EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.
721
brated letters fint appeared January 21, 1769, Eind the famous letter (35) to the Ling, December 19, in the same year.
1769. A Prayer Book, in the Manks dialect, Isle of Man, bears this imprint.
1769. The Holy Bible, with notes by Philips, two Tols. 4to.' London. It is entitled the Roi/al Imperial Bible, and is the largest letter of any 4to. printed at this time.
1769, Nov. 10. Mr. Wilkes obtained a ver- dict and £4,000 damages against the earl of Halifax, for the seizure of bis papers and im- prisonment of his person. The king signified that all expenses incurred in consequence of actions or prosecutions relative to the North Briton, No. 45, should be defrayed by the crown.
1769. Dr. Robertson, the historian of Scot- land, obtained from the booksellers, the sum of £4,600 for his History of the Reign of Charkt V. 3 vols. 4to., then supposed to be tiie largest sum ever paid for the copyright of a single book. For his History of Scotland, published in 1769, he had received £600.
1769. The American Magazine, to which was subjoined the transactions of the American philosophical society. Nichola, a Frenchman, Its editor, being an academician. It continued only one year.
1769, Jan. Town and Country Magazine.
1769. Nov. The Parliament Spy, 'So. I.
1769. Dec. 9. The Tuner, No. 1.
1769. Nottingham Journal. Mr. Samuel Cresswell purchased the Courant from Mr. Ays- cough, and changred the name into the above paper.
1770, /an. 8. A fire broke out on the premises of Messrs. Johnson and Payne, booksellers. Paternoster-row, which were entirely consumed, together with the house of Mr. Cocks, printer, and damaged the house of Mr. Crowder, book- seller, adjoining. One thousand pound's worth of bibles and prayer books, belonging to the proprietors of the Oxford press, was destroyed.
1770. Feb. 17. In the London Gazette of this day, (printed by E. Owen and T. Harrison, in Warwick-lane,) is the following notice: — The public are desired to take notice, that his majes- ty's printing-oflice is removed from Blackfriars to New-street, near Gough-square, in Fleet-street, where all acts of parliament, &cc., are printed and sold by Charles Eyre and William Strahan, his majesty's printers.
1770. At this time there were only four circu- lating libraries in London and its neighbourhood.
1770,Fei. 17. TAe ITAifpenrr, No. 1, a violent party paper, written in opposition to the govern- ment, under lord North's administration. The author and printer were often pursued by bills of indictment, and warrants for their apprehension. A person, for selling No. 6, was sentenced, in the court of king's bench, to six months' imprison- ment ; and at the expiration of that time to suffer six months' imprisonment more for selling No. 6, and afterwards to be bound, himself in £200, and two sureties in £60 each, for his good beha- viour for two years.
1770, June 2. John Alhon, bookseller, in Piccadilly, was tried in the court of king's bench, and sentenced to pay a fine of ten marks, and to be bound over for his good behaviour two years, himself in £400, and two sureties in £200 each, for selling a copy of the London Museum,* con- taining, amongst other things, Junius's Letter to the * * • «. The q uestion may be repeated, " Why of all the booksellers in the kingdom was Almon singled out for selling only ? All the booksellers sell magazines, and all the magazines contained Juniui's Letter."f It appears tnat his name was pnt on the title-page wiUiout his con- currence ; and that when iheifuseums were sent to Mr. Almon's shop, Mr Almon was out of town ; however, he came home in the course of the day, and having heard of the minister's orders to prosecute the printers, he instantly ordered the sale of .filler's pamphlets to be stopped, and the unsold copies to be returned. However, the ministerial runners or informers had been too quick, they had bought one or two copies; and the ministers, as it should seem, being now rejoiced that they had caught their enemy, the prosecution was immediately com- menced against him, and though, as the reader sees, his concern with the publication was very small and very remote, yet he was brought to trial before any of the ouier printers. His con- viction they reckoned certain ; and that seems to have been the principal object. Even in striking the special jury, there was an obvious partiality; for althougn the king was party, several servants of the king's household, and gentlemen in the public offices, were allowed to be of the forty- eight. Mr. Almon objected to several of these names, in the order they were mentioned, and said they were servants of his majesty, who was party in the cause ; but his objection was over- ruled ; and upon reducing the jury, he was under the necessity of leaving a clerk of the war-office for foreman, as a lesser evil than any of the twelve he was allowed to strike out.
Lord Mansfield, in addressing the jury, said: There are two grounds in this trial for your con- sideration. The first is matter of fact, whether he did publish it. The second is, whether the construction put upon the paper by the informa- tion in those words where there are dashes, and
- The London Muteum of PoHHes, Miaeetlanieat and
lAteratim. Printed by John Miller, near Patemostei- row ; and sold by John Almon. PiccadiUy.
t Mr. Almon had published a monthly work called the PolUieal Register, which partook. In some degree, of the plan of a magazine i bat principally consisted of politics. Aboat the close of the second volume be had Inserted a plan for augmenting the army in Ireland. It was the king's own plan, written by himself. He showed it only to general Harvey, who made some corrections in it, bat did not take the paper away. In a few days it was printed in the Register, as corrected. The day after the publica- tion the king sent Mr. Barnard, Jan., to Mr. Almon, to know how he obtained that paper? Mr. Almon declined, in the most respectfal terms, giving an answer to the question. But he rightly foresaw that his refusal would Inevitably draw on Um Uie resentment of the court, and therefore dlscontinaed the pablication. In a short time this apprehension was veriAed, fbr selling Junius's letter^ In which It could scarcely be said Uiat he had even a distant concern. So eager were the court to seize any tntenee for proaecnting him.
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