Congreve, The Way of the World
John Dryden, Fables
Queen's Royal Cookery
East India Company sales catalogue
The Spectator
Jonathan Swift, A Proposal...
Sugar in Britain
Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe
Bartholomew Fair
Trade and the English language
Swift, A Modest Proposal
East India Company: Bengal textiles
English arrives in the West Indies
Hogarth, Harlot's Progress
Cities in chaos
Polite conversation
James Miller, Of Politeness
Samuel Richardson, Pamela
Advert for a giant
Muffin seller
The Art of Cookery
Henry Fielding, Tom Jones
Johnson's Dictionary
Sterne, Tristram Shandy
Lowth’s grammar
Rousseau, The Social Contract
Walpole, The Castle of Otranto
Goldsmith, She Stoops to Conquer
Captain Cook's journal
Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland
Burns, Poems Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect
Anglo-Indian newspaper
Notices about runaway slaves
First British advert for curry powder
Storming of the Bastille
Olaudah Equiano
William Blake's Notebook
Thomas Paine's Rights of Man
Walker’s correct pronunciation
Wollstonecraft's Rights of Woman
Songs of Innocence and Experience
The Spectator was a periodical published daily by Joseph Addison and Sir Richard Steele, both politicians, which was one of the bestsellers of the 18th century. Its 500 issues sold up to 4000 copies a day, and carried news and comment, but especially comments on manners, morals and literature. The publication pretended to be the reports by a Mr Spectator on the conversations of a club comprising representatives of the country squirearchy, the town, commerce and the army. Its essays, as seen in this example, show that urban life in the 18th century was not so far different from today, with observations on begging and binge-drinking. ‘Mr Spectator’ particularly comments on debt – ‘[I am] extremely astonished that Men can be so insensible of the Danger of running into Debt’.
The magazine of essays was a popular model for expressing various views on society in the 18th century. Though often short-lived, they sold well and were read by thousands. The Gentleman’s Magazine, Steele’s The Tatler, Samuel Johnson’s The Rambler and The Idler and others created an enthusiasm for discussing ideas and literature that were at the heart of literate thinking in 18th century England.
Shelfmark: L.R.261.b.18.