London Newspapers Research Articles

Shakespeare and his World (by F. E. Halliday)

Journal Article Shakespeare and his World (by F. E. Halliday) Get access M. M. Reese M. M. Reese M. M. Reese, a sports correspondent for a London newspaper, is the author of Shakespeare: His World and his Work, of The Cease of Majesty, and of historical works including The Puritan Impulse and The Royal Office of Master of the Horse. Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Shakespeare Quarterly, Volume 33, Issue 1, Spring 1982, Pages 124–126, https://doi.org/10.2307/2870358 Published: 01 April 1982

From a Place of 'Horrible Destitution' to a Paradise of the Working Class. The Transformation of British Working Class Attitudes to Australia, 1841-1851

British working-class attitudes towards Australia in the 1840s, as indicated by working-class newspapers,1 reflected not only the flow of news from Australia, but also the contemporary problems of the British working class. The latter, in what was an extraordinary eventful and turbulent decade, had a profound influence on verdicts about Australia. They were a major factor in a quite dramatic change from virtual contempt to enormous enthusiasm. The emergence of this strongly favourable image appears to have been very important in the revival of emigration in the late 1840s and in the great wave of emigration which occurred in the 1850s, and inasmuch as the image was produced by developments largely external to Australia the traditionally neglected 'push* factor in emigration seems to have been of great significance. The present study is based on an examination of eight working-class newspapers,2 particularly Northern Star and Lloyds Weekly London Newspaper. Northern Star was the principal mouthpiece of the Chartist movement, with a circulation far ahead of any other working-class news paper for most of the decade. After 1848 it declined in importance (and circulation) and by 1852 had degenerated to almost 'rat-bag' status. Lloyds, established in 1842, was less militant than Northern Star, but well attuned to working-class needs and wishes. By 1851 Lloyds had emerged as the working-class newspaper with the greatest circulation, and it main tained that position for many decades. Of the other newspapers, News of the World, examined closely from 1846, was closest to Lloyds in its views. Among working-class newspapers, it most resembled the establishment press. Glasgow Sentinel, although started in 1850, is particularly valuable as a vigorous regional represen tative of the working class. The more militant Reynolds Weekly News paper dates from the same year and is perhaps the most important of the 'post-Chartist' newspapers. Finally, there are three newspapers more akin to magazines and not so clearly aimed at working-class readers, but offering strong expositions of working-class interests: Douglas Jerrold's Weekly (1846-8), edited by this popular playwright and novelist who, later in the 1850s, became editor of Lloyds; Spirit of the Age, later renamed Spirit of the Times (1848-9), a journal of vigorous, broadly Chartist views; and the Leader, from 1850 perhaps the most 'intellectual'

Advertising in London Newspapers, 1650–1750

(1973). Advertising in London Newspapers, 1650–1750. Business History: Vol. 15, No. 2, pp. 112-130.

A proportional mortality study of a group of newspaper workers.

<b>Greenberg, M. (1972).</b><i>Brit. J. industr. Med.,</i><b>29,</b> 15-20. <b>A proportional mortality study of a group of newspaper workers.</b> In investigating an anecdotal report of a high incidence of bladder cancer at a London newspaper printing factory, death certificates for 670 workers relating to the years 1954-66 were studied. While an increased incidence of carcinoma of the urinary organs could not be demonstrated, the total of all malignancies was greater than predicted and carcinoma of the bronchus accounted for much of the excess. Only death by suicide occurred to excess among causes of death other than malignancy. The smoking habits of subjects are not known but if tobacco habit contributed to bronchial carcinoma it had no observable effect on the incidence of chronic bronchitis and ischaemic heart disease in early middle age. It is concluded that a prospective study would be required if occupation is to be implicated as a hazard.

Daniel Defoe: King William's Pamphleteer and Intelligence Agent

THE HUNTINGTON LIBRARY has an almost unique copy of a tract with a title page which reads: REFLECTIONS / Upon the LATE / Horrid Conspiracy / Contrived by Some of the / FRENCH COURT, / TO / Murther His MAJESTY / IN / FLANDERS: / And for which Monsieur GRAND/ VALL, one of the Assassinates, was / Executed. / LONDON: / Printed for Richard Baldwin, near the Oxford-Arms / in Warwick-Lane. 1692.'l The British Museum has another copy, and its General Catalogue of Printed Books questions this as possibly Defoe's. I have not met with the tract elsewhere, and it is not listed even in such an uncritically inclusive compendium as Morgan's Bibliography of British History. But it has special significance as the first known publication in which Defoe must certainly have been engaged as an accepted spokesman or agent for the national government. Readers of the present day often think of Defoe as the author of a group of fictional narratives published between April 25, 1719, and November 7, 1724 (a little over five and a half years). To many people he was the author of only one book-the Robinson Crusoe which has had so profound an influence on modem literature and which even recently has sold one hundred thousand copies in a Japanese translation. But for Defoe himself it is not unlikely that a more important achievement was in his work as a publicist and often as an intelligence agent for thirty-eight years, under many of the changing ministries of England and later of Great Britain. After his death the highest tribute paid to him in any London newspaper made no specific reference to his novels:

BOOK REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article: A History of Interest Rates—2,000 B.C. To The Present. By Sidney Homer Union List of Commonwealth Newspapers in London, Oxford and Cambridge. Compiled by A. R. Hewitt. Medieval Technology and Social Change by Lynn White, Jr. Marker Theory and the Price System. By I. M. Kirzner. Die Britse Owerheid en die Groot Trek by C. F. J. Muller. Labour in the Tropical Territories of Commonwealth by B. C. Roberts. Energy: Its Production, Conversion and Use in the Service of Man, by Philip Sporn. Economic Planning in Peasant Agriculture, by Eric Clayton Bank Lending. By J. H. Clemens. 32, 313–314 The Use of Agricultural Surplus Commodities for Economic Development in Pakistan. By. C. Beringer and I. Ahmad. East‐Indian Economic Probems, by H. R. C. Wright.

II. The ‘London Evening Post’, 1727–1744: A Study in the Development of the Political Press

One of the most significant of the anti-ministerial newspapers of the early eighteenth century was the London Evening Post. Its importance has been overshadowed by such great newspapers as the Craftsman, which has come to be regarded as the main propaganda weapon of the Opposition to Walpole. But it seems probable that the London Evening Post reached a wider public, and that its influence was more sustained and more immediately effective. The Craftsman was published only once a week, and devoted the greater part of its space to its political essay. These essays were undoubtedly immensely influential, and in times of unusual excitement the paper' circulation could reach quite remarkable figures. But the regular circulation of such a paper was bound to be limited. Outside the capital, London newspapers were not cheap: and few readers would be so politically minded as to be prepared to subscribe regularly to a purely political paper. Most country readers wanted news as well as views: and perhaps no eighteenth-century paper set out to satisfy both demands more effectively than did the London Evening Post. Its reputation was increasingly to be based upon its political content: but its various printers never lost sight of the fundamental fact that their product was first and foremost a newspaper, and even in the most hectic political campaigns the news always received priority. On the political side, instead of relying, as did most political papers of this period, upon lengthy and often tedious essays, the Post preferred to make its point by brief but exceedingly pungent comment upon the news and by the savagely humorous verses for which it was to become notorious. In this way, it made politics both interesting and amusing. The result was that the Post very rapidly became established as one of the main sources of London and foreign news throughout the countryside. By the 1740', there were few country papers indeed which did not draw heavily upon the Post: and these papers reproduced not only the Post's news items but also its politics. In fact, its political influence became so pronounced that on two occasions, in 1733 and 1754, the Whig ministry paid it the supreme compliment of endeavouring to prevent its transmission through the Post Office.

Book Notes

UNION LIST OF COMMONWEALTH NEWSPAPERS IN LONDON, OXFORD AND CAMBRIDGE. Compiled by A. R. HewittGOVERNMENT AND PARLIAMENT. A Survey From The Inside. By Herbert MorrisonTHE COMMUNIST UPRISINGS OF 1926‐1927 IN INDONESIA: KEY DOCUMENTS. Edited with an introduction by Harry J. Benda and Ruth T. McVeyTHE JOURNAL OF RELIGIOUS HISTORYAUSTRALIAN SENATE PRACTICE. By J. R. OdgersTHE AUSTRALIAN TRADING BANKS. By H. W. ArndtNATIONAL PORTRAITS. By Vance Palmer

A Selected Bibliography from Foreign Journals

Several editorials and special articles were written during this period on the London newspaper strike and the rights and obligations of management and labor in the newspaper business. Some interest was also shown in the effects of the strike on the London public and in the attitudes of those mass media not hit by the strike. In Copenhagen the International Press Institute held its fourth general assembly. Among the topics discussed were the effect of television news on the press; government pressures on the press; governmental public relations; editing foreign news for the general reader; and the implications of the London newspaper strike. Gazette, a quarterly journal devoted to the science of the press, appeared in Amsterdam. Its second issue was edited by Kurt Baschwitz, Amsterdam, and Siegfried Frey, Zürich.

AN EARLY PRINTED REPORT ON THE APPARITION OF MRS. VEAL

' N the history of Defoe studies', writes Professor James Sutherland, 'two Ithings have constantly been happening: what has long seemed to be unquestionable fact has been shown to be pure invention, and stories which have appeared to be undoubtedly fictions of Defoe's have turned out to be perfectly true.'' A recent discovery reveals that not only was Mrs. Bargrave's story widely circulated in London and Canterbury during the autumn of 1705, but it had also appeared in a London newspaper six months before the publication of Defoe's famous pamphlet. The traditional account of the origin of A True Relation of the Apparition of one Mrs. Veal is that Defoe composed it to promote the sale of Drelincourt's The Christian's Defense against the Fears of Death. Who but Defoe, wrote Sir Walter Scott, 'would have thought of summoning up a ghost from the grave to bear witness in favour of a halting body of divinity ?'z In 1895, however, George Aitken upset tradition and theory by presenting documentary evidence to show that the persons named in Defoe's A True Relation actually existed, and by finding an issue of that pamphlet with manuscript notes recording an interview with Mrs. Bargrave on 2I May 1714.3 His conclusion was that 'Defoe invented nothing, or next to nothing, but simply told, very skilfully, a ghost story which was attracting notice at the time'.4 This verdict was confirmed by Sir Charles Firth in this journal in I93I.s He printed Lucy Lukyn's letter about Mrs. Bargrave's story, dated 9 October 1705, and concluded of Defoe and his pamphlet, 'Probably he had more than one version of it at his disposal'. Lately another version of Mrs. Bargrave's seance has received attention. It was found by Rodney M. Baine and printed in June 1954.6 This account, though not published until 1766, was written by a Rev. Mr. Payne and (according to the publisher) is based on an interview with Mrs. Bargrave in 1722. Payne agrees in certain details with the then unpublished letter of Lucy Lukyn, and, though drawing upon Defoe, he undoubtedly had access to fresh and reliable sources of information.

A Selected Bibliography from European Journals

During the last quarter of the year the new London daily, the Recorder, appeared in the streets. In content and form it does not differ much from other London newspapers. According to latest reports the Recorder is still losing money. The British government issued a “White Paper” on commercial TV. It was favorably received by the House of Commons. In Germany, government plans for a ministry of information caused great alarm in the press and among political parties. Memories of Nazi information ministries were still fresh. The plan was abandoned.

Articles in Quaker Periodicals

ARTICLES IN QUAKER PERIODICALS By Lyman W. Riley Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College The Canadian Friend Four short articles on the Dukhobors, three by Emmett Gulley and one by J. Passmore Elkinton, report on die present conditions of this Canadian group, with some review of their more recent history.—May, 1951, pp. 10-12; June, 1951, pp. 6-7; Aug., 1951, pp. 12-13; Sept., 1951, pp. 9-11. Friends Intelligencer "Early Friends and the Christ Within," a digest of an M.A. thesis in philosophy by Burns Brodhead, brings forth evidence from George Fox's writings to show diat early Quakerism was definitely and consciously Christocentric. —Feb. 17, 1951, pp. 91-93. Letter from die Past No. 115 is devoted in the main to reprinting from Peace News (London, Nov. 3, 1950) a letter from die merchants of London to the Society of Friends urging support for die British war effort of 1798.—Mar. 3, 1951, pp. 120-121. In "Questions and Answers about Quakers Past and Present," Frederick B. Tolles gives a brief history of Conservative Friends in America.—Mar. 31, 1951, pp. 182-183. Samuel Colman, Jr., in "Quakers and die Development of Penology in Pennsylvania," outlines the Quaker influences not only in prison reform but in the formation of the penal system itself.—Apr. 7, 1951, pp. 191-192. The fragmentary records of early German Quakerism are utilized in an interesting way by Anna Corder in "Early Quakerism in Friedrichstadt ."—May 12, 1951, pp. 270-272. Early Quakers, including George Fox, were not above welcoming as retributive justice the misfortunes that befell dieir persecutors. They discarded this emphasis by about 1700, however, according to Letter from the Past No. 116.—May 12, 1951, p. 272. "Edward Hicks, Quaker Minister and Artist," is the subject of a sketch by Leonardo L. Beans; included as illustration is a modern version of "The Peaceable Kingdom" by Fritz Eichenberg.—June 2, 1951, pp. 314-316. Robert A. Gerson submits a short unpublished poem by John Greenleaf Whittier. Later, C. Marshall Taylor, in a letter to die editor, points out that some of diese lines had been adapted by Whittier from a much earlier published poem.—June 30, 1951, p. 375; July 21, 1951, pp, 421-422. 122 Articles in Quaker Periodicals123 Lucy Griscom Morgan relates some "Psychic Episodes" in die lives of several nineteendi-century Quakers.—Aug. 11, 1951, pp. 453-454. "First Endure—Then Embrace" is die way "Now and Then" describes Friends' reaction to die term "Quaker," — Aug. 18, 1951, p. 468. The fifth and sixtii grades of Frankford Friends School, Philadelphia , contribute a very creditable account of die life of James Parnell.— Aug. 25, 1951, pp. 479-480. The Friends' Quarterly Elizabedi Fox Howard, in an article originally written for a radio broadcast, tells delightfully human anecdotes about her Quaker ancestors , "A Quaker Treasure Box."—Apr., 1951, pp. 87-94. (An excerpt also appears in Friends Intelligencer, June 2, 1951, pp. 312-313.) "Pastors in the Five Years Meeting" by William Orville Mendenhall , not only explains die pastoral system but outlines the history of its development.—July, 1951, pp. 159-169. Maurice Whitlow writes eloquendy of the striking similarities between die First Publishers of Truth and the founders of die Salvation Army, "Not Exacdy a Birthright Membership."—July, 1951, pp. 182192 . The Journal of the Friends' Historical Society W. A. Campbell Stewart writes an article on "Punishment in Friends' Schools, 1779-1900" diat gives a good picture of school life during the nineteenth century, when only gradually did Friends give up the idea that severity could maintain discipline.—42 (1950), 51-66. Henry J. Cadbury prints, with comments, three documents pertaining to William Dewsbury's arrest as a conspirator in die Popish Plot invented by Titus Oates. They were found printed in a London newspaper of 1682. — 42 (1950), 67-69. "Defoe, Bugg and the Quakers" by Henry J. Cadbury attributes to Defoe's dislike of Francis Bugg, an ex-Friend who wrote against Quakerism , his defense of die sect against die charge of wild belief in miracles. -^12 (1950), 70-72. C. Marshall Taylor contributes a letter of John Greenleaf Whittier , written in 1892, that...

Statistical Accounts of the London Newspapers, 1800–36

Journal Article Statistical Accounts of the London Newspapers, 1800–36 Get access A. ASPINALL A. ASPINALL Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The English Historical Review, Volume LXV, Issue CCLV, April 1950, Pages 222–234, https://doi.org/10.1093/ehr/LXV.CCLV.222 Published: 01 April 1950

Statistical Accounts of the London Newspapers, 1800–36

Journal Article Statistical Accounts of the London Newspapers, 1800–36 Get access A. ASPINALL A. ASPINALL Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The English Historical Review, Volume LXV, Issue CCLVI, July 1950, Pages 372–383, https://doi.org/10.1093/ehr/LXV.CCLVI.372 Published: 01 July 1950

Statistical Accounts of the London Newspapers in the Eighteenth Century

Statistical Accounts of the London Newspapers in the Eighteenth Century

THE CIRCULATION OF NEWSPAPERS IN THE EARLY NINETEENTH CENTURY

More than eleven and a half million newspapers were sold every day in Great Britain in 1938: approximately one paper for every four inhabitants. When Pitt became Prime Minister in 1783, very few more were sold during the whole of that year, so that there was then, on an average, only one newspaper daily for every 300 inhabitants. The reasons for this ridiculously small circulation are well known: mechanical difficulties hindering production, the backwardness of communications, the illiteracy of the population, Post Office restrictions, the hostile attitude of the governing class, and above all, heavy taxation.' Less well known, however, are the expedients to which the middle class and the working classes resorted in an effort to overcome the obstacle of high prices resulting from the abovementioned handicaps. At no time were newspapers beyond the reach of town workers. As long ago as the 1730's, Montesquieu, whilst in England, had been struck, not only with the number and licentiousness of the London newspapers (the dailies and weeklies together being about twenty) but also with the ease with which their information reached working men. The very slaters had the newspapers brought on to the roofs of the houses on which they were working, that they might read them.2 Nor were newspapers beyond the reach of agricultural labourers, though there were doubtless many villages during the last decades of the eighteenth century which saw a newspaper only at irregular intervals. I It may be useful to summarize the changes in taxation, since the figures are often incorrectly given: Newspaper Stamp Duty Advertisement Duty Pamphlet Duty 1712 Id. (half a sheet) Is. each 2S. per sheet Id. per whole sheet 1757 id. per sheet or half a sheet 2S. 1776 id. 178o 2s. 6d. 1789 2d. 3s. 1797 31d. I815 4d. 3s. 6d. 3s. These figures apply to Great Britain; the Irish were somewhat different. The pamphlet duty was merely a registration duty, payable on only one copy in each edition. The number of newspaper stamps sold in Great Britain in 18ol was 16,o85,ooo; in 1821, 24,862,000; in 1831, 33,450,000; in 1841, 54,769,000. 2 Montesquieu, Notes sur Angleterre. 29

An Early Suitor of Mary Wollstonecraft

Amongst the numerous fair ones to whom the singular Rector of Stukeley paid his addresses, was the once famous Mary Wolstonecraft [sic], distinguished during the period of the French Revolution for her democratical writings, and afterwards united to Mr. Godwin, author of St. Leon, &amp;c. Several letters from this intellectual Amazon exist among the papers of the Rev. Gentleman.These words interrupted a search of the newspaper files for an item about Mary Shelley. Although that search proved futile, the bit of unexpected news about her famous mother was adequate reward for the effort. For the Reverend Joshua Waterhouse, the singular Rector of Stukeley—or more accurately Little Stukeley—was an entirely new character in the drama of Mary Wollstonecraft's life, unmentioned by and apparently unknown to any of her biographers. His identity and his history were soon made clear by other issues of the London newspapers, by the Huntingdon Gazette, and by two little books occasioned by his sudden and sordid death. And knowledge of his existence and of his character throws light on certain passages in Mary Wollstonecraft's writings.

Science and Liberal Education

SEVERAL years ago a discussion was carried on in one of the London newspapers on that interminable but always interesting question as to what is the best definition of a gentleman. Various answers were suggested by different contributors. Some were in the form of citations from our noblest literature-one, as I recall, was given in the words of St. Paul, another was taken from Shakespeare, a third from Emerson. The one generally acknowledged to be the most effective was, however, phrased in the picturesque vernacular of modern sport. A gentleman, so this answer ran, is a man who plays the game. As this lingers in the memory it brings a growing sense of broader implications. The definition, evidently, only gives a new turn to the old thought that human life is like a great game that man plays with the world. We recall the striking words in which an illustrious master of modern science once brought this thought to bear upon the problem of education:

Social Science and "What Labor Wants"

In Great Britain some time ago a series of very grave and industrially disastrous strikes led not only to very radical-revolutionary, many Tories called it-legislation in the interest of organized labor, but to a national searching of hearts, and to inquiries into the nature and probable effects of the upheaval that was manifestly taking place. One popular London newspaper opened its columns to a discussion of What the Worker Wants from every point of view. Employers, land owners, economists, labor leaders, eminent lawyers, and trained social workers contributed to the symposium, which was subsequently published in pamphlet form. We shall see presently that the suggestions made, or the conclusions reached, in that exceptionally interesting discussion are of great value and significance. In the United States, in addition to the familiar kinds of strikes and lockouts, which cause much loss, suffering, and bad blood, we have witnessed new types of strikes-strikes in which systematic destruction of property, with grave risk to life, was a conspicuous feature. The McNamara trial and confessions, the recent Indianapolis conspiracy trial, the Syndicalist way of conducting strikes, the bold propaganda of class war and sabotage have put new vitality and poignancy into the discussion of the labor question. A number of eminent and earnest educators, sociologists, and philanthropists urged upon the President and Congress the creation of a representative industrial commission for the purpose of investigating the causes of such startling phenomena as the dynamite outrages by and for labor, the insistence upon the closed shop, the use of syndicalism, etc. The commission was created and President Taft appointed its nine members. The disappointment which was widely and justly expressed with the personnel of the commission, and the delay caused thereby, need not concern us here; the

Swedenonborg: Advertisement in London newspapers for December, 1783

Swedenonborg: Advertisement in London newspapers for December, 1783