University of Virginia Library

John Newbury, Projector of the Universal Chronicle: A Study of the Advertisements
by
Gwin J. Kolb

Beginning with Sir John Hawkins, almost every writer[1] who has commented on the matter has declared that John Newbery, the bustling "philanthropic bookseller" of The Vicar of Wakefield and one of the best known publishers of the eighteenth century, was the projector of the Universal Chronicle—a shortlived (1758-1760)[2] paper remembered now largely because Dr. Johnson's Idler (and other pieces)[3] first appeared in it. Yet no evidence has been published[4] to support Hawkins's assertion, and one

modern scholar has ventured the opinion that Hawkins "confused" the Universal Chronicle with Lloyd's Evening Post, and British Chronicle, of which "Newbery was one of the projectors."[4a]

The Bodleian Library contains a complete, and the British Museum a virtually complete (only one number—65—is missing), set of the Universal Chronicle; and a study of the advertisements appearing in the paper yields interesting evidence, I think, on the question of Newbery's connection with it for at least the longer part of its life. Before presenting the results of such an examination, however, it may be relevant to note the principal events in the paper's history. The Chronicle ran for 105, eight-page numbers—from Saturday, April 8, 1758 to Saturday, March 29-Saturday, April 5 1760. Nos. 1-4 were entitled The Universal Chronicle, or Weekly Gazette and were "Printed for J. Payne, in Pater-noster-Row"; Nos. 5-39 were entitled Payne's Universal Chronicle, or Weekly Gazette. A note at the bottom of the first page of No. 39 stated that "This Paper, for the future, will be published by Mr. STEVENS, next Door to the Chapter Coffee-house, in Pater-noster-Row"; and beginning with No. 40 and extending through No. 91, the paper's name reverted to the original Universal Chronicle, etc., and "Printed for J. Payne," etc. was altered to "Printed for R. Stevens, at Pope's-Saturday, April 8, 1758 to Saturday, March 29-Saturday, April 5, 1760. Nos. 92-105 were entitled The Universal Chronicle, and Westminster Journal; Nos. 92-101 were "Printed for W. Faden, in Wine-Office-Court, Fleetstreet; and R. Stevens," etc.; Nos. 102-05 were printed for R. Stevens only.

The first 29 numbers of the Chronicle contain only one small advertisement, although the colophon of Nos. 2-29 informed the reader that "Advertisements . . are taken in" at "Pater-noster-Row" and although the "Proprietor(s)" announced in No. 29 that "As this Paper is now so well established as to exceed the . . . most sanguine Expectations. . . . We intend, for the future, to insert Advertisements, but such Advertisements only will be admitted as are perfectly decent, and intended to promote Trade, or that are otherwise serivceable to the Publick." Of the remaining 76 numbers, 58 contain a total of 150 advertisements; 18 [5] do not contain any. The 150 advertisements, a majority of which appear in Nos. 30-98, may be divided into two groups, [1] those (93) dealing with printed matter—mostly books—and [2] those (57) concerned with miscellaneous objects—principally patent medicines—and services. Fifty-four advertisements in the first group bear the name of "J. Newbery" and another four announce the publication of Newbery's Public Ledger; ten more bear the name of "T. Carnan,"

"believed to have been" Newbery's stepson, who "was intimately associated with him in his business";[6] the remaining twenty-five belong to various other publishers, including J. Payne. Thirty-nine advertisements in the second group extol the virtues of "Dr. James's Powder," "sold only by J. Newbery," and of Thomas Greenough's "tincture," sold both by the "patentee" and by J. Newbery; most of the other eighteen are divided between announcements of the sale of linens, dress materials, etc. and a public notice regarding the "King's Packet-Boats." To sum up, John Newbery is clearly associated with ninety-seven of the 150 advertisements, T. Carnan with another ten, making a total of 107, a number more than twice that of all other advertisements in the Chronicle.

Different kinds of analyses reveal similar disproportions between Newbery and non-Newbery advertisements. Twenty-seven numbers of the Chronicle contain Newbery's, and only Newbery's, announcements about printed matter, whereas five numbers contain only advertisements by "outsiders." Nineteen numbers contain only advertisements of Dr. James's Powder and Greenough's tincture, whereas thirteen contain only announcements concerning other miscellaneous things. Of the ten books (or groups of books) advertised most frequently, eight are Newbery publications and another is T. Carnan's Nonpareil.

Finally, two specific advertisements should be offered as evidence on the problem of Newbery's connection with the Chronicle. In No. 93 (for January 5-12, 1760) of the paper appears an announcement[7] of the publication of the first number of Newbery's Public Ledger; in Nos. 96, 97, and 98 is reprinted the sizable preliminary address "to the public" which was published in No. 1 of the Ledger. An extensive, but not, of course, exhaustive, search has failed to turn up either the announcement of the initial publication of the Ledger or the preliminary address in any other newspaper.[8]

These facts speak for themselves. It is hardly credible that Newbery, an eminently successful bookseller, should have placed two-thirds of the total number of advertisements in a paper in which he had no financial interest and which, by all available signs, was scarcely flourishing and may well have been struggling; it seems highly probable, on the other hand, that he was one, perhaps even the principal, proprietor of the Chronicle at least during its life from No. 30 through No. 105, and that he used its pages as a medium for advertising his other wares.

Notes