The Gentleman's Diary, or the Mathematical Repository; an Almanack for the Year of our Lord 1805: being the first after bissextile. Containing many useful and entertaining Particulars peculiarly adapted to the ingenious Gentlemen engaged in the delightful Study and Practice of the Mathematicks. The sixty-fifth almanack published of this kind; and the fifty-third of the New Style in England.

COMPANY OF STATIONERS.

Published by London: Printed for the Company of Stationers by Nichols and Son, by J. and C. Adlard, by G. Woodfall, by Harrison and Son, by Luke Hansard & Sons, 1805

About this Item

First edition, containing seven different almanacs published by the Company for the year 1805. The Gentleman's Diary by Gregory Olinthus; The Ladies' Diary by Charles Hutton; Vox Stellarum by Francis Moore; Merlinus Liberatus by John Partridge; Old Poor Robin; Speculum Anni by Henry Season; An Almanack by Tycho Wing; and The Celestial Atlas by Robert White. The Company of Stationers' list of titles, known as the English Stock, swelled to 25 titles by 1801, ranging from respectable titles, albeit with limited circulation, such as the Gentleman's Diary and Ladies' Diary, to Francis Moore's Vox Stellarum, described by Katherine Anderson as "astrological crude, and immensely profitable" (25). The satirical Poor Old Robin series, written by pseudonymous authors since the eighteenth century, was similarly declaimed "a farrago of filth, obscenity, and stupidity", "execrable poison", and "a representative of the insulting absurdities through which the Stationers' Company made money. from a public taste for superstition and degraded buffoonery" (Wardhaugh, 231). Nonetheless, the public's in interest in these cruder works was reflected by the relatively consistent sales figure. In 1801, the Gentleman's Diary sold 2,648 copies and made one shilling profit, whereas Moore's Vox Stellarum sold 362,449 copies and made a profit of nearly £2,600. Despite its unprofitability, the Gentleman's Diary series lasted for almost 100 years, with annual issues throughout 1741-1840. Each issue featured an almanac, enigmas, and mathematical problems. As Albree notes, the Gentleman's Diary was "an exceptional enterprise. Most late 18th century and early 19th century British mathematical periodicals were founded and produced by only one or two men and most were ephemeral" (21). Gregory Olinthus was mathematical master at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, where he co-edited the popular The Ladies' Diary that inspired scores of similar journals throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. This edition features the last issue of An Almanack by Tycho Wing, whose descendants discontinued its publication in 1805. A manuscript note by H. Davis, dated 1854, on the front free endpaper verso states, "This vol belonged to Edward, Lord Ellenborough, C.J.; and afterwards to his son, the Recorder of London"; that is, the judge Edward Law, first Baron Ellenborough (1750-1818). Albree, "A Valuable Moment of Mathematical Genius": The Ladies Diary, (2009); Anderson, Predicting the Weather: Victorians and the Science of Meteorology (2005); Despeaux, Mathematics in Victorian Britain (2011). Duodecimo (162 x 97 mm). Contemporary straight-grain red morocco, gilt bands, borders and edges, marbled endpapers, sectional vellum ink-letter tabs, tax stamps on title page of each issue. Slightly rubbed, minor blemishes on covers, vellum tabs curled, lacking rear free endpaper; still a very good copy.

Seller Inventory # 116897

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Gentleman's Diary, or the Mathematical Repository; an Almanack for the Year of our Lord 1805: being the first after bissextile. Containing many useful and entertaining Particulars peculiarly adapted to the ingenious Gentlemen engaged in the delightful Study and Practice of the Mathematicks. The sixty-fifth almanack published of this kind; and the fifty-third of the New Style in England.
• Publisher: London: Printed for the Company of Stationers by Nichols and Son, by J. and C. Adlard, by G. Woodfall, by Harrison and Son, by Luke Hansard & Sons, 1805
• Edition: 1st Edition