Catalogue of a Circulating Library, 1760

George Colman's imaginary "Catalogue of a Circulating Library" is prefixed to his satirical attack on novel-reading: Polly Honeycombe, A Dramatick Novel of One Act. As it is Now Acted at the Theatre-Royal in Drury-Lane (London: T. Becket and T. Davies, 1760), ix-xiii; ESTC: t44027 (not online; but see here for the 3rd ed. (1762).

While Colman's "Catalogue" of 182 novels is imaginary, the books listed are not (contrary to the claims of the only two people* who have discussed the list). It includes six works by Haywood (nos. 30, 46, 73, 109, 120, 148, 173), and seventeen works that I list in my Checklist of Eighteenth-Century Erotica.

It is a shame that the "Catalogue" hasn't attracted more attention; perhaps the problem is that the text is hard to find. At one time I was planning an edition of the play and an annotated list of the books mentioned. Instead I am simply going to publish it below with a challenge to anyone to identify a novel that is not real (that is, cannot be found on ESTC, ECCO or in the Burney collection of 18C newspapers). I have even added numbers to make it easier for you.

* The two people are Austin Dobson, "Polly Honeycombe" in Eighteenth Century Vignettes (1896), 83–103 [raw OCR text here]; first published in National and English Review 25 (1895): 623–31. The second person—who really only mentions it in passing—is Paula R. Backscheider, "Fashioning Novels, Novelizing Fashions" in Eighteenth-Century Genre and Culture: Serious Reflections on Occasional Forms; Essays in Honor of J. Paul Hunter (Newark: University of Delaware Press, 2001). [See also Update note at the foot of this entry]

BTW: Colman writes, “I shall … conclude my preface with an Extract from the catalogue of one of our most popular circulating libraries; from which extract the reader may, without any great degree of shrewdness, strain the moral of this performance …" (viii). The “Extract” is in two columns, starting ix, col.a. For ease of reference I include page and collum divisions.

1. Accomplished Rake, or the Modern Fine Gentleman.
2. Adventures of Miss Polly B—ch—rd and Sam. Tyrrel, Esq.
3. Adventures of Jerry Buck.
4. Adventures of Dick Hazard.
5. Adventures of Jack Smart.
6. Adventures of Lindamira, a Lady of Quality.
7. Adventures of David Simple.
8. Adventures of a Turk.
9. Adventures of Daphnis and Chloe.
10. Adventures of Prince Cleremont and Mad. de Ravezan.
11. Adventures of Mr. Loveil.
12. Adventures of Joseph Andrews.
13. Adventures of Hamilton Murray. [ix, col.b]
14. Adventures of a Rake.
15. Adventures of a Cat.
16. Adventures of a Black Coat.
17. Adventures of Frank Hammond.
18. Adventures of Mr. George Edwards, a Creole.
19. Adventures of a Valet.
20. Adventures of Capt. Greenland.
21. Adventures of Roderick Random.
22. Adventures of Peregrine Pickle.
23. Adventurei of Ferdinand Count Fathom.
24. Agenor and Ismeaa, or the War of the Tender Passions.
25. Amelia, by Mr. Fielding.
26. Amelia, or the Distressed Wife.
27. Amours of Philander and Sylvia, or Love-Letters between a Nobleman and his Sister. [x, col.a]
28. Amorous Friars, or the Intrigues of a Convent.
29. Antigallican, or History and Adventures of Harry Cobham.
30. Anti-Pamela, or Feigned Innocence Detected.
31. Apparition, or Female Cavalier; a Story founded on Facts.
32. Auction.
33. Beauty put to its Shifts, or the Young Virgin's Rambles, being several Years’ Adventures of Miss * * * * in England and Portugal.
34. Bracelet, or the Fortunate Discovery; being the History of Miss Polly * * *.
35. Brothers.
36. Bubbled Knights, or Successful Contrivances; plainly evincing, in two Familiar Instances lately transacted in this Metropolis, the Folly and Unreasonableness of Parents Laying a Restraint upon their Children’s Inclinations in the Affairs of Love and Marriage.
37. Card.
38. Chiron, or the Mental Optician.
39. Chit-chat, or a Series of Interesting Adventures.
40. Chrysal, or the Adventures of a Guinea, with curious Anecdotes.
41. Clarissa, or the History of a Young Lady; comprehending the most Important Concerns of Private Life, and particularly shewing the Distresses that may Attend the Misconduft both of Parents and Children in Relation to Marriage. [x, col.b]
42. Cleora, or the Fair Inconstant: An Authentick History of the Life and Adventures of a Lady, lately very Eminent in High Life.
43. Clidanor and Cecilia, a Novel, designed as a Specimen of a Collection, adapted to form the Mind to a just way if thinking, and a proper Manner of behaving in Life.
44. Clio, or a Secret History of the Amours of Mrs. S—n—m.
45. Cry, a Dramatick Fable.
46. Dalinda, or the Double Marriage.
47. Devil upon Crutches in England, or Night Scenes in London.
48. Emily, or the History of a Natural Daughter.
49. Fair Adultress.
50. Fair Moralist.
51. Fair Citizen, or the Adventures of Charlotte Belimour.
52. Fanny, or the Amours of a West Country Young Lady.
53. Female Foundling; shewing the Happy Success of Constant Love, in the Life of Mademoiselle D— R—.
54. Female Rambler, or Adventures of Madam Janeton de ***.
55. Female Banishment, or the Woman Hater.
56. Female Falsehood.
57. Fortunate Villager, or Memoirs of Sir Andrew Thompfon.
58. Fortune-Teller, or the Footman Innobled.
59. Friends, a Sentimental History.
60. Gentleman and Lady of Pleasure's Amusement, in Eighty-eight Questions, with their Answers, on Love and Gallantry. To which are added, the Adventures of Sophia, with the History of Frederick and Caroline. [xi, col.a]
61. Henrietta.
62. Hillory of Charlotte Villars.
63. History of Miss Kitty N—, containing her Amours and Adventures in Scotland, Ireland, Jamaica, and England.
64. History of Barbarossa and Pollyane.
65. History of Two Persons of Quality.
66. History of Lavinia Rawlins.
67. History of two Orphans, by W. Toldervy.
68. History of Henry Dumont, Esq. and Miss Charlotte Evelyn; with some Critical Remarks on Comic Actors, by Mrs. Charke.
69. History of Benjamin St. Martin, a Fortunate Foundling.
70. History of the Life and Adventures of Mr. Anderson.
71. History of Honoria, or the Adventures of a Young Lady; interspersed with the History of Emilia, Julia, and others.
72. History of Betty Barnes.
73. History of Jemmy and Jenny Jessamy.
74. History of Dicky Gotham and Doll Clod.
75. History of Fanny Seymour.
76. History of Sophia Shakespeare.
77. History of Sir Charles Grandison.
78. History of a Young Lady of Distinction.
79. History and Adventures of Frank Hammond.
80. History of Jasper Banks.
81. History of J. Trueman, Esq. and Miss Peggy Williams. [xi, col.b]
82. History of Sir Harry Herald and Sir Edw. Haunch.
83. History of Will Ramble, a Libertine.
84. History of Miss Polly Willis.
85. History of my Own Life.
86. History of Lucy Welleri.
87. History of a Fair Greek who was taken out of a Seraglio at Constantinople.
88. History of Hai Ebor Yokdhan, an Indian Prince.
89. History of the Human Heart, or Adventures of a Young Gentleman.
90. History of Charlotte Summers.
91. History of Cornelia.
92. History of Tom Jones, a Foundling.
93. History of Tom Jones in his Married State.
94. History of two Modem Adventurers.
95. History of Sir Roger, and his Son Joe.
96. History of Miss Sally Sable.
97. History of Mira, Daughter of Marcio.
98. History of Amanda, by a Young Lady.
99. History of a Woman of Quality, or the Adventures of Lady Frail.
100. History of Pompey the Little, or Adventures of a Lap-Dog.
101. History of Wilheimina Susannah Dormer.
102. History of Porcia.
103. History of the Countess of Dellwyn.
104. History of Ophelia.
105. History of the Marchioness de Pompadour, Mistress to the French King, and first Lady of Honour to the Queen. [xii, col.a]
106. History of Tom Fool.
107. History of the Intrigues and Gallantries of Christiana, Queen of Sweden.
108. History of Jack Connor.
109. History of Miss Betsy Thoughtless.
110. Histories of some of the Penitents in the Magdalen-House.
111. Jilts, or Female Fortune Hunters.
112. Impetuous Lover, or the Guiltless Parracide; shewing to what Lengths Love may run, and the Extreme Folly of Forming Schemes for Futurity.
113. Intriguing Coxcomb.
114. Journey through every Stage of Life.
115. Juvenile Adventures of David Ranger, Esq.
116. Juvenile Adventures of Miss Kitty Fisher.
117. Lady’s Advocate, or Wit and Beauty a Match for Treachery and Inconstancy; containing a Series of Gallantries, Intrigues, and Amours, Fortunate and Sinister; Quarrels and Reconciliations between Lovers; Conjugal Plagues and Comforts, Vexations, and Endearments; with many Remarkable Incidents and Adventures, the Effects of Love and Jealousy, Fidelity and Inconstancy.
118. Ladies’ Tales.
119. Life and Adventures of Miranda.
120. Life’s Progress, or the Adventures of Natura.
121. Life and Adventures of Joe Thompson. [xii, col.b]
122. Life of Harriot Stuart.
123. Life of Patty Saunders.
124. Life and History of a Pilgrim.
125. Life and Adventures of Sobrina.
126. Life of Corporal Bates, a Broken-hearted Soldier.
127. Life Life and Adventures of Coll. Jack.
128. Life and Adventures of James Ramble, Esq.
129. Life of Charles Osborn, Esq.
130. Life of Mr. John Van.
131. Life and Opinions of Miss Sukey Shandy, of Bow-Street, Gentlewoman.
132. Love and Friendship, or the Fugitive.
133. Lydia.
134. Marriage Act.
135. Memoirs of the Countess of Berci.
136. Memoirs of Fanny Hill.
137. Memoirs of a Man of Quality.
138. Memoirs of the Life of John Medley, Esq.
139. Memoirs of a Coxcomb.
140. Memoirs of the Shakespeare’s Head Tavern.
141. Memoirs of the Celebrated Miss Fanny M—.
142. Memoirs of B— Tracey.
143. Memoirs of Fidelio and Harriot.
144. Memoirs of Sir Tho. Houghson and Mr. Joseph Williams.
145. Memoirs of an Oxford Scholar.
146. Memoirs of a Young Lady of Quality.
147. Memoirs of the Noted Buckhorse.
148. Memoirs of a Certain Island. [xiii, col.a]
149. Memoirs of a Man of Pleasure.
150. Memoirs of a Young Lady of Family.
151. Memoirs of Sir Charles Goodville.
152. Modern Characters Illustrated by Histories.
153. Modern Lovers.
154. Modern Story-teller.
155. Mother.
156. Mother-in-Law.
157. Nominal Husband.
158. New Atalantis for the Year One Thousand Seven Hundred and Fifty-eight.
159. New Atalantis for the Year One Thousand Seven Hundred and Fifty-nine.
160. New Atalantis for the Year One Thousand Seven Hundred and Sixty.
161. Pamela.
162. Polydore and Julia.
163. Prostitutes of Quality, or Adultery a la Mode; being Authentic and Genuine Memoirs of Several Persons of the Highest Quality.
164. Reformed Coquet.
165. Revolutions of Modesty. [xiii, col.b]
166. Rival Mother.
167. Rosalinda.
168. Roxana.
169. School of Woman, or Memoirs of Constantia.
170. Sedan, in which many New and Entertaining Characters are introduced.
171. Sisters.
172. Skimmer.
173. Sopha.
174. Spy on Mother Midnight, or F—’s Adventures.
175. Stage Coach.
176. Temple-Beau, or the Town-Rakes.
177. Theatre of Love, a Collection of Novels.
178. True Anti Pamela.
179. Widow of the Wood.
180. Zadig, or the Book of Fate.
181. Zara and the Zarazians.
182. Zulima, or Pure Love.

[UPDATED 21 October 2017: since 2009, Polly Honeycombe has been briefly noticed by David A. Brewer, "Print, Performance, Personhood, Polly Honeycombe," Studies in Eighteenth-Century Culture, 41, no. 1 (2012): 185–94; and by Amelia Dale, in her University of Sydney Beauchamp Literary Prize essay "Dramatic extraction and Polly Honeycombe's &c. (2012), a revised version of which appeared as "'Acting It as She Reads': Affective Impressions in Polly Honeycombe," in Passions, Sympathy and Print Culture, edited by H. Kerr, D. Lemmings and R. Phiddian (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2016), 165–82.]

Edmund Curll in The Grub Street Journal

The Grub Street Journal, or Memoirs of the Society of Grub-Street, “operated as a kind of serialized Dunciad” (Paul Baines, Pat Rogers, Edmund Curll, Bookseller (2008), 216). It repeatedly, and amusingly, attacked Edmund Curll for publishing smut: Issue no. 4 (29 January 1730) contains a fictional application from “Kirleus” for the position of Bookseller to the Society of Grub-Street, the election is discussed in no. 15 (16 April 1730) and in no. 24 (18 June 1730) it is reported that “Kirleus,” dissapointed at missing out on this post, has attached the Society in the Daily Journal on 23 May.

The election in no. 15 is debated in three speeches, by Orthodoxo, Pruriento and Pamphleteero. The best of these, the arguments of Pruriento, are supposed to be self-evidently sophistical; but they are, perhaps, too clever by half, because some of the arguments appear perfectly reasonable to a modern eye! Since this essay isn’t available online I have corrected the OCR of the Google Books reprint of 1737 for your entertainment.

No 15. Thursday, April 16. [1730]

Faciet lucrum bibliopola Tryphon. Mart. Epig. L. xiii. Ep. 3.
Die Mercurii, Ap. 15, 1730.

THIS day having been appointed for the election of a book-seller, there was a very numerous appearance at the Pegasus. Many letters from book-sellers in all parts of the town were read; which, being written in a very different stile, and spelt after a different manner, yielded great variety of diversion to the society. As the Letter of the great Curlus, published in our 4th Journal, was much superior to all the rest; so the party which appeared for him seemed to be so: who thought they had secured his election, by putting up against him a person, who, tho’ very famous in the world, yet made no great figure in the trade, having been but newly set up. This person was captain L. Gulliver; who by the advice of some friends at Dublin, and with the incouragement of some copies sent from thence, had lately removed from Redriff, and opened a shop near Temple-bar.
  The friends of Mr. Curlus, not doubting that they should carry the election, were very eager for putting it to the vote: when, to their great surprize. Orthodoxo stood up, and made the following speech.

Gentlemen; Tho’ it be certain, that some or other of this society, as writeing upon all learned subjects, are frequently publishing books in opposition to revealed religion, and in favour of immorality; yet, since the name of the author is seldom put to any such pieces, they can no otherwise be known to belong to our members, than by the stile and manner of them. And therefore, as the society can not fix them upon any particular persons, they can not pass so effectual a censure upon those persons, as they design, whenever the authors have the impudence to put their names in the title-page. Of this they gave an instance in their censure of a reverend renegade, in their Journal, numb. 13. and the same day, Ap. 1. they passed a resolution, to discountenance all their members who endeavour to promote the cause of infidelity and immorality. With this resolution, I imagine, it will not seem at all consistent, to chuse a person for our book-seller, who has been very instrumental in corrupting the manners of the age. Mr. Curlus has not only reprinted all the lewd books he could collect, written in English; but likewise taken care to get a great number to be translated out of foreign languages: of which several gentlemen here present, if they think proper, can give, I believe, the most convincing proof. In this sort of trade he became so eminent, as to give occasion to the enriching of our language with a new term; filthy discourse having now for several years been called, by the polite part of the world, Curlism. Of which elegant word I wonder that our laborious and learned brother N. Bailey, φιλολογοσ, has taken no notice: who, tho’ in his Etymological Dictionary (dedicated first to the royal family, and now very lately to the earl of Pembroke) he has taken the pains to collect and explain most of the obscene words, frequently used by the dregs of the people, has yet omitted this less vulgar term, which comprehends all manner of obscenity.

To this Pruriento made the following answer.

Tho’ what you have urged against my worthy friend cannot be denied; yet a good deal may be sayed, not only in excuse, but even in vindication of him. It is a maxim, which, tho’ not openly avowed, is yet generally followed, by most people in the way of trade, That the same action may be lawful, or unlawful, according as it is done by a person, either in, or out of his proper business. Thus, if a book-seller should tell me, that Col. Francisco was a very honest and chaste person, that all which had been sworn and sayed against him was false, and consequently that I might safely trust him with my money and my wife; this might be justly accounted a lie. But if the same person should assure me, that the bishop of Bangor wrote The Tryal of the witnesses, in order to promote the sale of it; this, tho’ perhaps no truer than the other, yet would not properly come under the notion of lying, The reason is: because in the former case, the book-seller acting out of his sphere, ought to speak the truth, his interest not being concerned; whereas in the latter, his right to promote his own interest in his own proper business, is antecedent, and consequently superior, to my right to true information. The falshood in this case is of the same nature with that, which even religious, if well-bred, persons oblige their servants to tell almost every hour in the day, viz. that they are not at home: which none but vulgar people, bred in a mean, low way, count to be lying. All such expressions therefore as, It was written by such a person; It sells extremtly well; I have but so many left; I never sell it for less; &. tho’ they all contain falshoods, yet they are falshoods of such a nature, as the ignorance, avarice, and impertinence of buyers have rendered necesary; in-so-much, that without them it is morally impossible to carrie on a trade to any considerable advantage.
  This, being premised, naturally prepares the way for a just vindication of the book-sellers in general, and of my friend in particular, as to the printing and publishing of such books, as are commonly called smutty or bawdy: as to which there is a great difference. For the design of some of them is to give a true historical account of former transactions, which may serve as precedents in determining the like cases which may happen, such as Cases of impotence end divorce, &c. Others are designed to promote natural knowledge, as The use of flogging; Art of kissing; Art of getting pretty cbildren; Mysteries of conjugal love; &c. which all tend very much to the good of the public, by inciting to the propagation of a sound and vigorous off-spring. And books of novels, if the events are unfortunate, are useful to deter young persons from following the like lascivious courses. Now, if the abuse of writings of this kind be an argument against the use of them; it will hold equally strong against books of Anatomy, Surgery, Midwifery, &c. which are all perverted by the natural corruption of some readers to the promoting of lewdness and debauchery.
  Nay, even as to those books, which, having been written solely with a design to corrupt the minds of persons, contain lewd descriptions of scenes of lust, and therefore may justly be called bawdy by way of eminence; even these have often an effect contrary to that which was originally intended. For, according to the late duke of Buckingham’s just observation, —Obscene words, too gross to move desire, Like heaps of fewel do but choke the fire. So that possibly some well-disposed book-sellers may sell them, as (what they really are to persons of an elegant taste) antidotes against lechery. And with this view, perhaps, the choicest pieces collected out of Rochester’s poems, and printed under the title of The Cabinet of Love, are publicly exposed to sale at a low price, like peny sermons, for the benefit of the poor.
  But setting aside all these favourable constructions, supposing even that these books in all probability will have a very bad effect; yet a book-seller may lawfully publish and sell them, in order to provide a comfortable subsistence for his family. If, indeed, a shoe-maker should pretend to do this, it would be altogether unlawful; because it would be going beyond his last, and acting out of his proper calling. But to publish and sell books being the proper business of a book-seller; he may do it, without inquiring concerning their contents, any farther than whether they are likely to sell or not: and he is no more answerable for the ill effects which may be produced by them, than a cutler or a gun-smith, for the murders committed with swords or pistols.
  This, I am well assured, is current doctrine among the generality of the trade; and their practice every day verifies their firm belief of the truth of it. And this is further confirmed by a remarkable account given me by my worthy friend; which, at the same time that it sets him upon the level, in one respect, with the rest of his fraternity, in another raises him to a superiority above them all. He tells me, that when he began to be eminent for books in this kind of literature, some of his preciser brethren, who did not care to put their names to such books, have given him a valuable consideration for the use of his; under which whole impressions have appeared printed at their charge. He assured me likewise. that several grave persons, who now deal much in religious books, have formerly dealt in the other sort; and that it has been no unusual thing, for a man to appear very devout and religious on a sunday, after having sold obscene books all the preceding week. The names of these cautious traders may one day appear: but at present this affair is only just mentioned, to shew that Mr. Curlus is full as innocent, and much more illustrious, than the generality of his brethren; and therefore may justly. claim a preference in your favour.

After a short silence, Pamphleteero stood up and sayed.

  Tho’ what the gentleman who spoke last has sayed is a full vindication of Mr. Curlus, as a book-seller; yet I must declare I can not, approve of his election, for reasons, both honourable to him, and such as, I believe, will induce him to decline the office of his own accord. As he has distinguished himself by writeing, and imitated the stile of some of our most celebrated brethren, both in prose and verse, I think he ought to be chosen a member of our society.
  There are two or three resolutions have been passed by the society, with which it is morally certain he will not complie, and therefore can not be chosen our book-seller. It has been resolved, that whoever has that place shall not be an author for the future, nor publish any thing of his own composeing, except a title-page, or an advertisement; and that he shall not vend any obscene or irreligous book. As it would be great pity to deprive the world of the ingenious lucubrations of Mr. Curlus, by his confining himself to the employment of a book-seller; so I am very certain, that he will never consent to do it much less to deprive himself of the annual profit arising from the sale of diverting books. There are three branches of literature, in which he has distinguished himself; natural history, and philosophy (called by fome obscenity) and antiquities. In labours relating to the two former he spent the vigour of his years: to the last he has applied himself in his more advanced age, as a subject more suitable to his maturer judgment. The testimony of a learned antiquarian, relating only to his collections in one of these sciences, may be justly applied to him in respect of all, That no book-seller in town has been so curious as he. Twenty volumes of Antiquities, and more than twice twenty of natural philosophy, and history, are a noble stock for one book-seller; sufficient to enable him to carrie on in his Literatory a very profitable businefs, with ease and dignity in his old age. All these branches of trade will be left almost entirely to him: for as our book-seller will be obliged not to meddle with the two former; so, tho’ the other consists of several productions of our society, it will be in Mr. Curlus’s own power to keep it to himself. Since therefore our choice of him would only be the occasion of giving us a second trouble, I don’t doubt but you will look upon captain L. Gulliver as the most proper person to fill the place. He has, it is true, been an eminent author, tho’ only in the way of travels: but, as he has resolved neither to travel, nor to write any more, he is duly qualified for the place he desires: and he has delivered into the hands of our secretary many curious Memoirs of literature relating to the state of learning in Laputa and Balnibarbi, which on proper occasions may be communicated to the public.
  They then proceeded to the ballot; and upon casting up the votes, Mr. President declared Capt. L. Gulliver duly elected book-seller to the society.

M. [=John Martyn (1699–1768)]

A More (or Less) Ordinary Book, Part 2

As I said in my last post, I have identified the "Thos Spedding" who signed his name across the title-page of an odd-volume of The Female Spectator that I found recently; he features in The Spedding Family (1909) by Capt. John Carlisle D. Spedding (below). It is the Rev. Thomas Spedding, MA (1722–87).

Thomas was the third of the five children of Carlisle and Sarah Spedding (John, James, Thomas, Jane and Sarah); but he had twelve children of his own (Frances, Sarah, Carlisle, Isabella, Carlisle, Mary, Langton, Anne, Thomas, Jane, Elizabeth, Isabella; the first Carlisle and Isabella dying as infants). JCDS doesn't have much to say about these children beyond their dates of birth and death, but he tells us about Thomas:

b. at Whitehaven, 7 Jan., 1722. Educated at Trinity College, Dublin, which he entered 2 Oct., 1739. A.B., 1744. A.M., 1747. Rector of Distington, co. Cumberland, 1747–1752, and Incumbent of St. James's, Whitehaven, 1753–1783. m. ——1747, at ——, Isabella, dau. of Isaac Langton, of Cocermouth, co. Cumberland, who was b. 17 May, 1725, and d. 29 May, 1787. He d. 24 April, 1783, at ——. The both lie buried at St. James's Church, Whitehaven, co. Cumberland, where a tablet will be found to their memory.

Samuel Jefferson, The History and Antiquities of Allerdale Ward, above Derwent, in the County Cumberland (1842), 392, provides details of this "tablet": in the The Chapel of St. James, "On the east wall, north of the altar-table, is a marble monument, with a head of the deceased in a medallion," bearing the following inscription

In memory of the
Reverend THOMAS SPEDDING, A.M.,
first Minister of this Chapel,
who died April 24th, 1783, Æ. 61 years.
In him were most agreeably united
The tender husband,
The affectionate parent,
The faithful friend,
The worthy Pastor, and
(Reader, if thou requirest yet more)
The honest man.
He was sincerely respected through life, and
In his death, universally lamented,
But by none
More than by his numerous
Admiring Congregation.
ISABELLA, the wife of the
Revd. Thos. Spedding, A.M.
Died May 29th, 1787, aged 62 years

The Whitehaven parish website tells us that "St James Church was built between February 1752 and July 1753 and is a fine example of Georgian architecture. The church build was at a cost of £3400 to a plan by Mr Carlisle Spedding—a mining engineer in charge of the Whitehaven Collieries of Sir James Lowther. The building known as St James' Chapel was consecrated on the feast of St. James on Wednesday 25th July 1753."

So, after four years in a backwater—Distington—Thomas got to become the first incumbent in one of the finest Georgian church's in the county, designed by his father. Nepotism maybe, but nice.

Anyway, moving back a little, Thomas went to Trinity College, Dublin. At the time, as Wikipedia explains, "Parliament, meeting on the other side of College Green [to Trinity], made generous grants for building. The first building of this period was the Old Library building, begun in 1712, followed by the Printing House and the Dining Hall …" So Thomas would have go to see one of the most beautiful libraries in Europe when it was new.

Thomas arrived in October 1739, staying there for eight years, until he received his A.M. (i.e., "Artium Magister," aka "Master of Arts," or MA) in 1747. One day while still a student at Trinity, but after receiving his A.B. (i.e., "Artium Baccalaureus," aka "Bachelor of Arts," or BA), Thomas wandered over to the shop of George and Alexander Ewing at the Angel and Bible in Dame Street, and bought a copy of The Female Spectator.

The Female Spectator was published in parts in London between April 1744 and May 1746. I have not found any advertisements for the Dublin edition by the Ewings, but it was published by subscription and is dated 1746 on the title-page, so I think it is safe to assume that the subscriptions were collected in mid-1746 and it was printed and distributed in late 1746.

There are 346 subscribers listed at the start of volume 1, for a total of 603 sets (twenty subscribers taking 277 sets). Thomas Spedding is not one of the subscribers listed, though there are five Trinity students listed (John Bainbridge, Parker Busted, Will. Collis, Farthing Davis and Dalton Mc. Carthy), two Bishops and twenty-three clergymen.

For the record, the subscribers include the following: Right Honourable Lord Viscount (1), Right Reverend Lord Bishop (1), Right Honourable Viscount (1), Right Honourable Countess (1), Right Honourable Lady (2), Right Honourable Lord (1), Right Reverend Bishop (1), Lady (1), Sir (2), Gent (8), Honourable Mrs (1), Honourable Captain (1), Captain (3), Alderman (2), Doctor (4), Esquire (42), Reverend (23), Mr (112), Miss (69), Mrs (59), bookseller (19) plus one "PN" (whatever that is). Of course, there is some cross over; for instance, the booksellers duplicate Mr (18) and Mrs (1). Put another way this is 469 males and 134 females.

The Ewings probably printed either 750 or 1000 sets and so I presume this means that Thomas went and bought his non-subscriber set from the shop. Since another edition was printed in Dublin in 1747, Thomas must have bought his set late in 1746 or early in 1747, before the new edition appeared. Of the 750 or 1000 copies of Thomas's set printed, only four sets survive. I list them in my Bibliography under Ab.60.3:

Cambridge University Library [Hib.7.746.41–44]
Rice University Library, Texas [WRC PR3506. H94A65 1746]
University of Texas Library [PR1369.F452 1746]
Youngstown State University Library, Ohio [PR3506.H94 A65 1746]

The National Library of Ireland, Dublin, has two odd volumes [IR 6551 Dublin 1746 (7), v.1–2] and the Royal College of Physicians, Dublin has one odd volume [Kirkpatrick Coll. K631, v.2]. I have, now, a mixed set [09.69, v.1; 05.88, v.2–4].

Thomas bought, or had, his set nicely bound: a full burgundy leather, the spine in six compartments, elaborately decorated in gilt, the front and back covers with a gilt decorative rule around the edges, and all the edges gilt (an unusual extravagance, and uncommon except on bibles and prayer-books). The binding is now well-worn, with most of the gilt edging lost, and showing much use, but it is still sound, indicating that it was well bound to begin with.

There are four inscriptions and a bookplate in this volume, but the front free end-paper has been cut away, so it is possible that there were more inscriptions. In fact, it is almost certain there were more because end-papers are usually cut away to remove inscriptions that might embarrass the owner. One of the four inscriptions is the one by Thomas, on the title-page. The other three (below) will have to wait until my next instalment in the history of this 'More (or Less) Ordinary Book'

[UPDATE 22 Feb 2011: for Part 1 of this series of posts see here.]

[UPDATE: 2 July 2016: After all my pictures disappeared (again) I decided to give up on external hosts for large versions (1000px) of my image files and, for now on, will stick with the smaller images (500px), which Blogger is prepared to host.]

Eighteenth-Century Erotic Texts Online

Facsimile Texts and Downloadable pdfs

Below are links to eighteenth-century editions of works I include in my Checklist of Eighteenth-Century Erotica (2004) that are on Google Books, The Internet Archive, etc. There are very few online, but I'll add items as I find them.

[UPDATE: 14 July 2013 There has been a significant increase in the number of these texts online, largely due to the appearance of texts from the Remota collection at the Bavarian State Library in 2011, which I am now discovering. This collection includes most of the most significant works of eighteenth-century erotica known to survive. It also includes a few of the of the few most important late seventeenth-century works, translations of European erotica which constituted the hard core of pornographic texts available in the eighteenth-century. Despite the incongruity of including seventeenth-century works here, I am including them anyway because of their significance.

UPDATE: 12 May 2017 A further increase has occured to this list as works from the British Library's Private Case are appearing on Google Books; I have also recently updated a series of dead links, including the URL for John Wilkes, An Essay on Woman—one of the most pornographic pieces of from the period—which has changed three times since I added it!]

Michel Millot, The School of Venus, Or The Ladies Delight Reduced into Rules of Practice. Being the Translation of the French L’Escoles des filles. In Two Dialogues (1680)

The Dutch Riddle: Or, a Character of a Hairy Monster, Often Found in Holland, Etc. (n.d. [1706?]).

Ned Ward, The Pleasures of a Single Life: or, The miseries of Matrimony (1709)

Wit and Mirth; Or, Pills to Purge Melancholy. Vol. 1, 4th ed. (1714)
Wit and Mirth; Or, Pills to Purge Melancholy. Vol. 2, 3rd ed. (1712)
Wit and Mirth; Or, Pills to Purge Melancholy. Vol. 3, 3rd ed. (1712)
Wit and Mirth; Or, Pills to Purge Melancholy. Vol. 4, 2nd ed. (1709)

The Life Of the late Celebrated Mrs. Elizabeth Wisebourn, Vulgarly call’d Mother Wybourn ([1721]; rpt. 1885)

The Benefits and Privileges of Cuckolds (1728)

The Merry-Thought: Or, The Glass-Window and Bog-House Miscellany. Part 1, 3rd ed. (1731)
The Merry-Thought: Or, The Glass-Window and Bog-House Miscellany. Part 2. (1733)
The Merry-Thought: Or, The Glass-Window and Bog-House Miscellany. Part 3. (1734)
The Merry-Thought: Or, The Glass-Window and Bog-House Miscellany. Part 4. (1735)

The Ladies Delight (1740)

A Merry Allegorico-Botanico-Badinical Piece; Or, The Natural History of the Arbor Vitæ: Or the Tree of Life (1740)

["The Cabinet of Love" (5 poems)] in The Works Of the Earls of Rochester etc. (1718), vol.2, 193–223.
["The Cabinet of Love" (10 poems)] in The Works Of the Earls of Rochester etc. (1739), vol.2, 178–216. [Bavarian State Library copy]
["The Cabinet of Love" (10 poems)] in The Works Of the Earls of Rochester etc. (1739), vol.2, 178–216. [Lyon Public Library copy]
["The Cabinet of Love" (10 poems)] in The Works Of the Earls of Rochester etc. (1752), vol.2, 137–67. [National Library of the Netherlands copy]
["The Cabinet of Love" (10 poems)] in The Works Of the Earls of Rochester etc. (1752), vol.2, 137–67. [Ghent University copy]

The School of Venus: Or, The Lady's Miscellany, 2nd. ed. (1739)

The Tryal of a Cause for Criminal Conversation, Between Theophilus Cibber … and William Sloper (1739)

Nicolas Chorier, A Dialogue Between A Married Lady And A Maid (1740)

The Secret History Of Betty Ireland. Who was trepann’d into marriage at the age of fourteen (1740; rpt. ca. 1788)

The Secret History Of Betty Ireland. Who was trepann’d into marriage at the age of fourteen (1740; rpt. ca. 1790)

William Hatchett, A Chinese Tale (1740)
William Hatchett, A Court Lady's Curiosity … A Chinese Novel (1741) NEW

The Potent Ally; Or, Succours from Merryland, 2nd ed. (1741). ¶ Contains three poems in praise of condoms.

A Voyage to Lethe (1741; rpt. 1885) [University of Michigan copy]
A Voyage to Lethe (1741; rpt. 1885) [Jack Horntip copy; OCR text and PDF]

Thomas Stretser, A New Description of Merryland, 8th ed. (1741?)
Thomas Stretser, A New Description of Merryland, 10th ed. (1742).

Eliza Haywood, Ab.56.3 The Sopha: A Moral Tale, vol.1 (1742; rprt. 1787) NEW
Eliza Haywood, Ab.56.3 The Sopha: A Moral Tale, vol.2 ("1783" [=1787]) NEW

The Machine: Or, Love's Preservative (1744)

John Cleland, Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure (1749), vol. 1., vol. 2. [1st ed. at EuGMu]
Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure (1749; rpt. 1888) [Jack Horntip copy; OCR text and PDF]
John Cleland, Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure (1749) [Project Gutenberg EBook]
John Cleland, Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure ("1749") [a reprint edition], vol. 1. [EuGMu]
John Cleland, Nouvelle traduction de woman of pleasure, ou fille de joie … Avec figures (1793) [illustrated translation], vol. 1., vol. 2. [EuGMu]

Les Bijoux Indiscrets. Or, The Indiscreet Toys (1749), vol.1, vol.2. [Oxford University copy]
Les Bijoux Indiscrets. Or, The Indiscreet Toys (1749), vol.1 only. [Bavarian State Library copy]

The Harlot's Progress: Being the Life of the Noted Moll Hackabout. In Six Hudibrastick Canto's, 6th ed. (1753).

A New Atalantis, for the Year One Thousand Seven Hundred and Sixty (1760) [pdf file of text]

John Henry Meibomius, The Use of Flogging in Venereal Affairs (1761; rpt. 1872) [University of Toronto copy; temporarily(?) unavailable]
John Henry Meibomius, The Use of Flogging in Venereal Affairs (1761; rpt. 1872) [New York Public Library copy]

John Wilkes, An Essay on Woman (1772; ca. 1763). ¶ two copies bound together; the first is a spurious edition, printed in red; the second is genuine, and the earliest known.

Harris's List of Covent-Garden Ladies (1765)
Harris's List of Covent-Garden Ladies (1783)
Harris's List of Covent-Garden Ladies (1786)
Harris's List of Covent-Garden Ladies (1787) [Bavarian State Library; Wellcome Library]
Harris's List of Covent-Garden Ladies (1788) [Project Gutenberg ebook]
Harris's List of Covent-Garden Ladies (1789)
Harris's List of Covent-Garden Ladies (1793) [transcript]
Harris's List of Covent-Garden Ladies (1794)

The Gentleman's Bottle-Companion (1768)

The Pleasures of a Single Life; Or, The Miseries of Matrimony ([1770?])

The Covent-Garden magazine; or, Amorous repository, vol.1 (1772), vol.2 (1773), vol.3 (1774), vol.4 (1775)

Ranger’s Impartial List of the Ladies of Pleasure in Edinburgh (1775) [transcript]

The Frisky Songster (1776)

Trials for Adultery, or, The History of Divorces, vol. 1 (1779)
Trials for Adultery, or, The History of Divorces, vol. 2 (1779)
Trials for Adultery, or, The History of Divorces, vol. 3 (1779)
Trials for Adultery, or, The History of Divorces, vol. 4 (1780)
Trials for Adultery, or, The History of Divorces, vol. 5 (1780)
Trials for Adultery, or, The History of Divorces, vol. 6 (1780)
Trials for Adultery, or, The History of Divorces, vol. 7 (1780)

"Ned Ward Junior", The Comforts of Matrimony; or Love's Last Shift (1780)

The new Covent-Garden Register; being Secret Memoirs of some celebrated Ladies of P******e of the present Time ([1783])

Madame Birchini's Dance (1783; rpt. 1872) [University of Toronto copy; temporarily(?) unavailable]

Exhibition of Female Flagellants, part 1. (1784; rpt. 1872) [University of Toronto copy; temporarily(?) unavailable]
Exhibition of Female Flagellants, part 2. (1785; rpt. 1872) [University of Toronto copy; temporarily(?) unavailable]

The Nightly Sports Of Venus; Or, The Pleasures of Coition. With The Humourous Tale Of The Three Monks ([1785?])

Lady Bumtickler's Revels (1786; rpt. 1872) [University of Toronto copy; temporarily(?) unavailable]

Sublime of Flagellation (1787; rpt. 1872) [University of Toronto copy; temporarily(?) unavailable]

Francis Grose, A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, [1st ed.] (1785)
Francis Grose, A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, 2nd ed. (1788)
Francis Grose, A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, 3rd ed. (1796)

The Festival of Love; Or, A Collection Of Cytherean Poems, 3rd ed. ([1791])
The Festival of Love; Or, A Collection Of Cytherean Poems, 4th ed. ([1793])

Robert Burns, Merry Muses of Caledonia (1799; rpt. 1965)

[UPDATED 4 February 2018]

A More (or Less) Ordinary Book

In a review of Books on the Move (2007) that I wrote recently for Script & Print, I criticised David Pearson's essay "What Can We Learn by Tracking Multiple Copies of Individual Editions?" for failing to select an "ordinary book" to track, as he had proposed.

While the three English translations of Ceasar from 1590, 1655 and 1695 that Pearson selected are "more ordinary" than William Shakespeare’s 1623 First Folio or Nicolaus Copernicus’s De Revolutionibus Orbium Cælestium (1543 and 1566), they still do not seem really ordinary in any useful sense of the word to me.

We can rarely identify the owners of genuinely “ordinary” books and, on the few occasions when we do have the names of previous owners, we are very often unable to find out anything at all about these individuals. So Pearson’s essay also ends up focused on the few well-known or famous owners of the not-so-ordinary books he selected.

If one were to choose a book that was genuinely "ordinary," an eighteenth-century edition of The Spectator (1711–12) for instance, it would be even more difficult to identify previous owners, or, having done so, be in a position to say anything useful about them (singularly, or as a group).

This is, of course, exactly why book historians find it so hard to say anything about ordinary readers of ordinary books and why scholars such as Pearson are trying so hard to find a way of redressing this.

Anyway, shortly after writing about this problem in my review, an odd-volume of The Female Spectator turned up on eBay. I bought it because this particular odd-volume seems destined to provide me with the perfect example of what a more ordinary book can tell us about “the range of people” who owned certain books, what the “ownership trajectories” of the multiple copies of these books might be, what “geographical range” of distribution and what variety of bindings might be evident, and whether there are characteristic “patterns of annotation” in the books. (The questions Pearson hoped to answer.)

As you can see, if you look closely, this particular odd-volume was purchased, when new, by one Thomas Spedding. As one of the few people on the planet who own a copy of The Spedding Family (1909) by Capt. John Carlisle D. Spedding, I was immediately able to identify this "Thos Spedding" who, in typical eighteenth-century style, signed his name across the title-page. It is the Rev. Thomas Spedding, MA (1722–87): a distant relation (but not an ancestor).

This identification was enough to persuade me to spend over $300, probably triple what the book is worth. Because, as both a Spedding (with a modest interest in family history, but with a father who has just completed a substantial family-history) and an Eliza Haywood scholar who has published an essay on the popularity of Haywood's Female Spectator,* I seem particularly well-placed to both unravel the genealogical history of the book and comment on its bibliographical significance.

Since this odd-volume arrived I have made considerable more progress with the identification of the various owners of this copy, but my comments on these owners, the book, other copies, etc etc, will have to wait for another post. Or possibly an essay. We'll see.

*The essay is “Measuring the Success of Haywood's Female Spectator (1744–46),” in Fair Philosopher: Eliza Haywood and The Female Spectator (2006), 193–211 (most of which is available on Google Books Preview here).

[UPDATE 22 Feb 2011: for Part 2 of this series of posts see here]

[UPDATE: 2 July 2016: After all my pictures disappeared (again) I decided to give up on external hosts for large versions (1000px) of my image files and, for now on, will stick with the smaller images (500px), which Blogger is prepared to host.]