niE 
MONTHLY MAGAZINE. 
No. 219.] NOVEMBER 1, 1811. E4ofVoL.32. 
' A» long as those wfho write aie ambitious of making Converts, and of giving their Opinions a Maximum of 
Influence and Cetebtity, the mofl exteniivtly circulated Miscellany will repay with tne greatest Efiect th« 
fturitisity «f thvse who read either for Amusement or Iristruction.-JOHNSON. 
ORIGINAL communications. 
For the Monthly Magazine. 
ACCOUNT of the LEIPZIG FAIR at 
EASTER, 1810. 
£The Editor lias usually introduced the re¬ 
sults of this Fair to the notice of his readers, 
\vithm three months after it took place ; 
but, in the present Interrupted state of com¬ 
munication with the continent, he consi¬ 
ders himself fortunate in being able to 
furnish this article at the distance of 
nearly eighteen months!] 
FOURTH part of the business 
done at this great mart may he 
placed to the account of the book-trade, 
without including bibles, liturgies, jour¬ 
nals, &c. which are seldom admitted into 
the general catalogues. As the produc¬ 
tions of the press are rather articles of 
luxury than necessity, the general stagna¬ 
tion of commerce was particularly and 
most severely felt by the booksellers, who 
had to drink deeply of the cup of woe, 
that had been poured out over tlieir couri- 
iry. Of this, the Fairs in 1809 had given 
the most melancholy indication; and the 
winterofl809-i0contiuutd to present the 
most unpromising results. Hence, as Eas¬ 
ter approached, almost every thing that 
the year 1809 had produced for the book- 
trade was returned, the most important 
assortments liaving met with scarcely any 
vent. Many an impression ivovv made 
the journey to Leipzig a second or third 
time. But, notwithstanding these unfa¬ 
vourable symptoms, the spirit of enter- 
prize had not been extinguished. The 
most expensive undertakings had been 
boldly continued, and others not less 
costly begun; and, in every department 
of literature, products of sterling merit 
brought forth. None of the old-esta¬ 
blished firms was absent; and many who 
had not made their appearance for several 
years, either attended or sent-their agents. 
The sufferings of Vienna, and of every 
part of the Austrian dominions, du¬ 
ring the preceding year, had nut de¬ 
tained the most respectable booksellers 
from their annual journey to the banks 
of the Pleisse. 
^losiTHLx Mag, No. 
Degcn^ whose magnificent edition of 
Wieland’s Musarion, a lasting monument 
of German typography, had been ad¬ 
mired even by llie enemy’s generals at 
Vienna, sent new proofs of his zeal for 
his art, particularly Bonde's Epithalamia. 
From Copenhagen, Kbnig^erg and 
Riga, as likewise from Pesih, GrHtz, and 
the left bank of the Rhine, the old known 
houses appeared; and on the left bank 
of the Rhine new ones had been esta¬ 
blished, the solidity of vrhich inspiret^ 
confidence. 
The Catalogue again evinced,that,among 
the states connected by the common use of 
the German language, literary enterprize, 
and zeal for arts and sciences, had not 
been overwhelmed hy the evils of war 
and revolution. Many were astonished 
when they saw the portly book instead of 
the empty, shrivelled, meagre, list of a 
few novelties, which had been looked for. 
The harvest of good productions had 
been so considerable in every depart¬ 
ment, as to remove any apprehension of 
a stillstand or retrogradalion. 
We shall now take a rapjd view’ of the 
most important of the new’est acquisi¬ 
tions, I'he Germans have not many prizes 
to distribute; but the judges of literary 
merit, at their fifty equally-distributed 
and still-flourishing universities and 
high-schools, promulgate their deci¬ 
sions in from twenty or thirty generally, 
read journals and periodical publica¬ 
tions, where now, with greater dis¬ 
patch tlian ever, every tiling worth 
knowing is announced, illustrated, and, 
by salutary collision, improved or con¬ 
demned. 
The two main pillars on which Ger¬ 
man science and literary culture rest, 
are—Philology, in the most comprehensive 
meaning of the w-ord, which, proceeding 
from Greece and Rome, explores all the 
mines of the East and West; and a puri¬ 
fied Philosophy and Theory of Arts and 
Sciences, founded on literature and expe¬ 
rience. Of the thriving state of philoso¬ 
phy, we find again every where spenk- 
insj proofs. With respect to cias^ical 
2 R auiiquitit'a 
