‘The Gentleman’s Magazine. The 18th century Answer to Google’

Special Collections, University of Otago Library, Dunedin is fortunate to have an entire run of the Gentleman’s Magazine from 1731 to 1866. Started by Edward Cave in January 1731, and printed form many years at St. John’s Gate in London, it was a ‘repository of all things worth mentioning’. It was the first ‘magazine’ in the modern sense. It was also the most important periodical in 18^th century England, reflecting in its pages the diversity of Georgian life, politics and culture. It covered current affairs, political opinion, lead articles from other journals, miscellaneous information such as quack cures and social gossip, prices of stocks, science and technological discoveries, notices of births, deaths, and marriages, ecclesiastical preferments, travel, parliamentary debates, and poetry. Writers such as Dr Johnson, John Hawkesworth, Richard Savage, and Anna Seward were just a few of the thousands who contributed to it. At 6d per issue, it was an outstanding bargain.

It remains an inexhaustible mine of information for scholars of eighteenth century life, and because of the wealth of genealogical information and records, it has become an important resource for family historians. 

Our exhibition ‘The Gentleman’s Magazine. The 18^th century Answer to Google’ begins on 21 December 2011 and runs through to 16 March 2012, just in time for the new student intake.

Venue: de Beer Gallery, 1^st floor, Special Collections, Central University Library

Hours: 8.30 to 5.00 Monday to Friday

Admission free, and open to the general public.