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21-515: The Athenian Mercury , or The Athenian Gazette , or The Question Project , or The Casuistical Mercury , was a periodical written by The Athenian Society and published in London twice weekly between 17 March 1690 ( i.e. 1691 Gregorian calendar ) and 14 June 1697. John Dunton was the editor in chief . A spin-off of The Athenian Mercury , The Ladies' Mercury , was also published by The Athenian Society , in 1693, for four weeks. It

42-531: A "society of experts", which he called The Athenian Society , to give their knowledgeable advice on questions submitted by the magazine's readers. The magazine had an announcement at the end encouraging readers to send in their questions, All Persons whatever may be resolved gratis in any Question that their own satisfaction or curiosity shall prompt 'em to, if they send their Questions by a Penny Post letter to Mr. Smith at his Coffee-house in Stocks Market in

63-772: A '#' is used. The first issue of a periodical is sometimes also called a premiere issue or charter issue. The first issue may be preceded by dummy or zero issues. A last issue is sometimes called the final issue. Periodicals are often characterized by their period (or frequency ) of publication. This information often helps librarians make decisions about whether or not to include certain periodicals in their collection. It also helps scholars decide which journal to submit their paper to. Periodicals are often classified as either popular or scholarly. Popular periodicals are usually magazines (e.g., Ebony and Esquire ). Scholarly journals are most commonly found in libraries and databases. Examples are The Journal of Psychology and

84-614: A collection of the questions and answers from The Athenian Mercury called the Athenian Oracle. The concept of questions submitted by readers of a periodical and free "expert advice" given was then followed by writer Daniel Defoe with his Review in 1704, followed by The little Review. Then in 1708 came The British Apollo. A comical representation of the Athenian Society written by Elkanah Settle , published in 1693 and titled The New Athenian Comedy , satirizes

105-431: A letter that came from a " gentle-woman " who wish to know if ladies could submit inquiries also. He assured them that their questions would be seriously considered, as on 23 May 1691 The Athenian Mercury printed the "gentle-woman's" questions. One thing lead to another and on 28 February 1693 The Ladies' Mercury , a spin-off, started its own publication, a periodical exclusively for women. Dunton followed in 1703 with

126-482: A predetermined number of editions. By contrast, a novel might be published in monthly parts, a method revived after the success of The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens . This approach is called part-publication , particularly when each part is from a whole work, or a serial , for example in comic books . It flourished during the nineteenth century, for example with Abraham John Valpy 's Delphin Classics , and

147-535: A response of hundreds of letters of inquiries. The Athenian Gazette , as these first two issues were called, produced such a large readership that an increase in their Society membership of "experts" was required. The next person to join the "secret" society of the Athenians was one Dr. Norris (likely the physician Edward Norris, the fifth son of Thomas Norris of Lancashire) who devoted his assistance without any compensation or recognition. As readership increased and

168-570: The Journal of Social Work . Trade magazines are also examples of periodicals. They are written for an audience of professionals in the world. As of the early 1990s, there were over 6,000 academic, business, scientific, technical, and trade publications in the United States alone. These examples are related to the idea of an indefinitely continuing cycle of production and publication: magazines plan to continue publishing, not to stop after

189-491: The Early Periodical. Periodical Articles within a periodical are usually organized around a single main subject or theme and include a title, date of publication, author(s), and brief summary of the article. A periodical typically contains an editorial section that comments on subjects of interest to its readers. Other common features are reviews of recently published books and films, columns that express

210-506: The Poultry, where orders are given for the reception of such Letters, and care shall be taken for their Resolution by the next Weekly Paper after their sending. The "most nice and curious questions" ran from natural sciences to religion to literature to politics. During the lifetime of the magazine "the experts" grappled with thousands of questions. The readers submitted questions like: In addition to questions on everyday life, religion, and

231-696: The amount of inquiries became overwhelming, they added another member, Dunton's brother-in-law the poet Reverend Samuel Wesley . The Society consisted of these four real members and several fictional members. Because Dunton's "answers to correspondents" were "universally received" his "Children of the Brain" were being plagiarized by a copycat publication called The Lacedemonian Mercury. He fought this with advertising that said any queries that they had replied to should be resubmitted to his magazine for amendments. Dunton referred to Tom Brown, chief editor of The Lacedemonian Mercury , as "the chief Antagonist." Some of

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252-483: The authors' opinions about various topics, and advertisements. A periodical is a serial publication. A book series is also a serial publication, but is not typically called a periodical. An encyclopedia or dictionary is also a book, and might be called a serial publication if it is published in many different editions over time. Periodicals are typically published and referenced by volume and issue (also known as issue number or number). Volume typically refers to

273-638: The context of gender representation due to the number of questions about courtship and gender relations. Helen Berry, in her book Gender, Society and Print Culture in Late-Stuart England: The Cultural World of the Athenian Mercury , focuses more on the 30% of questions that are directly related to gender issues, a subject first broached by Kathryn Shevelow in Women and Print Culture: The Construction of Femininity in

294-417: The latest edition of this style, a work with volume number 17 and issue number 3 may be written as follows: Sometimes, periodicals are numbered in absolute numbers instead of volume-relative numbers, typically since the start of the publication. In rare cases, periodicals even provide both: a relative issue number and an absolute number. There is no universal standard for indicating absolute numbers, but often

315-484: The mythical members of the Athenian Society and plays fun at the premises of the Athenian Mercury. The Athenian Mercury is approached by most scholars in the context of Dunton's life. Additionally, analysis of the questions in the Athenian Mercury has been focused on the political and scientific content portrayed by the authors. Though this approach is useful, the Athenian Mercury can also be analysed in

336-513: The number of years the publication has been circulated, and issue refers to how many times that periodical has been published during that year. For example, the April 2011 publication of a monthly magazine first published in 2002 would be listed as, "volume 10, issue 4". Roman numerals are sometimes used in reference to the volume number. When citing a work in a periodical, there are standardized formats such as The Chicago Manual of Style . In

357-478: The people who read the advice column in The Athenian Mercury , and sometimes submitted questions and comments of their own, according to Dunton, were Sir William Temple (pertaining to talismans , amongst other things), Jonathan Swift , Marquess of Halifax , Sir Thomas Pope Blount , Sir William Hedges , and Sir Peter Pett . Dunton was surprised one day early on into his "question project" with

378-402: The reasoning behind the title. After the first issue was published, concerns were raised about Dunton's use of the word "Gazette", to which the 25-year-old London Gazette could be considered to have prior claim; in response, Dunton changed "Gazette" to "Mercury". Scholars credit Dunton with initiating the advice column format. It was first used in The Athenian Mercury in 1691. He formed

399-510: The soul, people sent in questions on supernatural subjects such as witches and ghosts. Dunton's "question-answer project", as he referred to his new format, needed people to help publish it. The first person who partnered with him was Richard Sault , a mathematics teacher. Sault understood the philosophy of Nicolas Malebranche and could convey it to Dunton. The first two issues of the magazine were composed and published by these two only. The "surprising and unthought of" magazine's style produced

420-596: Was not restricted to fiction . The International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) is to serial publications (and by extension, periodicals) what the International Standard Book Number (ISBN) is to books: a standardized reference number. Postal services often carry periodicals at a preferential rate; for example, Second Class Mail in the United States only applies to publications issued at least quarterly. Sir Thomas Blount, 1st Baronet Too Many Requests If you report this error to

441-427: Was the first periodical that catered specifically to women readers. The magazine was initially called The Athenian Gazette or The Casuistical Mercury in its first printings. Dunton explains in his autobiography Life and Errors he had an inspiration for the title one day while he was walking home that he would "not exchange for 50 guineas." He continues that a reader of his magazine need only consult Acts 17:21 to see

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