University of Virginia Library

Some Reprintings of the Gentlemen's Magazine
by
Jacob Leed

i

It has always been known that monthly numbers of the Gentleman's Magazine were reprinted, but the number, kind, and order of the printings has not been established. William B. Todd plans to provide a description of the original numbers, but it is not within the scope of his plan to describe variants after 1734. The present paper describes two impressions of a 1738 number of GM and demonstrates which is the prior one. The fact that numbers of the magazine were re-impressed from standing type, which is shown here, is of interest to those concerned with the production of the magazine. This paper also discriminates three editions of the January 1742 number, and it indicates a few other reprintings of numbers of the 1742 GM.

ii

The Supplement to the Gentleman's Magazine is the thirteenth number of a yearly volume, and in the period with which this paper is concerned it regularly consists of three main sections: (1) a titlepage and preface to the volume for the year; (2) reports of parliamentary debates and miscellaneous articles; and (3) indexes for the volume of the magazine. The Supplement to GM for 1738 appears in two impressions. The following points discriminate them.

Impression A

• Titlepage of the volume, line 5 of col. b: Deaths,
• Heading of p. 665: . . . / For the YEAR 1738. / [single rule] / . . . / (Continued from page 632.) / . . .
• Collation: last gathering is 4X 2 (—4X 2)
• Pagination: 681 numbered correctly
• RT: upper right serif of first letter, T, does not print on pp. 666, 672, 680, 682, 684, 686, 688, 690, 696, 698
• "PF"[1]: 717-8 placed just after "Chess" of the line above

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211




• CW: 712 Stella.
• Text, p. 672b, line 31: midddle p. 684b, lines 27-28: Negotia-/tion
• Copies examined: IEN ICU2 OU OO TNG Mi MoU IaU

Impression B

• Titlepage of the volume, line 5 of col. b: Deaths
• Heading of p. 665: . . . / For the YEAR 1738. / [no rule] / . . . / (Continued from Page 32.) / . . .
• Collation: last gathering is 4X 2
• Pagination: 681 misnumbered 645
• RT: upper right serif of T DOES print on pp. 684, 688, 690, 696, 698
• "PF": 717-8 placed closer to the number "384" than to "Chess"
• CW: 712 Stella
• Text, p. 672b, line 31: middle p. 684b, lines 27-28: Negotiati-/on
• Copies examined: WM InI OCI [variant: 4X 2 (—X2)]

A and B are two impressions, not two editions. This is indicated by the straight-edge test, which shows a difference of greater than an en in alignment of letters on only 7 pages. It is further indicated by an examination of individual letters, which shows that even where the alignment of letters in A and B differs, standing type has been used. On p. 672, for example, the straight-edge test shows a difference in alignment of type in the top half of column a, and lines 4 and 5 are divided at different points in the texts of A and B.

But even where the difference is greatest, it is found that identical sorts were used in both printings. In both A and B there is a nick in the left ascender of U in "Upon" in line 6, in the upper horizontal of P in "Prince" in line 9, and in the lower horizontal of C in "Consort" in line 10. The type was rearranged, but it was not distributed and reset. Similarly, on p. 686b a close examination shows that standing type was used even though lines 27-28 are divided at different points in A and B. Clear indication of reset type appears on only two pages: p. 684a-b and p. 688b show not only variant alignment of letters, variant line-divisions, and variant spellings, but also variant sorts. The titlepage to the volume is reimpressed from the same type as indicated by the same imperfections in the letters: nicks in the right ascender of u in Volume, in the horizontal of L in SYLVANUS, and in the right ascender of a in Cave. In 40 pages of text (I have not checked the 21 pages of index), there are 11 substantive variants, the most important one being on a page that is positively indicated by an inspection of the sorts as a reimpressed, not a reset, page. On p. 700, lines 10-11, Issue A reads: "Volumes printed in the same / Manner with the Specimen annexed to the Proposals." Issue B reads: "Volumes printed on a neat / Letter of the same Size with the Specimen annexed."

Impression A is prior to Impression B. This is proven by the variant on p. 672b, where A reads "midddle", B "middle". Testing the column with a straight edge shows no difference in alignment of type in A and B. Moreover, all copies of A and B exhibit the use of identical sorts: nicked lower curve of P in "Pontiff" in line 2; nicked curve of P in "Place" in line 18; broken curve of f in "of" in line 25; broken ligature of ct in "erecting (same line as midddle/middle); and broken left serif of w in "now" in line 6 from bottom. As the variant occurs in an otherwise undisturbed column of type, the only plausible explanation for it is that "middle" is a correction of the original "midddle".

A feature of particular literary interest in this number of GM is that it contains the "Proposals for Anagrammata Rediviva." Disguised as proposals for publishing a book by subscription, this is in reality a key to the "Lilliputian" names used in the parliamentary debates that GM was regularly printing in evasion of the law. B. B. Hoover speculates that Samuel Johnson (who began writing for GM in 1738) may be the author of the spurious "Proposals."[2] A short form of the proposals appears on p. 700 in both A and B. The full form appears only in B, pp. 719-720, leaf 4X2. Of 20 copies of A that I have seen, none contains 4X2. Of the 3 copies of B that I have seen, 2 contain 4X2, and 1 does not. In the only copy that I could examine for conjugacy (WM), 4X1 and 4X2 are conjugate. In both A and B, 4X1v is indicated as the end of the planned printing unit by the finis "The End of Vol. VIII." In the next year's volume of GM (IX, 699), the proposals are referred to as having been "inserted in the last Supplement."

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.

iv

A cursory examination was made of other numbers of GM for 1738 and 1742. The running titles of various copies were checked against the IEN copy to determine whether the upper right serif of the T was lacking on the same pages as in the IEN copy. A check of 19 copies of the 1738 volume showed no significant difference in the T's for the January-December numbers. The differences in copies of the Supplement led to the discrimination of the two impressions already discussed. A check of 23 copies of the 1742 volume showed no significant difference in the T's for the April-September or November-December numbers. (This check could not be used on the 1742 Supplement, for the T was not broken in any of the RTs.) Besides the three editions of the January number, which have already been discussed, the examination also indicated reprintings of the following other numbers of GM, but no detailed investigation of them was made.

The 23 copies of the 1742 numbers of GM that were compared to the IEN copy are the following: TNG MoU IaU Mi MoSW OCU OO OMC OCl OU WM MnHi I InI Da MoS KyU MiDU In InU KU OWC KyBgW.

The Gentleman's Magazine for February 1742

20 of the copies examined conform to IEN; 3 do not. The upper right serif of the T in the RT does not print on the following pages:

     

IEN:		76		86		90	92	94	96	100	108
OCl:		76	84		88			94	96	100	108
OCU, ODa:	72							94

The OCl copy is not an original number, for on p. 89 there is a cross-reference to the following (March) number of the magazine: "See Scheme V. p. 147, with Observations upon it p. 149." OCU and ODa differ from IEN and OCl in the ornament across the top of the first page of text, p. 59. OCU and ODa have an ornament with a lion and unicorn in the center; IEN and OCl have an ornament with a sun in the center.

The Gentleman's Magazine for March 1742

20 copies conform to IEN; 3 do not. The upper right serif of the T in the RT does not print on the following pages:

     

IEN:		128	138			152	154	156		164
Mi, WM:	122	128	138	144		152	154		160	164
ODa:	122	128	138		148	152	154		160	164

The Gentleman's Magazine for October 1742

22 copies conform to IEN; 1 does not. The upper right serif of the T in the RT does not print on the following pages:

   

IEN:	510	522	526		534	540
ODa:	510			530	534	540	550

Notes