TY - JOUR
AU1 - King, Patrick, J
AB - Abstract This article brings to light and discusses a rare survival, the journal of an eighteenth-century bookdealer, identified here as the Irish seller Stephen Armitage (d. 1799). The journal details business and leisure activities in England and Ireland between 1776 and 1784 and includes ten contemporary topographical plates pasted in. In 1982 Patrick King Rare Books Ltd bought an anonymous manuscript journal penned by a young Dublin bookseller who recorded business and leisure activities in England and Ireland between 1776 and 1784 (Fig. 1).1 The internal evidence shows that it was written after the summer of 1784 as the manuscript stops mid-page whilst describing a journey to Belfast in May 1784. Since it employs engravings and texts of which the latest were published in 1786, it can have been composed no earlier than that.2 Fig. 1 Open in new tabDownload slide Journal, title page. Copyright Ellen A. Tucker. Fig. 1 Open in new tabDownload slide Journal, title page. Copyright Ellen A. Tucker. The Journal narrates the author's blighted attempt to prosper as a trader in England and his return to Ireland, where he worked as assistant to his father and regained the confidence to sell on his own. Using archives and newspapers he can be identified as ‘Mr Armitage’, most probably Stephen Armitage, recorded by Mary Pollard as a book trader selling new books and auctioning private libraries in Dublin under the supervision of Thomas Armitage and subsequently on his own.3 Pollard did not know Stephen's relationship to Thomas, but a newly located tenancy record (7 December 1790) demonstrates that it was, ‘Thomas Armitage, Bookseller of the city of Dublin, and Son Stephen’.4 Of Thomas's two other sons, one, James, had some slight connection with the book trade, and the other, William, none.5 The manuscript displays features of a guidebook, for it records the time taken to travel between places and gives descriptions and illustrations of sites visited (Fig. 2). It also has a strongly autobiographical element since it dwells on incidents that show courage and good sense (narrow escapes from shipwreck; coach journeys in vile weather) and acknowledges weakness (bewilderment at treachery, enduring poverty, selling at auction alone). Furthermore, it delights in two intimate encounters with celebrity: John Wesley and King George III. The author states that he writes ‘for my own amusement only’, but assumed that his account would be read by others because he omitted the names of some protagonists (a female friend and a male traducer, for example).6 For the historian of the book the Journal provides insight as to the tastes, education and business strategies of a young bookseller. This is not the world of mature success found in John Murray's diary but that of an adventurous young man who loves to party all night, converse entertainingly, sing, and who is surviving with some difficulty— including a period when he eluded capture by officers of the law in London.7 Fig. 2 Open in new tabDownload slide Attributed to James Hulett, Greenwich Hospital, from Beauties of Nature and Art (London 1775), facing p.44. Copyright Ellen A. Tucker. Fig. 2 Open in new tabDownload slide Attributed to James Hulett, Greenwich Hospital, from Beauties of Nature and Art (London 1775), facing p.44. Copyright Ellen A. Tucker. The Journal commences in September 1776 when the writer travelled from Dublin to London, where he worked as assistant to Edward Johnson, ‘Bookseller of Ludgate Hill to whom I was engaged before I left Dublin as we had been intimately acquainted before I went to London’ (p.14).8 The author lived with Johnson for eight months before entering a partnership with an unnamed trader in May 1777. The partner was ‘a young man who likewise lived with him … and from my father's Interest and connections with the Booksellers we got a great deal of goods on Credit. We took a house in Fleet Street. … We opened shop the second of August 1777 and continued selling by auction until the time of the drawing of the Lottery which was the 17th November following’. The two young men signed a trading partnership in which each provided £50 in cash to buy goods (p. 15). They supplemented their income by selling lottery tickets and the author agreed to increase the ticket sales via a three week trip back to Dublin in late September 1777: ‘as I know most of the booksellers in Dublin we would make something considerable by engaging with them to sell the Blanks and Prizes’ (p. 16).9 The writer left London on 18 September and ‘after three weeks stay in my native place and having settled the business I came about I prepared for London once more’. Leaving on 12 October he arrived back on 18 October 1777 (pp.23, 42). Thence until 24 August 1778 the young man described being beset by misfortunes (pp. 55-56): During this absence I was wronged, my partner got all the credit he possibly could, confiscated the effects, and before it was in my power to do anything, he had by some artifice a false commission of bankruptcy taken out by his Jewish [sic] acquaintances, to deprive the real creditors of recovering any emolument tho’ indeed there was nothing worthwhile to get. Whilst avoiding arrest he eked out a living by clerking at book auctions for ‘Mr [Henry] Adams’ at Cole's Coffee House, Cornhill, then at Wapping and finally at ‘the 3 Tuns, Windsor’.10 In the latter sale in June 1778, ‘as he knew I was in a distressed situation he told me before I went, the books belonged to him and another bookseller, and if they had success in their sale, they would pay me the usual salary, if otherwise I was to be satisfied with my board and lodging. Unhappily for us all it did not succeed’ (p. 58). He was also sustained by ‘a worthy female acquaintance who occasionally gave me a little money’ (p. 57). Three leaves detailing events following his job at Windsor are torn out: presumably they were too revealing about the conduct of the writer and his helpers when he evaded capture in July and August 1778 (pp. 83–88). The narrative begins again in mid sentence: ‘or twos pleasure. We [who?] agreed to take an excursion to Gravesend’ (p. 89). He left London on 24 August 1778 (p. 100): having run great risque for some days, being in Imminent Danger of being arrested for debts contracted by my Unlucky Partner, having 5 or 6 writs out against me, and the hellhounds in strong scent of me for some time, however, thank God, I happily escap’d their claws and mounted the Stage as an outside passenger. The diarist embarked from Liverpool on 27 August and, although driven into Beaumaris by storms, left on 28 August and got to Dublin the next day: ‘shortly after me my Father arrived’ (pp. 103–104). The facts that the partnership was bankrupted between autumn 1777 and August 1778 and had premises in Fleet Street as well as selling lottery tickets, allows the identity of the writer to be traced. Bankruptcy, taxation and insurance records for Fleet Street, as well as a book published on the lottery by the partnership in 1777 from ‘183, Fleet Street’ confirms that a ‘Mr Armitage’, partner of ‘John Mazzinghi’, fits the Journal account.11 This identification concurs with the radical actions of Thomas Armitage who sold his stock, house and furniture in Dublin during March and April 1778, presumably to pay London booksellers who had extended credit to young Armitage. It also explains why the writer had to leave England before 29 August—when bankruptcy proceedings were finalized.12 The narrative of Stephen's two return trips between Dublin and London portrays a sanguine traveller, valiant in the face of challenges. The physical stamina required is evident in a breathless account of his journey home on 18 September 1777 when he took two days to reach Liverpool. He left London in the evening ‘as an outside passenger with 5 or 6 more. We were very merry, save when it rained’ (p. 16). He supped at Saint Albans, breakfasted at Stony Stratford, dined at Meriden, supped at Stone and ‘had the Indulgence this night of a few hours sleep. Went to bed at eleven and was rose at two. At six o’clock same morning arrived at Newcastle’. He breakfasted [20 September] at Middlewich, dined at Warrington and got to Liverpool at eleven in the evening (pp. 17–19). Courage, determination and enterprise were needed when things did not go to plan. These qualities were to the fore between 12 and 15 October 1777 when his packet from Dublin to Liverpool was forced to disembark at Holyhead. Despite the fact that the Prince of Orange was blown south to Bardsey Island, with a ‘vast quantity of water getting in the hold’, the author still managed to sleep, if intermittently, in his hammock; and once they blew back north to Holyhead he joined the first boat to make that harbour with ‘Capt. Ball, Cornet Saunders’. He explained, ‘The passengers seemed surprised at our venturing in so small a boat and the sea so rough, with some difficulty we got safe ashore; we all got a severe wetting and I lost a new hat’ (pp.23–25). Stephen now had the unexpected expense of travelling east along the coast to get a coach to London. He began by taking a cheap outside seat on the stage to Bangor ferry and there cadged a lift with two fellow passengers on the Prince of Orange, the ‘Celebrated Methodist John Wesley and another of his Profession’, ‘who said I should go in his carriage’ (p. 29) after the ferry crossing so as to get to Conway.13 When Wesley did not wait for Armitage to join him after that crossing and instead ‘ordered the Postillion to drive on’, in this ‘Deplorable Dilemma’ Stephen chased after the ‘diligence’ and clung ‘in a most heavy fall of hail and rain’ on to ‘a rod of iron that was across before the body of the carriage, on this was obliged to sit and in danger every moment of being thrown between the horses, for 17 miles’ (pp. 30–31). At Conway Stephen drank rum, dried out and determined to pressurize Wesley (‘cash being very deficient’) to take him to Chester by revealing his father Thomas was a leading Methodist (p.33).14 Consequently, ‘I supped with him, and after it Drank Wine until my Old Gentleman seemed pretty well fuddled’, then, ‘mentioned his name which he recollected instantly. He asked me many questions about him and we passed the night thro with a deal of mirth and good humour’ (p. 34). Thus Stephen got his free ride and even better acquaintance with ‘my Divine fellow Travellers’ (p. 38). Mr Wesley tho’ a very Old Man is an agreeable entertaining Companion to travel with, his manner and behaviour on these occasions, are different from what might be expected from a man of his profession. It is customary for him to have when on a journey a Cordial of Wine, Milk and Sugar, in a bottle, which he would produce at the Conclusion of a Short Hymn; which he generally introduces 3 or 4 times a day. At Chester Stephen had nothing but lottery tickets with which to pay for the coach to London (p.41). Difficulties of travel were outweighed by sympathetic companionship and sightseeing. Stephen recalled with pleasure how in September 1776 he went from Eastham to Chester in a ‘caravan’ with ‘a recruiting Sergeant, a Drum and Fife and two likely young Women. Our journey tho’ short was remarkably agreeable’ (p.8). Next year in October 1777 he had a sociable journey from Chester to London with a Mr Kennedy, a Mr O Reily, ‘one more gentleman and two Ladies’, adding, ‘We went up very agreeably, the Ladies sung several times, and we assisted a little occasionally’ (p.42). Stephen was a dedicated tourist, keen to see impressive views and learn about local history, legends or natural curiosities. For example, at Chester he remarked how ‘the wall that surrounds the city is a beautiful place for walking commanding a prospect of Flintshire and the Mountains in Wales’ (p. 5). At Saint Albans he learnt (p. 13): here 2 Battles were fought between the houses of York and Lancaster in the first Richard Duke of Y ork defeated the Lancastrian party with great slaughter and took King Henry the 6th prisoner but 4 years after the Lancastrians under the conduct of Queen Margaret routed the Yorkists. He liked a quaint custom, as in Coleshill where is (p. 8): a piece of land in the parish called Paternoster Piece, given to encourage Children to learn the Lord's Prayer, for every Housekeeper in the Town where is a Child, sends it in turn one at a Time every morning to the Church at the sound of a bell, where kneeling he says the Lord's Prayer before the Under Master who rewards it with a penny. At Coventry, he delighted in the story of Peeping Tom: ‘to this Day there is an Effigy of him at the window from whence he looked’ (p. 10), and in Dunstable he marvelled at the epitaph of a woman, ‘who had 9 Children born at 3 several times and 6 more at 3 other times’ (p. 12). Throughout he quoted (unacknowledged) a variety of topographical publications to supplement his records and recall. Once in London the author ignored the city and favoured boating trips. He considered Greenwich a town which was ‘one of the Genteelest as well as pleasantest in England’, admired the ‘handsome new built edifice’ of Saint Alphage and praised the ‘superb Hospital’. ‘After spending a most agreeable day here with a few friends we returned in a boat, to the Capital, for which the charge is only Threepence for each person’ (pp. 45–48). A day out at Woolwich impressed with the ‘Docks, Yards … prodigious full of all sorts of stores of Timber, Plank, Masts, Pitch, Tar and other naval provisions … the biggest cables are made for the Men of War. I had the pleasure of seeing one for a 74 Gun ship carried by no less than 150 men and put on board a Vessel on the River’ (p.49). Putney he recalled as (pp. 51–52): a beautiful village, has a church after the same model with that of Fulham, which is exactly opposite it is said they were built both by 2 sisters … I dined here in a Large Company at a house beautifully situated near the Thames, after dinner smoked our pipes and Drank a Glass of Punch in a Balcony just over the river, and had a pleasing view of the boats passing to and fro. We left this beautiful Village about seven in the evening joined in Company with several boats, had a Vast deal of singing on our way. Landed safe at Westminster Stairs about Dusk. Stephen enjoyed Vauxhall Gardens (p. 53): [the Gardens] are greatly resorted to by the Nobility and often the Royal Family, during the three summer months, it is illuminated with above a thousand lights has a Noble Orchestra in the Center of the Garden, in which the best Vocal and Instrumental performers in London perform. Here are two fine statues the first of Handel and the other Apollo executed by the celebrated Roubiliac. After spending a most agreeable evening there with Miss H.K. got safe home about 12 o’clock. The snuff box I was made a present of that night, the consequence of which was very disagreeable I shall not mention. He found Chelsea ‘a neat handsome village . I drank tea here at a house occupied by a man of the name of Don Saltero, much resorted to on account of the Number of Curiosities he has collected’, and he judged Chelsea Hospital to be a ‘fine structure though less magnificent and costly than that of Greenwich’ (pp. 54–55). Stephen's second year was blighted by the bankruptcy threat: ‘I was ere this happened in a happy and comfortable state of mind (O hard). My first attempt in business when to all appearance ripening to Prosperity was (Alas) blasted by the roguery of my unlucky partner’ (p. 56). Even in this ‘sad condition’, once he had left London for Windsor, he visited the Castle and Eton College chapel (pp.60–79). In recalling these buildings the writer, as so often, quoted a guidebook, but used his own words for one treasured sighting at Windsor (pp. 79–82).15 After dinner, I see their Majesties walk by, Arm in Arm, [George III and Queen Charlotte] they went Down to the Ferry, they had no more attendance than one Single Gentleman, they were detained near ten minutes waiting for their coach, During which time it rained very hard, they took Shelter under some trees that was Close to the Ferry — I was highly Delighted with their conversation, tho was sorry to See they got Wet, I was tolerably Soaked with the rain and they must be the same, for I had as much Covering being under the same shelter Close to them; his Majesty seemed a little uneasy for his royal Consort, but she bore it with a great deal of patience and a Smiling Countenance. A little while before the Carriage arrived A Captain Jones who I suppose had heard where their Majesties were Stationed waited on the Sovereign and made him an offer of his Great Coat, his Majesty replyd smiling — Capt J ones I thank you but you'll have occasion for it yourself — the Carriage now Arrived and went into the Ferry boat … The Bridge of Windsor at this time was partly broke down. Back in London he boated to Gravesend: ‘the fair [sic] is only nine pence. We left Billingsgate Stairs at about six of a Sunday morn … our passage was remarkably tedious having scarce a breath of wind to help us on, however we were very merry’. Stephen recalled seeing ‘Convicts Perform Divine Service aboard the hulk’ at Woolwich and a little later ‘bodies hung in chains on both sides of the river: ‘In particular was pointed out Capt Lowry who whippd one of his boys to Death’ (pp. 89–91). His final day out was to Alexander Pope's garden at Twickenham and he quoted the poet's letter to Edmund Blount to describe its grotto (pp.92–99).16 He ended, ‘I shall now take my leave of London acknowledging I like it superior to any other place’ (p.99). The second, Irish, half of the Journal ignored events at Thomas's bookshop in Dublin and concentrated upon adventures elsewhere as Stephen learned to conduct provincial book auctions. He recorded eight trips between 1779 and 1784. One was with his father's unnamed assistant (May to June 1779, Cork). Three were with his father (October to November 1779, Waterford; June to July 1780, Cork; September to October 1781, Waterford). Three were alone (December to January 1779–80, Kilkenny; April to June 1783, Cork; September 1783, Waterford), and, significantly, the solo Cork session concurs with Pollard's evidence for Stephen's itinerary. Stephen's last adventure was with another local bookseller, John Archer (May 1784, Newry and Belfast).17 The Journal reveals how Thomas made his son undertake the practical, sometimes lowly, tasks required for success and fostered his confidence in trading independently. On Stephen's first trip in 1779 in company with his father's assistant, after poor sales at Cork, he had to walk the fifteen miles to Kinshale, ‘of a Very Sultry Day in the middle of July. In my Life I was never more fatigued’, since ‘we had left unsold too many to think of bringing back to Dublin’.18 At Kinshale ‘we sett up at a Frenchmans one Dela near the Exchange had our Sale in a large room in his house’. With ‘success very bad’ they returned to Dublin (pp. 104, 121–22, 128). Undaunted, in September of the same year, Thomas took Stephen to Waterford selling for about a month ‘with Good Success’. At this point (pp.136–37): my Father had an Immediate Call from Dublin on which he proposed (having then a good many books unsold) to send me down a fresh supply to sort with what was on hands, and for me to make a Tryal to sell by Auction. I was somewhat intimidated at my first attempt in that way, but in a very short time got the better of that fault, I sold for about 3 weeks and to my satisfaction. Emboldened by achievement he ‘got every matter ready’ and ventured off alone in December 1779 to Kilkenny (pp. 139–40). There and in two further solo ventures he had fair success. The Journal's final pages underline the resilience Thomas nurtured; ‘My next tour was to the North of Ireland in Company with Mr J. Archer. We settled on going by Sea to Newry. Left Dublin 12th of May [1784]’ (pp. 170–71). Having reached Newry, the next day they sold for a fortnight; ‘When our Patience was tired out here with bad success, we proposed trying Belfast, our Ill fate in Newry made us look into the most Cheap Method of travelling, left it on a Determination of Walking, (which was 30 miles) sett of on a Friday morning [28 May ] at 7 o’clock’ (pp. 172–73). After sixteen miles they reached Dromore which Stephen described as ‘a Black Dismal looking Town’, ending the Journal mid page; ‘4 miles farther is Hillsborough’ (p. 174) (Fig. 3). Fig. 3 Open in new tabDownload slide Journal, final page. Copyright Ellen A. Tucker. Fig. 3 Open in new tabDownload slide Journal, final page. Copyright Ellen A. Tucker. As in England, Stephen recounted numerous instances of difficulties overcome on coaches and boats. When his coach overturned travelling from Kilworth to Fermoy in May 1779 he continued after being pulled out of a ditch. The coachman had alighted going up hill for ‘a Natural Occasion’, leaving the horses (one being blind) to their own devices (pp. 109–10). He took pride in his sea legs when he sailed in stormy weather from Dublin to Waterford in late August 1783: ‘I was the only Person that appeared on Deck all day save the hands’ (pp. 164–65). As a sightseer in Ireland, Stephen noted the features he had picked out for attention in England: fine houses, well built churches, choirs, schools, stone bridges, exchanges, custom houses, hospitals, gaols, fortifications, warships and the promenades of the gentry. He continued to quote guidebooks,19 as well as relishing experiences outside their scope, as at Cobh when, ‘The Lieutenant of the Leviathan … kindly invited us all on board shewn us every particular below and above Deck and entertained us with Crackers and Cheese and Good Strong beer’ (pp. 120–21). Stephen took part in and enjoyed entertainments. He attended ‘Vandey's’ production of Romeo and Juliet at Kilkenny in 1779 (p.132)20 and performed himself in Cork during May 1783 (pp. 159–60). My friend Mick Doyle in Company with a Mr McGrath opened here a Patagonian Theatre after the Manner of the one in Drury Lane, Dublin for so much I never seen anything Executed Better, the scenery Beautiful, Painted by a famous Man in that Line a Mr Grogan, and Indeed every other Matter, had near the same Merit — he applyed to me to Sing a Night or two which I agreed to, he having been a Particular friend to me in Cork and Waterford.21 In September 1783, in Vandermere's Theatre in Waterford, Stephen sang to please ‘My friend Sheriff Ramsay’: ‘I appeared in a Musical Line for him at a Benefit as one of the Singing Witches in Macbeth’ (pp. 165–66).22 Many journeys offered good company. For instance in July 1780, returning from Cork with his father and a Captain Toler, the trip ‘was pleasing enough as the Captain and I sung mostly all the way’ (p. 153). Similarly, in April 1783, Stephen travelled to Cork, ‘with 2 jolly hearty Men a Mr Carrol and a Mr Lane who had just returned from France where he had been for 5 years’. They were joined for the night at Monastereven by passengers from Limerick: ‘a Curious Groupe Six in Number as follows an Old Limerick Merchant and his Daughter, 2 more Merchants Belonging to the Same Place (Singular Characters) a Nurse and a Priest. We kept it up Most Gloriously Singing and Drinking untill 4 in the Morning’ (pp. 156–57). Even better, catching the coach from Kilkenny to Dublin in September 1783, he found (pp. 168–70): a Mottley Groupe of Tars, beside 2 or 3 more that were Outside. These Lads had just come from Cork where they had landed from England, having been paid of there at the Conclusion of Peace with France and America, and were returning as they said to their Old Native habitation Dublin. After 8 or 9 years Absence their Company was singularly entertaining. They amused me very much with their Accounts of the Different Engagements they were in, and Particularly of Admiral Rodney and his behaviour, the major part of them being aboard his Vessell. We breakfasted at Leighlinbridge. Tea was very little made use of, Corn Beef, Beef Stakes and Potatoes supply’d its Place. In the afternoon arrived at Timolin, here we had an Excellent Dinner; and nothing but wine would go down after it, with the Tars, Several Curious Sea Songs Ensued, and I won their Warm hearts singing Blow High Blow Low, The Wandering Sailor, Admiral Benbow etc.23 The Journal ends on a low, if dogged note as Stephen plodded to Belfast on 28 May 1784. However his later life brought considerable success. Once in Belfast he saw a good opportunity and spent the next summer (1785) there conducting auctions.24 Then in October 1786 he married one Margaret Trotter and took over from his father.25 These events, a decade after he went to London, may have encouraged him to write the Journal. Stephen's birth date is unknown but presumably he was in his early twenties when he left for London and in his early thirties when he succeeded his father and wed. As well as being a bookseller, Stephen became famous in the office of ‘King of Dalkey’. This playful title was given from 1784 onwards to one elected as carnival monarch for a few days by thousands processing in his train from Dublin to Dalkey.26 Stephen was chosen for two periods (1789–91 and 1796–98) but abdicated following the festival of 20 August 1797 at the instance of the official government, which was alarmed by the insurrectionary activities of the society calling itself The United Irishmen and suspected the Dalkey revels hid political criticism.27 His inaugural speech in 1797 offers a flavour of Stephen's performance for he pronounced that he possessed his crown, ‘not as an inheritance from ancestors who attained it by injustice, rapacity and bloodshed but that I enjoy it by the most honourable of all claims, the unsolicited choice and that unfeigned confidence and affection of a free, a generous and a happy people’.28 James Herbert, who witnessed ‘this scene of hilarity and mockery’ told how ‘after dinner and drinking a few glasses, his majesty king Stephen, honoured his subjects by singing. He had a good voice, and gave his song with great energy which the open space where we were assembled required’.29 James Gaskin reported how in 1796 Stephen had sung ‘Love's My Passion and Glory’ to the crowd,30 and Thomas Moore declared him, ‘a most charming singer’.31 Stephen died, two years after his dethronement, in 1799.32 How, then, did Stephen's rogue partner fare? Initially Mazzinghi prospered, meeting the requirements of the bankruptcy proceedings (1779), and regaining sufficient wealth to reinsure his possessions (1789) and be robbed (1791).33 He authored London guidebooks in English and French (1785, 1793),34 and libretti translations (1791–95), courtesy of family connections with Joseph Mazzinghi the composer (1765–1844).35 He bolstered British war efforts by charitable contributions to soldiers (1793),36 and became Inspector of Passports at Gravesend (1796). However, he was arrested for High Treason in November 1798 by The Privy Council on suspicion of being an agent of the French Republic.37 Although Mazzinghi was released because he confessed only to accepting gifts from travellers, Elizabeth Sparrow cites French government sources as reporting that he did provide passage to spies presenting cards marked with floral designs.38 Sparrow presumes that Mazzinghi was deported soon after he wrote a pleading letter to The Home Office (3 January 1799, address merely ‘London’). In it he claimed ‘Innocence and Fortitude have hitherto supported me from sinking under the pressure of accumulated disasters’ and begged for reinstatement or some role in ‘the late acquired possessions in the Mediterranean where the languages and customs are familiar to me’.39 Here he referred to the welcome extended by the rulers of Naples and Sicily in late 1798 to the British navy. He is next and last heard of in Naples where he authored an Italian-English phrase book (1815) and guidebooks (1817, 1818).40 In conclusion, the Journal offers a valuable new documentary source for the English and Irish book trade in the eighteenth century, providing information on the duration and location of auctions, modes of transporting books and the taste and knowledge of one book trader.41 Equally important, however, the study of the manuscript brings vividly and delightfully to life the personalities of three book sellers: Stephen as exuberant adventurer, Thomas as patient father determined to save the business, and the plausible villain Mazzinghi. Footnotes 1Purchased from Derrick Bristow Ltd. Antiquarian Books, Catalogue 119, item 320, as ‘Manuscript Journal, unidentified Irish Bookseller’, on 1 October 1982 for £120.00. Title page inscribed ‘A Journal of My Own Adventures Began September 10th 1776’; 174 pp. numbered by the author (pp. 83–88 torn out); ten engravings and one drawing after an engraving (all unnumbered) pasted in; 8 × 6 inches (20 × 15.2 cm), bound in plain blue boards. 2Unnumbered illustration pages are pasted in between the numbered manuscript pages: Anonymous, Aberconway Castle, reversed version of engraving by Richard Bernard Godfrey, used in Francis Grose, The Antiquities of England and Wales, 4 vols (London: S. Hooper, 1773–76), IV, unnumbered pages under ‘Caernarvonshire’ (Journal, pp. 34–35); attributed to James Hulett, Greenwich Hospital, engraving used in Beauties of Nature and Art displayed in a Tour through the World, published for George Robinson, 2nd edn, 13 vols (London: G. Robinson, 1774–75), 1, 187 (Journal, pp.44–45); A View of Fulham Bridge and Putney, printed for Robert Sayer, as advertised in Robert Sayers Catalogue of New and Interesting Prints (London: R. Sayer, 1786), p. 51 (Journal, pp. 50–51); attributed to James Hulett, A View of the Entrance into Vauxhall Gardens, used in Beauties of Nature and Art, 1, 211 (Journal, pp. 52–53); Anonymous, A View of Chelsea, printed for Robert Sayer, advertised in Sayer's Catalogue, p.60 (Journal, pp.54–55); Anonymous, A View of Gravesend in the County of Kent, printed for Robert Sayer, Sayer's Catalogue, p.60 (Journal, pp.82–83); Anonymous, A Perspective View of Twickenham, printed for Robert Sayer, advertised in Sayer's Catalogue, p.59 (Journal, pp.92–93); Engraved by William Esdall, Rock of Cashel, used as frontispiece, Thomas Campbell, A Philosophical Survey of the South of Ireland (Dublin: W. Whitestone and others, 1778) (Journal, pp.106–107); engraved by Thomas Chambars after Anthony Chearnley, The City of Cork, 1750 (Journal, pp. 116–17); Engraved by Thomas Chambars after Anthony Chearnley, Prospect of Kingsale, 1750 (Journal, pp. 122–23); anonymous pen and ink drawing, The South East Prospect of the Cathedral Church of St. Canice in Kilkenny, probably after engraving by Guillaume Dheulland in James Ware, ed. by Walter Harris, The Works of James Ware concerning Ireland, 3 vols (Dublin: printed for the author by E. Jones, 1739–46), 1, 397 (Journal, pp. 142–43); engraved by J. Duff after William Beauford, St John's Abbey, Kilkenny, 1781, used in Edward Ledwich, Collectanea de rebus Hibernicis, II, no. 9: The History and Antiquities of Irishtown and Kilkenny (Dublin: Luke White, 1786), pp.530–31 (Journal, pp. 148–49). 3Reference for the Armitages unless otherwise stated: Mary Pollard, A Dictionary of Members of the Dublin Book Trade, 1550–1800 based on the Guild of Saint Luke the Evangelist (London 2000), pp. 13–14; 4Dublin, Register of Deeds, Deed of Assignment, vol. 431, p. 231, entry number 279942 (hereafter ROD with / separating volume, page and entry number digits). 5James contributed to the printing of Richard Cumberland's Odes (Dublin: S. Price and others, 1776). 6Journal, p.99: hereafter all Journal references appear in text in brackets. 7William Zachs, The First John Murray and the Late Eighteenth-Century London Book Trade (Oxford 1998), pp. 2, 112–13, 137–39. 8Ian Maxted, The London Book Trades 1775–1800: A Preliminary Checklist of Members (Folkestone: Dawson, i977), p. 122. 9Geoffrey L. Grant, English State Lotteries 1694–1826: A History and Collector's Guide to the Tickets and Shares (London: G. L. Grant, 2001), pp. 18–20. At the draw, numbered counterfoils were taken from one drum whilst a prize or blank ticket was picked from another. 10http://bookhistory.blogspot.co.uk/2007/oi/berch.html Ian Maxted, The London Book Trade Personnel 1775–1800. A Check List of Members, Exeter Working Papers in Book History (last updated 2015). 11William Bailey, Bailey's List of Bankrupts, Dividends and Certificates from the year 1772 to 1793, 3 vols (London: T. Wilkins, 1794), I, 100, during 1777–78 lists only one bookseller in Fleet Street: ‘Mazinghy, John’. See The National Archives [hereafter TNA], B4/21, Registers of Commissions of Bankruptcy, 1 August 1771–31 January 1781, commission number 318; London Metropolitan Archives, P69/DUN2/C/012/MS 03739, Inhabitants of Saint Dunstan in the West, London (1771–83), fol. 46r, records ‘Armitage and Mazzinghy’ at 183 Fleet Street; Sun Fire Insurance Records, CLC/B/192/F/00/MS11936, The Sun Insurance Policy Register, Old Series 1777, volume 259, policy number 388321 of John Mazzinghy (12 September 1777–29 September 1778), for No 183, Fleet Street. The book published by ‘Messrs Mazzinghy and Armitage’ was The Lottery Jest-Book or Fun even for the Losers (London: Messrs Mazzinghy and Armitage, 1777). 12The London Gazette, 18 July 1778, naming ‘Mazinghy’, stated the legal timetable. 13The itinerary is corroborated by The Journal of John Wesley, ed. by Nehemiah Curnock, 8 vols (London: R. Culley, 1909–16), VI, 173. 14ROD, 199/ 428/132746, 29 June 1759, documents Thomas's provision with others of ‘a preaching house’ for ‘John and Charles Wesley’. 15For Windsor he used Stephen Whatley, England's Gazetteer or An Accurate Description of AH the Cities, Towns and Villages of the Kingdom, 3 vols (London: J. and P. Knapton and others, 1751), I, fol. Hhh1v. 16Alexander Pope, Letters of Alexander Pope and Several of His Friends (London: J. Wright for J. Knapton and others, 1737), pp. 171–72. 17Pollard, Dictionary of Members of the Dublin Book Trade, p. 11. 18Walking to sell was associated with book pedlars rather than higher class traders using shops or auction rooms: John Feather, The Provincial Book Trade in Eighteenth-Century England (Cambridge: CUP, 1985), p. 13. 19For example, the account of Cork Exchange (pp. 115–16) quotes Charles Smith, The Ancient and Present State of the County and City of Cork, 2 vols (Dublin: A. Reilly for the author, 1750), I, 401, and of Saint Canice (pp. 142–45) transcribes Philip Luckombe, A Tour through Ireland, 2nd edn (London: T. Lowndes & Son, 1783), p.69. 20John Byron Vandermere (1743–86): A Biographical Dictionary of Actors, Actresses, Musicians, Dancers, Managers and Other Stage Personnel in London 1660–1800, ed. by Philip H. Highfill, Kalman A. Burnim and Edward A. Langhans, 16 vols (Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press, 1973–93), xv, 114. 21‘Michael Usher Doyle, Cork’, subscribed to Robert Hitchcock, An Historical View of the Irish Stage, 2 vols (Dublin: R. Marchbank, 1788–94); ‘Mr. Doyle’ is recorded as actor at The Theatre Royal, Cork (1783), see William Smith Clark, The Irish Stage in County Towns 1720–1800 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1965), p. 120. Nathaniel Grogan (c.1740–1807), see Dictionary of Irish Biography, ed. by James McGuire and James Quinn, 9 vols (Cambridge: CUP, 2009), iv, 297. Review of first night: Cork Hibernian Chronical, 15 May 1783. 22James Ramsay, Sheriff (1782–83): Richard H. Ryland, History, Topography and Antiquities of the County and City of Waterford (London: J. Murray, 1824), p.410. Song from The Plays of David Garrick 1717–79, ed. by H. W. Pedicord and F. L. Bergman, 7 vols (Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press, 1980—82), iii, 9–10, 400. 23Peace of Paris (3 September 1783); Admiral Sir George Bridges Rodney famously defended Jamaica, Battle of Saintes (1782) commanding HMS Formidable: David Spinney, Rodney (London: Allen & Unwin, 1969), pp. 398–412. 24Máire Kennedy, ‘Book Mad: The Sale of Books by Auction in Eighteenth-Century Dublin’, Dublin Historical Record, 54 (2001), 48–71 (p.61). 25ibid. p.55. 26John E. Walsh, Ireland Sixty Years Ago, 2nd edn (Dublin: James McGlashan and others, 1847), reprinted as Rakes and Ruffians: The Underworld of Georgian Dublin (Dublin: Four Courts Press, 1979), pp. 107–119. James J. Gaskin, Varieties of Irish History: From Ancient and Modern Sources and Original Documents (Dublin: William B. Kelly, 1869), pp.ix, 218–63. 27C. Scantlebury, ‘A Tale of Two Islands and Inis Padraig’, Dublin Historical Record, 15 (1960), 122–28. Thomas Bartlett, Ireland: A History (Cambridge: CUP, 2010), pp. 216–24. 28Gaskin, Varieties of Irish History, p.262. 29James D. Herbert, Irish Varieties for the Last Fifty Years Written from Recollections (London: W. Joy, 1836), pp. 109–110. 30Gaskin, Varieties of Irish History, p. 252. Song from The Plays of David Garrick, ii, 185, 234. ‘Tis Beauty commands me / My Heart must obey / Tis Honour that calls me / and Fame leads the way.’ 31Thomas Moore, Memoirs, Journal and Correspondence of Thomas Moore, ed. by John Russell, 8 vols (London: Longman, Brown, Green and Longmans, 1853–56), I, 43. 32February 1791: ROD, 432/45/279964: Stephen Armitage still styled as ‘bookseller’. 33TNA, B6/5, Bankruptcy and Debt Relief Courts, Office of the Commissioners of Bankrupts and Successors, Certificates of Conformity, 4 January 1774–21 December 1781, p. 151. London Metropolitan Archives, Sun Fire Insurance Records, CLC/B/192/F/00/MS11936, The Sun Insurance Policy Register, Old Series 1777, vol. 363, policy number 388321. Old Bailey Proceedings Online. www.Oldbaileyonline.org: 20 July 1791 (consulted 18/11/2015). 34John Mazzinghi, The New and Universal Guide through the Cities of London and Westminster (London: C. Dilly and P. Elmsley, 1785); Jean Mazzinghi, Histoire de I’antiquité et de I’état présent de Londres et de Westminster (London: C. Dilly and J. Owen, 1793). 35The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, ed. by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrell, 29 vols (London: Grove, 2001), xvi, cols 192–94. Libretti include, for example, Ferdinando Moretti, Idalide (London: H. Reynell, 1791), and, with music by Joseph Mazzinghi, C. S. Favart, La Belle Arsene (London: W. Glindon, 1795). 36The Times, 4 December 1793. 37TNA, HO42/45, Home Office, List of Prisoners in Custody for High Treason (25 April 1798– 12 April 1799), fol. 474r; and PC1/43/150, Privy Council, November 1798, Trial of John Mazzinghi. 38Elizabeth Sparrow, Secret Service, British Agents in France 1792–1815 (Woodbridge: Boydell Press, 1999), pp.175–78. Elizabeth Sparrow, Phantom of the Guillotine: the Real Scarlet Pimpernel Louis Bayard Lewis Duval, 1769–1844 (Penzance: Carn Press, 2013), pp. 119–22. 39Sparrow, Phantom of the Guillotine, p. 120. TNA, HO 42/46, Home Office, Domestic Correspondence, George III, Letters and Papers, 3 January 1799, fol. 262. 40Giovanni Mazzinghi, Le Bellezze della lingua inglese (Naples: nella tipografia al largo di S.M. degli Angioli a Pizzofalcone, 1815). John Mazzinghi, A Guide to the Antiquities and Curiosities in the City of Naples (Naples: Agnello Nobile for the author, 1817–18). 41No other journals of this type survive: Raymond Gillespie, ‘Sources for the History of the Early Modern Book in Ireland’, in The Irish Book in English 1550–1800, ed. by Raymond Gillespie and Andrew Hadfield (Oxford: OUP, 2005), pp. 385–92. Author notes This paper has been written up by Catherine E. King relying on the research and drafts of her husband, Patrick J. King (obituary: The Book Collector, Autumn 2013). The Journal, according to his wish, is being donated to The National Library of Ireland. Catherine King thanks Dr Nicolas Barker for advice on initial drafting. © The Author 2020; all rights reserved This article is published and distributed under the terms of the Oxford University Press, Standard Journals Publication Model (https://academic.oup.com/journals/pages/open_access/funder_policies/chorus/standard_publication_model)
TI - A New Source for the History of Eighteenth-Century Bookselling: The Journal of Stephen Armitage
JF - The Library
DO - 10.1093/library/21.1.74
DA - 2020-03-01
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SP - 74
VL - 21
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DP - DeepDyve
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