436 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 158. 



printed in all Languages. Three Numbers were pub- 

 lished, for January, February, and March, 1686-7. 

 It was discontinued, in consequence of the death 

 of G. Wells, the publisher. The editor was Ed- 

 mund Bohun, the well-known political writer. 



6. — 1688. An Historical Account of Books and 

 Transactions in the learned World, printed at Edin- 

 burgh. (Nichols's Literary Anecdotes, vol. iv. 

 p. 73.) 



7. — 1688-9. Weekly/ Memorials, or an Account 

 of Books lately set forth, loith other Accounts relat- 

 ing to Learning. No. 1., January 19, 1688-9. 

 (Nichols's Lit. Anec, vol. iv. p. 73.) Mr. Nichols 

 erroneously states this to have been the earliest 

 specimen of an English Ileview. 



8. — 1690-1. The Athenian Gazette, Mio. The 

 first Number was published 17th March, 1690-1. 

 Tlie first three Numbers were published on Tues- 

 days ; afterwards it came out on Saturdays and 

 Tuesdays, price one penny each Number. Thirty 

 Numbers are contained in a volume. With each 

 volume was published a supplement, containing 

 the " Transactions and Experiments of foreign 

 Virtuosos ; to which is added an account of the 

 Design and Scope of most of the considerable 

 Books printed in all Languages, and of the quality 

 of the Authors, if known." The review of books 

 was relinquished with the fourth supplement, in 

 consequence of the Works of the Learned, edited 

 by J. (le la Crose, being commenced by the same 

 publisher (John Dunton). The Athenian Gazette, 

 as originally, or the Athenian Mercury, as subse- 

 quently entitled, was continued to the end of the 

 nineteenth volume, the thirtieth and last Number 

 of which was published on Saturday, February 8, 

 1696, in an advertisement to which notice is given 

 " That the proprietor of the Athpnian Mercury thinks 

 fit, whilst the cofTee-houses have the Votes every day, 

 and six newspapers every week, to discontinue this 

 weekly paper (the nineteenth volume being now 

 finished), and carry on the said design in volumes ; 

 and, in pursuance of this resolution, thirty Numbers 

 shall speedily be printed altogether, to complete the 

 twentieth volume ; the first undertaker designs to have 

 it continued in weekly papers as soon as ever the glut 

 of news is a little over." 



Notwithstanding this promise, the first Number 

 of vol. XX. was not published till Friday, May 14, 

 1697; and it did not extend beyond No. 10., which 

 came out on Monday, June 14, 1697. See Dun- 

 ton! s Life and Errors for an account of this work, 

 of which he was the projector, and a complete 

 copy of which in the original folio (the 4 vols. 8vo. 

 are only an abridgment) is very difficult to meet 

 with. Amongst many other curiosities in these 

 most curious volumes are (vol. v.. Supplement, 

 p. 1.) the humble and reverential letter (dated 

 Moor Park, February 14, 1691) and ode of Jona- 

 than Swift, which must have been gall and worm- 

 wood to him in the after part of his life. The 



number of queries answered in other volumes, as 

 computed in my copy, is 3462. 



9. — 1691. The History of I^earning, or an Ab- 

 stract of several Books lately published, as well 

 Abroad as at Home, by one of the two authors of 

 the Universal and Historical Bibliotheque : Lond., 

 printed for Abel Swake and Timothy Childe, 1691, 

 4to., pages 62. The dedication is signed " J. D. 

 de la Crose." He observes, in the preface, that 

 the same design " had been twice attempted here ; 

 but those having been barely translations, and the 

 readers generally understanding the original, seems 

 to be the reason they were no better received." 

 Whether more was published than this first Num- 

 ber I do not know. 



10. — 1691. Mercurius Eruditorum, or News 

 from the learned World. No. 1., August 5, 1691 



(Nichols's Lit. Anec, vol. iv. p. 75.) 



11. — 1691. 21ie Wo7-lis of the Learned, or an 

 historical Account and impartial Judgment of Books 

 newly printed, both Foreign and Domestic, to be 

 published monthlv, by J. de la Crose, a late author 

 of the Universal Histoi'ical Bibliotheque : London, 

 printed for J. Bennett, 1691, 4to. First Number 

 published August 1691 ; last, March and April, 

 1692, concluding the first volume, containing in 

 all 398 pages exclusive of index. The publisher, 

 Bennett, in an advertisement subjoined to the last 

 Number, declares his intention of only publishing 

 four or five times a year, instead of monthly, " a 

 monthly journal returning too quick to h;ive it 

 always filled with considerable books," and com- 

 plains of the disappointment he had met with from 

 Monsieur Le Crose, who is very apt to change his 

 mind, though strictly obliged. Of this learned and 

 ingenious man, whose attempt, however imperfect 

 in this journal, to supply the want of an English 

 review, was certainly the most satisfactory which 

 had yet been made, I propose giving some account, 

 from materials which I have collected, in a futiu-e 

 Number of " N. & Q." 



12. — 1692. The Young Student's Library, con- 

 taining exti'acts and abridgments of the most 

 valuable books printed in England, and in the 

 foreign journals, from the year 1665 to this time, 

 by the Athenian Society, folio, 1692. This was 

 another undertakingf of the indefatigable John 

 Dunton. It was published in one volume, and 

 not in periodical numbers, by subscription, the 

 price to subscribers being 10s. The reviews seem 

 to be translated entirely from foreign journals. 

 The Young Student's Library was continued in a 

 4to. form. 



13. — 1692. The Complete Library, or Neivs for 

 the Ingenious, by a London Divine : printed for 

 John Dunton, 1692, 4to., published monthly. It 

 begins May, 1692 ; first volume ends with Novem- 

 ber, 1692, and contains 480 pages exclusive of 

 index. Second volume begins with December, 

 1692, and ends with December, 1693, and contains 



