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Notes
The set in question includes all vols. through that for Jan.-June, 1863 (see n. 43, below). The next 11 vols. were added to those from the Nichols family by Dr. Brushfield. The rest of the Folger collection came from other sources. My research on the background of this collection has been generously supported by the American Philosophical Society, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the American Council of Learned Societies, the Folger Library, and the University of Wisconsin. I am grateful for this support and for the helpfulness of Dr. Michael Kassler, at whose suggestion I first examined the Folger volumes.
The details of this transaction are reviewed in my monograph The Works of John Nichols, An Introduction (1968), p. 8 ff.
The letter making this assignment is now at Columbia University, in Spec. MS. Coll. Nichols. Henry (d. 1792) did not date the letter, but the year is written at the top of the sheet, probably in the hand of Bowyer Nichols, who wrote on an attached leaf, "A Letter from Mr Henry to Mr Nichols Written not a great while before his Death." The letter is printed in Edward L. Hart's Minor Lives (1971), p. 234.
Typical of such letters are those in Nichols' Illustrations of the Literary History of the Eighteenth Century (1817-18) from George Steevens (V, 443), Joseph Warton (VI, 172), and Thomas Percy (VI, 567).
Gentleman's Magazine, CCXV (Jul.-Dec., 1863), 794. This obituary of Bowyer Nichols (pp. 794-798) was written by his son, J. G. Nichols. See the Memoir of the Late John Gough Nichols, F. S. A. (1874), p. 2, written by Robert Cradock Nichols (J. G. Nichols' brother).
For information concerning the proprietorship, see the Gentleman's Magazine, CCXV, 794. Bowyer Nichols' account-book, in which the names of various associate editors and contributors during this period are recorded, is now at the Bodleian (MS. Top. Gen. e. 34).
See CCI (Jul.-Dec., 1856), 3-9, 131-140, 267-277, 531-541, 667-677; and CCII (Jan.-June, 1857), 3-10, 149-157, 282-290, 379-387. J. G. Nichols is identified as author of this study in the Memoir of John Gough Nichols, p. 17.
Bond's arrangement with Henry and the new one with Henry and Nichols are reviewed in great detail in Bond's pamphlet referred to below: FRIENDSHIP Strikingly exhibited in a New Light, in LETTERS between Messrs. D. HENRY and J. NICHOLS, Managing Proprietors of the Gentleman's Magazine, and D. BOND, Late Printer of that Monthly Miscellany (London, 1781).
The similarity in stroke and shade of ink suggests that these notations all came from the same pen. They are phrased in the formula "Printed by" + name or initials of Nichols or Bond. They appear to have been scrawled hastily, perhaps sequentially, and the hand is not clearly identifiable. Though this vol. originally belonged to Richard Gough and presumably was in his library in 1779, the hand does not appear to be his (see n. 14, below). The notations do contain calligraphic traits of John and Bowyer Nichols. The capital P, formed typically with a line under the stem and an unattached loop above, is identical to that written in mid-nineteenth-century documents by Bowyer Nichols, and it is unlike the letter as formed by John Nichols. But the capital N is distinctly like John Nichols' and unlike Bowyer's: the middle stroke heavy and looped at the bottom, the final stroke a flourish sometimes curving downward to or beneath the line. When I have completed the systematic study I am now making of the entire range of annotation in these vols., it may be possible to assign these notations confidently.
The assignment of annotation is complicated by certain factors. Because most notations were written in the irregular spaces left on the printed page, the calligraphic traits of the writers did not always emerge. These traits naturally underwent modification as time passed, and in studying the manuscript letters of Bowyer Nichols, particularly, one notices such changes (see n. 34, below). A further complicating factor is that the Nichols men and Gough had rather distinct private and fair hands. And finally whereas each of the annotators had individual calligraphic traits, they shared others. In general, the hands of the Nichols men became increasingly neater, clearer, and smaller in stroke with each generation. Their writing tends to slant towards the right, though John Nichols' stroke is less slanted than his son's and less regular than his grandson's. John Nichols tended to run words together; Bowyer and J. G. Nichols usually did not. One annotation, in Vol. LV (1785), pt. ii (Jul.-Dec.), p. 835, is certainly his: in the obituary of Mrs. Anne Power, he added at the reference to her "friends" the phrase "(I was one)." Here, the words are run together and the note is signed. The identification of "J. R." as "Mr John Robinson" in XXXVII (1767), 499, seems to be in his hand (and the names are run together). The identification of him as "Eugenio" in L (1780), 20, is probably by Nichols himself, for the capital N is his (see n. 9, above). See also the attribution to him of the narrative on the London riots in 1780 (L, 369). The signature J. Nichols on nearly every other occasion appears to be in the hand of Bowyer Nichols, and most of the annotation in these vols. is at least probably the work of Gough, Bowyer Nichols, or J. G. Nichols.
There were two auctions, on 16 April and 8 May 1828 (a further portion of his library was sold with that of another gentleman on 5 May). The set of the Gentleman's Magazine was lot no. 716 in the Sotheby catalogue of the second auction. No annotation of these vols. is mentioned.
Letters now in the Nichols collection at Columbia University, which is largely composed of family papers, refer often to Gough's personal and professional activities. John Nichols' account of Gough and of their association (an autobiographical statement by Gough considerably enlarged through Nichols' additions, corrections, and commentary) appears in Literary Anecdotes (1812-1815), VI, 262-343, 613-626.
Some years before his death, Gough spoke of leaving Nichols his copy of the Anecdotes of Bowyer, "enriched by his own notes, and filled with the epistolary correspondence of many eminent persons, selected for the illustration of these 'Anecdotes'" (Literary Anecdotes, I, xii). He was concerned that Nichols would not have sufficient time for the projected Literary Anecdotes, and his annotated volume was meant to serve as a supplementary file copy for the project. Gough was deeply disturbed over Nichols' losses in the fire of 1808 (Literary Anecdotes, VI, 315). Thus far, I have found in Gough's papers no evidence of long-standing plans to leave Nichols his set of the magazine, but if indeed Nichols' own set was suddenly destroyed Gough would doubtless have recognized the importance of putting a well-annotated collection at his disposal. Gough's set of the magazine and his copy of the Anecdotes of Bowyer are mentioned jointly as a special bequest in Nichols' resume of Gough's will (Literary Anecdotes, VI, 330). Gough's set is described as "corrected" in the index to Literary Anecdotes (VII, 147).
I have identified Gough's hand primarily through his usage of raised letters in abbreviating words and of the device y=th (neither is a characteristic usage of John, Bowyer, or J. G. Nichols); and through his forming of the number 8. In Gough's hand, the latter begins at the upper right of the top loop and ends in a straight stroke which usually leaves the top loop unclosed. Bowyer and J. G. Nichols began the number at the upper left of the bottom loop, ending at the lower right of the top loop, usually leaving both loops unclosed; John Nichols usually formed the number 8 this way but closed both loops. Gough's number 5 and capital D are also usually distinct from those of the Nichols men. Gough's most distinctive writing is hurried and irregular in stroke, possessing no rightward slant like that of the Nichols men. He seems at times to have written in a fairer and smaller hand like that of J. G. Nichols. Certain notations on antiquarian matters in vols. from the eighteenth century are difficult to assign to either of the two annotators except where reference to recent activities of the Society of Antiquaries incline the balance toward Gough.
VIII (1738)-XI (1741), XIII (1743)-XVII (1747), XXXIII (1763), XXXVI (1766), and XLI (1771). On the bookplate in VIII is written "W. T. Stafford" in a hand I cannot identify. The notation may indicate where Gough acquired vols. published before he became a subscriber.
XL (1770), XLVI (1776), and XLVIII (1778). In the first of these, the only annotation I have found is the correction of one page reference in an index; in the second there are a few marginal checkmarks; in the third I have found no annotation at all.
Gough's later additions to the lists usually indicated the date of death. See, for instance, XXXI (1761), 284, where Gough noted, opposite a reference to the marriage of the Rev. Dr. Winchester, "[died] & his books were sold 1783."
Nichols' comments on the subject are to be found in his preface to Vol. LXIV (1794). In the historical sketch prefixed to Vol. III (London, 1821) of the General Index to the Gentleman's Magazine, he quoted the passage among those which reflected his attitudes about the magazine.
The earliest annotation certainly by Gough that I have found is a long comment written in the outer margin of XX (1750), 306, in reference to an antique vase on display in France. Gough took care to cross-reference articles which interested him—as the location of later topographical items noted in XXV (1755), 157. In the same vol., p. 104, he noted that a figure described by a contributor here had been displayed at the Society of Antiquaries in 1750. And on p. 360 he noted that a "correcter acct & drawing" were to be found in the number for "May. 1757. p. 220." See also, at the printed reference to Derby's edition of a commentary on the Four Evangelists, in XLVII (1777), 183, Gough's notation, citing Boswell's Life (1791), that Johnson had aided Derby in this work.
See, for instance, the corrections of typographical errors in the article by "D. H." in XXXIX (1769), 122. The article is not attributed to Gough at the Folger but the signature was his during this period (Literary Anecdotes, VI, 271). The anonymous review of Nichols' Alien Priories, XLIX (1779), 552-553, which is assigned to him by an annotator (probably Bowyer Nichols) was also corrected. The review of his own enlarged edition of British Topography, in L (1780), 377-380, was obviously read closely by the person who annotated it so carefully in the Folger copy—probably Gough, taking note of the reviewer's comments towards a revision of this work. The annotation of an article by "R. G." in XLVII (1777), 60-61, attributed to him (probably by Bowyer Nichols) in the Folger copy, is an interesting response by the author to his work and its reception. The typographical errors are corrected. In addition, a statement by "T. Cato" about the controversy aroused by the article is doubly recorded, once in a note written on a slip tipped to p. 61 (evidently copied by John Nichols from another source and sent to Gough), once by Gough himself in the margin.
See, for instance, the assignments (probably in his hand) of an article to John Thorpe, Esq., in XXIX (1759), 269; of a poem to Mrs. Rowe, in XXXIX (1769), 503; of an essay by "Q. E. D." to Dr. Franklin, in XLIII (1773), 441-445.
On Nichols' reasons for increasing the length of the monthly number, see his comments in the General Index, III, lix.
Twelve of the Folger volumes after LII have been rebound or repaired, but in material and workmanship these rebindings are distinct from that of the vols. from Gough.
When it was sold in December, 1874, the set ended with Vol. CCXIV (Jan.-June, 1863). See n. 43, below. Bowyer Nichols died on 19 October 1863.
See, for instance, the identifications written in his hand in N. S. XLIV (Jul.-Dec., 1855), 562.
See, for instance, N. S. XXXVIII (Jul.-Dec., 1852), 111. Cf. Vol. XCIX (1829), pt. ii (Jul-Dec.), 279; and N. S. X (Jul.-Dec., 1838), 294 and 596.
The plate faces the Oct. titlepage in Vol. XLI (1771). For an example of his adult notations in eighteenth-century vols., see the comment signed JGN in XXXIX (1769), 439.
The passages marked with lines in the margins of Vol. VII are precisely those he quotes and cites in CCI (Jul.-Dec., 1856), 537. Furthermore, the notations (which are in his hand) represent his collation of this text of the speech with another text; a comparison of the reporting of speeches in the London and Gentleman's magazines is one of the subjects treated by J. G. Nichols in 1856.
For John Nichols' annotation of this set, see n. 10, above. His historical sketch (see n. 20, above) was published in 1821. Thus far, I have found in the Folger volumes only one passage where the annotation may represent John Nichols' research for the historical sketch: the preface to Vol. XLIV (1774). The pencilled notations here are nearly illegible and difficult to identify on calligraphic grounds. However, lines indicating that certain passages are to be run together and a note identifying the "late first magistrate" suggest that someone was preparing to make use of the preface in another context. Though Nichols does not quote the passage in the historical sketch, this is among the yearly prefaces which he singles out for comment, and he refers pointedly to the content of the marked passage.
See, for instance, his annotation in XXII (1752), facing p. [589] and in XXIV (1754) following plate 13 in the Baronets' Arms series at the end of the vol. Plates 14 through 24 in this series had been bound in the earlier vol.
On p. 232, a notation in his hand identifies William Guthrie as author of the anonymous article "The apotheosis of milton." The article appeared in several installments: 232-235, 469, 521-522; IX (1739), 20-21, and 73-75.
The annotation in Vol. LIV (1784), pt. ii (Jul.-Dec.), p. 557; Vol. LXI (1791), pt. i (Jan.-June), p. 485; and certain other places, is in a hand unlike that of the signed statement in numerous vols. (see n. 36, below) which Bowyer Nichols inscribed in 1847. Most of the annotation which can be assigned to him is in the latter hand. The annotation I call attention to here, however, is very similar to the hand in certain letters by Bowyer Nichols from the early 1820's now in the Columbia University collection. See also his comment in Vol. LXXI (1801) referred to above.
See, for instance, the MS memo on the accident in which John Nichols broke a thigh, part of which is a note by Bowyer Nichols dated 25 May 1849; the bound vol. "Tributes to the memory of J. Nichols.— 1826," which contains a list prepared by Sarah Nichols of writers alluding to the death of Nichols, brought up to 1846 by Bowyer Nichols, whose copy of the list rather than Sarah's original is in the vol.; the MS "A View of the Character of Mr J Nichols as it appeared to me when in 1799, he published his [ ] of Bishop Atterbury's Works. B Nichols 1858."
The statement, usually written on the recto of the front free endpapers, appears in most of the half-yearly parts from 1783 through 1819; in Vol. XCIII (1823), pt. i (Jan.-June); and in Vol. XCVIII (1828), pt. ii (Jul.-Dec.).
In a forthcoming book on the attention to literature in the Gentleman's Magazine during the eighteenth century, I discuss the articles and notes of about a thousand contributors, at least two-thirds of whom used pseudonyms or initials. As Richard Gough's favorite signature "D. H." (see n. 22, above) and Samuel Pegge the Younger's "L. E." illustrate, "initials" could be used as elusively as a pseudonym could; the signatures are really the terminal letters of their names.
I quote the identifications from the front free endpaper of Vol. LVI (1786), pt. i (Jan.-June), and from the back free end-paper of Vol. LXI (1791), pt. i (Jan.-June).
Catalogue of the auction of 11 and 12 July 1856, lots 15 and 16. At an earlier Sotheby auction of books from his library, in 1843, nothing relating to the Gentleman's Magazine was offered.
Sotheby catalogues of the auction of 24 May 1864 and 6 days ff., lot 337; and of the auction of 19 Dec. 1864 and 3 days ff., lots 1027-1029.
The will, which may be consulted at Somerset House, is dated 19 July 1860. It was sworn at the Stamp Office in July 1864.
The presentation copy, a specially printed biographical sketch of J. B. Swaine given by Swaine to Bowyer Nichols, was offered as lot 2506 in the Sotheby catalogue for the auction of J. G. Nichols' library in 1874. The notebooks in question, offered as lot 2610, were bought by the Bodleian at that sale (see the index of Western MSS., entry nos. 30499-30501, and also the marked Bodleian copy of the catalogue, Mus. Bibl. III. 8°. 636) and are now catalogued as MS. Eng. misc. d. 19-21.
"GENTLEMAN'S MAGAZINE from the Commencement in 1731 to June 1863, with INDEXES to 1844, 7 vol. (wanting vol. 4 and 42) portraits and plates, and numerous MS. notes and portraits inserted, 218 vol.; 141 vol. uniformly bound, half calf; Indexes, half russia; the others, variously bound." The information given here about the number of vols. is ambiguous. 213 separately bound yearly and half-yearly vols. of the magazine had been published up to July, 1863. The vol. for Jan.-June, 1863, was numbered CCXIV, but because for some reason the number CC had been left out of the sequence this was actually the 213th vol. (for a concise summary of information about the vol. numbers of this periodical, see the Library of Congress printed cards). Thus, 5 index vols. must have originally been included in the 218-vol. set. As the following discussion shows, Brushfield bought the set without these index vols. He acquired separately the four-vol. General Index and a one-vol. List of Plates (both works bear the book-plate of John S. Pakington); 5 vols. of MS obituary notices (see n. 52, below); and 11 additional vols. of the magazine, from CCXV (Jul.-Dec., 1863) through CCXXV (Jul.-Dec., 1868). These vols. and the 213 vols. of the magazine from the library of J. G. Nichols constituted the 234-vol. collection sold from Brushfield's library in 1911.
Lots 2322-2324. At two other Sotheby auctions of remaining portions of J. G. Nichols' library, in 1879 and 1892, numerous MS collections relating to the Gentleman's Magazine were offered, but no other sets of the magazine itself.
According to my notes on information in the auctioneer's catalogue, which is at the British Museum, only 19 of the 2860 lots fetched the same or a higher price. In the catalogues of other auctions from this period, one finds that sets of the Gentleman's Magazine were not infrequently offered, often more uniform and in better condition than the one Pratt bought. Perhaps this explains why the bidding stopped at £12.
He bought 93 lots for a total of £104. 17s. According to my notes, Quaritch (who bought 72 lots for £151. 9s. 6d.) and Walford (125, for £83. 18s.) are the two other purchasers most frequently mentioned in the auctioneer's catalogue.
The information on Pratt's business is found in The Directory of Second-hand Booksellers and List of Public Libraries, British and Foreign, ed. James Clegg (1888), p. 9. According to the DNB, Brushfield, a doctor of medicine specializing in treatment of the insane, was appointed medical superintendent of Brookwood Asylum in 1865, while the institution was still being planned, and was there until his retirement in 1882, when he took up residence at Budleigh Salterton. In Vol. VI (1736) at the Folger, the fair copy of the "Historical Chronicle" for April (see n. 49, below) is accompanied by a letter to Brushfield from the copyist dated "B. A. | 2nd June 1882." If "B. A." means Brookwood Asylum, it is likely that the copyist was sending this material from there to Brushfield, already in retirement in Devon. Obviously, the set of the magazine had by then been in Brushfield's possession for at least a short time. The free endpapers of several vols. from the 1770's have retained the reverse impression of a letterhead: "Brookwood Asylum | Near Woking Station | Surrey 188." Woking is about 5 miles from Guildford. It would seem that Brushfield kept certain notes about the collection on paper with this letterhead, and, if so, he was studying these vols. at some time after 1880. His note on the provenance of the set (see below) suggests that several years had elapsed between Pratt's purchase, at the end of 1874, and his own.
Brushfield's notations about Gough's work are written on the lower portion of the sheet tipped inside the back cover of Vol. I.
Commin catalogues 274-278. General information about Dr. Brushfield's library and Commin's acquisition of it appears on p. 2 of No. 274.
Commin's description of this set is as follows: "A Complete Set from the commencement in 1731 to 1868, with four Index Volumes (1731-1818) and List of Plates, 1 vol. The Editor's (J. Gough Nicholls) own set, with additional plates inserted, and MS. notes, also 5 thick 4to volumes of MS. obituary notices, together 234 vols, half calf, some bindings rough. . . ."
The set (lot 1412) was bought by "Tovey," according to the auctioneer's copy of the Sotheby catalogue.
Among Pratt's acquisitions at the Nichols auction was lot 235, a bundle of autograph letters. More important lots of MSS, however, went to other bidders, including lot 1378, "a large bundle" of "Manuscripts, Antiquarian, Genealogical, Topographical, &c. including many Autograph Letters addressed to the Editor of the Gentleman's Magazine (several with drawings)" bought by [Sandars] for £2. 7s.
The approximate date of purchase is derived from records at the Folger concerning acquisition ("ca. July 1911") of the manuscripts which came with the set of the magazine.
Although I have not collated the Folger volumes with other sets of the magazine, I have examined it in light of the analysis of various collated collections of the first 24 vols. provided in William B. Todd's "A Bibliographical Account of The Gentleman's Magazine, 1731-1754," Studies in Bibliography, 18 (1965), 81-109. Except in a few scattered cases, the bibliographical features of the Folger set appear to duplicate the range of variations noted in Todd's analysis. Like most of the sets on which Todd reports, this one is made up of numbers representing several different printings or editions in the first three vols., with fewer variations thereafter.
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