The Gentleman's Magazine in the Age of Samuel Johnson, 17311745
Introduction by Thomas Keymer
978 1 85196 493 2: 234x156mm: £1400.00/$2495.00
Availability: Japan: Maruzen
The Gentleman's Magazine, founded by Edward Cave in 1731 under his famous pseudonym 'Sylvanus Urban', is one of the great untapped resources of the eighteenth century. A uniquely rich and compendious record of eighteenth-century life in all it aspects, it not only has relevance to literary, historical, media and gender studies but is also a fascinating serial work in its own right. In its early years it had a higher renown, wider circulation and larger impacts that any other periodical of the time, and it effectively inaugurated one of the most characteristic and influential publishing modes in modern culture. Cave is rightly credited in Samuel Johnson's Dictionary of 1755 with having given the term 'magazine' (a storehouse or arsenal) its now modern sense: 'Of late this word has signified a miscellaneous pamphlet, from a periodical miscellany named the Gentleman's Magazine, by Edward Cave.' Drawing his ideas from a range of earlier publications, Cave defined the form in the most inclusive possible way, and provide his readership with a generous monthly digest of all the material necessary - news, opinion, poetry, science - for participation in genteel life.
Exploiting the lax copyright law of the day, the magazine combined material plundered from the leading newspapers and political journals with extracts from the latest books and a wealth of original copy, and elaborate networks of regional distribution were used to build up an extensive readership throughout the country. By 1741 Johnson could claim that 'the GENTLEMAN'S MAGAZINE is read as far as the English Language extends, and we see it reprinted from several Presses in Great Britain, Ireland, and the Plantations.' It is now widely recognised (following the attention drawn to it by Jόrgen Habermas) as a crucial component and stimulant of the eighteenth-century public sphere.
This sixteen-volume facsimile edition presents all issues published between 1731 and 1745.
Reviews
a matchless guide to an eighteenth century of restless aspiration and self-improvement.
John Mullan, The Times Literary Supplement