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HISTORY OF PRINTING.
1728, Jm. Pretmt StaU of the RqmhUe of Letters, No. I. Continued till December, 1736.
1728. 7%e/nteWij«ncer,byDr.Thos. Sheridan. This paper was published weekly in Dublin, in the years 1728 and 1729. It is a miscellaneous paper, and had the occasional assistance of dean Swift. Dr. Sheridan died September 10, 1738.
1728, July. The Univerml Spectator, No. 1.
1728, Sept. 25. The Parrot, by Mrs. Prattle.
1728, Oct. 1. Flying Pott, or Weekly Medley, printed by Matthew Jenour, in Giltspur-street.
1728, Oct. 16. New York Gazette, printed and published in New York, by William Bradford.
1728. The Literary Journal.
1728. The Touchttone.
1728. The Weekly Medley.
1728. Faulknet't Journal, printed and pub- lished dsdly, by George Faulkner, Dublin.* It was truly Hibernian in the blundering simplicity of its style and typography. It is said, on its afterwaros falling into otoer hands, to have been conducted with great ability and spirit
1729, Jan. 19. Died, William CoNorbve, of whom Voltaire says, " He raised the glory of comedy to a greater height than any English writer before, or since his time. He wrote only a few plays, but they are the best of the kind. And Dennis, speaking of Congreve, says, " he quitted the stage early, and comedy left it with him." He was born at Bardsey , in Staffordshire, Feb. 10, 1769, and educated at Triniw college, Dublin. While studying law in the Temple, in London, he began to write for the stage, and at the age of twenty-one produced his first play called the Old Bachelor, which was highly suc- cessful. Lord Halifax made him a commissioner for licensing hackney coaches, and other em- ployments, which yielded him £1200 a-year. About 1696, he engaged in a controversy with Collier, respecting the immorality of his plays, in which Congreve was completely foiled, and in consequence ceased dramatic authorship.
1729, March. Died, Mr. Rolland, advo- cate, and proprietor of the Caledonian Mercury, Srinted by Thomas Ruddiman. At this time je whole property of the Mercury was trans- ferred to Mr. Ruddiman, which from No. 1396, was printed for and by Thomas and Walter Ruddiman, and sold at the shop of Alexander Symmers, bookseller, in the Parliament square. In this manner did the proprietorship of the paper pass into the family of Ruddiman, with whom it continued, though under various modi- fications, till May, 1772.
- Mr. NOBHAV, boolueller, DabUn. — ^He ii a middling
sqoat man that lovea to live well, and has a spouse who nnderstands pieparinK eood things as weU as the best lady in Ireland. He has a hole in his nose, occasioned by a brua pin in his noise's waistcoat, which happened to run In it, and for want of a akUfbl hand to dress It, the hole remidns to this dar. and yet without disflcnriufr his face. He invited me to Us lioiiae when I made my auction in Dublin, and when I came gave me a hearty welcome. I found Mr. Norman an excellent florist, and he has this peculiar to himself, that whatever he has In his garden is the most excellent of Its kind. Be is a very grave honest man, nnderstands his trade extraordinary well, and has the honour to have been muter of the booksdleis com- pany in Dublin.— X>«ii«o».
1729, Mardi 12. The Dmuiad was pieaented to George II. and hia queen (who bad befine been pleased to read it) at St. James's,*bj the right honourable sir Robert Walpole ; and some days after, the whole impresdon was takoi aad circulated by several noblemen and g^entlemen. On the day the book was on sale, a crowd tt authors besieged the shop of Bernard Untot, tke bookseller ; entreaties, advices, threats, of law, and battery, nay, cries of tieasoa, were all eai- ployed to hinder the coming out of the Dmuiad ; on the other side, the booksellers and hawken made as ^^reat efforts to procure it. The dunces (for by this name they were called) held weekh clubs to consult about hostilities against the author ; one denounced him as the greatest enemy the government had ; and others bnmgbt his image in clay, to execute him in effigy.* Some false editions of the book, having an owl in their frontispiece ; the true one, to distiDgiiisk it, fixed in its stead an ass laden with anuioR. Then another surreptitious one bang printed with the same ass, the new edition, in 8vo. le- tutned for distinction to the owl again. Hence arose a great contest of booksellers against ^Mok- sellers, and advertisements against advertise- ments ; some lecommending the edition of the owl, and others the edition of the ass ; by whidi names they came to be distinguished. The last complete edition of the Duneiad did not appear till 1643. The first edition sold for sixpence.
1729, June 19. Robert Knell, compositar, and John Clark, pressman, of Mist's WeeUf Journal, were set in the pillory for working that paper of the 24th of August, 1728. The foUow- ing epigram appeared upon the conduct of the whig government towards the press :
ON THE LIBERTY OF THE PRBSe.
In ^ood Queen Anna's days, when tories rd^ii'd.
And the just liberty of the press restraln'd.
Sad whigs complain'd in dolehil notes and sundry,
O LlBKRTV I O ViRTVS 1 O HT CoUNTRV !
But when themselves had reach'd the days of KTWot^ They chang*d their principles as well as place ; Ftom messengen secure no printer lies, niey take oomposlton, pressmen, devils, flies : What means this chan^ I the sum of sll the storiea, Tories deprest are whigs, and whigs in power are tories.
1729. William Bowter printed two large editions in 4to. (10,500) of Polly, an ovea; being the second part of 7%e Begyar'* Open. Written by Mr. Gay. With the songs and basses engraved on copper-plates.
The following paragraph appeared in the Evening Pott of April 10, 1729. "Yesterday two illegal, false, and spurious editions a Polly, an Opera ; heing the Second Part of tic Beggar's Opera, were published ; the one in 8to. witiiout the music, printed for Jeffery Walker, in the Strand, the other in 8vo. with the music at the end, printed for J. Thomson. This is to advertise all booksellers, printers, publiahen, hawkeis, &c. not to sell, or cause to be sold.
- The Ctutgett i or, a Craiiree Lecture to tke emtharef
the Dtmeiai. By Hereolu* Vinegar, Esq. Umtom, 17<S'
