The Gentleman's Magazine, or Monthly Intelligencer.
£6,000
Auction: 10 June 2009 at 12:00 BST
Description
London: 1731-1898. c.283 volumes, a continuous run, engraved maps and plates, some folding, some coloured, all but a few contemporary half calf, some bindings rubbed or hinges weak, some boards detached, a few spines defective or split, some volumes neatly rebacked, later volumes mostly in good order, a few volumes rebound in cloth, occasional light spotting; Selections, 3 volumes of 4; and a rare set of the seven volumes of Indexes of The Gentleman's Magazine, similiar bindings; sold not subject to return
Footnote
Note: A complete set of this important historical publication from its commencement in 1731 until 1898. The Gentleman's Magazine was founded in London in 1731 by Edward Cave whose innovation was to create a monthly digest of news and commentary on any topic the educated public might be interested in. Indeed, Cave, who edited The Gentleman's Magazine under the pen name "Sylvanus Urban", was the first to use the term "magazine" (meaning "storehouse") for a periodical. Prior its founding there had been specialized journals, but no such wide-ranging publication (though there had been attempts, such as The Gentleman's Journal, which was edited by Peter Motteux and ran from 1692 to 1694). Samuel Johnson's first regular employment as a writer was with The Gentleman's Magazine which remains an inexhaustible mine of information for scholars of eighteenth century life. From 1731 to 1782 one volume a year was published, and from 1783 two volumes a year.
Provenance: c. 200 volumes: Hugh S. Gladstone, armorial bookplates; Society of Writers to the Signet: armorial stamp on sides