The Bee, or Literary Weekly Intelligencer, James Anderson, Volume Seventeenth, 1793, Edinburgh
The Bee, or Literary Weekly Intelligencer, Consisting of Original Pieces, and Selections from Performances of Merit, Foreign and Domestic, A Work calculated to disseminate useful knowledge among all ranks of people at a small expence. By James Anderson, LLD. Volume Seventeenth.
An engaging and richly varied volume from one of the 18th century’s most distinctive periodicals. The Bee; or, Literary Weekly Intelligencer, edited by the Scottish polymath James Anderson, LLD, was published between 1790 and 1794 and aimed to spread useful knowledge and moral reflection “at a small expence” to a broad readership. This seventeenth volume captures the eclectic nature of Enlightenment publishing, offering original articles and selections on science, art, agriculture, social observation, and global affairs. Anderson, an early advocate of agricultural reform and political economy, helped shape a publication as intellectually curious as it was accessible.
This volume contains an especially wide array of topics: Borax, anecdotes of Dr. Franklin, Literary intelligence from Russia, Consumption of milk in London, Trees, 'The Indian Cottage' - a tale, Fragments of Lord Bacon, Cotton manufacture, a vegetable clock, a plant from Botany Bay, a letter from the King of Prussia to Voltaire, amongst many other subjects.
It combines scientific curiosity with literary entertainment – a hallmark of the Enlightenment press.
Printed for the Editor, 1793 - Vol. V., Edinburgh.
A good copy of this interesting 18th Century journal. Bound with leather spine and with leather corners. Marbled paper over boards. Covers bumped, scuffed and worn with some rubbing and wear to joints. Inner hinges cracked, but holding.
The text is very good throughout - bright and clean with only the occasional light scattered spot. A fascinating read, with a portrait frontispiece of Henry, Lord Cardross, Scottish nobleman and staunch Presbyterian, and one attractive plate depicting 'The Yellow Gum Plant of Botany Bay'.
Text in English.
Title + ii Index + Frontispiece portrait + 336 pp + xxiv 'Historical Chronicle' + xxv-xxviii Index + 1 Plate.
Dimensions:
Approximately 188mm high x 120mm wide x 25mm deep.
Weight approximately 357g unpacked.