Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1834-10-08
THE BOSTON EDITION OF
THE PENNY MAGAZINE. .
IL Price Reduced to 81 50 for SIG PaeesL
VIM. M. MORRISON, AGENT.

Ertract from, the Preface to The First Toiume.
TTPON the completion of the first volume of
" the Penny Magazine" it may not be in
expedient to offer few observations to the pur-
chasers of this little work, whose sale has been
| justly regarded as one of the most remarkable
indications Of the extent to which the desire for
knowledge has reached 1t is most satisfactory
to consider the species ofreadng which has had
such an extensive and increasing popularity
In this work there has never been single SEN
tence that could inf1ame vicious appette and
not paragraph that could minister to prejudi-
ceS and superstitions which few years since
were common. There have been no excite
ments for the lovers of the marvellous; no tatte
or abuse for the qualification of diseased taste
tor personality; and, above all, no party poll
tics. The subjects which have uniformly been
treated have been of the broadest and simplest
character. Striking points of Natural History;
Accounts Of the great works of art in Scuptur
and Painting; Descriptions Of such Antiquities
as possess historical interest; Personal Nara
tives Of Travellers; Biographies Of Men who
have had permanent influence on the condi-
ton ofthe world Elementary Principles ofLan-
guage and Numbers; Established facts in Sta
tiSticS and Polite al Economy-these have sup
piled the materials for exciting the curiosity of
a million of readers. This consideration fur
nishes the most convincing answer to the few
Gf any there now reman) who assert that Gene.
raj Education is an evil. The people will not
abuse the power they have acquired to read, and
therefore to think. Let them be addressed in
the spirit of sincerity and respect, and they
will prove that they are fully entitled to the
praise which Milton bestowed upon their forefa-
Tiers, as "a nation not slow and dull, but of
quick, ingenious and piercing spirit-acute to
invent, subtle and sinewy to DISCOURSE not be-
meath the reach Of any point the highest that
human capacity can soar to-"
From the high concentrations bestowed up
on the Penny Magazine" and its uneXampled
success in Great Britain the publishers were in
duced to undertake the republication of that
work in this country. They have completed
one volume, containing SIC pages imperial &C.
tavo, and 292 wood cuts. which they have fur
nished to subscribers at the moderate price of
Two Dollars. The unexpected encouragement
which they have met with, has now induced them
to offer the second volume to subscribers at One
Dollar and Fifty Gents, containing the same
number of pages, and to be executed in style
equal to their fist volume.
During the past year, stereotype plates OF this
work, after having been nearly worn outin Lon
don, have beenimported into New York, and
the impressions rom those plates sold at One
Dollar and Fifty Gents for twelve monthly parts.
containing only 5l6 pages, being SIXTY pages
less than the Bosom edition.
The wood cuts and stereotype plates OF the
Boston edition are entirely new, executed by
the publishers, wno being both practically ope-
rative in the two most important departments OF
the Book Business, (that of Engraving and Ste
reotyping,) they feel confident that they can
compete with any foreign manufacturer in their
line, as it regards the style of execution and
cheapness. They will therefore issue 4S pages
on the first Of every month, commencing with
Julv. oct 6-3t