Everything for the gentle reader

University of Otago special collections librarian Donald Kerr looks at a bound copy of The Gentleman's Magazine, dated 1767. Behind him are miscellaneous images which are part of an exhibition, including one of Edward Cave, the magazine's founder. Photo by Linda Robertson.

Charmian Smith reports on the world's first magazine, copies of which are on display in the Special Collections gallery in the University of Otago Central Library.

To learn the latest gossip about who was marrying whom and what the dowry was, what had been happening in Parliament, advice for settlers in the American colonies, the latest experiments on electricity or the medical benefits of tar water, 18th-century men and women would read The Gentleman's Magazine, according to Donald Kerr, Special Collections Librarian at the University of Otago.

It was such a treasury of information he likens it to an 18th-century Google, he says with a laugh.

Dr Kerr's latest exhibition features this eclectic periodical, which survived for nearly 200 years and was the most important periodical of the 18th century.

The library has a complete run from its first issue in January 1731 to 1866, he said.

The magazine was started by Edward Cave (1691-1754), an enterprising jobbing printer, who saw there was money to be made in publishing a monthly collection of details, news, poetry and articles on general topics.

Although badly printed, it had 48 pages and was a bargain at sixpence.

It soon reached a circulation of 15,000, sold throughout the English-speaking world by subscription, by hawkers and through bookshops.

Because it was classed as a pamphlet it avoided the punitive taxes on newspapers, Dr Kerr explained.

Cave lived and worked in the west tower and archway of St John's Gate, Clerkenwell, London, and a woodcut of the 16th century gate appeared on the front of the magazine.

It contained news from the previous month, often filched from regional and London newspapers, to which Cave had access through his position as inspector of franks at the Post Office, Dr Kerr said.

It also reported parliamentary debates, which was illegal at the time.

A reporter in the public gallery would take notes and Cave would change the names of the MPs for publication.

Later, after being threatened with imprisonment for breach of privilege, he published the debates as "Debates of the Senate of Magna Lilliputia" with MPs' names disguised as anagrams.

Using the pen name Sylvanus Urban, which subsequent editors used until the late 19th century, he also had readers contribute, not only letters to the editor, but also poetry.

He offered 50 prizes for poetry competitions but most of what he published was not very good, Dr Kerr said.

Many other now famous writers, such as novelists Henry Fielding, Tobias Smollet, satirist Charles Churchill, and John Hawkesworth, who later edited Captain Cook's papers, contributed, often under pseudonyms or initials.

One of the most celebrated contributors was Samuel Johnson, at the time a young hack writer from the Midlands.

He had written anonymously to Cave complaining about the weakness of the poetry section and offered to improve it.

Johnson wrote poems, biographies, essays and prefaces, and compiled the parliamentary debates.

However, once he started on his Dictionary his input slackened, according to Dr Kerr.

Besides poetry, the public contributed medical advice, some of which bordered on cranky.

A cure recommended for nervous fits was "Russia castor", derived from dried follicles of the foreskins of Russian beavers.

Another popular cure-all was tar-water, which the Bishop of Cloyne administered as a last resort to his cattle that were suffering from an infectious disease.

The magazine included graphic accounts of hangings, spousal abuse and sensational stories such as sightings of mermen or a description and plan of Noah's ark.

During the French Revolution, the magazine whipped up anti-French feelings.

Before the loss of the American colonies, there was coverage of New World flora and fauna, indigenous peoples and even advice for new settlers.

Travel featured frequently, ranging from areas of local interest in Britain to far-flung places such as Greenland, Russia, Egypt, Italy and the Americas.

The first description of Niagara Falls, with an illustration, appeared in the January 1751 issue.

Explorations, such as those of Captain Cook, were covered, (including a chart of the Southern Ocean from his second voyage of 1772-1775), often in condensed form.

Engravings depicted everything from sperm whales and lunar trajectories to architecture and inventions, such as the curious Brazilian flying ship published in 1786.

In 1739, Cave was the first to use maps in his magazine, which illustrated accounts of battles such as Culloden (1746) and Dettingen (1743) and accompanied travel articles.

There were many significant scientific reports, such as those of Edward Jenner's development of vaccinations and Benjamin Franklin's first experiments with electricity.

The latter so impressed Cave he installed a lightning rod on the tower of St John's Gate.

John Nichols, a subsequent owner and editor from 1778, doubled the size of the magazine and gave an almost obsessive focus to obituaries and biographies, which makes it useful for family historians and scholars researching the 18th century, according to Dr Kerr.

Nichols was succeeded by his son and grandson but from 1866 until its closure in 1922, others took it over.

The Gentleman's Magazine was such a success that several rivals appeared in the 18th century, such as The London Magazine, Or Gentleman's Monthly Intelligencer.