Name/Title
Gentleman's Magazine - May 1789Description
The First British Printing of Rush's Thermometer
Butterfield 501(2):
A Moral and Physical Thermometer: or; A Scale of the Progress of Temperance and Intemperance," first (?) published in the Columbian Magazine, III, 31 (Jan. 1789), and very widely
reprinted both here and abroad, in newspapers, periodicals, almanacs, sometimes as part of BR's tract against spirituous liquors, and perhaps in engraved form (as BR promises here, though no examples of the engraving have been found). Lettsom, to whom BR sent a copy about this time, replied on 17 Sep.178, that he had had it reprinted (see the Gentleman's Magazine, LIx, pt. i,
399 [May 1789]); and later (31 July 1793) he wrote BR on stationery which he had had made up with the "Thermometer" printed on the first page (Rush MSs, xxVIII). It is perhaps not surprising, therefore, that Lettsom has been credited with the invention of the device by a recent biographer (Abraham,Lettsom, p. 484); but BR's authorship is unquestionable and was acknowledged much earlier by Pettigrew in his Memoirs of Lettsom, I, 160.Other Names and Numbers
Other Numbers
Number Type
ReferencesOther Number
Butterfield 501(2), Butterfield 513, Fox 1789 (21)General Notes
Note Type
DescriptionNote
Certainly the most significant---and very historic--report in this issue is the account under the heading "America" of George Washington being elected the first President of the United States. The full text can be seen in the photos, however portions include: "The 4th of March, being the day appointed by the ordinance of Congress for proceedings to commence under the new Federal Constitution, the morning was ushered in by a discharge of 14 cannon...it was found that George Washington, Esq. was unanimously elected President, and John Adams, Esq. with a very few dissidents, Vice President, of the United States. These appointments had diffused the most universal transports of joy & the immediate adoption of such measures as should secure unanimity at home & respectability abroad, was expected."
When such an account in an American newspaper would command in excess of $5000, having this same report in a period, English language periodical becomes increasingly desirable because of its affordable price.
Among other items of interest are an: "Original Letter from Dr. Franklin to John Alleyne, Esq." concerning early marriages, dated 1768 & signed in type: "B. F." Also a report from Botany Bay (Australia) which reads: "Capt. Collins, lately arrived from Botany Bay...has been reported that the natives are more ferocious than was at first apprehended, & that they kill the white men whenever they can master them. The Friendship transport, after losing 11 men in her passage, has been obliged to be sunk." This is a very early report on the settlement of Australia by Europeans.
Contains 2 of the 3 full page plates called for.
Complete in 96 pages, 5 1/2 by 8 3/4 inches with wide untrimmed margins, full title/contents page featuring an engraving of St. John's Gate, great condition.
A very nice magazine from the "mother country" not long after the end of the Revolutionary War. This was the first periodical to use the word "magazine" in its title, having begun in 1731 and lasting until 1907.