Literary Journals. 43 



face, from which I shall make a few extracts, to shew the nature 

 and plan of the undertaking. 



" I design," says the editor, " to publish an abridgment of 

 all new books as they shall appear in the world ; to which pur- 

 pose I shall keep a correspondence abroad, in order to the be- 

 ing furnished with everything rare at the first. But in regard 

 this design is of too large extent, that is, the abridging of every 

 book that is published, especially in this age, where so many 

 trifling impertinencies pass the press, I shall chuse only such to 

 insert in this work as may most deserve the perusal of the 

 studious reader." Having given a list of the kind of books 

 that he did not intend to review, he adds, •' but I would not 

 be thought, upon this pretence, to excuse myself from abstract- 

 ing from ingenious treatises in anatomy, natural philosophy, and 

 mathematicks, for though such abstracts may be unpleasant to 

 such as understand them not, they must bear with the evil, and 

 remedy it by turning over the leaf, to a place that pleases them 

 better." ", In cases where a person may have made any dis- 

 covery in natural philosophy, physick, mathematicks, critick, 

 or the like, and would not give themselves the trouble of writ- 

 ing a treatise upon it, if they please to communicate it to us, 

 we shall give it a place in our journal, and preserve and publish 

 it to the world, better by far than if it was printed by itself. 

 Which advertisement, considering the present discontinuance 

 of the ' Philosophical Transactions,' will not, we hope, seem 

 impertinent to the learned world." 



I suspect, however, that only a few numbers of this work 

 were published, because in the month of August, in the same 

 year, we find Mr. De la Crose had formed a connexion with 

 other booksellers, and began a similar work under a diflferent 

 title, as follows : 



VI. 1691. " Thk Works of the Learned, or an 

 historical account and impartial judgment of books newly 

 printed, both foreign and domestick, to be published monthly." 

 By J. De la Crose, a late author of the " Universal Historical 



