EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.
5tiS
1707, April 26. William Pettis was con- victed of writing, printing, and publishing a work entitled the Cote of the Church of Eng- land's memorial fairltf tUUed, &c.; and it being deemed a libel, he was sentenced to pay 100 marks, and to stand in the pillory on the 26th and 29th of the same month; one hour at Charing Cross and one hour at the Royal Ex- change, with a paper on his head denoting his offence, and to give security for his good beha- vio»ir for two years. George Sawbridge, the printer, was convicted of publishing the said libel, and sentenced to pay £300 to the queen, and to appear in all the courts of Westminster, the said courts sitting, with a paper upon his head denoting his offence, and to find security for his good behaviour for the space of two years.
1707. Mr. Burton gave to the company of stationers a large silver flagon, 64 oz. 15 dwts.
1707. The Mutes Mercury; or. Monthly Mis- cellany for 1707, 4to. edited by William Oldis- worth.* In the number for June, will be found a republication of Prior's Nut Brown Maid.
1707, Aug. 13. Weekly Comedy, or the Hu- mours of the Coffee-house. By the Author of the London Spy. Printed for J. Morphew, No. 1.
1707, Sept. 27. Obtervator revived; printed for J. Morphew, No. 1.
1708, March 17. Rowe's Shakspeare. — " Whereas a very neat and correct edition of Mr. William Shalupeare's Works, in six volumes in octavo, adorned with cuts, is now so near tinished as to be published in a month; to which is designed to be prefixed an account of the life and writings of the said author, as far as can be collected. If, therefore, any gentlemen who have materials by them that may be serviceable to this design, will be pleased to transmit them to Jacob Tonson, at Gray's Inn Gate, they will be a particular advantage to the work, and acknow- ledged as a favour by the gentleman who hath the care of this edition."— Ori^rw/ Advertisement. The work appeared in seven octavo volumes, early in the following year; in the eighth num- ber of the Tatler, (April 28, 1709) Steele highly recommends the work to the public.
1708. Worcester Postman, printed by Samuel Bryan.f This is the earliest known newspaper in that city, though it is strongly conjectured that, during the movements of the royal army in the civil wars, a newspaper was printed there.
^708. Memoirs of Literature.
1708. Bibliotheca Curiosa.
1708, Jan. 19. The Supplement, No. 1.
1708, Feb. 13. British Apollo; or curious Amusements for the lugenious. To which are added the most material Occurrences Foreign and Domestick. Performed by a Society of Gentlemen. No. I. It was published twice a
- Williun Oldiswortli publiahed a Tolamo called State
Traett, and another entitled State Mucellain Poemt, 8vo., &c. He was one of the authors of the Kxavuiier. He died in 17M.
t Ttien was a Mr. Batter, a bookseller of Worcester, aiwat this period, of whom Donton thus characterises .— " Mr. Butter has been a rising man some time, has a brisk trade, and pajrs well; he is both an hnmble and religious
week, and completed its career in March 1711, having attained the bulk of three volumes folio. In a letter (the present state of wit) ascribed to Gay, he mentions that it still recommends itself by deciding wagers at cards.
1708, Oct. Edinburgh Flying Post. No. 1. Printed by John Reids, elder and younger, three times a week, in. a folio half sheet.
1709. An act was passed " for the encourage- ment of learning," in which the printing and reprinting of any work was vested in the author for the space of fourteen years; and, if living at the close of that period, for another period of the same duration. By this act piracy w as made punishable during these times, by the forfeiture of the books illegally published, and of a penny for every sheet in the offender's custody — one half to the queen's majesty, the other halfpenny to the informer; and the condition of these remedies was the enteri^^g the work at stationers' hall. This act " for the encouragement of learn- ing," also conferred a power on the archbishop of Canterbury and other great functionaries to regulate thepriceof books; but this was repealed in the reign of George I. This act also confers on learning the benetit of a forced contribution of nine copies of every work, on the best paper, for the use of certain libraries. Before this act, it was usual to purchase from authors the per- petual copyright of their books, and to assign the sume from hand to hand, for valuable con- siderations, and to make them the subject of family setUement. The claim of the author to perpetual copyright was never disputed until literature received ihis fatal boon from the hands of the legislature. Milton, in his immortal pleading for the liberty of unlicensed printing, states as one of the glosses of his opponents, the "just retaining of each man his several copy, which God forbid should be gainsaid."
1709. The earliest press introduced into the province of Connecticut, North America, was set up at New London, a seaport and consider- able city, by William Short, from Boston. The first book said to have been printed in the colony is entitled, the Saybrook Platform of Church Discipline, dated 1710. Mr. Short, dying soon afterwards, was succeeded by Timothy Green,
1709, Jan. Monthly Transactions; published by Dr. William King.* No. 1.
1709. The Daily Courant. This was the first newspaper published daily in London, (Sundays excepted.)
1709. 7%« Worcester Journal established by Mr. Berrow, which exists to the present day.
1709. Monthly Amusement, by John Ozell.f
- Dr. William King, an ingenious and humoioas writer,
whose poetical and political works are nomeioos. His Historical Account of the HeaXhen Qoda and Heroes is still held in esteem. He died December 25, 171S, and was buried in Westminster abbey.
t John OzeU was born In I.eicestershiie, and educated at the school of Ashby-de-U-Zouch. He was auditor- general of London, and of the accounts of St. Paul's cathedral, andgtThomas'shospital. HetranslatedMoUere and other French writers, boddes being the author of some poems. He died October IS, 1743. Pope has placed him in the Duneiad.
■i E
VjOOQ IC
