The reason I collected it: magazines in original bindings…
January 27, 2025 by TimHughes Email This Post
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In my last post I discussed the difference between disbound and never-bound newspapers – the latter being more preferred presuming other factors are equal.
The same holds true with 18th century magazines, with one added bonus: they usually contain original outer wrappers, almost never found with disbound magazines.
As was the case with newspapers, it was common for a full year’s edition of a magazine to be set aside by the publisher when printed and bound at the year’s end for sale to institutions & personal libraries in book form. I would say 95% or more of 18th century magazines we offer were once bound. They are easy to spot as they have disbound evidence at the spine, and their margins were trimmed for a more even, aesthetically pleasing appearance (some were bound but the margins were not trimmed).
Those who have read our catalogs for years will recall that I give special attention to magazines that were never bound. They were as sold on the streets or delivered to the subscriber. Such magazines typically had outer wrappers (often blue) that protected the issue within and were bound with string rather than glue, the latter the case for bound issues. These wrappers were often decorative, featuring an engraving, perhaps the table of contents, or advertisements of the publisher. When magazines were bound into annual volumes the wrappers were discarded, considered superfluous, essentially rendering some magazines incomplete if the wrapper was where the city of publication and publisher’s name were found.
Given that such never-bound magazines did not enjoy the protection of hard-cover bindings and the relative inaccessibility on library shelves, they tend to be more worn at the margins. It would not be uncommon for the wrappers to be worn at the spine and margins, more so than the pages within. but I would prefer a worn, never-bound issue to a more perfect disbound issue. I might suggest at least one never-bound issue in a collection as a representative example of a magazine’s original state, knowing that the vast majority of issues collected will be disbound without wrappers.
The Gentlemen’s Magazine shown above is what is most commonly found – trimmed, disbound, and without the original protective wrapper which was removed during the binding process (since it was no longer needed for protection). The one shown below is of the same date and is an example of a never-bound nor trimmed issue which includes the original outer wrapper. Others can be found on our website but be forewarned: they are very much in the minority (and are priced higher due to their rarity). Enjoy your collecting!
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