A History of English Journalism to the Foundation of the Gazette (Classic Reprint)

George Thomason, who died in the year 1666, was a bookseller who carried on business at the Sign of the Rose and Crown in St. Paul's Churchyard. On seeing the number of pamphlets which were pouring from the press at the outbreak of the great Rebellion, the idea occurred to him that a complete collection of these would be valuable for future ages. In the year 1641, therefore, he secured copies of all that he could obtain which had appeared previously to that date, and thenceforward collected copies of every tract, broadside, book or newsbook which ap peared, whether licensed or surreptitiously, until the year 1662. As he obtained each book or pamphlet he dated it with the day of its appearance, occasion ally adding manuscript notes oi his own, and even went so far as to add to his pamphlets handbills scattered about the streets. The result is a col lection which has no equal of its kind in the world, for it contains a mass of fugitive and ephemeral literature, much of which would otherwise have per ishod. A complete catalogue of his collection in chronological order has been recently (1908) printed, prefaced with an excellent account of Thomason by Dr. G. K. Fortescue, Keeper of the Printed Books at the British Museum, who also relates the story of the vicissitudes the collection underwent and the means Thomason adopted for its secret preservation until the Restoration. It was ultimately bought by George III. For the absurd sum of £300 and pre sented to the British Museum in 1762. It is now generally recognised that it is in fact priceless. Thomason died a poor man.

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