Casgliadau Arlein

The Gentleman's Magazine (The Gentleman's Magazine was the first general-interest magazine, and the most influential periodical of its time. The Gentleman's Magazine was founded in London by Edward Cave in January, 1731. The original complete title was The Gentleman's Magazine: or, Trader's monthly intelligencer. Cave's innovation was to create a monthly digest of news and commentary on any topic the educated public might be interested in, from commodity prices to Latin poetry. It carried original content from a stable of regular contributors, as well as extensive quotes and extracts from other periodicals and books. [Early editions of the magazine are of interest to genealogists because they contain details of many births, deaths and marriages. Frequently, biographical details were also included. Also, under the heading of "Accidents & Occurrences" are recorded the daily mishaps which befell individuals and which were recorded in the press. Finally, there's a grim record of many executions. In addition to these personal details, the magazine included selected essays, articles and historical passages. There are dozens of prints illustrating contemporary buildings and items of interest (e.g. fossils, brass monuments, etc). There is some poetry, and diverse lists - from books published to a meteorological record. Consequently, there is a huge amount of background information which could be of value to the genealogist, and also to the local historian]. Cave, who edited The Gentleman's Magazine under the pen name "Sylvanus Urban", was the first to use the term "magazine" (meaning "storehouse") for a periodical. Prior to the founding of The Gentleman's Magazine, there had been specialized journals, but no such wide-ranging publication (though there had been attempts, such as The Gentleman's Journal, which was edited by Peter Motteux and ran from 1692 to 1694). Samuel Johnson's first regular employment as a writer was with The Gentleman's Magazine. During a time when parliamentary reporting was banned, Johnson regularly contributed parliamentary reports as "Debates of the Senate of Magna Lilliputia". Though they reflected the positions of the participants, the words of the debates were mostly Johnson's own. Cave, a skilled businessman, developed an extensive distribution system for The Gentleman's Magazine. It was read throughout the English-speaking world. It finally ceased publication in September, 1907.)