised
the five stationers and merits the title of "father of the periodical press", not Wolfe as he did not adopt
a consistent numbering and dating.
Design and format in the 1620s was still evolving. The title varied, logically if each week's
contents differed, but the words coranto, news, relation figured large and helped distinguish them from the
normal newsbook. The customer would ask for the "latest courant". Invariable elements are the date,
usually on the upper left, and the number, usually on the upper right and there was a growing use of
capitals and small capitals for proper names as opposed to roman upper and lower case, practice often
continued today especially in law reports. The format was that of the book 7½ by 5¾ inches and it was made
up of 20 to 24 pages, appearing weekly but not on fixed days. There was the influence of the written
newsletter in the centred heading of place and date of the original letter. There was little sub-editing;
phrases such as "beloved friend" being retained. The contents from foreign newsletters and corantos were
put together haphazardly at the week's end. The "gentle reader" was often addressed by an editorial "we":
"I will not hide my talent in a napkin but acquaint you with as much as falls to my poor position to know".
There were problems in getting coherent news: "They that writ these letters had them by snatches." There
were complaints that the amateurishness of editors: "If we afford you plain stuff you complain of the
phrase and peradventure cry out "it is nonsense!" News in brief was fitted in as "broken stuff". But when
there was no news, they admitted it. There were no editorial pontifications; the reader was left to
conjecture "what these wars and troubles may produce". There were some sensational touches; a double page
"authentick" woodcut of a knife used by the "Jesuited villain" in an assassination attempt on Buckingham.
Mercurius Britannicus appears as an imprint in 1625. It was not the name of the newspaper
but of the publishing syndicate and it survived until 1627. It was strange that the value of a consistent
title was not realized. In this period Thomas Archer left the syndicate and entered into partnership to
produce a rival series from 1624 to 1628.
In 1632 news printing was suppressed by the Star Chamber after the syndicate had produced over 300
editions in nine series. This was probably done on the complaint of the Spanish ambassador. Despite
petitions in 1633 there was no repeal until 1638. Readers had to rely on occasional Dutch corantos and
manuscript newsletters. Also broadside ballads could still be published. Butter and Bourne attempted to
get round the ban by a half-yearly Swedish intelligencer.
In 1638 the news ban was finally repealed. On 28 December Butter and Bourne were granted letters
patent for news printing on payment of £10 per annum for the repair of Saint Paul's. They celebrated with
a 96 page issue summarising six months news and copper plate engravings of "a prodigious eruption of fire".
Afterwards they published news books of four pages each, often several times a week. Smaller newsbooks,
being cheaper, commanded higher sales.
In 1640 the partnership was dissolved and in 1642 the triumph of Parliament annulled their privilege.
Butter continue to print news books to 1642. In 1643 he was imprisoned in the Fleet by Parliament and was
tried at Windsor by the council of war for committing sedition as an intelligencer. Financial problems had
forced him to sell 25 of his copyrights in 1639. For twenty years he struggled on. In 1663 it was reported
"Nathaniel Butter, an old stationer, died very poor". He was buried at the cost of the Stationers Company.
He was too devoted to journalism to adapt. Bourne on the other hand diversified his interests; he was
master of the Stationers' Company in 1643 and 1651 and died wealthy and 1660. Bourne had made good his
escape while Butter was in financial trouble in the 1640s. The Civil War lessened interest in foreign
affairs, and in 1641 the ban on the news was lifted, Parliament permitting allusion to its proceedings.
There were changes in the format to cope with the rich flow of home news. Page size was enlarged to 8½ by
6¼ inches, the title page was abandoned and to fit news into four pages they began the news on page one
rather than page three. Decorative initials were also abandoned to save space and there was a rapid
standardisation of titles.
In 1641 the Diurnal occurrencies in Parliament was the first English domestic news
periodical. It had the advantage of a standard name, lessened by many other publishers adopting similar
titles. Printers complained of imitation: "Take heed of a false and scandalous diurnal, fashioned by a
company of Grubstreet mercenary fellows". But these publications were newspapers in the full sense of the
word: named, regular, dated, numbered, and in a special format.
In 1643 the Mercurius civicus, a Royalist paper, was the first to reintroduce the term
"mercury". In a cut-throat world of journalism you needed imagination to survive. The Mercurius
civicus did this by using woodcuts of statesmen on the title page. In 1643 when the Queen had managed
to join King Charles the paper bore a woodcut of each on the title page. Soon after it used an
illustration in the text: the cut of a new weapon, a spiked club. Illustrations had appeared earlier on
the continent. Other fashionable titles in the 1640s included in their titles the words intelligencer,
scout, spy or post.
Newspapers began to include advertisements. These were not displayed, or even grouped separately under an
"Advertisement" heading.
In 1655 Cromwell suppressed all newspapers except the Intelligence on Monday' and the Mercurius
publicus on Thursdays. Each was of 16 pages and officially sanctioned. The charge for advertisements
was increased from 6d to 2s 6d.
After the Restoration in 1660 the policy continued. The reporting of Parliament was now forbidden
and two new papers were established, both under the supervision of the surveyor of the press, Sir Roger
L'Estrange (1616–1704). The titles were short: Intelligencer on Mondays and The news on
Thursdays.
The Oxford gazette was published in 1665, in Oxford because the court was there due to the plague.
From number 24 onwards it was renamed to the London gazette and became the official
newspaper. The format reverted to the news sheet, 12½ by 7½ inches, a single sheet in double columns
published on Mondays and Thursdays. The title was a continental term, novel in England. The format was
also similar to written letters and the editor Henry Muddiman was a noted writer of newsletters, but the
layout was more compact. There were also clandestine publications during the lapse of the Licensing Act
between 1679 and 1683. Many vituperative publications also circulated after the discovery of the Popish
Plot in 1678.
From 1688 there was a growth of magazines in a less embittered atmosphere. Periodicals were the
child of rationalism, aiming to spread enlightened views on god, mankind and the universe. From 1655 the
Journal des savants in France and the Philosophical transactions in England had appeared but
periodicals soon found their way into wider fields; the Mercure galant from 1672 contained court and
society news, criticism, and poetry.
In March 1690/1 the Athenian mercury appeared. It was one of the first general British
periodicals. It was a question and answer paper run supposedly by the Athenian Socciety in reality the
only member was the publisher John Dunton. He was prepared to answer whether women had souls, where
swallows go in winter and a wealth of other queries, largely dreamed up by Dunton himself. It had a
newspaper format in two columns and two issues per week.
There were other formulae; the London mercury carried a single essay, the Observator a
dialogue and the Collection for the improvement of husbandry and trade from 1694 onwards bears a
title that attempts to express a variety of contents, now covered by the word magazine, originally meaning
storehouse. It included commodity prices, weather forecasts, articles on trade, recipes for women and much
more besides.
The Gentleman's journal from 1692 is the true ancestor of the magazines. It was a 48 page
monthly miscellany of news, history, poetry, short stories and so on. The format was reduced to that of a
newsbook for the reader's convenience. The fulltime editors and contributors included Purcell and Dryden.
In 1695 the Licensing Act was not renewed. The daily postal service had been set up between London and
Dover to secure the regular transmission of news to the capital. There was also the development of by-post
and cross-post systems to outlying localities.
Newspapers developed under the above stimuli but cautiously; the real growth only began after 1695.
The importance of post and packet network was recognized in the titles the London post, the
Flying post and so on. Often there was an ornate woodcut of a post-boy on the title page. The
Post boy was the title of one of the earliest newspapers in 1695, three issues a week appearing, and
in June 1695 the publishers managed to get the Post boy out on four consecutive days.
In 1696 the newsletter of Ichabod Dawkes appeared. This was elegantly produced and it hearkened back
to the handwritten newsletters, then nearly defunct, and used a fine script type. This newsletter
survived for twenty years. The format of "posts" again increased to 14 by 7½ inches. The London
gazette remained unchanged and already appeared old fashioned. Many newspapers now had three columns to
the page.
Evening papers were also appearing; the Evening post in 1706 contained three issues per week.
There was even a Night post in 1711.
Provincial newspapers began to appear; the Norwich post in 1701, the Bristol post in
1702, Samuel Farley's Exeter postman
probably in 1704, but, depending on the frequency of missing
issues possibly as early as 1701. The Worcester postman, established in 1709, still survives as
Berrow's Worcester journal.
Evening papers were the most punctual, aiming to catch the mail to the provinces which left on Tuesday,
Thursday and Saturday nights. Timing was crucial; for many years The times newspapers showed the
clock at 4.30 in the morning on its masthead.
London's first daily newspaper, the Daily courant was published on 11 March, 1702 by Edward
Mallet, and it was a breakthrough. The single sheet was 13 by 7½ inches and at first the supply of news was
so scanty that only one side was printed. At first too, the numbering was hesitant. After the first eight
issues there were six unnumbered issues but on 27 April when the first of these appeared, the paper changed
hands to Samuel Buckley at the Dolphin, Little Britain. Under him the paper became four pages. The aim was
to publish daily "being designed to give all the material news as soon as each post arrives. There was no
editorial comment; it was supposed that readers had sense enough to make reflections for themselves.
Buckley retired from the paper in 1735.
It was a newsworthy age, like the Civil War. Marlborough was campaigning on the continent, political
parties were on the rise, and commerce was expanding, which required news of changing trade conditions.
The publisher aimed to get the newspaper discussed in coffee houses.
However it was a long time before the daily regularity could be matched.The next daily came only in
1715,the Daily oracle. Later followers include the Daily post in 1719, the Daily
journal in 1720 and the Daily advertiser in 1730. The Daily advertiser soon became, and
remained until its demise in 1807, the Times of the 18th century with much valuable commercial news.
Advertisements were important to proprietors as they were source of revenue when they had to meet
printer's bills while publishing at the lowest possible cost. Some periodicals specialised in
advertisements, similar to Exchange and mart (a periodical that is now solely online). The
Generous advertiser charged 3d for 50 letters. They were able to give away 4,000 copies, a greater
circulation than all newspapers but the London gazette with 6,000 copies. Other 18th century
publications reflecting advertisements in their title are the General Advertiser, the Morning
Post and Daily Advertiser, and the Public Advertiser.
New typographical devices were introduced by newspapers, for example pointing fists, used to direct
attention.
The first illustrated advertisement was on 17 March 1703 in the Daily courant a simple cut for a
"new invention for making chocolate no way 13 inches, all bright cast iron ... to put by that laborious
loathsome way of making up on the stone". The woodcut was used several times later in thrice-weekly
insertions, to advertise the change of address, a method of hire purchase, "a pound of this chocolate worth
a cartload of that foul stuff sold by hawking Jews". The next use of woodcuts was by William Mason, a
writing master, in the Flying post in 1704. The most notable was the "anodyne necklace" which
dominated illustrated advertisements in the 1720s and 1730s in a series of ever more elaborate woodcuts for
what was originally a teething ring. Later the anodyne necklace became a shop sign for surgical stores
selling, among other things, "Sovreign Water for the Itch" and a book on Turkish women "not to be bought by
boys, girls or paltry persons". It was also one of the first advertisers to use large types in its
advertisements.
The Stamp Act, passed in August 1712, was introduced by the Tories, newly come to power. This was a
notorious "tax on knowledge" which was not removed until 1855. Periodicals were taxed at a halfpenny duty
per half sheet sold, and pamphlets at two shillings per edition. Advertisements paid one Shilling each.
The stamp duty was impressed in red on each sheet before selling it to the printer. The price of a
newspaper rose from 1d to 1½d. Publishers soon realized periodicals could reach six pages per issue and be
counted as a pamphlet for the purposes of duty. But there was not enough news to fill a six page newspaper,
and not enough advertisements now they were taxed. They got round this by the use of deep mastheads,
decorative initials, large type and also the insertion of poems, essays and letters. Until 1725 newspapers
looked very handsome, more like magazines. Serialised books were also included as supplements to newspapers
to bulk them out. Illustrative woodcuts were not regularly used to bulk out the text as they were expensive
to cut. An Act of 1725 prevented such dodges and periodicals had to rely on subsidies from political
parties. The simplified table shows the changing rates of stamp duty on newspapers and periodicals from its
introduction in 1712 until its abolition in 1855.
Sir Robert Walpole perfected the subsidy system, using thousands of pounds of secret service money. This did not amount to total press control, as the opposition also supported its own titles, but it meant the end of unbiased reporting and the growth of a vituperative style. This probably added to the popularity of newspapers. By 1724 there were three daily titles and innkeepers would have copies read aloud in the bar for the benefit of their illiterate clientele.
| Date | Newspapers | Advertisements | Periodicals per edition sheet |
| 1712 | 1d per sheet | 1/- | 2/- |
| 1757 | 1d per sheet | 2/- | |
| 1780 | 1d per sheet | 2/6 | |
| 1789 | 2d per sheet | 3/- | |
| 1797 | 3½d per sheet | 3/6 | |
| 1815 | 4d per sheet | 3/6 | 2/- |
| 1833 | 4d per sheet | 3/6 | |
| 1836 | 1d per sheet | 1/6 | repealed |
| 1855 | repealed | repealed | |
Sir Robert Walpole perfected the subsidy system, using thousands of pounds of secret service money. This did not amount to total press control, as the opposition also supported its own titles, but it meant the end of unbiased reporting and the growth of a vituperative style. This probably added to the popularity of newspapers. By 1724 there were three daily titles and innkeepers would have copies read aloud in the bar for the benefit of their illiterate clientele.
In 1724 Samuel Negus, who had been since 1722 a struggling printer in Silver Street, near Wood Street, in
the city of London, published through the printer William Bowyer, A Compleat and Private List of all the
Printing Houses in and about the Cities of London and Westminster, together with the Printers' Names, what
Newspapers they print, and where they are to be found: also an Account of the Printing Houses in the
several Corporation Towns in England, most humbly laid before the Right Honourable the Lord Viscount
Townshend. In the list, which is tabulated below, he gives the names and printers of three daily
papers, five weekly journals, and ten papers "published three times each week", three of the latter being
"halfpenny posts".
Negus lists 34 printers in London "well affected to King George (the Whig party), three nonjurors (who refused to take the 1688 Oath of Allegiance to William III and Mary II), 34 "said to be high flyers" (holding opinions which gave a high place to the authority and claims of the established Church or State, high Tories) and four "Roman Catholicks", a total of 75. He also passes a comment on Mist: "printer of a scandalous Weekly Journal, bearing his own name". His list of "Printing-houses in the Country" is incomplete, as he does not include Exeter where several printers were active in 1724. For this inside information, outlining the political principles of the printers enumerated, Negus was rewarded by a letter-carrier's place in the post office. His listing is interesting in shedding light on the politicisation of the newspaper press in the 18th century where titles received financial support from a range of pressure groups.
| DAILY PAPERS | ||
| Daily Courant | Buckley | Amen-corner |
| Daily Post | Meere | Old Baily |
| Daily Journal | Appleby | near Fleet-ditch |
| WEEKLY JOURNALS | ||
| Mist's Journal | Mist | Great Carter-lane |
| Freeholder's Journal | Sharp | Ivy-lane |
| Read's Journal | White Fryers | Fleet-street |
| London Journal | Wilkins | Little Britain |
| Whitehall Journal | Wilkins | Little Britain |
| PAPERS PUBLISHED THREE TIMES EVERY WEEK | ||
| Post Man | Leach | Old Baily |
| Post Boy | James | Little Britain |
| Flying Post | Jenour | Giltspur-street |
| Berrington's Evening Post | Silver-street, Bloomsbury | |
| Whitehall Evening Pott | Wilkins | Little Britain |
| St. James's Post | Grantham | Patemoster-row |
| The Englishman | Wilkins | Little Britain |
| HALF-PENNY POSTS, THREE TIMES EVERY WEEK | ||
| Heathcote's | Baldwin's-gardens | |
| Parker's | Salisbury-court | |
| Read's | White Fryers | Fleet-street |
Negus lists 34 printers in London "well affected to King George (the Whig party), three nonjurors (who refused to take the 1688 Oath of Allegiance to William III and Mary II), 34 "said to be high flyers" (holding opinions which gave a high place to the authority and claims of the established Church or State, high Tories) and four "Roman Catholicks", a total of 75. He also passes a comment on Mist: "printer of a scandalous Weekly Journal, bearing his own name". His list of "Printing-houses in the Country" is incomplete, as he does not include Exeter where several printers were active in 1724. For this inside information, outlining the political principles of the printers enumerated, Negus was rewarded by a letter-carrier's place in the post office. His listing is interesting in shedding light on the politicisation of the newspaper press in the 18th century where titles received financial support from a range of pressure groups.
Periodical publication was becoming a specialist area from the early 18th century. Special sizes of
type were used, but as yet no display types, the text being set in types of one size, with advertisements
normally one size smaller. Type size was usually small, eleven point or under. In 1784 minion type (7
point) was introduced. Large print runs were needed, so duplicate typesetting was often necessary. Presses
were modified to take larger sheets of paper; the Saint Bride's Printing Library's wooden press, which
dates from about 1810, has a large platen and a modified frisket.
Periodicals for entertainment were common in the 18th century, and this is revealed by their titles. The
Diverting post of 1704 contains poetry (printed in small italic), theatrical and social news, songs
and riddles. It became the great rage, appearing monthly with a high price of sixpence. Other titles
include Humors of the coffee-house, Weekly comedy in a smaller 8¾ x 6 inch format, Tea
table, Trifler, Chit-chat, Town talk all reveal their social milieu. The question
and answer format was popular; Defoe tried it in his political periodical Review but was put off by
the frivolity of the questions.
The British Apollo was typical. Its four pages had one devoted to poetry and there were a great
variety of questions, for example: "Will women be resurrected?" There were many advertisements for such
things as stolen watches or absconding servants. It came out twice a week and was obtainable by
subscription for two shillings a quarter, delivered by post-boys. It was provided with a title page, index
and list of contents, folders were supplied and also bound volumes. It was even arranged for a concert of
music to be printed, but they were unable to obtain music type and raise the capital to arrange the
concert, so it was called off at the last minute.
The Tatler, which ran from 1709 to 1711, was founded by Richard Steele who used the pseudonym
Isaac Bickerstaffe, for "gallantry, pleasure and entertainment". It also provided much domestic and foreign
news and also advertisements. It dwindled to one essay and a few miscellaneous articles per issue and came
out twice a week at 1d per copy. He aimed to attract women with advertisements for such products as "an
incomparable beautifying cream 2s 6d per gallipot".
The Spectator which ran from 1711 to 1714 was a joint production of Richard Steel and Joseph
Addison. There were 638 numbers in all and the average circulation was about 3,000 copies. From the start
it discarded news items in favour of one or two essays of high literary pretensions. It appeared every
weekday aiming, like Jean de La Bruyère in France" to exhibit the characters and manners of the age". It
introduced the country squire Sir Roger de Coverley. Editions of collected essays and complete runs were
often reprinted in the 18th century. It also had several hundred imitators in the 18th century, few
outlasting the initial enthusiasm of the founders, but some were kept alive in the sophisticated coffee-
house society. Analysis of the New Cambridge bibliography of English literature shows that essay
periodicals dominated the market from 1710 to 1724 but then declined in popularity.
Reviews were a popular form of periodical. Most periodicals did some reviewing, but some specialised
in this. Robert Dodsley's Museum only ran from 1746 to 1747 and Robert Griffiths' the Monthly
review ran from 1749 to 1825, Tobias Smollett edited the Critical review from 1756 to 1763, the
periodical continuing until 1817. These reviews had great influence on acquainting the middle classes with
literature. The reviews were often of great length with detailed description of the contents and notes on
style and presentation. There was little actual criticism; it was more publisher's blurb. This however
was not always true; some were very short: "Absolute trash!" The Edinburgh review, established in
1802, was the first to turn criticism partisan by making sport of censuring English bards, an approach that
began to give the critic their air of superiority.
The Gentleman's magazine which ran from 1731 to 1907 was the most successful eighteenth
century periodical. Edward Cave (1691-1754) was the prime mover. He saw the need among the middle classes
for miscellaneous information not obtainable from daily or weekly news sheets. He had earned a living as a
writer of newsletters and had furnished Robert Raikes, the proprietor of the Gloucester journal,
with the minutes of proceedings of the House of Commons. He saved enough to set up a small press in
Clerkenwell and conceived the idea of publishing a collection or "magazine" of essays and articles,
especially abridgments of important news items or essays in the month's periodicals, both London and
provincial: "a true specimen [is] as satisfactory as a whole parcel" - a foretaste of the Reader's
digest formula. The editor gave a list of the periodicals raided on each side of the title page
woodblock. The octavo publication was issued monthly in blue wrappers and cost 6d. Cave offered half shares
in the undertaking to many London booksellers, but all thought it absurd. When it proved to be successful
they banded together to launch the rival London magazine. There were other imitators, but few as
successful, although under its influence the term "magazine" soon became generic, for example the Scots
magazine, which ran from 1739 to 1817. The Gentleman's magazine had a circulation of 10,000 in
1739 and 15,000 in 1745 helped by its liberal use of woodcuts and copperplate engravings - more than twenty
have been noted for Devon locations alone between 1791 and 1849. There was a monthly catalogue of new
publications and also reviews. It was the first periodical to introduce parliamentary debates. In 1738 it
was threatened with prosecution for infringement of parliamentary privilege, so the title was altered to
"Debates in the Senate of Lilliput". In the 1740s Johnson supplemented his income by working anonymously as
a parliamentary reporter for the Gentleman’s Magazine, although he “never was in the gallery but
once”. Cave published Johnson's Rambler from 1750. Cave had frequent brushes with the government. He
died in 1754 but his pseudonym Sylvanus Urban, Gent. was long used by later editors. The magazine was
several times reprinted in book form, a common practice in the 18th and 19th centuries for successful
titles.
Women's magazines were rare until the later 18th century and many of the earliest ones were short-
lived.
The Ladies' mercury run by the Ladies' Society from 1693, set out to answer love problems based on
the formula adopted by John Dunton for the Athenian mercury. The Ladies' Society consisted solely
of John Dunton and it also included problems from men: "A twelvemonth since I married a young woman. I had
not been married half a year before I took herin the very act of adultery." The reply: "Truly, Sir, we
think your case one of the hardest in the world ... but a man must neither Whore nor Marry while she lives
for the Pulpit Law pronounces it both ways Whoredom ..."
The appearance of the Female tatler was delayed, but it was announced: "this is to inform the town,
that the said paper will certainly be publish'd on Friday next, by B[enjamin] Bragge at the Black Raven in
Paternoster Row. It survived from 1709 into 1710.
The Free-thinker was a journal written by Ambrose Philips and printed for W. Wilkins at the Post-
House under Will's Coffee-house, Covent-Garden; and sold by W. Graves, at the Black Spread Eagle in Pater-
Noster-Row; and J. Graves in St. James's Street "where letters and advertisements are taken in". It
appeared from 1718 to 1721. Philips intended to give the minds of his readers "as beautiful a turn as
nature has bestowed upon their persons."
The Visiter whose 51 issues appeared from 18 June 1723 to 31 January 1724 copied the approach of
The Free-thinker, devoting itself to subjects "which tend to the Mind and Manners as they are
relative to a Domestic Life". While it avoided current events, it appealed for contributions from his
readers to stimulate their minds and convince them that "knowing how to make a pudding and pleat their
husband's neck-cloths is not the only knowledge necessary to them."
The female spectator, written by Eliza Fowler Haywood, was printed and published by T. Gardner, at
Cowley's Head, opposite St. Clement's Church, in the Strand, for A. Millar, W. Law, & R. Caters. It lasted
from 1744 to 1746. It was successful enough to be pirated in Dublin by Ewing, also between 1744 and 1746,
and was translated as La spectatrice : ouvrage traduit de l'anglois in The Hague by Frederic Henri
Scheurleer in 1750-1751. Each monthly issue gave chatty advice on etiquette, love and marriage. It advised
that girls should not be isolated from society: "many a squire's daughter has clambered over a hedge and
stile to give a rampant jump into into the arms of a young jolly haymaker".
The Ladies magazine, or, the Universal entertainer was printed by G. Griffith from 1749to 1750. The
editor, Jasper Goodwill, persisted with educating the fair sex, providing them with lists of the
Plantagenet kings and details of share prices- hardly the "universal entertainer" of its subtitle!
The Lady's Museum by the Author of the Female Quixote was published by J. Newberry and J. Coote in
1760 and 1761. It was the last of the essay style periodicals for women. Written by Charlotte Lennox, it
sought "artfully to cajole fair readers into seriousness" and she had the literary talent to set a high
standard with essays, novels, translation from the French, short narratives, philosophical pieces and
songs.
The ladys magazine, described as an "entertaining companion for the fair sex, appropriated solely to
their use and amusement" was the most successful women's magazine of the 18th century. Launched by J.
Wheble in 1770, it contained articles on flower culture, oriental tales and engraved fashion plates. Two
styles were shown each month, a walking dress and a full dress. There were also romantic serials, book
reviews, playlets, songs and letters, but no answers to love problems. Such features made a regular
appearance in later magazines. The periodical lasted until 1837.
The lady's monthly museum published by Vernor and Hood from 1798 to 1828 was the last such
periodical to appear in the 18th century. It was also noted for its fashion plates and was one of the only
magazines to make provision for readers' personal difficulties. There was an advice feature conducted by
"The Old Woman" which was aimed primarily at the young, with "think-pieces" on matters raised in
readers'letters.
It was a woman, Elizabeth Johnson, with a printing office in Ludgate Hill, who founded the first Sunday
newspaper. There were harsh words from George Crabbe for the British gazette and Sunday monitor
which first appeared on 26 March 1780. The paper was just like the dailies, apart from a religious column
on the front page and Crabbe wrote:
Then lo! The sainted MONITOR is born,Nevertheless Mrs Johnson's paper was successful, reaching a circulation of 4,000 copies a week at a time when the average circulation of a newspaper was around 1,500, and it survived until the 22 September 1805 issue. It inspired a number of competitors, the most famous of which was the Observer, which survived into the 21st century. When it began in 1791 the latter was a reactionary Tory paper, a leading article in 1792 defending the slave trade.
Whose pious face some sacred texts adorn:
As artful sinners cloak the secret sin,
To veil with seeming grace the guile within;
So moral Essays on his front appear,
But all is carnal business in the rear;
The fresh-coin'd lie, the secret whisper'd last
And all the gleanings of the six days past."
One of the most ambitious serial publications for women was published in Paris. The Bibliothèque
universelle des dames appeared in 156 volumes between 1785 and 1797. The privilege for this mammoth
undertaking was granted 6 July 1784 to Jacques Perrin. The frequency announced was fortnightly on the 1st
and 15th of each month but, while this was maintained from 1786 to 1790, it became very irregular after the
Revolution (in 1791 8 volumes appeared, in 1792 only two). The size of each volume varies from about 120
pages to more than 400, in gatherings of 36 pages in the small octodecimo format, 13x8 cm in size. There
were plates in the volumes on geometry, and maps in the atlas. The imprint varies: Paris, rue d'Anjou
(1785-1786); rue et maison Serpente (1785-1786); chez Cuchet Libraire, rue et maison Serpente (undated);
rue et hôtel Serpente (1786-1797 and 1806); rue d'Anjou-Dauphine, n° 6 (1785-1786). Volumes could be
delivered in wrappers or bound "reliés en veau fauve ou écaille, et dorés sur tranche, ainsi qu'avec ou
sans le nom de chaque souscripteur, imprimé au frontispice de chaque volume". The annual subscription for
24 volumes bound was 72 livres, or 54 livres in wrappers, plus postage. In 1806, Bidault announced that
"la collection complète de 154 vol. in-18 se vend pour 200 fr. brochés et 240 fr. cartonnés et étiquetés".
He also offered to complete the collections of former subscribers.
The series of volumes was announced as containing ten classes, in reality there were eleven:
1) Voyages
2) Histoire ancienne et moderne
3) Mélanges: grammaire française, orthographe, versification, prononciation, logique, rhétorique française, mythologie, littérature grec et latine
4) Théâtre
5) Romans (Ethiopiques, grecs, chevalerie, historiques, Amadis de Gaule, Petit Jehan de Saintré, Abdeker, 6) Morale (moralistes latins et grecs, moralistes modernes)
7) Mathématiques: arithmétique, algèbre, géométrie, trigonométrie
8) Physique, astronomie
9) Histoire naturelle: botanique, chimie, physique de l'homme, physique de la femme, économie rurale et domestique
10) Médecine domestique
11) Musique
La Bibliothèque universelle des dames was conceived as a collection works to provide a general education, easily accessible, for women of "a certain class": "C'est pour leur épargner du travail, qu'une société de gens de lettres a conçu le projet d'une collection où l'on trouve tout ce que peuvent fournir de connaissances utiles et agréables: les voyages, l'histoire, la philosophie, les belles-lettres, les sciences, et les arts". The initial project of ten classes was enlarged to include the class of "Médecine domestique". But there were cutbacks in other areas. The twenty volumes of travels (voyages) only dealt with Asia and Africa, to the exclusion of America and Europe which had been promised. Section five on Novels (Romans) was terminated abruptly and only had one for the 18th century: Abdeker. From 1787 interest seems to have been focussed on the practical, technical and scientific aspects of the collection. The "société de gens de lettres" seems to have included Jean-Antoine Roucher, Barthélémy Imbert, Jacques Perrin, Joseph de Lalande and Richard de Lacépède. Two partial versions, freely translated, were published in Leipzig by Weidmann from 1785 to 1789.
Few complete collections are known, only the British Library seems to have a full set in Britain, so it is good to have discovered an almost complete set in original bindings in the Baring-Gould family library in Devon. A full list of the titles of the 143 volumes they hold can be found in the catalogue of the collection. The subscription to this set seems to have ceased early in 1793, which accounts for most of the gaps.
The series of volumes was announced as containing ten classes, in reality there were eleven:
1) Voyages
2) Histoire ancienne et moderne
3) Mélanges: grammaire française, orthographe, versification, prononciation, logique, rhétorique française, mythologie, littérature grec et latine
4) Théâtre
5) Romans (Ethiopiques, grecs, chevalerie, historiques, Amadis de Gaule, Petit Jehan de Saintré, Abdeker, 6) Morale (moralistes latins et grecs, moralistes modernes)
7) Mathématiques: arithmétique, algèbre, géométrie, trigonométrie
8) Physique, astronomie
9) Histoire naturelle: botanique, chimie, physique de l'homme, physique de la femme, économie rurale et domestique
10) Médecine domestique
11) Musique
La Bibliothèque universelle des dames was conceived as a collection works to provide a general education, easily accessible, for women of "a certain class": "C'est pour leur épargner du travail, qu'une société de gens de lettres a conçu le projet d'une collection où l'on trouve tout ce que peuvent fournir de connaissances utiles et agréables: les voyages, l'histoire, la philosophie, les belles-lettres, les sciences, et les arts". The initial project of ten classes was enlarged to include the class of "Médecine domestique". But there were cutbacks in other areas. The twenty volumes of travels (voyages) only dealt with Asia and Africa, to the exclusion of America and Europe which had been promised. Section five on Novels (Romans) was terminated abruptly and only had one for the 18th century: Abdeker. From 1787 interest seems to have been focussed on the practical, technical and scientific aspects of the collection. The "société de gens de lettres" seems to have included Jean-Antoine Roucher, Barthélémy Imbert, Jacques Perrin, Joseph de Lalande and Richard de Lacépède. Two partial versions, freely translated, were published in Leipzig by Weidmann from 1785 to 1789.
Few complete collections are known, only the British Library seems to have a full set in Britain, so it is good to have discovered an almost complete set in original bindings in the Baring-Gould family library in Devon. A full list of the titles of the 143 volumes they hold can be found in the catalogue of the collection. The subscription to this set seems to have ceased early in 1793, which accounts for most of the gaps.
Children's periodicals came later and were far fewer in number than those for their parents. While
there was an active publishing scene in London for younger readers from the mid eigtheenth century, there
were few periodical publications. In this England lagged behind some European nations.
There are several early examples in Germany, for example Der Kinderfreund, a weekly published in
Hanau by Kämpfe in 1778 and Mannigfaltigkeiten für Kinder, a quarterly published in Schwerin by
Bödner in 1784. Perhapsthe most successful came from Prag, the Prager Kinderzeitung, nebst Wöchentlicher
Unterhaltung für Kinder und Kinderfreunde a weekly which first appeared on 1 July 1788, published by
Johan Josef Diesbach. It was continued from 8 July 1789 by the Neue Kinderzeitung until 30 October
1790. Its place was taken by the most remarkable children's serial publication that appeared in the 18th century.
The Bilderbuch für Kinder was published by Friedrich Justin Bertuch in Weimar between 1790 and 1825
in 237 parts with 1185 copperplates in an edition of 3,000. Bertuch's aim was to introduce the child to
unusual but instructive objects that it would not see every day to arouse its enthusiasm for the unknown.
The text, which in the early volumes was probably compiled by Bertuch himself from a variey of sources, was
deliberately kept brief and not too learned so as not to deaden the enjoyment that the child could obtain
from the visual image. Bertuch saw the work as being as indispensible in the nursery as a cradle, a doll,
or a hobby horse. And indeed the child was to treat the book as if it were a toy: "It must browse through
it at all times, it must colour it in and even, with the parents' permission, be allowed to cut the
pictures out and stick them onto cards." For this reason he felt that the picture book should be handed
over not as a bound volume but in parts as "enjoyable and rewarding presents for being good".
Bertuch's care showed itself too in the choice of type face, as he explained on 16 April 1790: "Furthermore
I have had the text of the picture book printed in Latin types because I heartily wish that we could
finally rid ourselves of our ugly old Frankish German monkish script and go over completely to the far more
beautiful Latin types of the rest of Western Europe." The drawing school in Weimar proved useful. Under the
supervision of the director Kraus and the engraver Lips, Bertuch enlisted both pupils and teachers, to
prepare the plates. In volume 4 (1802) for example contributors included Henriette Westermayr née Stötzer
(1772-1841) who had studied in Weimar and married her teacher Konrad Westermayr before leaving with him for
Hanau and Konrad Horny (1764-1807) who had taught at the drawing school since 1795 and undertook work for
Goethe. The plates, which appeared in coloured and uncoloured versions, depicted animals, plants, flowers,
fruits, minerals, costumes and other objects to illustrate the arts and sciences. Apart from the brief
heading, which was in German and French to parallel the accompanying bilingual text, there was no text on
the plates, many of which were very finely finished, numbers against each object depicted referring to the
four or so text pages which accompanied the plate in each issue.
The text itself, although bilingual (in volumes four and six which appeared in 1802 and 1807 English and
Italian were added) was found to be somewhat insubstantial and in 1796 Bertuch enlisted the support of the
Dessau educationalist and inspector of schools Karl Philip Funke (1752-1807). The first volume of the "Full
text to Bertuch's picture book for children" appeared in 1798 and its subtitle gave its purpose as
providing "a commentary for parents and teachers who wish to use this work for the instruction of their
children and pupils". Funke provided quite radical and anticlerical glosses to some of the pictures.
Everywhere he speaks out for reason and enlightenment. Even lowly animals like toads or spiders should be
looked at in this light: "It is high time that we act on our clearer insight and knowledge of nature and do
not continue to instill in our children and successors an undeserved revulsion and horror against an
innocent creature." The text is generally detailed and well researched. In volume seven for example to
illustrate plates on horseracing Funke gives a vivid description of the English mania for gambling,
mentioning the printed advertisements lottery agents issued, listing 31 racecourses and describing flea
racing in Chelsea Hospital. However the section on aeronautics in the same volume descends to hearsay when,
after detailed descriptions of hot air balloons, he cites a report from Scotland that a man had trained
sixteen eagles to carry him through the air.
An earlier children's publication in France with similar aims was Le porte-feuille des enfans :
mélange intéressant d'animaux, fruits, fleurs, habillemens, plans, cartes & autres objets dessinés suivant
des réductions comparatives & sous la direction de M. Cochin : avec des courtes explications & divers
tableaux élementaires. Compiled by Charles Nicolas Cochin,it was publiched in Paris from the Imprimerie de
Lambert & Baudouin, rue de la Harpe, près S. Côme from 1784 to 1791.
In Britain, Scotland led the way with The young misses magazine which was descibed as "containing
dialogues between a governess and several young ladies of quality, her scholars. In which each lady is made
to speak according to her particular genius, temper, and inclination: their several faults are pointed out,
and the easy way to mend them, as well as to think, and speak, and act properly; no less care being taken
to form their hearts to goodness, than to enlighten their understandings with useful knowledge. A short and
clear abridgement is also given of sacred and profane history, and some lessons in geography. The useful is
blended throughout with the agreeable, the whole being interspersed with proper reflections and moral
tales." It was largely written by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont and was publised in Edinburgh: by C.
Elliot in Parliament-Square in 1781.
In London several of the early, usually short-lived, publications were published by John Marshall, a
specialist in juvenile literature. The female guardian, "designed to correct some of the foibles
incident to girls, and supply them with innocent amusement for their hours of leisure",
by Mrs Lovechild was printed and sold by John Marshall and Co. in 1787.
The juvenile magazine ; or, An instructive and entertaining miscellany for youth of both sexes
,
was also printed and published for J. Marshall and Co. in 1788. There is a copy of this in the early
childrens book collection in Exeter Library.
A flurry of juvenile periodicals appeared in London at the turn of the century. The Childrens
Magazine, a "Monthly Repository of Instruction & Delight" appeared with John Marshall from 1799 to
1800. The Young gentleman's & lady's magazine, a "Universal repository of knowledge, instruction,
and amusement, intended to open the tender mind to an acquaintance with life, morals, & science, the works
of nature and of art; and to serve as an useful auxiliary to public and private tuition" was printed for J.
Walker in 1799 and 1800, and The picture magazine, or, Monthly exhibition for young people was
intended as a reward for their improvement, and to afford them and elegant and useful amusement in their
leisure hours, and was another publication of the prolific publisher for children John Marshall emanating
from his office at no. 4 Aldermary Church Yard in Bow Lane, Cheapside. It also appeared from 1799 to 1800.
Timperley gives the following list of "the principal periodicals published, with the number sold" in
1797:
By 1785 the newspaper press had expanded since Samuel Negus published his list in 1724, both in London and more particularly in the provinces. In 1785 was published John Pendred's The London and Country Printers, Booksellers and Stationers Vade-mecum, which included a "List of Newspapers printed in England, Scotland and Wales; with the Names of their Agents, and Days of Publication". This listed nine [Daily] "London Morning News-papers", ten "London Evening News-papers", six "London Weekly News-papers" and three "London Sunday Morning News-papers", a total of 28 titles as opposed to the 18 listed in 1724. It also lists two titles for Exeter, the only town in Devon with newspaper printers at that time.
Unlike Samuel Negus, John Pendred has no interest in political inclinations; his list is for printers and publishers, not for the Secretary of State. He is more interested in where advertisements are taken in, which is usually a London bookseller or a coffee house. For example for the Daily Universal Register (later The Times), "advertisements [are] taken in by T.Hookham. Bookseller, New Bond Street; Mr. Cooper, Stationer, Charing Cross. Mr. Batham, Bookseller,27, Fleet Street; Mrs. Wilson, 45, Lombard Street; Mr. Johnson, 1, Catherine Street; Mr. Woodham, 52, High Holborn, and by Mr.Newman, at the New England Coffee House." This shows the importance of the coffee house, the "penny universities" of the 18th century in the spread of information. Not only did they have copies of London newspapers and periodicals for their customers but they had copies of the provincial newspapers available.
| TITLE | SOLD | PROPRIETORS |
| Monthly Revew | 5000 | Grifflths |
| Monthly Magazine | 5000 | Phillips |
| Gentleman's Magazine | 4550 | Nichols |
| British Critic | 3500 | Rivington & Co. |
| European Magazine | 3350 | Sewell & Co. |
| Critical Review | 3500 | Hamilton & Co. |
| Universal Magazine | 1750 | Bent & Co. |
| Analytical Review | 1500 | Johnson |
| Repertory | 1000 | Wyatt |
| Annals of Agriculture | 1000 | Young |
| Nicholson's Journal | 750 | Robinson |
| Medical Review | 750 | Boosey & Co. |
By 1785 the newspaper press had expanded since Samuel Negus published his list in 1724, both in London and more particularly in the provinces. In 1785 was published John Pendred's The London and Country Printers, Booksellers and Stationers Vade-mecum, which included a "List of Newspapers printed in England, Scotland and Wales; with the Names of their Agents, and Days of Publication". This listed nine [Daily] "London Morning News-papers", ten "London Evening News-papers", six "London Weekly News-papers" and three "London Sunday Morning News-papers", a total of 28 titles as opposed to the 18 listed in 1724. It also lists two titles for Exeter, the only town in Devon with newspaper printers at that time.
| Title | Printer/proprietor | Address | Days | |
| LONDON MORNING NEWS-PAPERS | ||||
| Daily Advertiser | J.Jenour | 33, Fleet-street | ||
| Daily Universal Register | Logographically by George Brown | Printing-house Square, Black Friars | ||
| Gazetteer | M. Say | 10, Ave-Maria-Lane, Lugate-street | ||
| General Advertiser and Morning Intelligencer | J. Almon | 183, Fleet-street | ||
| Morning Chronicle | William Woodfall | 62, Dorset-street,Salisbury Square | ||
| Morning Herald | J. S. Barr | 18, Catherine-street, Strand | ||
| Morning Post and Daily Advertiser | P. Stuart | Blake-court, Catherine-street, Strand | ||
| Public Advertiser | H. S. Woodfall | 61, Pater-noster Row | ||
| Public Ledger | F. Blythe | Queen's Head Alley, Pater-noster Row | ||
| LONDON EVENING NEWS-PAPERS | ||||
| English Chronicle | J. Jarvis | 283, opposite Norfolk-street, Strand | Mon, Wed, Fri | |
| Gazette | T. Harrison | Warwick Lane | Tue, Thu, Sat | |
| General Evening Post | M. Say | 10, Ave-Maria-lane, Ludgate-street | Tue, Thu, Sat | |
| Lloyd's Evening Post | J. Hancock | 23, Pater-noster Row | Mon, Wed, Fri | |
| London Chronicle | sold at | 17, St. Paul's Church Yard | Tue, Thu, Sat | |
| London Packet | Francis Blythe | 2, Queen's Head Alley, Pater-noster Row | ||
| London Evening Post | D. Constable | 6, Old Bailey | Tue, Thu, Sat | |
| Middlesex Journal | R. Ayre | 14, Bridges-street, opposite Drury Lane Theatre | Tue, Thu, Sat | |
| St. James's Chronicle | H. Baldwin | 108, opposite Bride-lane, Fleet-street | Tue, Thu, Sat | |
| Whitehall Evening Post | T.Wright | 4,Peterborough Court, Fleet-street | Tue, Thu, Sat | |
| LONDON WEEKLY NEWS-PAPERS | ||||
| Baldwin's Weekly Journal | H. Baldwin | 108, Fleet-street | Sat | |
| Craftsman, or Say's Weekly Journal | M. Say | 10, Ave-Maria-lane, Ludgate- street | Sat | |
| Craftsman, or Ayre's London Journal | R. Ayre | 24, Bridges-street, opposite Drury Lane Theatre | Sat | |
| Old British Spy, and London Weekly Journal | G. Redmayne | 8,Creed Lane, Ludgate- street | Fri | |
| Owen's Weekly Chronicle, and Westminster Journal | R. Ayre | 14, Bridges-street, opposite Drury Lane Theatre | Sat | |
| Westminster Journal, and London Political Miscellany | G. Redmayne | 8,Creed Lane, Ludgate- street | Sat | |
| LONDON SUNDAY MORNING NEWS-PAPERS | ||||
| Ayre's Sunday London Gazette | R. Ayre | 14, Bridges-street, opposite Drury Lane Theatre | ||
| Johnson's British Gazette, and Sunday Monitor | E[lizabeth] Johnson | 4,Ludgate- hill | ||
| London Recorder, and Sunday Gazette | S. Pope | 48, corner of Ludgate-hill, Fleet- street | ||
| COUNTRY NEWS-PAPERS | [The only Devon titles are in Exeter] | |||
| Exeter Flying Post, and Cornish Advertiser | R. Trewman | Thu | ||
| Exeter Journal, and Weekly Advertiser | Thorn and Son | Thu | ||
Unlike Samuel Negus, John Pendred has no interest in political inclinations; his list is for printers and publishers, not for the Secretary of State. He is more interested in where advertisements are taken in, which is usually a London bookseller or a coffee house. For example for the Daily Universal Register (later The Times), "advertisements [are] taken in by T.Hookham. Bookseller, New Bond Street; Mr. Cooper, Stationer, Charing Cross. Mr. Batham, Bookseller,27, Fleet Street; Mrs. Wilson, 45, Lombard Street; Mr. Johnson, 1, Catherine Street; Mr. Woodham, 52, High Holborn, and by Mr.Newman, at the New England Coffee House." This shows the importance of the coffee house, the "penny universities" of the 18th century in the spread of information. Not only did they have copies of London newspapers and periodicals for their customers but they had copies of the provincial newspapers available.
For the Exeter Journal, and Weekly
Advertiser, for example, "advertisements, &c. [are] taken in by Mr. Owen, Bookseller,in Fleet Street,
Mr Evans, Pater-noster Row; Mr. Rivington, St. Paul's Churchyard; and at all the principal London Coffee-
Houses". For most of the 18th century the posts left London for the south west on Tuesdays, Thursdays and
Saturdays, which explains the days that the evening newspapers on Pendred's list were published, with the
weekly papers normally being published on a Saturday or Sunday. The two Exeter newspapers were published on
Thursdays, usually in time to receive Tuesday's post. Space in the newspaper would be held to incorporate
extracts from the latest news received from London, the versos of the sheets would be printed off and the
edition delivered on horseback by a team of post-boys who could also carry items ordered from local
booksellers and return with local intelligence and advertisements for the next issue. For Trewman's
Exeter flyingpost in 1772 the routes of about eight postboys can be ascertained with a fair degree of
certainty, ending in Penzance, Bodmin and Fowey in Cornwall and Holsworthy, Torrington, Bampton, Teignmouth
and Dartmouth in Devon.
In 1815 a subscriber's list was published for the Exeter newspaper Flindell's
Western Luminary, which shows that some 1720 named subscribers received copies, but the routes are more
difficult to ascertain. One or more carriers served Cornwall, probably arriving through Okehampton and
Launceston. Another route left via Crediton to serve communties in the north and West of Devon, probably
returning back through Tiverton, and a third left via Cullompton to other parts of north Devon and possibly
on to Wellington and Taunton. In south Devon there may have been separate routes to Plymouth via Tavistock
and to Kingsbridge and Dartmouth via Totnes. Brixham was served by a coastal route via Teignmouth and
Newton Abbot and an eastern route seems to have led through Exmouth, Sidmouth, Ottery, Honiton and
Axminster and possibly on as far as Poole. These eight circuits, probably relying on sub-distributors to
reach remoter communities, have been conjectured from the order of communities as listed againste
subscribers' names under each letter of the alphabet, but there are many puzzles. What is clear is that
across England complex networks of distribution had been set up and, with expensive newspapers placed in
coffee houses, circulating libraries and reading rooms, the actual readership was far higher than the
thousand or so that was typical for the provincial newspaper. Communities of readers were formed through
the exchange of news, political comment, literary pieces, advertisements and correspondence that these
newspapers contained which closely parallels the on-line social networks of today.
Perhaps the most innovative newspaper publisher of the late 18th century was John Bell (1745-1841),
a red-faced, horsey-looking man who was responsible forintroducing fine printing into the newspaper and
periodical trade. He was a versatile printer and publisher of books, newspapers, periodicals and jobbing
work. In 1772, aged 27 he was one of a syndicate of twelve who founded the Morning post. The book
trade resented his participation in newspapers - there was a wide gulf between these two sections of the
trade - but he remained one of the chief proprietors for fifteen years and in 1779 he was also associated
with John Wheble in the evening newspaper the English chronicle. In 1787 he sold his interest in the
Morning post and entered into partnership with a rich guards officer, Captain Edward Topham, to
found The world with Topham as editor and Bell as typographer. It was an elegant publication, the
paragraphs leaded out, with a discreet use of italic and finally abandoning the long "s" which had
bedevilled typography since the era of incunabula. The mock gothic masthead set a fashion, but when he
found he was being copied he changed to outline roman capitals. (The times changed to a gothic
masthead some time after it was founded, so when the style was abandoned in 1932 the outcry was misplaced;
gothic had not been their original style). The paper aimed at "fine writing and pleasantry", added a
sprightly air to the reports of debates in Parliament, and had an interest in personalities rather than
issues. Advertisements were taken seriously and care was lavished on the front page. The emphasis on the
opera, the playhouse and the fine arts showed the audience they were cultivating. In 1789 Bell and Topham
quarrelled, and Bell founded his own daily, the Oracle for which in 1794 he actually travelled to
France as foreign war correspondent. In 1796 he founded a Sunday newspaper Bell's weekly messenger
and in 1806 a women's magazine La belle assemblée.
The Daily universal register first appeared on 1 January 1785. Three years later it changed
its name to The times. Until the late 20th century it was printed on the same site in Printing House
Square which used to be the site of the royal printers premises.
John Walter I was the founder. The logographic process which used blocks of letters for frequently
occurring words was soon dropped. The first issue was set in three sizes of roman type, a Caslon old face,
in four columns and it cost 2½d. A new Caslon face produced in 1794 was later supplied by Fry's foundry,
described in 1799 as an "entirelky new and beautiful type, from the foundry of Mrs Caslon". In 1794 the
eldest son William Walter was appointed but was not suited and he retired as conductor in 1802.
John Walter II succeeded at the age of 26 in 1802. The paper had been hit by the heavy weight of
taxation and stamp duty, and his father had wanted to sell it, but his younger son saved it and, when he
became the chief proprietor in 1810 he was ready to launch it on an astonishing and prosperous career,
which will be covered in the section on the age of mechanisation.
| TITLE | PROPRIETOR | s. | d. |
| Annals of Agriculture | Young | 2 | 0 |
| Anti-Jacobin Review | Wright) | 2 | 0 |
| Arminian Magazine | 0 | 6 | |
| Army List | 1 | 0 | |
| Analytical Review | Johnson | ||
| Botany | Sowerby's | 5 | 0 |
| British Critic Review | Rivington and Co. | 2 | 0 |
| British Magazine | 1 | 6 | |
| Britannic Magazine | 1 | 0 | |
| Botanical Magazine | Curtis | 1 | 0 |
| British Insects | Donovan's | 1 | 0 |
| Burnisher | 0 | 4 | |
| Critical Review | Hamilton and Co. | 1 | 0 |
| Chirurgical Review | 1 | 6 | |
| Commercial Magazine | 1 | 0 | |
| Copper-plate Magazine | 1 | 0 | |
| European Magazine | Sewell & Co. | 1 | 6 |
| European Repertory | 2 | 0 | |
| Evangelical Magazine | Williams | 0 | 6 |
| Fashions of London and Paris | 1 | 6 | |
| Gentleman's Magazine | Nichols | 1 | 6 |
| German Museum | 1 | 6 | |
| Gospel Magazine | 0 | 6 | |
| General Baptist's Magazine | 0 | 6 | |
| Historical Magazine | 1 | 6 | |
| London Review | 1 | 6 | |
| London Medical Magazine | 1 | 6 | |
| Lady's Magazine | 1 | 0 | |
| Lady's Museum | 1 | 0 | |
| Monthly Review | Griffiths | 2 | 0 |
| Monthly Magazine | Phillips | 1 | 6 |
| Monthly Preceptor | 1 | 0 | |
| Monthly Mirror | 1 | 0 | |
| Monthly Epitome | 0 | 6 | |
| Monthly Visitor | 1 | 0 | |
| Medical & Physical Journal | Boosey & Co. | 2 | 0 |
| Military Journal | 2 | 6 | |
| Naval Biography | 2 | 0 | |
| Naval Chronicle | Clarke's | 2 | 6 |
| Naval Magazine | 1 | 0 | |
| Navy List | 0 | 6 | |
| Naturalist's Miscellany | 2 | 0 | |
| Nicholson's Journal | Robinson | 2 | 6 |
| Philosophical Magazine | 2 | 0 | |
| Recreations in Agriculture | Anderton's | 1 | 6 |
| Repertory of Arts | Wyatt | 1 | 6 |
| Shells | Donovan's | 2 | 6 |
| Sporting Magazine | Wheble and Co. | 1 | 0 |
| Universal Magazine | Bent and Co. | 1 | 6 |
| Zoological Magazine | 1 | 0 |
This table showing the number of newspapers sold in Great Britain was compiled from a variety of sources. Its ultimate source must be stamp duty returns which have not been examined in detail. Incomplete as it is, it does show the increasing circulation of newspapers during the period covered by this paper and looks ahead to the even greater expansion in the following century.
|
1753: 7,411,757 1760: 9,464,790 1774: 12,300,000 1775: 12,680,000 1776: 12,830,000 1777: 13,150,142 1778: 13,240,059 1779: 14,106,842 1780: 14,217,371 |
1790: 14,035,639 1791: 14,794,152 1792: 14,794,198 1793: 17,073,621 1800: 16,084,905 1801: 16,085,085 1810: 20,172,837 1811: 24,422,000 1820: 24,862,186 |
1821: 24,862,000 1824: 26,308,003 1825: 26,950,693 1830: 30,158,741 1835: 32,874,652 1837: 53,897,926 1840: 49,033,384 1843: 56,433,977 1846: 78,298,125 |
This page last updated 12 October 2020
