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Table of Contents
  • Audiet Pugnas vitio Parentum / Rara Juventus. Hor: Young men—the few who are left after the crimes of their fathers—will hear of battles. [School and College Latin Exercises]
  • Bonae leges ex malis moribus proveniunt: Good laws spring from bad habits [School and College Latin Exercises]
  • Malos tueri haud tutum: Save a thief from the gallows and he’ll cut your throat [School and College Latin Exercises]
  • Quis enim virtutem amplectitur ipsam Praemia si tollas?: For who embraces virtue herself, if you take away the reward? [School and College Latin Exercises]
  • Adjecere bonae paulo plus artis Athenae: Kind Athens Added a Little More Skill [School and College Latin Exercises]
  • Mea nec Falernae Temperant Vites, neque Formiani Pocula Colles: Neither Falernian vines nor Formian hills mellow my cups [School and College Latin Exercises]
  • Scheme for the Classes of a Grammar School
  • Advertisement for the School at Edial
  • Observations on Common Sense
  • Preface to the 1738 Volume of the Gentleman’s Magazine
  • Letter to the Gentleman's Magazine on Political Journalism
  • Appeal to the Publick
  • To the Reader. [Gentleman’s Magazine]
  • Considerations on the case of Dr T.—s Sermons abridg’d by Mr Cave
  • The Jests of Hierocles
  • Preface to the 1741 Volume of the Gentleman's Magazine
  • Review of An Account of the Conduct of the Dowager Duchess of Marlborough
  • Proposals for Printing, by Subscription, the Two First Volumes of Bibliotheca Harleiana
  • An Account of the Harleian Library
  • Notice in Volume Two of Catalogus Bibliothecae Harleianae
  • Proposals for Printing, by Subscription, the Harleian Miscellany with An Account of this Undertaking
  • Introduction to the Harleian Miscellany: An Essay on the Origin and Importance of Small Tracts and Fugitive Pieces
  • Preface to the 1742 Volume of the Gentleman’s Magazine
  • Dedication for Robert James's Medicinal Dictionary
  • Preface to the 1743 Volume of the Gentleman’s Magazine
  • PROPOSALS For Printing every Fortnight, (Price Sixpence) THE PUBLISHER: CONTAINING MISCELLANIES In PROSE and VERSE. Collected by J. CROKATT, Bookseller.
  • Proposals for Printing Anchitell Grey's Debates
  • Some Remarks on the Progress of Learning Since the Reformation
  • Proposals for Printing by Subscription Hugonis Grotii Adamus Exul
  • Postscript to Lauder’s Essay on Milton’s Use and Imitation of the Moderns
  • A Letter to the Reverend Mr. Douglas
  • Preface to The Preceptor
  • The signification of WORDS how varied
  • Letter Concerning the Benefit Performance of Comus for Milton's Granddaughter
  • Proposals for printing by subscription, Essays in Verse and Prose.
  • Notice of The life of Harriot Stuart
  • Dedication to The Female Quixote
  • Dedication to Memoirs of Maximilian de Bethune, Duke of Sully
  • Dedication to Philander
  • Dedication to The Greek Theatre of Father Brumoy
  • Dedication to Henrietta, 2nd Ed.
  • Proposals for Printing by Subscription The Original Works of Mrs. Charlotte Lennox
  • Letter to the Daily Advertiser concerning James Crokatt
  • Preface to A General Index of the First Twenty Volumes of the Gentleman's Magazine
  • Preface to the 1753 Volume of the Gentleman’s Magazine
  • An Account of an Attempt to Ascertain the Longitude by Sea, by an Exact Theory of the Variation of the Magnetical Needle
  • Dedication and Preface to An Introduction to the Game of Draughts (1756)
  • Dedication to An Introduction to Geometry (1767)
  • Preface to Richard Rolt, A New Dictionary of Trade and Commerce
  • Reflections on the Present State of Literature
  • TO THE PUBLIC
  • Review of John Armstrong, The History of the Island of Minorca (1756)
  • Review of Stephen White, Collateral Bee-Boxes (1756)
  • Review of Thomas Birch, The History of the Royal Society, vols. 1–2 (1756)
  • Review of Arthur Murphy, The Gray’s-Inn Journal, 2 vols. (1756)
  • Review of Joseph Warton, An Essay on the Writings and Genius of Pope (1756)
  • Review of James Hampton, The General History of Polybius (1756)
  • Review of Thomas Blackwell, Memoirs of the Court of Augustus (1753–56)
  • Review of Alexander Russell, The Natural History of Aleppo (1756)
  • Review of Four Letters from Newton to Bentley (1756)
  • Review of William Borlase, Observations on the Islands of Scilly (1756)
  • Review of Archibald Bower, Affidavit (1756); John Douglas, Six Letters and Review of Mr. Bower’s Answer (1757); and John Douglas, Bower and Tillemont Compared (1757)
  • Review of Francis Home, Experiments on Bleaching (1756)
  • Review of Stephen Hales, An Account of a Useful Discovery (1756)
  • Review of Charles Lucas, An Essay on Waters (1756)
  • Review of Robert Keith, A Large New Catalogue of the Bishops (1756)
  • Review of Patrick Browne, The Civil and Natural History of Jamaica (1756)
  • Review of Charles Parkin, An Impartial Account of the Invasion under William Duke of Normandy (1756)
  • Review of A Scheme for Preventing a Further Increase of the National Debt (1756)
  • Review of Conferences and Treaties (1756)
  • Review of Philosophical Transactions (1756)
  • Review of Richard Lovett, The Subtil Medium Prov’d (1756)
  • Review of Benjamin Hoadley and Benjamin Wilson, Observations on a Series of Electrical Experiments (1756)
  • Review of Johann Georg Keyssler, Travels (1756)
  • Review of Elizabeth Harrison, Miscellanies (1756)
  • Review of Jonas Hanway, A Journal of Eight Days Journey (1757)
  • Review of Jonas Hanway, A Journal of Eight Days Journey, Second Edition (1757)
  • Reply to a Letter from Jonas Hanway in the Gazetteer (1757)
  • Review of Samuel Bever, The Cadet (1756)
  • Review of the Test and Con-Test (1756)
  • Review of William Whitehead, Elegies (1757)
  • Review of A Letter to a Gentleman in the Country on the Death of Admiral Byng (1757)
  • Preliminary Discourse in the London Chronicle
  • Advertisement for Francis Barber in the Daily Advertiser
  • "Dedication to John Lindsay, Evangelical History of Our Lord Jesus Christ Harmonized
  • Introduction to the Universal Chronicle (1758)
  • Of the Duty of a Journalist (1758)
  • Advertisement Against Unauthorized Reprints of the Idler (1759)
  • Advertisement for the Public Ledger in the Universal Chronicle (1760)
  • To The Public in the Public Ledger (1760)
  • The Weekly Correspondent Number I [Public Ledger]
  • The Weekly Correspondent Number II [Public Ledger]
  • The Weekly Correspondent Number III [Public Ledger]
  • Preface to J. Elmer, Tables of Weights and Prices
  • From The Italian Library Containing an Account of the Lives and Works of the most valuable authors of Italy (1757)
  • Proposals for Printing by Subscription, Le Poesie di Giuseppe Baretti (1758)
  • Dedication to A Dictionary of the English and Italian Languages (1760)
  • Preface to Easy Phraseology, for the Use of Young Ladies Who Intend to Learn the Colloquial Part of the Italian Language (1775)
  • Advertisement [For The World Displayed]
  • Introduction (1759) [From The World Displayed]
  • Advertisement for Pilgrim's Progress
  • Letter I. [Daily Gazetteer]
  • Letter II. [Daily Gazetteer]
  • Letter III. [Daily Gazetteer]
  • Letter to the Society of Arts (26 February 1760)
  • Letter to the Society of Arts (8 December 1760)
  • Address of the Painter’s, Sculptors, &Architects to George III (1761)
  • Preface to A Catalogue of the Pictures, Sculptures, Models, Drawings, Prints, &c Exhibited by the Society of Artists of Great-Britain at the Great Room in Spring Gardens Charing Cross May the 17th Anno 1762 Being the Third year of their Exhibition (1762)
  • Review of William Tytler, Historical and Critical Enquiry into the Evidence Produced … Against Mary Queen of Scots
  • Contributions to John Kennedy, A Complete System of Astronomical Chronology, Unfolding the Scriptures
  • Proposals and Advertisement [for Anna Williams, Miscellanies in Prose and Verse] (1762)
  • Advertisement [for Anna Williams, Miscellanies in Prose and Verse] (1766)
  • Dedication to Jerusalem Delivered (1763)
  • Dedication to The Works of Metastasio (1767)
  • Dedication to Cyrus: A Tragedy (1768)
  • Review of Oliver Goldsmith, The Traveller
  • Dedication for Thomas Percy, Reliques of Ancient English Poetry
  • 23 Sept. 1765 [Political Writing for Henry Thrale]
  • 1–4 Oct. 1765. [Political Writing for Henry Thrale]
  • 20 Nov. 1765. [Political Writing for Henry Thrale]
  • 19 Dec. 1765. [Political Writing for Henry Thrale]
  • 24 December 1765 [Political Writing for Henry Thrale]
  • 3 March 1768 [Political Writing for Henry Thrale]
  • 8 March 1768 [Political Writing for Henry Thrale]
  • 14 March 1768 [Political Writing for Henry Thrale]
  • 23 March 1768 [Political Writing for Henry Thrale]
  • 23 March 1768 [Political Writing for Henry Thrale]
  • 13 March 1769 [Political Writing for Henry Thrale]
  • 1 October 1774 [Political Writing for Henry Thrale]
  • 4 October 1774 [Political Writing for Henry Thrale]
  • 13 October 1774 [Political Writing for Henry Thrale]
  • 4 September 1780 [Political Writing for Henry Thrale]
  • 4 September 1780 [Political Writing for Henry Thrale]
  • 5 Sept. 1780 [Political Writing for Henry Thrale]
  • Dedication for George Adams, A Treatise Describing and Explaining the Construction and Use of New Celestial and Terrestrial Globes
  • Dedication to John Gwynn, London and Westminster Improved
  • Preface to Alexander MacBean, A Dictionary of Ancient Geography
  • Meditation on a Pudding
  • Hereford Infirmary Appeal
  • Dedication for A General History of Music (1776)
  • From A General History of Music, Vol. II (1782)
  • Dedication to An Account of the Musical Performance . . . in Commemoration of Handel (1785)
  • Advertisement for the Spectator
  • Dedication to Zachary Pearce, A Commentary, with Notes, on the Four Evangelists and the Acts of the Apostles
  • Letter of 16 May 1777
  • The Petition of the Lord Mayor, Aldermen, and Commons of the City of London, in Common Council Assembled, Friday 6 June 1777
  • Letter to Lord Bathurst, the Lord Chancellor, 8 June 1777
  • Letter to William Murray, First Earl of Mansfield, Lord Chief Justice, Wednesday, 11 June 1777
  • Petition of Mrs. Mary Dodd to the Queen
  • Dodd’s Letter to the King, Sunday, 22 June 1777
  • Petition of William Dodd to the King, Monday, 23 June 1777
  • Dodd’s Last Solemn Declaration, Wednesday, 25 June 1777
  • Johnson’s Observations on the Propriety of Pardoning William Dodd, Wednesday, 25 June 1777
  • Introduction and Conclusion to Occasional Papers (1777)
  • Proposal for Printing William Shaw, An Analysis of the Scotch Celtic Language
  • Dedication to Sir Joshua Reynolds, Seven Discourses
  • Preface to Thomas Maurice, Oedipus Tyrannus
  • The Case of Collier v. Flint
  • Translation of Sallust, De Bello Catilinario
  • General Rules of the Essex Head Club
  • On the Character and Duty of an Academick
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Introduction to the Harleian Miscellany: An Essay on the Origin and Importance of Small Tracts and Fugitive Pieces
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By Johnson, Samuel

Samuel Johnson: Johnson on Demand

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Introduction to the Harleian Miscellany:
An Essay on the Origin and Importance of
Small Tracts and Fugitive Pieces (1744)
[Editorial Introduction]
The Harleian Miscellany, which eventually filled eight quarto volumes, was issued weekly in small parts costing a shilling each beginning on 24 March 1744.1 To the first part, Johnson prefixed his apologia for “occasional writing” (or “journalism,” as it later came to be called). The title by which the piece is now known, “An Essay on the Origin and Importance of Small Tracts and Fugitive Pieces,” was added, probably without Johnson’s authority, when the first volume of the Harleian Miscellany was reprinted in 1753. Thomas Davies included it in Miscellaneous and Fugitive Pieces (II.1–9). It was attributed to Johnson in a notice of that work in the Gentleman’s Magazine for November 1774 (XLIV.525), and it has been reprinted regularly in collections of Johnson’s works since. The text offered herewith is that of the first edition (1744), owned by Robert DeMaria, Jr., which seems to have a few stop-press corrections. We have also made a very few emendations of errors.
Beyond the introduction, it is difficult to say how much work Johnson did on the Harleian Miscellany. Boswell says flatly that “The selection of the pamphlets . . . was made by Mr. Oldys” (Life, I.175), but the two were collaborators on the Harleian Catalogue, and the partnership might have continued longer. Prefaces and footnotes to the selections are promised in the introduction. Although there are prefaces for thirty-six of eighty-four items in Volume I and footnotes for sixty of them, these numbers decrease rapidly as serial publication proceeds, and commentary is almost nonexistent by Volume IV. There are ten prefaces in Volume III that are signed “J*,” “—J*,” or “J.—O.” Although we agree with Donald Greene that these prefaces may be by Johnson, we have consigned them to the planned volume Contributions to the Works of Others because the Miscellany seems to be mainly Oldys’s work.2


Page 98

The Introduction
Though the scheme of the following miscellany is so obvious, that the title alone is sufficient to explain it; and though several collections have been formerly attempted upon plans, as to the method, very little, but, as to the capacity and execution, very different from ours; we, being possessed of the greatest variety for such a work, hope for a more general reception than those confined schemes had the fortune to meet with; and, therefore, think it not wholly unnecessary to explain our intentions, to display the treasure of materials, out of which this miscellany is to be compiled, and to exhibit a general idea of the pieces which we intend to insert in it.
There is, perhaps, no nation, in which it is so necessary, as in our own to assemble, from time to time, the small tracts and fugitive pieces, which are occasionally published: for, besides the general subjects of enquiry, which are cultivated by us, in common with every other learned nation, our constitution in church and state naturally gives birth to a multitude of performances, which would either not have been written, or could not have been made publick in any other place.
The form of our government, which gives every man, that has leisure, or curiosity, or vanity, the right of enquiring into the propriety of publick measures; and, by consequence, obliges those, who are intrusted with the administration of national affairs, to give an account of their conduct, to almost every man, who demands it, may be reasonably imagined to have occasioned innumerable pamphlets, which would never have appeared under arbitrary governments, where every man lulls himself in indolence under calamities, of which he cannot promote the redress, or thinks it prudent to conceal the uneasiness of which he cannot complain without danger.
The multiplicity of religious sects tolerated among us, of which every one has found opponents and vindicators, is another source of unexhaustible publication, almost peculiar to ourselves; for, controversies cannot be long continued, nor frequently revived, where an inquisitor has a right to shut up the disputants in dungeons, or where silence can be imposed on either party, by the refusal of a license.


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Not that it should be inferred from hence, that political or religious controversies are the only products of the liberty of the British press; the mind once let loose to enquiry, and suffered to operate without restraint, necessarily deviates into peculiar opinions, and wanders in new tracks, where she is indeed sometimes lost in a labyrinth, from which, tho’ she cannot return, and scarce knows how to proceed; yet, sometimes, makes useful discoveries, or finds out nearer paths to knowledge.1
The boundless liberty, with which every man may write his own thoughts, and the opportunity of conveighing new sentiments to the publick, without danger of suffering either ridicule or censure, which every man may enjoy, whose vanity does not incite him too hastily to own his performances, naturally invites those, who employ themselves in speculation, to try how their notions will be received by a nation, which exempts caution from fear, and modesty from shame; and it is no wonder, that where reputation may be gained, but needs not be lost, multitudes are willing to try their fortune, and thrust their opinions into the light, sometimes with unsuccessful haste, and sometimes with happy temerity.
It is observed, that, among the natives of England, is to be found a greater variety of humour,2 than in any other country; and, doubtless, where every man has a full liberty to propagate his conceptions, variety of humour must produce variety of writers; and, where the number of authors is so great, there cannot but be some worthy of distinction.
All these and many other causes, too tedious to be enumerated, have contributed to make pamphlets and small tracts a very important part of an English library; nor are there any pieces, upon which those, who aspire to the reputation of judicious collectors of books, bestow more attention, or greater expence; because many advantages may be expected from


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the perusal of these small productions, which are scarcely to be found in that of larger works.
If we regard history, it is well known, that most political treatises have for a long time appeared in this form, and that the first relations of transactions, while they are yet the subject of conversation, divide the opinions, and employ the conjectures of mankind, are delivered by these petty writers, who have opportunities of collecting the different sentiments of disputants, of enquiring the truth from living witnesses, and of copying their representations from the life; and, therefore, they preserve a multitude of particular incidents, which are forgotten in a short time, or omitted in formal relations, and which are yet to be considered as sparks of truth, which, when united, may afford light in some of the darkest scenes of state, as, we doubt not, will be sufficiently proved in the course of this miscellany; and which it is, therefore, the interest of the publick to preserve unextinguished.
The same observation may be extended to subjects of yet more importance. In controversies that relate to the truths of religion, the first essays of reformation are generally timorous; and those, who have opinions to offer, which they expect to be opposed, produce their sentiments, by degrees; and for the most part in small tracts: by degrees, that they may not shock their readers with too many novelties at once; and in small tracts, that they may be easily dispersed, or privately printed; almost every controversy, therefore, has been, for a time, carried on in pamphlets, nor has swelled into larger volumes, till the first ardor of the disputants has subsided, and they have recollected their notions with coolness enough to digest them into order, consolidate them into systems, and fortify them with authorities.
From pamphlets, consequently, are to be learned the progress of every debate; the various states,a to which the questions have been changed; the artifices and fallacies, which have been used; and the subterfuges, by which reason has been eluded: in such writings may be seen how the mind has been


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opened by degrees, how one truth has led to another, how error has been disentangled, and hints improved to demonstration. Which pleasure, and many others are lost by him, that only reads the larger writers, by whom these scattered sentiments are collected, who will see none of the changes of fortune, which every opinion has passed through, will have no opportunity of remarking the transient advantages, which error, may sometimes obtain, by the artifices of its patron, or the successful rallies, by which truth regains the day, after a repulse; but will be to him, who traces the dispute through, into particular gradations, as he that hears of a victory, to him that sees the battle.
Since the advantages of preserving these small tracts are so numerous; our attempt to unite them in volumes cannot be thought either useless or unseasonable; for there is no other method of securing them from accidents; and they have already been so long neglected, that this design cannot be delayed, without hazarding the loss of many pieces, which deserve to be transmitted to another age.
The practice of publishing pamphlets, on the most important subjects, has now prevailed more than two centuries among us; and, therefore, it cannot be doubted, but that, as no large collections have been yet made, many curious tracts must have perished; but it is too late to lament that loss; nor ought we to reflect upon it, with any other view, than that of quickening our endeavours, for the preservation of those that yet remain, of which we have now a greater number, than was, perhaps, ever amassed by any one person.
The first appearance of pamphlets among us is generally thought to be at the new opposition raised against the errors and corruptions of the Church of Rome. Those, who were first convinced of the reasonableness of the new learning,3 as it was then called, propagated their opinions in small pieces, which were cheaply printed; and, what was then of great importance, easily concealed. These treatises were generally


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printed in foreign countries, and are not, therefore, always very correct.b There was not then that opportunity of printing in private, for, the number of printers were small, and the presses were easily overlooked by the clergy, who spared no labour or vigilance for the suppression of heresy. There is, however, reason to suspect, that some attempts were made to carry on the propagation of truth by a secret press; for one of the first treatises, in favour of the Reformation, is said, at the end, to be printed at “Greenwich, by the Permission of the Lord of Hosts.”4
In the time of King Edward the Sixth, the presses were employed in favour of the reformed religion, and small tracts were dispersed over the nation, to reconcile them to the new forms of worship. In this reign, likewise, political pamphlets may be said to have been begun, by the address of the rebels of Devonshire;5 all which means of propagating the sentiments of the people so disturbed the court, that no sooner was Queen Mary resolved to reduce her subjects to the Romish superstition; but she artfully, by a charter6 granted to certain freemen of London, in whose fidelity, no doubt, she confided, intirely prohibited all presses, but what should be licensed by them; which charter is that by which the corporation of stationers, in London, is at this time incorporated.
Under the reign of Queen Elizabeth, when liberty again


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began to flourish,7 the practice of writing pamphlets became more general; presses were multiplied, and books more dispersed; and, I believe, it may properly be said, that the trade of writing began at this time, and that it has ever since gradually increased in the number, though, perhaps, not in the stile of those that followed it.8
In this reign, was erected the first secret press against the Church as now established, of which I have found any certain account. It was employed by the Puritans, and conveighed from one part of the nation to another, by them, as they found themselves in danger of discovery. From this press issued most of the pamphlets against Whitgift, and his associates, in the ecclesiastical government; and, when it was at last seized at Manchester, it was employed upon a pamphlet, called, More Work for a Cooper.9
In the peaceable reign of King James, those minds, which might, perhaps, with less disturbance, of the world, have been engrossed by war, were employed in controversy; and writings of all kinds were multiplied among us. The press, however, was not wholly engaged in polemical performances, for more innocent subjects were sometimes treated; and it deserves to be remarked, because it is not generally known, that the treatises of husbandry and agriculture, which were published about that time, are so numerous, that it can scarcely be imagined by whom they were written, or to whom they were sold.1


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The next reign is too well known to have been a time of confusion, and disturbance, and disputes of every kind; and the writings, which were produced, bear a natural proportion to the number of the questions that were discussed at that time; each party had its authors, and its presses, and no endeavours were omitted to gain proselytes to every opinion. I know not whether this may not properly be called, The Age of Pamphlets; for, though they, perhaps, may not arise to such multitudes as Mr. Rawlinson2 imagined, they were, undoubtedly, more numerous than can be conceived by any who have not had an opportunity of examining them.3
After the Restoration, the same differences, in religious opinions, are well known to have subsisted, and the same political struggles to have been frequently renewed; and, therefore, a great number of pens were employed, on different occasions, till, at length, all other disputes were absorbed in the popish controversy.4
From the pamphlets which these different periods of time produced, it is proposed, that this miscellany shall be compiled; for which it cannot be supposed that materials will be wanting, and, therefore, the only difficulty will be in what manner to dispose them.
Those who have gone before us, in undertakings of this kind, have ranged the pamphlets, which chance threw into their hands, without any regard either to the subject on which they treated, or the time in which they were written; a practice, in no wise, to be imitated by us, who want for no


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materials; of which we shall chuse those we think best for the particular circumstances of times and things, and most instructing and entertaining to the reader.
Of the different methods which present themselves, upon the first view of the great heaps of pamphlets, which the Harleian Library exhibits, the two which merit most attention, are to distribute the treatises according to their subjects or their dates; but neither of these ways can be conveniently followed. By ranging our collection in order of time, we must necessarily publish those pieces first, which least engage the curiosity of the bulk of mankind, and our design must fall to the ground for want of encouragement, before it can be so far advanced as to obtain general regard: by confining ourselves for any long time to any single subject, we shall reduce our readers to one class, and, as we shall lose all the grace of variety, shall disgust all those who read chiefly to be diverted. There is likewise one objection of equal force, against both these methods, that we shall preclude ourselves from the advantage of any future discoveries, and we cannot hope to assemble at once all the pamphlets which have been written in any age or on any subject.
It may be added, in vindication of our intended practice, that it is the same with that of Photius, whose collections are no less miscellaneous than ours, and who declares, that he leaves it to his reader, to reduce his extracts under their proper heads.5
Most of the pieces, which shall be offered in this collection to the publick, will be introduced by short prefaces, in which will be given some account of the reasons for which they are inserted; notes will be sometimes adjoined for the explanation of obscure passages, or obsolete expressions; and care


Page 106

will be taken to mingle use and pleasure through the whole collection.6 Notwithstanding every subject may not be relished by every reader; yet the buyer may be assured that each number will repay his generous subscription.


Page 107

Editorial Notes
1 This is the date of the General Advertiser in which the first part is announced as published.
2 See Donald Greene, Notes and Queries, New Series, V (July 1958), 304–6.
1 Cf. preface to the Dictionary: “The mind . . . passes with scornful rapidity over tasks not adequate to her powers, sometimes too secure for caution, and again too anxious for vigorous effort; sometimes idle in a plain path, and sometimes distracted in labyrinths” (Yale, XVIII.103–4).
2 Humour: “General turn or temper of mind” (Dictionary, sense 3).
a states emend] state 44
3 “the new learning”: the doctrines of the Reformation.
b not, therefore, always very emend] not, therefore, not always 44
4 Perhaps a memory or variant of the colophon of Martin Luther, A Faithful Admonition of a Certeyne True Pastor and Prophet (trans., 1554): “Imprinted at Grenewych [i.e., London] by Conrad Freeman [i.e., J. Day?], in the moneth of May M.D.liiii. With the most gracious licence & privilege of god almightie, king of heaven’s earth.”
5 A Message Sent by his Kinges Maiestie, to certain of his people, assembled in Devonshire (1549) is an attempt to quell the so-called prayer-book rebellion arising after the institution of the Protestant prayer book in predominantly Catholic Devon and Cornwall.
6 [SJ’s note] Which begins thus, Know ye, that we considering, and manifestly perceiving, that several editions and heretical books or tracts—against the faith and sound Catholic doctrine of holy mother, the Church, &c. [Preamble of the Royal Charter of the Stationer’s Company (1557); see Edward Arber, A Transcript of the Registers of the Company of Stationers of London, 1554–1640, 5 vols. (1875–94), I.xxviii.]
7 In his Life of Sir Francis Drake, Johnson refers to the time of Elizabeth as “that illustrious reign” (Yale, XIX.166), and in his Plan of a Dictionary, he dates “the golden age of our language” from the “accession of Elizabeth” (Yale, XVIII.53).
8 In Adventurer 115, SJ writes, “the present age . . . may be stiled with great propriety The Age of Authors” (Yale, II.457).
9 Martin Marprelate was the pseudonymous author of seven tracts attacking John Whitgift (1530/31–1604), Archbishop of Canterbury, who was empowered by the Star Chamber to license and control printing. In Hay any worke for Cooper (1589), using a title that plays on a cooper or barrel-maker’s street call, his immediate target was Whitgift’s defender, Thomas Cooper (c. 1517–94), Bishop of Winchester and a lexicographer. A sequel, More Work for Cooper, was in press when the printers, press, and paper were seized by agents of the Earl of Derby in Manchester, 14 August 1589 (see Joseph L. Black, The Martin Marprelate Tracts [2008], lv).
1 ESTC lists twenty-eight works by a total of five authors on the subject of agriculture, which includes husbandry, published between 1603 and 1625.
2 Thomas Rawlinson, book collector (1681–1725), satirized as Tom Folio in Tatler 158; his equally assiduous and more provident brother Richard (1690–1755) was still collecting as Johnson wrote this piece.
3 The number of titles published in Britain and elsewhere in English jumped from 3,267 in the years 1636–40 to 12,395 in the years 1641–45 (see Joad Raymond, “Cheap Print and Popular Reading During the Civil Wars, 1637–1660,” A Companion to British Literature [2014], II.309–25: 312).
4 Concerning the alleged “popish plot” to murder the king and put his Roman Catholic brother on the throne, Dryden’s Absalom and Achitophel (1681) was the most popular pamphlet, as SJ reports in his Life of Dryden (Yale, XXI.405).
5 Photius, Patriarch of Constantinople (c. 810–c. 893), compiled the Bibliotheca, a collection of 279 summaries and extracts of works, many of which have not survived in their entirety. In his prefatory letter, Photius says he arranged the works as memory presented them, though it would not be difficult for one to divide them between those on historical subjects and those on other topics (ed. René Henry, 8 vols. [1959], I.1–2).
6 The frequency of prefaces and notes waned as the work wore on (see headnote above, p. 97).
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Document Details
Document TitleIntroduction to the Harleian Miscellany: An Essay on the Origin and Importance of Small Tracts and Fugitive Pieces
AuthorJohnson, Samuel
Creation Date1744
Publ. DateN/A
Alt. TitleN/A
Contrib. AuthorN/A
ClassificationSubject: Pamphlet; Subject: Catalogue; Subject: Library; Genre: Introduction
PrinterN/A
PublisherThomas Osborne
Publ. PlaceLondon
VolumeSamuel Johnson: Johnson on Demand
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Introduction to the Ha...
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