Edward Cave (27 February 1691 – 10 January 1754) was an English printer, editor and publisher. He coined the term "

magazine A magazine is a periodical literature, periodical publication, print or digital, produced on a regular schedule, that contains any of a variety of subject-oriented textual and visual content (media), content forms. Magazines are generally fin ...

" for a periodical, founding ''

The Gentleman's Magazine ''The Gentleman's Magazine'' was a monthly magazine founded in London, England, by Edward Cave in January 1731. It ran uninterrupted for almost 200 years, until 1907, ceasing publication altogether in 1922. It was the first to use the term ''m ...

'' in 1731, and was the first publisher to successfully fashion a wide-ranging publication.

Early life

The son of a cobbler, Cave was born in Newton near

Rugby, Warwickshire Rugby is a market town in eastern Warwickshire, England, close to the River Avon, Warwickshire, River Avon. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census, its population was 78,117, making it the List of Warwickshire towns by population, secon ...

, and attended

Rugby School Rugby School is a Public school (United Kingdom), private boarding school for pupils aged 13–18, located in the town of Rugby, Warwickshire in England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independ ...

, but was expelled after being accused of stealing from the headmaster Henry Holyoake. He worked at a variety of jobs, including timber merchant, reporter and printer.

The Gentleman's Magazine

Cave conceived the idea of a periodical that would cover every topic the educated public was interested in, from commerce to poetry, and tried to convince several London printers and booksellers to take up the idea. When no one showed any interest, he took on the task himself.

was launched in 1731 and soon became the most influential and most imitated periodical of its time. It has been credited with giving the name

to its genre of periodical writing and editorial content. It originated as a repository of articles culled from other publications, mainly books and pamphlets. The magazine's motto was ''E pluribus unum,'' which later became the tradition motto of the United States.

Samuel Johnson Samuel Johnson ( – 13 December 1784), often called Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, literary critic, sermonist, biographer, editor, and lexicographer. The ''Oxford ...

joined the magazine in 1738, after which it started publishing reports and original writing. Cave too often contributed pieces to the Magazine under the pseudonym of Sylvanus Urban. Cave was an astute businessman. He devoted all his energy to the magazine, and rarely left its offices at St John's Gate, Clerkenwell. He made use of many contributors, most famously

, who was always grateful to Cave for having provided his principal employment for many years. The magazine also made Cave wealthy. He also obtained a licence from

Lewis Paul Lewis Paul (died 1759) was the original inventor of roller spinning, the basis of the water frame for spinning cotton in a cotton mill. Life and work Lewis Paul was of Huguenot descent. His father was physician to Lord Shaftesbury. He may have ...

for 250 spindles for his

patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an sufficiency of disclosure, enabling discl ...

roller-spinning machine, a precursor of the

water frame The water frame is a spinning frame that is powered by a water-wheel. History Richard Arkwright, who patented the technology in 1769, designed a model for the production of cotton thread, which was first used in 1765. The Arkwright water f ...

. In 1742 he bought Marvel's Mill at

Northampton Northampton ( ) is a town and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is the county town of Northamptonshire and the administrative centre of the Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority of West Northamptonshire. The town is sit ...

and converted this to a

cotton mill A cotton mill is a building that houses spinning or weaving machinery for the production of yarn or cloth from cotton, an important product during the Industrial Revolution in the development of the factory system. Although some were driven ...

, probably the first water-powered

spinning Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spin (physics) or particle spin, a fundamental property of elementary particles * Spin quantum number, a number which defines the value of a particle's spin * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thr ...

mill in the world. This was apparently profitable, but only modestly so. It closed in 1761, or soon after.

Death

Cave suffered from

gout Gout ( ) is a form of inflammatory arthritis characterized by recurrent attacks of pain in a red, tender, hot, and Joint effusion, swollen joint, caused by the deposition of needle-like crystals of uric acid known as monosodium urate crysta ...

. He is buried at St. James Church,

Clerkenwell Clerkenwell ( ) is an area of central London, England. Clerkenwell was an Civil Parish#Ancient parishes, ancient parish from the medieval period onwards, and now forms the south-western part of the London Borough of Islington. The St James's C ...

References

External links

* *
Online page images of Gentlemen's Magazine
Covering v. 1 (1731) to v. 20 (1750).

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cave, Edward 1691 births 1754 deaths British magazine publishers (people) People from Rugby, Warwickshire People educated at Rugby School English editors 18th-century English businesspeople 18th-century British journalists