Page:A history of booksellers, the old and the new.djvu/83

THE BOOKSELLERS OF OLDEN TIMES. 59 to half the booksellers in London, of establishing the Gentleman's Magazine, and to Cave must be conceded the honour of inventing that popular species of peri- odical literature. The first number was printed in 1731, and its success induced several rivals to enter the field, but only one The London Magazine and that a joint concern of the leading publishers, was at all able to hold any opposition to it ; and the London Magazine ceased to exist in 1785, while the Gentle- man's Magazine has only quite recently displayed a sudden rejuvenation. In its early days Johnson was the chief contributor to its pages. He had a room set apart for him at St. John's Gate, where he wrote as fast as he could drive his pen, throwing the sheets off, when completed, to the " copy" boy. The Life of Savage was written anonymously, in 1744, and Mr. Harte spoke in high terms of the book, while dining with Cave. The publisher told him afterwards : " Harte, you made a man very happy the other day at my house by your praise of Savages Life" " How so ? none were present but you and I." Cave replied, "You might observe I sent a plate of victuals behind the screen ; there lurked one whose dress was too shabby for him to appear ; your praise pleased him much." In 1736, Cave began to carry out his scheme of publishing the reports of the debates in Parliament in the monthly pages of his magazine. With a friend or two he used to lurk about the lobby and gallery, taking sly notes in dark corners, remembering what they could of the drift of the argument, and then retiring to a neighbouring tavern to compare and adjust their notes. This rough material was placed in the hands of an experienced writer, and thus 42