Stranger in France; or, a Tour from Devonshire to Paris, 4to. £100: for A Northern Summer; or, Travels round the Baltic through Denmark, Sweden, Russia, part of Poland and Prussia, in 1804, 4to. £500: for the Stranger in Ireland; or, Travels in that Country, 4to. 1806, £700. and for A Tour through Holland along the right and left banks of the Rhine in 1806, £600.
1808, Aug. 30. Died, William Bristow, aged forty-seven years. He was a printer and bookseller at Canterbury, alderman of that corporation, and treasurer of the eastern parts of the county of Kent.
1808, Oct. 20. Died, John Coote, bookseller in Paternoster-row. He was a native of Horsham, Sussex; but it is supposed that the family originally came from France. His talents rose above mediocrity; and he evinced fertility in the invention of schemes, but did not possess sufficient steadiness or patience to carry them into effect, or beneficial execution. He who can write a lively farce is generally a facetious companion, and that praise will not be denied to Mr. Coote. He produced, with great rapidity of composition, an opera and five farces, three of which have been printed; but he had not that weight of interest which was requisite to bring them on the stage. Mr. Coote had seven children, six of whom survived him.
1808, Jan. 7. Died, William Flexney, a bookseller long settled in Holborn, aged seventy-seven. He was the original publisher of Churchill's poems; who has thus immortalized him:
Let those who energy of diction prize,
For Billingsgate, quit Flerney, and be wise.
1808, Jan. The Reasoner. This periodical forms a work of some merit; but which, in general, does not rise above mediocrity.—Drake.
1808, Jan. 1. Hull Rockingham, No. 1.
1808, Jan. 2. The Berwick Advertiser, No. 1, printed and published by Henry Richardson.
1808. The Comet, a mock newspaper, 8vo. by Eaton Stannard Barrett, student of the Middle Temple. Mr. Barrett was a native of Ireland, and author of All the Talents, a poem , 8vo, 1807. Woman, a poem, 1810, The Heroine; or, Adventures of Cherubina, a novel, three vols. 12mo. 2d. edit. 1814. This work has been pronounced not inferior, in wit and humour to the Tristram Shandy, of Sterne,[1] and in point of plot infinitely beyond the Don Quixote, of Cervantes.
1808, Jan. 6. The Liverpool Courier, No. 1, printed and published by Thomas Kaye.
1808. The Edinburgh Annual Register commenced, and continued till 1825. Some of the earlier volumes of this work were written by sir Walter Scott and Mr. Southey; and it was throughout conducted with great ability.
1808. The Edinburgh Encyclopedia, commenced by Dr. (afterwards sir) David Brewster, and completed in 1830, in eighteen volumes.
1808. The Perth Courier.
1808. The Christian Instructor. This work was commenced at Edinburgh, by the rev. Andrew Thompson, an eminent divine of the church of Scotland, assisted by several of his clerical brethren, and is a work of great merit
1808. Nottingham Review, printed and published by Charles Sutton.
1808, April 4. The Spy. In the title-page these essays are announced to be written "in the manner of the Spectator." It appears that the execution was not adequate to the intentions of the writer.—Drake.
1809, Feb. 12. Died, Benjamin Uphill, a very worthy bookseller in May's buildings, Bedfordbury, London. The principal line of business which he pursued, as far as limited finances permitted, was, the purchasing of books at sales, and vending them again by small printed catalogues at marked and reasonable prices, in which his judgment and his fair dealing was duly appreciate by collectors. But, borne down by ill health, and keenly feeling the want of a proper capital, he sunk under a lingering disorder lo a premature grave, aged forty-nine years.
1809, March 3. Died, John Partridge, clerk to the company of stationers from 1759 to 1776, when he resigned the office to Joseph Baldwin, and retired to Croyden, where he died at the advanced age of ninety, having for several years before been totally blind.
1809, March. Died, Mrs. Henry Caslon,[2] celebrated in the annals of type founding. On the decease of Mrs. Caslon,[3] in 1795, (see page 744, ante,) the management of the foundry devolved on the above lady, who, possessing an excellent understanding, and being seconded by servants of zeal and ability, was enabled, though suffering severely under ill health, in a great measure to retrieve its credit. Finding the renown of William Caslon no longer efficacious in securing the sale of types, she resolved to have new founts cut. She commenced the work of renovation with a new canon, double pica, and pica, having the good fortune to secure the services of Mr. John Isaac Drury, a very able engraver, since deceased. The pica, an improvement on the style of Bodoni of Parma, was par-
- ↑ Lawrence Sterne was born at Clonmell, in Ireland, Nov. 24, 1713, and educated for the church, in which he obtained some preferments. He died March 18, 1768. His chief work was the Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, consisting of eight volumes, all of which were published in the course of six years. In the characters of uncle Toby and corporal Trim, he has, in the words of sir Walter Scott, "exalted and honoured humanity, and impressed upon his readers such a lively picture of kindness and benevolence, blended with courage, gallantry, and simplicity, that their hearts must be warmed whenever it is recalled to memory." In the last year of his life, Sterne published his Sentimental Journey through France and Italy, which is constructed with less eccentricity, and contains chapters of equal tenderness.
- ↑ Mrs. Henry Caslon was the widow of a grandson of the founder of this eminent family; and though she was married to Mr. Strong, a medical gentleman, in 1799, who died in 1802, we have chosen to designate her by the name of Caslon, as best known or appreciated by the profession.
- ↑ Her testamentary depositions required the interpositions of the lord chancellor, under whose orders the foundry was put up to auction, in March, 1799, and was brought by Mr. Henry Caslon, for ₤250. Such was the depreciation of the Caslon letter foundry, of which a third share, in 1792, sold for £3000.
