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‘The Magazine’s Blown Up’, 1770

© 2021 Royal Pharmaceutical Society

Description

Mounted woodcut, entitled ‘The Magazine’s Blown Up’, designed by “Titian Angelo Roughscratch”, wood engraved by “Raphael Woodcutter”, and published by I. Cook around 1770.

A sign hanging outside a shop says, “Dr JAMES’S POWDER SOLD HERE”, a sign in the window advertises “BRITISH OIL”. Outside the shop a man stands by a large bonfire. A number of papers entitled “THE OLD WOMAN’S MAG”, “LADYS MAG”, “UNIVERSAL MAG”, “GRAND MAG OF MAG”, “MAGAZINE OF MAGAZINE”, “STUDENT”, “KAPELION”, are engulfed in flames.

In the centre of the fire is a commode marked “THE JAKES OF GENIUS” the true storehouse of these papers. This crudely executed satire appears to be directed against a rival publisher and bookseller, namely John Newbery (1713-1767); the sole agent for Dr James’s Fever Powder.

This medicine, patented in 1747 by Dr Robert James, was an antimonial and mercurial preparation which continued in use until the 1900s. Its continued popularity owed much to clever advertising by James and particularly Newbery.