iii
There are at least three editions of the January 1742 number of the
Gentleman's Magazine. The most obvious point of
discrimination is the ornament at the top of p. 3. In A, a sun; in B, a bowl;
in C, a cherub.
Edition A
- Heading of p. 3: / [orn. with sun in center] / THE /
Gentleman's Magazine, / For JANUARY 1742. / [row of
type
orn., square with stem from each side] /
- Coll.: 8°, π2 A-D4
E2 F-G4 [$1 (+B2
C2) signed], pp. 1-3 4-30 31 32-48
49
50-55 56
- "PF": 5-1 13-2 21-3 29-4 37-5 41-6 49-7
- RT: the upper right serif of the first letter, T, does
not
print on pp. 14, 38, 46, 50, 54
- Copies examined: IEN ICU2 The following
copies also
contain the ornament with a sun in the center on p. 3, and conform to IEN
and ICU2 in respect to broken T's in the
RT: MoW TNG
MoU IaU OU MnHi I InI OO ODW OMC KyU MiDU InU KU. No
further examination of them was made.
Edition B
- Heading of p. 3: / [orn. with bowl of fruit in center] / THE /
Gentleman's Magazine, / For JANUARY 1747. / [row of
type
orn., fleur de lis] /
- Coll.: 8°, π2 A-D4
E2 F-G4 [$1 signed],
pp. 1-3 4-48 49 50-55
56
- "PF": 5-1 13-2 21-3 29-4 37-5 41-6 49-7
- RT: Upper right serif of T does not print on pp. 10,
20, 50
- Copies examined: OCU ODa
Edition C
- Heading of p. 3: / [orn. with cherub face and wings in center] /
THE / Gentleman's Magazine, / For JANUARY, 1742. /
[single rule] /
- Coll.: 8°, π2 A-D4
E2 F-G4 [$1 (+C2)
signed], pp. 1-3 4-48 49 50-56 [52
misnumbered
279 at inner corner]
- "PF": 13-2 21-3 29-4 37-5 41-6 49-7
- RT: Upper right serif of T does not print on pp. 22,
26, 32, 40
- Copies examined: WM Mi
Of these three editions, A seems to be the earliest. In any case, C is
not the original number, for the text on p. 49b contains a
cross-reference to the following (February) number of the magazine: ". .
. Lords, to be / heard Feb. 4. (See p. 95, 105.)" The reading
of A at this point is ". . . Lords, who / appointed them to be heard
Feb. 4." B is the same as A here, except that it has a comma
after "heard".
The indication of the priority of A to B is that in the common printing
practice of the time compositors often increased punctuation, but seldom
lightened it. A collation of the text of pp. 3-4 shows the punctuation of B
heavier than A in 11 instances, lighter in only one. In 6 instances, B has a
comma where A has no punctuation; in 3 instances, a semi-colon where A
has a comma; in 1 instance, a colon where A has a semi-colon; in 1
instance, a period where A has a comma. In 1 instance, A has a comma
where B has no punctuation. C is lighter in punctuation than B on these
pages, but
heavier than A. If A is the original, B and C seem to be printed
independently from it, rather than one from the other.
