_NEWSPAPER ADVERTISING FORESHADOWED--ITS EARLIEST USE--HOUGHTON’S
LESSONS._
By this time, and in various ways, the first transitory glimpses of a
system at present all-powerful and universal began to show
themselves--vague and uncertain, and often unsatisfactory, it must be
admitted, but still the first evidences of the growth of an unparalleled
institution; in fact, the base upon which the institution eventually
reared itself. With improvements in printing, and the invention of
movable type, the supply of pamphlets on current topics--the first rude
forerunners of the newspaper as we understand it--began to be enlarged,
and this opportunity was not lost on the bold spirits who even in those
days could understand the advantages bound to accrue from a system of
intercommunication at once advantageous to buyer and seller, and calling
for special attention from both. There is a wonderful amount of
attraction about these discoloured and moth-eaten papers, with their
rude types and quaint spelling, which breathe, as much as do the words
themselves, the spirit of a bygone age, and those who are so fond of
praising past times might receive a valuable lesson from the perusal of
these occasional publications, which are full of the spirit of an age
when comfort, as we understand the word, was unknown to even the
wealthy; when travelling was a luxury--a woeful luxury, it must be
admitted--known only to those possessed of ample means, or others called
forth on special or desperate missions; when men lived long, and, as
they thought, eventful lives, within a circle of half-a-dozen miles; and
when the natural consequences of this isolation, ignorance and
intolerance, held almost absolute sway over the length and breadth of
the land. And in these old papers, as we get nearer and nearer to modern
times, can be traced the gradual benefit which accrued from man’s
intercourse with man, not only by the construction and improvement of
roads, and the introduction of and competition among stage coaches, but
by means of the subject of this work,--and very much by their means
too,--advertisements.
As early as 1524, pamphlets or small books of news were printed in
Vienna and other parts of Germany, but their publication was very
irregular, and little or nothing is known of them beyond the fact of
their being. It is not easy to determine which nation first found its
way towards newspaper advertisements, but there is good reason to
believe that France is entitled to the honour, so far as regular and
consecutive business is concerned. The _Journal Général d’Affiches_,
better known as the _Petites Affiches_, was first published on the 14th
of October 1612. It obtained from Louis XIII. by letters-patent sundry
privileges which were subsequently confirmed (1628 and 1635). Judging by
the title of this publication, it would appear to have been an
advertising medium, but this must be left to surmise, there being no
opportunity, so far as we are aware, of inspecting the earliest numbers.
Two centuries and a half have passed away since the first appearance of
this periodical, and the _Petites Affiches_ has neither changed its
title, nor, it may be fairly presumed, the nature of its publicity. It
is now the journal of the domestic wants of France; and servants seeking
situations, or persons wanting servants, advertise in it in preference
to all others. It is especially the medium for announcing any public or
private sales of property, real or personal; and the publication of
partnership deeds, articles of association of public companies, and
other legal notices, are required to be inserted in the _Journal des
Petites Affiches_, which is published in a small octavo form.
The oldest newspaper paragraph approaching to an advertisement yet met
with, is in one of those early German newsbooks preserved in the British
Museum. It is printed in 1591, without name of place, and contains all
the memorable occurrences of the years 1588 and 1589, such as the defeat
of the Armada, the murder of King Henry III. of France, and other stale
matter of the same kind; a curious instance of the tardiness with which
news, whether good or ill, travelled in those times. Among the many
signs and tokens which were then supposed to give warning of divine
wrath at the general wickedness of mankind, was an unknown plant which
had made its appearance in one of the suburbs of the town of Soltwedel.
It grew in a garden amongst other plants, but nobody had ever seen its
like. A certain Dr Laster thereupon wrote a book describing the plant,
and giving a print of it in the frontispiece. “This book,” says the
pamphlet, “which as yet is not much known, shows and explains all what
this plant contains. Magister Cunan has published it, and Matthew Welack
has printed it, in Wittemberg. Let whoever does not yet know the meaning
of this [portend] buy the book at once, and read it with all possible
zeal:”--
Ein wunderlichs Gewechs man hat,
Von Soltwedel der Alten stad,
Der Berber die Vorstadt genand,
Gefunden welchs gar niemand kend.
In einem Garten gewachsen ist,
Bey andern Kreutern ist gewis,
Sein Conterfey und recht gestalt,
Wird auffm Tittel gezeiget bald,
Ein Buch Hoffarts Laster genand,
Welches jetzt noch sehr unbekand
Darin gewiesen und vermied,
Was das gewechse in sich hilt,
Mag: Cunaw hats geben an den Tag
Zu Wittemberg druckts Matths Welack,
Wer des bedeutung noch nicht weis
Kauff das Buch lisz mit allem fleis.
Though this is an advertisement to all intents and purposes, still it is
of the kind now best known amongst those most interested as “puff pars,”
and is similar to those that the early booksellers frequently inserted
in their works. It is therefore not unlikely that the book in question
and the newsletter were printed at the same shop. Another, in fact,
_the_ earliest instance of newspaper advertising, is that of Nathaniel
Butler; still this also only relates to books. The first genuine
miscellaneous advertisements yet discovered occur in a Dutch
black-letter newspaper, which was published in the reign of our James
I., without name or title. The advertisement in question is inserted at
the end of the folio half-sheet which contains the news, November 21,
1626, and, in a type different from the rest of the paper, gives notice
that there will be held a sale by auction of articles taken out of
prizes, viz., sugar, ivory, pepper, tobacco, and logwood. At that time
there appeared two newspapers in Amsterdam, and it is not a little
curious that Broer Jansz[24] occasionally advertised the books he
published in the paper of his rival, which was entitled “Courant from
Italy and Germany.” Gradually the advertisements become more frequent,
the following being some of them literally translated. The first is from
the _Courante uyt Italien ende Duytschland_ of July 23, 1633:--
With the last ships from the East Indies have been brought an
elephant, a tiger, and an Indian stag, which are to be seen at the Old
Glass house, for the benefit of the poor, where many thousands of
people visit them.
[Illustration: The _Hollandsche Mercurius_, which was issued more than
two hundred years ago, showed great interest in English affairs,
especially with regard to the Civil War. It was much inclined to the
Royal cause; and when in 1653 Cromwell assumed supreme power, the above
was issued as a title, and purported to show the various events which
had recently passed in Great Britain.]
The heirs of the late Mr Bernardus Paludanus, Doctor, of the City of
Enkhuyzen, will sell his world-famed museum in lots, by public
auction, or by private contract, on the 1st of August, 1634.
The two following are taken from the _Tydinghen_, the first appearing on
May 27, 1634:--
The Burgomasters and Council of the town of Utrecht have been pleased
to found in this old and famous town, an illustrious school
[university], at which will be taught and explained the sacred
Theology and Jurisprudence, besides Philosophy, History, and similar
sciences. And it will commence and open at Whitsuntide of this present
year.
A few days after, on June 7th, the inauguration of this school is
advertised as about to take place on the ensuing Tuesday. There is one
instance of an advertisement from a foreign country being inserted in
this paper; it runs as follows, and is dated June 2, 1635:--
Licentiate Grim, British preacher and professor at the University of
Wesel, has published an extensive treatise against all popish
scribblers, entitled “Papal Sanctimony,” that is, catholic and
authentic proof that Pope John VIII., commonly called Pope Jutte
[Joan], was a woman.
In England the first bonâ fide attempt at newspaper work was attempted
in 1622, when the outbreak of the great Civil War caused an unusual
demand to be made for news, and as the appetite grew by what it fed on,
this unwonted request for information may be regarded as the
fount-spring of that vast machine which “liners” delight to call “the
fourth estate.” It was this demand which suggested to one Nathaniel
Butler, a bookseller and a pamphleteer of twelve years’ standing, the
idea of printing a weekly newspaper from the Venetian gazettes, which
used to circulate in manuscript. After one or two preliminary attempts,
he acquired sufficient confidence in his publication to issue the
following advertisement:--
If any gentleman or other accustomed to buy the weekly relations of
newes be desirous to continue the same, let them know that the writer,
or transcriber rather, of this newes, hath published two former newes,
the one dated the 2nd and the other the 13th of August, all of which
do carry a like title with the arms of the King of Bohemia on the
other side of the title-page, and have dependence one upon another:
which manner of writing and printing he doth purpose to continue
weekly by God’s assistance from the best and most certain
intelligence: farewell, this twenty-three of August, 1622.
Like most innovations, this attempt met with an indifferent reception,
and was greeted in the literary world with a shower of invective. Even
Ben Jonson joined in the outcry, and ridiculed the newspaper office in
his “Staple of News,” in which, among other notions, he publishes the
paradox, as it now appears to us, that the information contained in the
gazette “had ceased to be news by being printed.” Butler’s venture seems
to have been anything but a success, and but for the fact that it gave
rise to speculation on the subject of newspapers, and laid the
foundation of our periodical literature, might, so far at all events as
its promoter was concerned, never have had an existence. But the idea
lost no ground, and newspapers began to make their way, though they did
not assume anything like regularity, or definite shape and character,
for nearly half a century. None of these precursors of newspaper history
exceeded in size a single small leaf, and the quantity of news contained
in fifty of them would be exceeded by a single issue of the present day.
What is generally supposed to be, but is not, the first authenticated
advertisement is the following, the political and literary significance
of which is apparent at a glance. It appears in the _Mercurius
Politicus_ for January 1652:--
IRENODIA GRATULATORIA, an Heroick Poem; being a congratulatory
panegyrick for my Lord General’s late return, summing up his successes
in an exquisite manner.
To be sold by John Holden, in the New Exchange, London. Printed by
Tho. Newcourt, 1652.
In this chapter we have no intention of giving any specimens beyond
those which are striking and characteristic. In subsequent chapters we
shall carry the history in an unbroken line to modern times, but our
intention is now to select special instances and specimens of
particular interest, and so we pass on to what may be almost considered
a landmark in the history of our civilisation and refinement, the
introduction of tea. The _Mercurius Politicus_ of September 30, 1658,
sets forth--
THAT Excellent, and by all Physicians, approved, _China_ drink, called
by the Chineans _Tcha_, by other nations _Tay_ alias _Tee_, is sold at
the Sultaness Head Cophee-House, in Sweeting’s Rents, by the Royal
Exchange, London.
This announcement then marks an era; it shows that “l’impertinente
nouveauté du siècle,” as the French physician, Guy Patin, called it in
his furious diatribes, has not only made its advent, but is fighting its
way forward. Patin is not without followers even in the present day,
many people who would be surprised if accused of wanting in sense
believing all “slops” to be causes of degeneracy. It must be observed
that this is not the first acquaintance of our countrymen with the
Chinese leaf--the advertisement simply shows the progress it is
making--as tea is said to have been occasionally sold in England as
early as 1635, at the exorbitant price of from £6 to £10 per pound.
Thomas Garway, a tobacconist and coffee-house keeper in Exchange Alley,
the founder of Garraway’s Coffee-house, was the first who sold and
retailed tea, recommending it, as always has been, and always will be
the case with new articles of diet, as a panacea for all disorders flesh
is heir to. The following shop-bill, being more curious than any
historical account we have of the early use of “the cup that cheers but
not inebriates,” will be found well worth reading:--
Tea in England hath been sold in the leaf for £6, and sometimes for
£10 the pound weight, and in respect of its former scarceness and
dearness it hath been only used as a regalia in high treatments and
entertainments, and presents made thereof to princes and grandees till
the year 1657. The said Garway did purchase a quantity thereof, and
first sold the said tea in leaf or drink, made according to the
directions of the most knowing merchants into those Eastern countries.
On the knowledge of the said Garway’s continued care and industry in
obtaining the best tea, and making drink thereof very many noblemen,
physicians, merchants, &c., have ever since sent to him for the said
leaf, and daily resort to his house to drink the drink thereof. He
sells tea from 16s. to 50s. a pound.
The opposition beverage, coffee--mention is made of the “cophee-house”
in the “Tcha” advertisement--had been known in this country some years
before, a Turkey merchant of London, of the name of Edwards, having
brought the first bag of coffee to London, and his Greek servant, Pasqua
Rosee, was the first to open a coffee-house in London. This was in 1652,
the time of the Protectorate, and one Jacobs, a Jew, had opened a
similar establishment in Oxford a year or two earlier. Pasqua Rosee’s
coffee-house was in St Michael’s Alley, Cornhill. One of his original
handbills is preserved in the British Museum, and is a curious record of
a remarkable social innovation. It is here reprinted:--
THE VERTUE OF THE COFFEE DRINK,
_First made and publicly sold in England by_
_PASQUA ROSEE_.
The grain or berry called coffee, groweth upon little trees only in
the deserts of Arabia. It is brought from thence and drunk generally
throughout all the Grand Seignour’s dominions. It is a simple,
innocent thing, composed into a drink, by being dried in an oven, and
ground to powder, and boiled up with spring water, and about half a
pint of it to be drunk fasting an hour before, and not eating an hour
after, and to be taken as hot as can possibly be endured; the which
will never fetch the skin of the mouth, or raise any blisters by
reason of that heat.
The Turk’s drink at meals and other times is usually water, and their
diet consists much of fruit; the acidities whereof are very much
corrected by this drink.
The quality of this drink is cold and dry; and though it be a drier;
yet it neither heats nor inflames more than hot posset. It so
incloseth the orifice of the stomach, and fortifies the heat within,
that it is very good to help digestion; and therefore of great use to
be taken about three or four o’clock afternoon, as well as in the
morning. It much quickens the spirits, and makes the heart lightsome;
it is good against sore eyes, and the better if you hold your head
over it and take in the steam that way. It suppresseth fumes
exceedingly, and therefore is good against the head-ache, and will
very much stop any defluxion of rheums that distil from the head upon
the stomach, and so prevent and help consumptions and the cough of the
lungs.
It is excellent to prevent and cure the dropsy, gout, and scurvy. It
is known by experience to be better than any other drying drink for
people in years, or children that have any running humours upon them,
as the king’s evil, &c. It is a most excellent remedy against the
spleen, hypochondriac winds, and the like. It will prevent drowsiness,
and make one fit for business, if one have occasion to watch, and
therefore you are not to drink of it after supper, unless you intend
to be watchful, for it will hinder sleep for three or four hours.
It is observed that in Turkey, where this is generally drunk, that
they are not troubled with the stone, gout, dropsy, or scurvy, and
that their skins are exceeding clear and white. It is neither laxative
nor restringent.
_Made and Sold in St Michael’s Alley, in Cornhill, by Pasqua Rosee,
at the sign of his own head._
In addition to tea and coffee, the introduction and acceptance of which
had certainly a most marked influence on the progress of civilisation,
may be mentioned a third, which, though extensively used, never became
quite so great a favourite as the others. Chocolate, the remaining
member of the triad, was introduced into England much about the same
period. It had been known in Germany as early as 1624, when Johan Frantz
Rauch wrote a treatise against that beverage. In England, however, it
seems to have been introduced much later, for in 1657 it was still
advertised as a new drink. In the _Publick Advertiser_ of Tuesday, June
16-22, 1657, we find the following:--
IN Bishopsgate Street, in Queen’s Head Alley, at a Frenchman’s house,
is an excellent West India drink, called chocolate, to be sold, where
you may have it ready at any time, and also unmade, at reasonable
rates.
Chocolate never, except among exquisites and women of fashion, made
anything of a race with its more sturdy opponents, in this country at
all events, for while tea and coffee have become naturalised beverages,
chocolate has always retained its foreign prejudices.
In the _Kingdom’s Intelligencer_, a weekly paper published in 1662, are
inserted several curious advertisements giving the prices of tea,
coffee, chocolate, &c., one of which is as follows:--
AT the Coffeehouse in Exchange Alley, is sold by retail the right
_coffee powder_, from 4s. to 6s. 8d. per pound, as in goodness; that
pounded in a mortar at 2s. 6d. per pound, and that termed the East
India berry at 18d. per pound. Also that termed the right Turkey
berry, well garbled at 3s. per pound, the ungarbled for lesse, with
directions gratis how to make and use the same. Likewise there you may
have _chocolatta_, the ordinary pound boxes at 2s. 6d. per pound; the
perfumed from 4s. to 10s. per pound. Also _sherbets_, made in Turkie,
of lemons, roses, and violets perfumed, and _Tea_ according to its
goodness. For all which, if any gentleman shall write or send, they
shall be sure of the best, as they shall order, and, to avoid deceit,
warranted under the house-seal--viz., Morat the Great. Further, all
gentlemen that are customers and acquaintance, are (the next New
Year’s day), invited at the sign of the Great Turk, at the new coffee
house, in Exchange Alley, where coffee will be on free cost.
Leaving the enticing subject of these new beverages, we find that in May
1657 there appeared a weekly paper which assumed the title of the
_Public Advertiser_, the first number being dated 19th to 26th May. It
was printed for Newcombe, in Thames Street, and consisted almost wholly
of advertisements, including the arrivals and departures of ships, and
books to be printed. Soon other papers also commenced to insert more and
more advertisements, sometimes stuck in the middle of political items,
and announcements of marine disasters, murders, marriages, births, and
deaths. Most of the notices at this period related to runaway
apprentices and black boys, fairs and cockfights, burglaries and highway
robberies, stolen horses, lost dogs, swords, and scent-bottles, and the
departure of coaches on long journeys into the provinces, and sometimes
even as far as Edinburgh. These announcements are not devoid of interest
and curiosity for us who live in the days of railways and fast steamers;
and so we quote the following from the _Mercurius Politicus_ of April
1, 1658:--
FROM the 26th day of April 1658, there will continue to go Stage
Coaches from the _George_ Inn, without Aldersgate, _London_, unto the
several Cities and Towns, for the Rates and at the times hereafter
mentioned and declared.
_Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday._
To _Salisbury_ in two days for xxs. To _Blandford_ and _Dorchester_ in
two days and half for xxxs. To _Burport_ in three days for xxxs. To
_Exmaster_, _Hunnington_, and _Exeter_ in four days for xls.
To _Stamford_ in two days for xxs. To _Newark_ in two days and a half
for xxvs. To _Bawtry_ in three days for xxxs. To _Doncaster_ and
_Ferribridge_ for xxxvs. To _York_ in four days for xls.
_Mondays_ and _Wednesdays_ to _Ockinton_ and _Plimouth_ for ls.
Every _Monday_ to _Helperby_ and _Northallerton_ for xlvs. To
_Darneton_ and _Ferryhil_ for ls. To _Durham_ for lvs. To _Newcastle_
for iii£.
Once every fortnight to _Edinburgh_ for iv£ a peece--_Mondays_.
Every _Friday_, to _Wakefield_ in four days, xls.
All persons who desire to travel unto the Cities, Towns, and Roads
herein hereafter mentioned and expressed, namely--to _Coventry_,
_Litchfield_, _Stone_, _Namptwich_, _Chester_, _Warrington_, _Wiggan_,
_Chorley_, _Preston_, _Gastang_, _Lancaster_ and _Kendal_; and also to
_Stamford_, _Grantham_, _Newark_, _Tuxford_, _Bawtrey_, _Doncaster_,
_Ferriebridge_, _York_, _Helperby_, _Northallerton_, _Darneton_,
_Ferryhill_, _Durham_, and _Newcastle_, _Wakefield_, _Leeds_, and
_Halifax_; and also to _Salisbury_, _Blandford_, _Dorchester_,
_Burput_, _Exmaster_, _Hunnington_, and _Exeter_, _Ockinton_,
_Plimouth_, and _Cornwal_; let them repair to the _George_ Inn, at
_Holborn Bridge, London_, and thence they shall be in good Coaches
with good Horses, upon every _Monday_, _Wednesday_, and _Fridays_, at
and for reasonable Rates.
Among the advertisements which prevailed most extensively in those early
times, may, as has been remarked, be ranked those of runaway servants,
apprentices, and black boys. England at that time swarmed with negro or
mulatto boys, which the wealthy used as pages, in imitation of the
Italian nobility. They were either imported from the West Indies, or
brought from the Peninsula. The first advertisement of a runaway black
page we meet with is dated August 11, 1659, but in this instance the
article is advertised as “lost,” like a dog, which is after all but
natural, the boy being a chattel:--
A Negro-boy, about nine years of age, in a gray Searge suit, his hair
cut close to his head, was lost on Tuesday last, _August 9_, at night,
in St Nicholas Lane, London. If any one can give notice of him to Mr
Tho. Barker, at the Sugar Loaf, in that Lane, they shall be well
rewarded for their pains.
It is amusing to see, from this advertisement, that the wool of the
negro found no grace in the eye of his Puritan master, who cropped the
boy’s head as close as his own. Black boys continued in fashion for more
than a century after, and were frequently offered for sale, by means of
advertisements, in the same manner as slaves used to be, within recent
years, in the Southern States of America. Even as late as 1769 sales of
human flesh went on in this country. The _Gazetteer_, April 18, of that
year, classes together “for sale at the Bull and Gate, Holborn: a
chestnut gelding, a trim-whiskey, and a well-made, good-tempered black
boy;” whilst a Liverpool paper of ten years later, October 15, 1779,
announces as to be sold by auction, “at George Dunbar’s offices, on
Thursday next, 21st inst., at one o’clock, a black boy about fourteen
years old, and a large mountain tiger-cat.” This will be news to many
blind worshippers of the ideal creature known as “a man and a brother.”
Another curiosity of the advertisement literature of the seventeenth
century is the number of servants and apprentices absconding with their
masters’ property. Nearly all those dishonest servants must have had
appearances such as in these days might lead to conviction first and
trial afterwards. First of all, there is scarcely one of them but is
“pock-marked,” “pock-pitted,” “pock-fretted,” “pock-holed,”
“pit-marked,” or “full of pock-holes,” a fact which furnishes a
significant index of the ravages this terrible sickness must have made
amongst our ancestors, and offers a conclusive argument--though argument
is unfortunately inadmissible among them--to those blatant and
illogical people, the opponents of vaccination. Besides the myriads who
annually died of small-pox, it would, perhaps, not be an exaggeration to
assume that one-fourth of mankind at that time was pock-marked, and not
pock-marked as we understand the term. Whole features were destroyed,
and a great percentage of blindness was attributable to this cause.
Indeed, so accustomed were the people of those times to pock-marked
faces, that these familiar inequalities of the facial surface do not
appear to have been considered an absolute drawback even upon the charms
of a beauty or a beau. Louis XIV. in his younger days was considered one
of the handsomest men of France, notwithstanding that he was
pock-marked, and La Vallière and some other famous beauties of that
period are known to have laboured under the same disadvantage. This is a
hard fact which should destroy many of the ideas raised by fiction. The
following is a fair specimen of the descriptions of the dangerous
classes given in the early part of the latter half of the seventeenth
century, and is taken from the _Mercurius Politicus_ of May 1658:--
A Black-haired Maid, of a middle stature, thick set, with big breasts,
having her face full marked with the small-pox, calling herself by the
name of _Nan_ or _Agnes Hobson_, did, upon Monday, the 28 of May,
about six o’Clock in the morning, steal away from her Ladies house in
the Pal-Mall, a mingle-coloured wrought Tabby gown of Deer colour and
white; a black striped Sattin Gown with four broad bone-black silk
Laces, and a plain black watered French Tabby Gown; Also one
Scarlet-coloured and one other Pink-coloured Sarcenet Peticoat, and a
white watered Tabby Wastcoat, plain; Several Sarcenet, Mode, and thin
black Hoods and Scarfs, several fine Holland Shirts, a laced pair of
Cuffs and Dressing, one pair of Pink-coloured Worsted Stockings, a
Silver Spoon, a Leather bag, &c. She went away in greyish Cloth
Wastcoat turned, and a Pink-coloured Paragon upper Peticoat, with a
green Tammy under one. If any shall give notice of this person or
things at one _Hopkins_, a Shoomaker’s, next door to the Vine Tavern,
near the Pal-mall end, near Charing Cross, or at Mr _Ostler’s_, at the
Bull Head in Cornhill, near the Old Exchange, they shall be rewarded
for their pains.
In the same style was almost every other description; and though
embarrassed by the quantity as well as quality we have to choose from,
we cannot pass over this bit of word-painting, which is rich in
description. It is from the _Mercurius Politicus_ of July 1658:--
ONE Eleanor Parker (by birth _Haddock_), of a Tawny reddish
complexion, a pretty long nose, tall of stature, servant to _Mr
Ferderic Howpert_, Kentish Town, upon Saturday last, the _26th of
June_, ran away and stole two Silver Spoons; a sweet Tent-work Bag,
with gold and silver Lace about it, and lined with Satin; a Bugle
work-Cushion, very curiously wrought in all manners of slips and
flowers; a Shell cup, with a Lyon’s face, and a Ring of silver in its
mouth; besides many other things of considerable value, which she took
out of her Mistresses Cabinet, which she broke open; as also some
Cloaths and Linen of all sorts, to the value of Ten pounds and
upwards. If any one do meet with her and please to secure her, and
give notice to the said _Ferderic Howpert_, or else to Mr _Malpass_,
Leather seller, at the Green Dragon, at the upper end of Lawrence
Lane, he shall be thankfully rewarded for his pains.
But besides the ravages of small-pox, the hue and cry raised after
felons exhibits an endless catalogue of deformities. Hardly a rogue is
described but he is “ugly as sin.” In turning over these musty piles of
small quarto newspapers which were read by the men of the seventeenth
century, a most ill-favoured crowd of evil-doers springs up around us.
The rogues cannot avoid detection, if they venture out among good
citizens, for they are branded with marks by which all men may know
them. Take the following specimens of “men of the time.” The first is
from the _London Gazette_ of January 24-28, 1677:--
ONE John Jones, a Welchman, servant to Mr Gray, of Whitehall, went
away the 27th with £50 of his master’s in silver. He is aged about 25
years, of a middle stature, something thick, a down black look,
purblind, between long and round favoured, something pale of
complexion, lank, dark, red hair; a hair-coloured large suit on,
something light; a bowe nose a little sharp and reddish, almost beetle
brow’d and something deaf, given to slabber in his speech. Whoever
secures the said servant and brings him to his master, shall have £5
reward.
This portrait was evidently drawn by an admirer; and it is with evident
pleasure that the artist, after describing the “lank, dark, red hair,”
and the suit like it, returns to the charge, and gives the finishing
touches to the comely features. Here is another pair of beauties, whose
descriptions appear in the _Currant Intelligence_, March 6-9, 1682:--
SAMUEL SMITH, Scrivener in Grace Church Street, London, about 26 years
old, crook-backed, of short stature, red hair, hath a black periwig
and sometimes a light one, pale complexion, Pock-holed full face, a
mountier cap with a scarlet Ribbon, and one of the same colour on his
cravat and sword, a light coloured campaign coat faced with blue shag,
in company with his brother John Smith, who has a slit in his nose, a
tall lusty man, red hair, a sad grey campaign coat, a lead colour suit
lined with red: they were mounted, one on a flea-bitten grey, the
other on a light bay horse.
For powers of description this next is worthy of study. It is
contemporary with the other:--
WILLIAM WALTON, a tall young man about sixteen years of age,
down-look’d, much disfigured with the Small-pox, strait brown hair,
black rotten teeth, having an impediment in his speech, in a sad
coloured cloth sute, the coat faced with shag, a white hat with a
black ribbon on it, went away from his master, &c. &c.
And so on, as per example; the runaways and missing folk--for all that
are advertised are not offenders against the law--seem to have exhausted
the whole catalogue of human and inhuman ugliness. By turns the
attention of the public is directed to a brown fellow with a long nose,
or with full staring grey eyes, countenance very ill-favoured, having
lost his right eye, voice loud and shrill, teeth black and rotten, with
a wide mouth and a hang-dog look, smutty complexion, a dimple in the top
of his nose, or a flat wry nose with a star in it, voice low and
disturbed, long visage, down look, and almost every other objectionable
peculiarity imaginable. What a milk-and-water being our modern rough is,
after all!
Dr Johnson, in a bantering paper on the art of advertising, published in
the _Idler_, No. 40, observes: “The man who first took advantage of the
general curiosity that was excited by a siege or battle to betray the
readers of news into the knowledge of the shop where the best puffs and
powder were to be sold, was undoubtedly a man of great sagacity, and
profound skill in the nature of man. But when he had once shown the way,
it was easy to follow him.” Yet it took a considerable time before the
mass of traders could be brought to understand the real use of
advertising, even as the great Doctor understood it. Even he could
hardly have comprehended advertising as it is now. The first man who
endeavoured to systematically convince the world of the vast uses which
might be made of this medium was Sir Roger L’Estrange. That intelligent
speculator, in 1663, obtained an appointment to the new office of
“Surveyor of the Imprimery and Printing Presses,” by which was granted
to him the sole privilege of writing, printing, and publishing all
narratives, advertisements, mercuries, &c. &c., besides all briefs for
collections, playbills, quack-salvers’ bills, tickets, &c. &c. On the
1st of August 1663 appeared a paper published by him, under the name of
the _Intelligencer_, and on the 24th of the same month the public were
warned against the “petty cozenage” of some of the booksellers, who had
persuaded their customers that they could not sell the paper under
twopence a sheet, though it was sold to them at about a fourth part of
that price. The first number of the _Newes_ (which was also promoted by
Sir Roger L’Estrange) appeared September 3, 1663, and, as we are told by
Nicholls in his “Literary Anecdotes,” “contained more advertisements of
importance than any previous paper.” Still, the benefit of the publicity
which might be derived from advertising was so little understood by the
trading community of the period, that after the Plague and the Great
Fire this really valuable means of acquainting the public with new
places of abode, the resumption of business, and the thousand and one
changes incidental on such calamities, were almost entirely neglected.
Though nearly the entire city had been burnt out, and the citizens must
necessarily have entered new premises or erected extempore shops, yet
hardly any announcements appear in the papers to acquaint the public of
the new addresses. The _London Gazette_, October 11-15, 1666, offered
its services, but hardly to any effect; little regard being paid to the
following invitation:--
Such as have settled in new habitations since the late fire, and
desire for the convenience of their correspondence to publish the
place of their present abode, or to give notice of goods lost or
found, may repair to the corner house in Bloomsbury, or on the east
side of the great square [Bloomsbury Square] before the house of the
Right Honourable the Lord Treasurer, where there is care taken for the
receipt and publication of such advertisements.
Among the very few advertisements relating to those great calamities is
the following, produced by the Plague, which is inserted in the
_Intelligencer_, June 22-30, 1665:--
THIS is to certify that the master of the Cock and Bottle, commonly
called the Cock alehouse, at Temple bar, hath dismissed his servants,
and shut up his house for this long vacation, intending (God willing)
to return at Michaelmas next, so that all persons who have any
accounts or farthings belonging to the said house, are desired to
repair thither before the 8th of this instant, July, and they shall
receive satisfaction.
Relating to the Fire, the following from the _London Gazette_, March 12,
1672-73, was the notification:--
THESE are to give notice that Edward Barlet, Oxford carrier, hath
removed his Inn in London from the Swan at Holborn Bridge to the
Oxford Arms in Warwick Lane, where he did inne before the Fire. His
coaches and waggons going forth on their usual days, Mondays,
Wednesdays, and Fridays. He hath also a hearse, with all things
convenient to carry a corpse to any part of England.
There is not, however, a single advertisement relating to any of those
temporary conveniences of every kind which invariably arise, as by
magic, on any great and unusual emergency. Indeed, about this period,
and for a long time after, the _London Gazette_, which was the official
organ of the day, appeared frequently without a single advertisement;
and till the end of the reign of Charles II., it was only very rarely
that that paper contained more than four advertisements of a general
kind, very frequently the number being less. The subjects of these were
almost exclusively thefts, losses, and runaways. Booksellers’ and
quacks’ advertisements were, however, even then frequent in this paper;
their announcements always preceded the others, and were printed in a
different type.
In 1668 Mr (afterwards Sir) Roger L’Estrange commenced the _Mercury, or
Advertisements concerning Trade_, which does not seem to have answered,
for it soon became extinct. Some years after, the now well-known scheme
of issuing sheets of advertisements gratuitously, trusting for profit to
the number of advertisers, was for the first time attempted. The paper
started on this principle was called the _City Mercury_, and appears to
have had a hard struggle for existence, since the publishers thought it
necessary to insert in No. 52 (March 30, 1673) a notice of this tenor:--
Notwithstanding this paper has been published so long, there are many
persons ignorant of the design and advantage of it. And it every week
comes to the hand of some, both in City and Country, that never see it
before: For which reason the Publisher thinks himself obliged (that
all may have benefit by it), to inform them that:--
1. He gives away every _Monday_ above a thousand of them to all the
_Booksellers_, _shops_ and _inns_, and most of the principal
_coffee-houses_ in _London_ and _Westminster_. Besides they are now
sent to most of the cities and principal towns in England.
2. Any person that has anything to insert in it, as the _titles_ of
_books_, _houses_ or _land_ to be _lett_ or _sold_, _persons removing
from one place to another_, things _lost_ or _stole_, _physitians’
advertisements_, or _inquiries_ for _houses_ or _lands_ to be _lett_
or _sold_, for _places_ or for _servants_, &c., may bring or send them
to the Publisher, _Tho. Howkins_, in _George Yard_, in Lombard Street,
London, who will carefully insert them at reasonable rates.
3. That this way of publishing is much more advantageous than giving
away _Bills_ in the street, is certain, for where there is one of them
read, there’s twenty is not; and a thousand of these cannot be
supposed to be read by less than twenty times the number of persons;
and done for at least the twentieth part of the charge, and with much
less trouble and greater success; as has been experienced by many
persons that have things inserted in it.
This paper lived but a short time; though the fact that the proprietor
undertook to furnish above a thousand copies per week to booksellers,
shops, inns, and coffee-houses in London, and that it was sent to “most
of the cities and principal towns in England,” clearly indicates that
the trade began to be aware of the advantages to be derived from
publicity. Soon afterwards a paper of the same denomination, but
published by another speculator, was commenced. Its appearance and
purposes were told to the public in the autumn of 1675 by circulars or
handbills, one of which has fortunately been stored up in the British
Museum. As this curious document gives a comprehensive outline of the
system of newspaper advertising, as it appeared to the most advanced
thinkers in the reign of Charles II., we reprint it here _in extenso_:--
ADVERTISEMENT.
_WHEREAS divers people are at great expense in printing, publishing,
and dispersing of Bills of Advertisements: Observing how practical and
Advantagious to Trade and Business, &c. this Method is in parts beyond
the Seas._
_These are to give notice, That all Persons in such cases concerned
henceforth may have published in Print in the_ Mercury _or_ Bills of
Advertisements, _which shall come out every week on_ Thursday
_morning, and be delivered and dispersed in every house where the
Bills of Mortallity are received, and elsewhere, the Publications and
Advertisements of all the matters following, or any other matter or
thing not herein mentioned, that shall relate to the Advancement of
Trade, or any lawful business not granted in propriety to any other._
Notice of all Goods, Merchandizes, and Ships to be sold, the place
where to be seen, and day and hour.
Any ships to be let to Freight, and the time of their departure, the
place of the Master’s habitation, and where to be spoken with before
and after Exchange time.
All Ships, their Names, and Burthens, and capacities, and where their
Inventaries are to be seen.
All other Parcels and Materials or Furniture for shipping in like
manner.
Any Houses to be Let or Sold, or Mortgaged, with Notes of their
Contents.
Any Lands or Houses in City or Country, to be Sold or Mortgaged.
The Erection, Alteration, or Removal of any Stage-coach, or any common
Carrier.
Advertisements of any considerable Bargains that are offered.
Any curious Invention or Experiment that is to be exposed to the
Public view or Sale, may be hereby notified when and where.
Hereby Commissioners upon Commissions against Bankrupts may give large
notice.
In like manner any man may give notice as he pleaseth to his
Creditors.
Hereby the Settlement or Removal of any Publick Office may be
notified.
Hereby all School-masters, and School-mistresses, and
Boarding-schools, and Riding-schools or Academies, may publish the
place where their Schools are kept.
And in like manner, where any Bathes or Hot-houses are kept.
And the Place or Key at the Waterside, whereto any Hoy or Vessel doth
constantly come to bring or carry Goods; as those of _Lee_,
_Faversham_, and _Maidstone_, &c.
* * * * *
_AT the Office, which is to be kept for the Advertisements, any Person
shall be informed (without any Fee) where any Stage-coach stands,
where any common Carrier lies, that comes to any Inn within the Bills
of Mortallity, and their daies of coming in and going out._
_In like manner all the accustomed Hoys or Vessels that come to the
several Keys from the several Ports of_ England.
_All Masters and Owners of the several Stage-coaches, and the
Master-Carriers, and the Masters of all the Hoys and Vessels above
mentioned, are desired to repair between this and_ Christmas _day
next, to the Office kept for the receipt of the Advertisements, to see
if no mistakes be in their several daies and rates, that the said
Books may be declared perfect, which shall be no charge to the Persons
concerned._
_The Office or Place where any Person may have his desires answered in
anything hereby advertised, is kept in St Michael’s Alley in Cornhil,
London, right against Williams Coffee-house, where constant attendance
every day in the Week shall be given, from Nine in the Morning, to
Five in the Evening; to receive the desires of all Persons in matters
of this nature, carefully to answer them in the same._
^With Allowance.^
_LONDON:_
Printed by _Andrew Clark_, in _Aldersgate Street_, 1675.
In accordance with this prospectus, the first number of the _City
Mercury_ appeared November 4, 1675.
We, who are familiar with the thousand and one tricks resorted to by
traders in order to attract attention to their advertisements, may be
apt to ridicule the artless manner in which these notices were brought
before the public of the seventeenth century. Different types, dividing
lines, woodcuts, and other contrivances to catch the wandering eye, were
still unknown; and frequently all the advertisements were set forth in
one string, without a single break, or even full stop, as in the
subjoined specimen from the _Loyal Impartial Mercury_, November 14-17,
1681:--
☞ THE House in the Strand wherein the Morocco Embassador lately
resided is to be let, furnished or unfurnished, intirely or in several
parts; a house in Marklane fit for a marchant; also very good lodgings
not far from the Royal Exchange, fit for any marchant or gentleman to
be let, inquire at the North West corner of the Royal Exchange, and
there you may know further; inquiry is made at the said office for
places to be Stewards of courts, liberties or franchises, or any
office at law, or places to be auditor, or receiver, or steward of the
household, or gentleman of horse to any nobleman or gentleman; or
places to be clarks to brew-houses, or wharfs, or suchlike; also any
person that is willing to buy or sell any estates, annuities, or
mortgages, or let, or take any house, or borrow money upon the bottom
of ships, may be accommodated at the said office.
Conciseness was of course necessary when it is recollected that the
paper was only a folio half-sheet, though the news was so scanty that
the few advertisements were a boon to the reader, and were sure to be
read. This was an advantage peculiar to the early advertisers. So long
as the papers were small, and the advertisements few in number, the
trade announcements were almost more interesting than the news. But when
the papers increased in bulk, and advertisements became common, it
behoved those who wished to attract special attention to resort to
contrivances which would distinguish them from the surrounding crowd of
competitors.
The editor of the _London Mercury_, in 1681, evidently with an eye to
making his paper a property on the best of all principles, requests all
those who have houses for sale to advertise in his columns, “where,”
says he, “farther care will be taken for their disposal than the bare
publishing them, by persons who make it their business.” Consequently we
frequently meet in this paper with notices of “A delicate House to
lett,” agreeably varied with advertisements concerning spruce beer,
scurvy grass, Daffy’s elixir, and other specifics. Notwithstanding that
the utility of advertising as a means of obtaining publicity was as yet
hardly understood, the form of an advertisement, according to modern
plans, was, it is curious to observe, frequently adopted at this period
to expose sentiments in a veiled manner, or to call attention to public
grievances. Thus, for instance, the first numbers of the _Heraclitus
Ridens_, published in 1681, during the effervescence of the Popish
plots, contained almost daily one or more of these political satires, of
which the following may serve as examples. The first appears February 4.
IF any person out of natural curiosity desire to be furnished with
ships or castles in the air, or any sorts of prodigies, apparitions,
or strange sights, the better to fright people out of their senses,
and by persuading them there are strange judgments, changes, and
revolutions hanging over their heads, thereby to persuade them to pull
them down by discontents, fears, jealousies, and seditions; let them
repair to Ben Harris, at his shop near the Royal Exchange, where they
may be furnished with all sorts and sizes of them, at very cheap and
easy rates.
There is also to be seen the strange egg with the comet in it which
was laid at Rome, but sent from his Holiness to the said Ben, to make
reparations for his damages sustained, and as a mark of esteem for his
zeal and sufferings in promoting discord among the English hereticks,
and sowing the seeds of sedition among the citizens of London.
The edition of February 15 contains the following:--
IF any protestant dissenter desire this spring time to be furnished
with sedition seeds, or the true protestant rue, which they call “herb
of grace,” or any other hopeful plants of rebellion, let them repair
to the famous French gardeners Monsieur F. Smith, Msr. L. Curtis, and
Msr. B. Harris; where they may have not only of all the kinds which
grew in the garden of the late keepers of the liberty of England; but
much new variety raised by the art and industry of the said gardeners,
with directions in print when to sow them, and how to cultivate them
when they are raised.
You may also have there either green or pickled sallads of rumours and
reports, far more grateful to the palate, or over a glass of wine,
than your French Champignons or mushrooms, Popish Olives, or Eastland
Gherkins.
And on March 1 there was given to the world:--
A MOST ingenious monkey, who can both write, read, and speak as good
sense as his master, nursed in the kitchen of the late Commonwealth,
and when they broke up housekeeping entertained by Nol Protector, may
be seen do all his old tricks over again, for pence apiece, every
Wednesday, at his new master’s, Ben. Harris, in Cornhill.
This was a species of wit similar to that associated with the imaginary
signs adopted in books with secret imprints, in order to express certain
political notions, the sentiments of which were embodied in the work;
for instance, a pamphlet just before the outbreak of the Civil War is
called, “Vox Borealis, or a Northerne Discoverie, etc. Printed by
Margery Marprelate, amidst the Babylonians, in Thwack Coat Lane, at the
sign of the Crab Tree Cudgell, without any privilege of the Catercaps.”
One John Houghton, F.R.S., who combined the business of apothecary with
that of dealer in tea, coffee, and chocolate, in Bartholomew Lane,
commenced a paper in 1682, entitled _A Collection for the Improvement of
Husbandry and Trade_,[25] which continued to be issued weekly for some
time; and though it failed, it was revived again on March 30, 1692. It
was modelled on the same plan as the _City Mercury_ of 1675, and was
rather ambitious in its views. It consisted of one folio half-sheet, and
was intended to “lay out for a large correspondence, and for the
advantage of tenant, landlord, corn merchant, mealman, baker, brewer,
feeder of cattle, farmer, maltster, buyer and seller of coals, hop
merchant, soap merchant, tallow chandler, wood merchant, their
customers,” &c. But no advertisements proper were mentioned at first; it
was a mere bulletin or price-current of the above-named trades and of
auctions, besides shipping news and the bills of mortality. The first
advertisement appeared in the third number, it was a “book-ad,” and
figured there all by itself; and it was not till the 8th of June that
the second advertisement appeared, which assumed the following shape:--
☞ FOR the further and better Improvement of Husbandry and Trade and
for the Encouragement thereof, especially in Middlesex and the
bordering counties, a Person, now at my house in Bartholomew Lane,
does undertake to make or procure made, as good malt of the barley of
these counties, and of that Malt as good Ale as is made at Derby,
Nottingham, or any other place now famous for that liquor, and that
upon such reasonable terms as shall be to general satisfaction, the
extraordinary charge not amounting to above one penny per bushel more
than that is now; only thus much I must advise, if provision be not
made speedily, the opportunity will be lost for the next malting time.
Under the fostering influence of Houghton, who appears to have been
keenly aware of the advantage to be derived from this manner of
obtaining publicity, advertisements of every kind began gradually to
appear, and ere long the booksellers, who for some time had monopolised
this paper, were pushed aside by the other trades; and so the attention
of the public is by turns directed to blacking balls, tapestry hangings,
spectacles, writing ink, coffins, copper and brass work, &c. &c.; and
these notices increased so rapidly that, added to No. 52, which appeared
on July 28, 1693, there is a half-sheet of advertisements, which is
introduced to the public with the following curious notice:--
My Collection I shall carry on as usual. This part is to give away,
and those who like it not, may omit the reading. I believe it will
help on Trade, particularly encourage the advertisers to increase the
vent of my papers. I shall receive all sorts of advertisements, but
shall answer for the reasonableness of none, unless I give thereof a
particular character on which (as I shall give it) may be
_dependance_, but no argument that others deserve not as well. I am
informed that seven or eight thousand gazettes are each time printed,
which makes them the most universal Intelligencers; but I’ll suppose
mine their first handmaid, because it goes (though not so thick yet)
to _most_ parts: It’s also lasting to be put into Volumes with
indexes, and particularly there shall be an index of all the
advertisements, whereby, for ages to come, they may be useful.
This first sheet consists solely of advertisements about newly published
books, but it concludes:--
☞ Whither ’tis worth while to give an account of ships sent in for
lading or ships arrived, with the like for coaches and carriers; or to
give notice of approaching fairs, and what commodities are chiefly
sold there, I must submit to the judgment of those concerned.
The advertisements in Houghton’s _Collection_ may appear strange to the
reader accustomed to rounded sentences and glowing periods, but in the
reign of William III. the general absence of education rendered the
social element more unsophisticated in character. In those old days the
advertiser and editor of the paper frequently speak in the first person
singular; also the advertiser often speaks through the editor. A few
specimens taken at random will give the reader a tolerably good idea of
the style then prevalent:--
----A very eminent brewer, and one I know to be a very honest
gentleman, wants an apprentice; I can give an account of him.
----I want a house keeper rarely well accomplished for that purpose.
’Tis for a suitable gentleman.
----I know of valuable estates to be sold.
----I want several apprentices for a valuable tradesman.
----I can help to ready money for any library great or small or
parcels of pictures or household goods.
----I want a negro man that is a good house carpenter and a good
shoemaker.
⁂ I want a young man about 14 or 15 years old that can trim and look
after a peruke. ’Tis to wait on a merchant.
----I want a pritty boy to wait on a gentleman who will take care of
him and put him out an apprentice.
----If any gentleman wants a housekeeper, I believe I can help to the
best in England.
----Many masters want apprentices and many youths want masters. If
they apply themselves to me, I’ll strive to help them. Also for
variety of valuable services.
By reason of my great corresponding, I may help masters to apprentices
and Apprentices to Masters. And now is wanting Three Boys, one with
£70, one with £30, and a Scholar with £60.
----I know of several curious women that would wait on ladies to be
housekeepers.
----Now I want a good usher’s place in a Grammar school.
----I want a young man that can write and read, mow and roll a garden,
use a gun at a deer, and understand country sports, and to wait at
table, and such like.
----If any young man that plays well on the violin and writes a good
hand desires a clerkship, I can help him to £20 a year.
----I want a complete young man, that will wear livery, to wait on a
very valuable gentleman, but he must know how to play on a violin or a
flute.
----I want a genteel footman that can play on the violin to wait on a
person of honour.
----If I can meet with a sober man that has a counter tenor voice, I
can help him to a place worth £30 the year or more.
This continual demand for musical servants arose from the fashion of
making them take part in musical performances, of which custom we find
frequent traces in Pepys. Altogether the most varied accomplishments
appear to have been expected from servants; as, for instance,--
----If any Justice of the Peace wants a clerk, I can help to one that
has been so seven years; understands accounts, to be butler, also to
receive money. He also can shave and buckle wigs.
The editor frequently gives special testimony as to the respectability
of the advertiser:--
----If any one wants a wet nurse, I can help them, as I am informed,
to a very good one.
----I know a gentlewoman whose family is only her husband, herself and
maid, and would to keep her company take care of a child, two or
three, of three years old or upwards. She is my good friend, and such
a one that whoever put their children to her, I am sure will give me
thanks, and think themselves happy, let them be what rank they will.
----I have been to Mr Firmin’s work house in Little Britain, and seen
a great many pieces of what seems to me excellent linen, made by the
poor in and about London. He will sell it at reasonable rates, and I
believe whatever house keepers go there to buy will not repent, and on
Wednesdays and Saturdays in the forenoon he is always there himself.
----I have met with a curious gardener that will furnish any body that
sends to me for fruit trees, and floreal shrubs, and garden seeds. I
have made him promise with all solemnity that whatever he sends shall
be purely good, and I verily believe he may be depended on.
----One that has waited on a lady divers years, and understands all
affairs in housekeeping and the needle, desires some such place. She
seems a discreet, staid body.
At other times Houghton recommends “a tidy footman,” a “quick,
well-looking fellow,” or “an extraordinary cook-maid;” and observes of a
certain ladysmaid, who offered her services through his _Collection_,
“and truly she looks and discourses passing well.” Occasionally he also
guarantees the situation; thus, applying for “a suitable man that can
read and write, and will wear a livery,” he adds for the information of
flunkeys in general: “I believe that ’twill be a very good place, for
’tis to serve a fine gentleman whom I well know, and he will give £5 the
year besides a livery.” Imagine Jeames of Belgravia being told he should
have £5 for his important annual services! Another time “’tis to wait on
a very valuable old batchelor gentleman in the City.” Again, he
recommends a Protestant French gentleman, who is willing to wait on some
person of quality, and Houghton adds, “from a valuable divine, my good
friend, I have a very good character of him.” Of a certain surgeon, whom
he advertises, he says, “I have known him, I believe, this twenty
years.” All these recommendations bear an unmistakable character of
truth and honesty on their face, and are very different from the
commendatory paragraphs which nowadays appear in the body of a paper
because of long advertisements which are to be found in the outer sheet.
Nor is the worthy man ever willing to engage his word further than where
he can speak by experience; in other cases, an “I believe,” or some such
cautious expression, invariably appears. Recommending a hairdresser, he
says--
----I know a peruke maker that _pretends_ to make perukes
extraordinary fashionable, and will sell good pennyworths; I can
direct to him.
And once, when a number of quack advertisements had found their way into
the paper, old Houghton, with a sly nod and a merry twinkle in his eye,
almost apparent as one reads, drily puts his “index” above them, with
the following caution:--
☞ Pray, mind the preface to this half sheet. Like lawyers, I take all
causes. I may fairly; who likes not may stop here.
A tolerably broad hint of his disbelief in the said nostrums and
elixirs. Even booksellers had to undergo the test of his ordeal, and
having discovered some of their shortcomings, he warned them--
⁂ I desire all booksellers to send me no new titles to old books, for
they will be rejected.
When a book of the right reverend father in God John Wilkins, late
Bishop of Chester, was published, Houghton recommended it in patronising
terms--
----I have read this book, and do think it a piece of great ingenuity,
becoming the Bishop of Chester, and is useful for a great many
purposes, both profit and pleasure.
Of another work he says--
----With delight have I read over this book, and think it a very good
one.
Thus, notwithstanding the primitive form of the advertisements, the
benefit to be derived from this mode of publicity began to be more and
more understood. It was not without great trouble, however; and it was
necessary that Houghton should constantly direct the attention of the
trading community to the resources and advantages of advertising, which
he did in the most candid manner. He simply and abruptly puts the
question and leaves those interested to solve it. Thus:--
----Whether advertisements of schools, or houses and lodgings about
London may be useful, I submit to those concerned.
And the answer came; for a few days after the public were informed that
----At one Mr Packer’s, in Crooked Lane, next the Dolphin, are very
good Lodgings to be let, where there is freedom from noise, and a
pretty garden.
Freedom from noise and a pretty garden in a street leading from
Eastcheap to Fish Street Hill! Shortly after Houghton calmly observes:--
----I now find advertisements of schools, houses and lodgings in and
about London are thought useful.
He then starts other subjects:--
----I believe some advertisements about bark and timber might be of
use both to buyer and seller.
⁂ I find several barbers think it their interest to take in these
papers, and I believe the rest will when they understand them.
The barber’s shop was then the headquarters of gossip, as it took a long
time to shave the whole of a man’s beard and curl a sufficient quantum
of hair or wig, as worn in those old days, and so the man of suds was
expected to entertain his customers or find them entertainment. Next
turning his attention to the clergy, Houghton offers that body a helping
hand also:--
⁂ I would gladly serve the clergy in all their wants.
How he understood this friendly help soon appeared:--
----If any divine or their relicts have complete sets of manuscript
sermons upon the Epistles and the Gospels, the Catechism or Festivals,
I can help them to a customer.
The use of second-hand sermons was not unknown in those days, and
detection was of course much less imminent than now. Then--
----I have sold all the manuscript sermons I had and many more, and if
any has any more to dispose of that are good and legibly writ, I
believe I can help them to customers.
Possibly the “many more” was a heavy attempt at humour; but anyhow the
sermon article was in great demand, and his kindly services did not rest
there:--
----If any incumbent within 20 miles of London will dispose of his
living, I can help him to a chapman.
----A rectory of £100 per annum in as good an air as any in England,
60 miles off, and an easy cure is to be commuted.
----A vicaridge and another cure which requires service but once a
month, value £86. ’Tis in Kent about 60 miles from London.
And so on, proving that the clergy had not refused the friendly offer,
and were fully as ready as the tradesman to avail themselves of this
means of giving vent to their wants and requirements.
Houghton would occasionally do a little business to oblige a friend,
though it is fair to assume that he participated in the profits:--
⁂For a friend, I can sell very good flower of brimstone, etc., as
cheap or cheaper than any in town does; and I’ll sell any good
commodity for any man of repute if desired.
----I find publishing for others does them kindness, therefore note: I
sell lozenges for 8d. the ounce which good drinkers commend against
heartburn, and are excellent for women with child, to prevent
miscarriages; also the true _lapis nephriticus_ which is esteemed
excellent for the stone by wearing it on the wrist.
----I would gladly buy for a friend the historical part of Cornelius a
Lapide upon the Bible.
Besides the above particular advertisements, the paper frequently
contained another kind, which to us may appear singularly vague and
unbusinesslike, but which no doubt perfectly answered their purpose
among a comparatively minute metropolitan population, the subjects of
William III. We allude to general advertisements such as these:--
Last week was imported
Bacon by _Mr Edwards_.
Cheese by _Mr Francia_.
Corral Beads by _Mr Paggen_.
Crabs Eyes by _Mr Harvey_.
Horse Hair by _Mr Becens_.
Joynted Babies by _Mr Harrison_.
Mapps by _Mr Thompson_.
Orange Flower Water by _Mr Bellamy_.
Prospective Glasses by _Mr Mason_.
Saffron by _Mr Western_.
Sturgeon by _Mr Kett_.
If any desire it other things may be inserted.
In similar style a most extraordinary variety of other things imported
are advertised in subsequent numbers, including crystal stones, hops,
oxguts, incle, juniper, old pictures, onions, pantiles, quick eels,
rushes, spruce beer, sturgeon, trees, brandy, chimney backs, caviar,
tobacco-pipes, whale-fins, bugle, canes, sheep’s-guts, washballs and
snuff, a globe, aqua fortis, shruffe, quills, waxworks, ostrich
feathers, scamony, clagiary paste, Scotch coals, sweet soap, onion seed,
gherkins, mum, painted sticks, soap-berries, mask-leather, and so on,
for a long time, only giving the names of the importers, without ever
mentioning their addresses, until at last a bright idea struck this
gentleman, who seems to have been one of those vulgarly said to be
before their time, but who are in fact the pioneers who pave the way for
all improvements; and so the _Collection_ was enriched with the
following notice:--
----If desired I’ll set down the places of abode, and I am sure ’twill
be of good use: for I am often asked it.
Houghton was indeed so well aware of the utility of giving the
addresses, that in order to render his paper more permanently useful, he
published, apparently on his own account, not only the addresses of some
of the principal shops, but also a list of the residences of the leading
doctors. From this we gather that in June 1694 there were 93 doctors in
and about London, also that Dr (afterwards Sir) Hans Sloane lived at
Montague House (now the British Museum), Dr Radcliffe in Bow Street, and
Dr Garth, by Duke Street. At the conclusion of this list the publisher
says:--
----I shall also go the round, I. of Counsellors and Attorneys; II. of
Surgeons and Gardiners; III. of Lawyers and Attorneys; IV. Schools and
Woodmongers; V. Brokers, coaches and carriers, and such like, and then
round again, beginning with Physitians.
Thus by untiring perseverance, and no small amount of thought and study,
Houghton trained his contemporaries in the art of advertising, and made
them acquainted with the valuable assistance to be derived from a medium
which, as Alexis de Tocqueville remarks, drops the same thought into a
thousand minds at almost the same period. Apart from the interest which
his papers have on the subject we have been considering, they are full
of graphic details which throw a clear and effective light on these old
and bygone times. What can give a more vivid picture of the state of the
roads in this country in winter-time, nearly two centuries ago, than the
following notice extracted from the _Collection for Husbandry and
Trade_, March 10, 1693:--
----Roads are filled with snow, we are forced to ride with the paquet
over hedges and ditches. This day seven-night my boy with the paquet
and two gentlemen were seven hours riding from Dunstable to Hockley,
but three miles, hardly escaping with their lives, being often in
holes and forced to be drawn out with ropes. A man and a woman were
found dead within a mile hence. I fear I have lost my letter-carrier,
who has not been heard of since Thursday last. Six horses lie dead on
the road between Hockley and Brickhill, smothered. I was told last
night that lately was found dead near Beaumarais three men and three
horses.
At this picture of those good old times for which people who know
nothing about them now weep, we will stop. The rest of the story, so far
as the development of advertisements is concerned, will be told in
strict chronological order.
[24] Broer Jansz styles himself “Couranteer in the Army of his
Princely Excellence,” _i.e._, Prince Frederic Henry, the Stadtholder.
Subsequently, in 1630, Jansz commenced a new series, which he entitled
“Tidings from Various Quarters.”
[25] John Nicholl, in his “Literary Anecdotes,” vol. iv. p. 71, calls
the editor of this paper Benjamin Harris, a well-known publisher of
pamphlets in the reign of Charles II., and says that J. Knighton was
the editor in 1692. This last name may be a clerical error for
Houghton.