THE GENTLEMAN'S DIARY, or MATHEMATICAL REPOSITORY; an ALMANACK
for the Year of our Lord 1828: being the first after bissextile or leap-year. Containing many useful and entertaining Particulars peculiarly adapted to the ingenious Gentlemen engaged in the delightful Study and Practice of the Mathematicks.
The eighty-eighth almanack published of this kind; and the seventy-sixth of the New style in England.
London: Printed for the Company of Stationers by J.B. Nichols
First edition, containing seven different almanacs published by the Company for the year 1828.
This edition includes
The Gentleman's Diary by Thomas Leybourne;
The Ladies' Diary by Olinthus Gregory;
Vox Stellarum by Francis Moore;
Merlinus Liberatus by John Partridge;
Old Poor Robin;
Speculum Anni by Henry Season;
and The Celestial Atlas by Robert White.
The Company of Stationers' list of titles, known as the English Stock, swelled to 25 titles by 1801, ranging from respectable titles, albeit with limited circulation, such as the Gentleman's Diary and Ladies' Diary, to Francis Moore's Vox Stellarum, described by Katherine Anderson as "astrological crude, and immensely profitable"
The satirical Poor Old Robin series, written by pseudonymous authors since the eighteenth century, was similarly declaimed "a farrago of filth, obscenity, and stupidity", "execrable poison", and "a representative of the insulting absurdities through which the Stationers' Company made money. from a public taste for superstition and degraded buffoonery" (Wardhaugh, 231).
Nonetheless, the public's in interest in these cruder works was reflected by the relatively consistent sales figure.
In 1801, the Gentleman's Diary sold 2,648 copies and made one shilling profit, whereas Moore's Vox Stellarum sold 362,449 copies and made a profit of nearly £2,600.
Despite its unprofitability, the Gentleman's Diary series lasted for almost 100 years, with annual issues throughout 1741-1840. Each issue featured an almanac, enigmas, and mathematical problems. As Albree notes, the Gentleman's Diary was "an exceptional enterprise.
Original straight-grain red morocco, gilt bands, borders and edges, sectional vellum ink-letter tabs, tax stamps on title page of each issue.
Size 4 1/4 by 6 3/4"
text in English
Very good condition, minor wear of binding.



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