236 Literary Journals. 



Bayle, in 1684; the Bibliotheque Universelk, 

 Choisie, et Ancienne, et Moderne, by Le Clerc^ 

 about the same time ; the History of the Works of 

 the Learned, by M. Basnage, in 1686 ; the Monath- 

 lichen Unterredungen, of Germany in 1689; the 

 Bocckzalvan Europe, by Peter Rabbus, in Hol- 

 land, in 1692; an Historical Treatise of the Jour- 

 nals of the Learned, in Latin, by Juncker, the 

 same year; the Nova Liter aria Maris Balthici, in 

 1698; together with several others in Germany, 

 prance, and Italy. The first work of the kind 

 established in Great-Britain was the History of 

 the Works of the Learned, begun in London, in 

 1699. Such was the state of Europe, with respect 

 to literary journals, at the close of the seventeenth 

 century. It will be observed, that, as they began 

 in France, so they were most numerous and most 

 encouraged in that country for a long time after- 

 wards. 



Soon after the commencement of the eighteenth 

 century these publications greatly increased, both 

 in number and in the extent of their circulation. 

 But this increase, for the first forty years of the 

 period we are considering, was chiefly confined 

 to the continent of Europe. The attempts in 

 Great-Britain were few and short-lived. About 

 the beginning of the century M. De la Roche 

 formed an English Journal, entitled Memoirs of 

 Literature. To this succeeded the Present State 

 of the Republic of Letters, by Reid, the Censura 

 Temporum, established in 1708, and the Bibliotheca 

 Curiosa, about the same time. These, however, 

 were by no means so instructive and interesting as 

 modern Reviews. They only gave notices of a 

 few principal publications, and retailed selections 

 from foreign journals; and, together with several 

 others, too unimportant to be named, were soon 

 discontinued. 



