EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.
661
tion commemomtiTe of his loss by fire, and the munificent donaUons of the gtationeis' company and his private friends, to repair his loss. There is also a bust of him taken sdter his death ; and a portrait, from which he appears to have been a pleasant round-faced man. This is a very good picture ; and a faithful engraving from it, by Basire, is given in Nichols's Literary Anec- dote$. Mr. Bowyer was many years a valuable member of the company of stationers.
1737, Jan. 1. The Hittory of the Workt of tlie Learned, No. 1. This work first appeared in 1735, under the name of the Literary Magazine ; or. Select Bntith Librarian. It continued to flourish under its new designation till the year 1743, when it closed with the publication of its fourteenth volume. This pubhcation is not to be confounded with that of J. la Crose, which appeared in 1691. See page 674, ante.
1737, Feb. Common Sense. Lord Chesterfield and lord Lyttleton were contributors to this work ; and their essays, many of which are upon topics of more permanent interest than politics, add much to the value of the work. It was carried on with considerable success for some years.
1737. Belfast News Letter. This was proba- bly the first newspaper established in Ireland, north of Dublin, and perhaps the oldest existing newspaper in that country.
1737, Nov. 6. The Weekly Eitay, No. 1.
1738, Jan. 14. About two o'clock in' the morn- ing, the dwelling-house^ and printing-office of John Basket, king's pnnter, situated in Black Friars, was totally destroyed by fire, the damage of which was estimated at £20,000. Mr. William Bowyer, jun. in remembrance of Mr. Basket's gift to his father, (see page 601 ante) gave him a press complete, and the ironwork of another.
1738, Feb. A motion was made in the house of lords, concerning a libel on several of their lordships, when it was observed by the majority of the house, " That it was not usual to take a printer or publisher into custody, when he ap- peared and discovered his author."
1738. JoBN Petes Zenoer, of New York, printer, See. was charged with printing and pub- lishing a false, scandalous, and seditious libel, agiunst the governor and administrator of that province, intituled the New York Weekly Jour- nal, and was brought to trial by information. A great anxiety prevailed during this trial, and after a long investigation he was fonnd not guilty, partly through the exertions of Mr. Hamilton, vho travelled from Philadelphia for the purpose of defending him ; and so pleased was the mayor and aldermen of New York with Mr. Hamil- ton's abilities, that they presented him with the freedom of the city in a gold box of great value.
1738, 3forcA. Ehed, Joan DAKBY,jun. printer, in Bartholomew-close, who is thus characterized by Dunton: — " Where is a man more careful of his words P or more pious in his actions? I might call him the religious printer. He goes to heaven with the anabaptists ; but is a man of general chariu. He printed that excellent speech of my lord Russel, and several pieces of
colonel Sydney, and is a true assertor of English liberties. He is no bigot to any party, but can see the truth betwixt two wranglers, and see them agree, even in what they fall out. In a word, Mr. Darbie is blessed in himself (by being cool and temperate in all his passions), and is very happy in all his relations. His wife is chaste as a picture cut in alabaster, — you might sooner tempt a votary, or move a Scythian rock, than shoot a fire into her chaster breast. Sir Roger [L'Estrange], on his bended knees, could not prevail for (so much as)a wanton look."
1738, May 13. Henry Haines, printer, sen- tenced to pay a fine of £200, to sufier two years' imprisonment, and to find security for his good behaviour for seven years, for printing the Craftsman.
1738. A pamphlet was published in this year, entitled A Letter to the Society of Booksellm,on the method of forming a true Judgment of the Manuscripts of Authors,eontidjimg some curious literary intelligence, and is as follows : — ^' We have known books," says the writer, " that in the manuscript have been damned, as well as others which seem to be so, since, after their ap- pearance in the world, they have often lain by neglected. Witness the Paradise Lost of the famous Milton, and the Ovtics of sir Isaac New- ton, which last, it is saia, had no character or credit here till noticed in France. The Histori- cal Connexion of the Old and New Testament, by Shuckford,* is also reported to have been sel- dom inquired after for about a twelvemonth's time; however, it made a shift, though not with- out some difficulty, to creep up to a second edi- tion, and afterwards even to a third. And, which is another remarkable instance, the manuscript of Dr. Prideaux'fff Connexion is well known to have been bandied about from hand to hand among several, at least five or six, of the most eminent booksellers, during the space of at least two years, to no purpose, none of them undertak- ing to print that excellent work. It lay in ob- scurity till archdeacon Echard, the author's friend, strongly recommended it to Tonson. It
- ItU alonrtline uo since I read 8InieUbr<l'tC(mMjr<m.
But my opiiuoD of It was then, and I believe it is the general opinion, that It Is an lq)ndiclons pexformance. The anthor attempted a very dlfflcnlt work, and his abllitln were not eqoal to It. There is no design, that I know of, of contlnolng it. Rev. Charles Godwyn.
BaUol ColUge, AprU IS, 17(i3.
Is not dean Fildeanx's CviuuxUm a continnatian of the above?
t Humphrey Prideaox was born at Padatow, in Corn- wall, Hay 3, 1648. In 167S he pobllshed the Mamora Onnitflwa, in one Tcdmne folio, and in ICSI he was ino- moted to a prebend of Norwich, of which cathedial he became dean in 1702. Being disabled ftom poblic duty, by bodily Inflnnity, be devoted himself to writing, and produced his CotUMtiM o/the Old and New Tatamait, a vols, folio, and * vols. 4to. When Dr. Prldeaux offered his Comuxion to a bookseller, the latter told the Dr. that it was a iff snlject, and the printing could not safely be ventured npon, milat ht could enliven U with a liUle kmumr I This admirable work, however, has been trans- lated into several languages, and has passed through nu- merous editions. Dean Piideaux died at Norwich, Nov. I, 1 734, and was buried in the cathedral. He was the author of DirectionM to CkHrehwardetu, ISmo ; the Li/e 0/ Maho. mil, Svo i the Original BlgU 0/ Tithes, Svo, dc. &c.
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