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n The Athenian Mercury and The Athenian Oraclenare still remembered and referenced, although perhaps not quite well enough, bynliterary historians, journalistic historians, social historians and lovers ofnthe curious, but another publication that followed after them is now almostnforgotten. Which is a pity, as in many senses, it was as least as interestingnand valuable, if not more so, than its predecessors.
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| The British Apollo – 4th Edition 1740 |
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nIt commenced publicationnon February 15th 1708, with editions appearing on Wednesdays andnFridays, with occasional supplements, and ran until March 22nd 1711.nPublished for its authors by J Mayo, it bore the title,
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n“The British Apollo;nor Curious Amusement for the Ingenious: to which is added the Most MaterialnOccurrences, Foreign and Domestick. Performed by a Society of Gentlemen.”n
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| The British Apollo – 3rd Edition 1726 |
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nAnsecond edition appeared in 1711, a third edition in 1726 and a fourth in 1740.nThis final edition was entitled,
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n“The British Apollo, Containing twonthoufand answers to curious questions in most Arts and Sciences, Serious, Comical,nand Humorous; Approved of by many of the moft Learned and Ingenious of bothnUniverfities and of the Royal Society. Perform’d by a Society of Gentlemen.”n
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| The British Apollo – Frontispiece |
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nAn engraved frontispiece depicts Britannia dictating either a question or annanswer to a kneeling figure, who has a quill in one hand and a book bearing thenwords “To the British Apollo” in the other. Above them, in the clouds,nare Pegasus and figures representing Fame and Apollo, and below is the legend,n“Apollo Britannicus.”
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| Apollo’s Address |
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nIn place of a preface is a poem, entitled “Apollo’snAddress to the Town by way of Prologue,” which was written at the beginningnof 1708, and its
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n“…scenes of death and wars, Domestick Strifes and militarynfears,”n
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nrefers to the contemporary Great Northern War and the War of thenSpanish Succession that were raging in Europe, the recent Battles of Blenheimnand Ramillies, and the capture of Gibraltar.
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n“But on a sudden, shouts ofnpraise were giv’n.n
nAnd Union echoed to the gates of heav’n,”n
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nis anreference to the Act of Union of 1707, when England and Scotland united tonbecome Great Britain.
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| The British Apollo – Index |
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nIt was suspected that, sometimes, the answers came first,nand the questions supplied later, in order for the writers to make a certainnpoint, and it may even be that the authors foresaw they were found out whennthey wrote the following question and answer,
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n“Q. Hark ye, you Apollo, don’tnyou make questions and answer ‘em your self?n
nA. Not at present, really Sir, butnshould soon take that method, if other people’s questions were of no morenconsequence than yours.”n
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nThe dramatist and poet John Gay (author of ThenBeggar’s Opera) makes a reference to the British Apollo in his ThenPresent State of Wit (1711), which is a description of contemporary papersnand publications written in the form of a letter. In a postscript, Gay adds,
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n“Uponna review of my letter, I find I have quite forgotten the British Apollo; whichnmight possibly have happened, from its having, of late, retreated out of thisnend of the Town into the country: where, I am informed however, that it stillnrecommends itself by deciding wagers at cards, and giving good advice tonshopkeepers and their apprentices.”n
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| John Gay – The Present State of Wit – 1711 |
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nThis rare contemporary reference to ThenBritish Apollo has misled some historians to dismiss it as a slightnirrelevance, James Grant, in Volume 1 of his The Newspaper Press: Its Originn– Progress – and Present Position (1871), wrote,
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n“What Gay says of thencharacter of the newspaper in question is simply, that ‘it still recommendsnitself by deciding wagers at cards.’ How strange, that if this was thenprincipal feature of the British Apollo, it should have lasted for threenyears as a twice-a-week paper!”n
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nIt seems clear to me, at least, that Grantnhad never seen a copy of ‘the newspaper in question’ – hardly the sort ofnresearch you’d expect for a journalist and historian (but then again, plusnça change …).
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nThe British Apollo did have a few articles concerningnwagers, one regarding the Rule of Three when applied to playing the card gamenPiquet (an almost forgotten game, similar to Whist, and well worth learning tonplay if you wish to pass a rainy afternoon in pleasant company), which was morenof a mathematical enquiry, rather than specifically about gambling.
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| Entry on Gaming – The British Apollo |
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nA secondnis, “What effectual method shall a man take to refrain himself from then’vice of gaming?’ which is hardly the sort of thing that a committedngambler would ever ask. Another, in favour of gambling if played withoutnswearing or quarrelling, received short shrift and the answer recommendednhonest labour as the source of wealth, rather than dabbling in the sin ofncovetousness. There are questions put where a wager is placed on the answer,nbut these are not really treated seriously –
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n“Q. Gentlemen, there is a wagernlaid upon the following question, which depends upon your answer, Whether thenmoon in Ireland is like the moon in England ?n
nA. There may be a little likenessnso far as is usual between sisters, but by no means fully like; for certainlynnature, who adapts all things proper, wou’d give a far more glorious moon tonGREAT BRITAIN, than to little Ireland.”n
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| Selections from The British Apollo – 1903 |
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nIn 1903, a selection of articlesnfrom The British Apollo was reprinted, with a commentary and notes,nunder the editorship of G W Niven, a chapter from which appeared first in Notesnand Queries in August 1901, another magazine of note, to which I turn next.
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