1754 Volume of Gentleman's Magazine, Several Issues with Important George Washington French and Indian War Content

Gentlemans Magazine, bound 1754 volume, January to December 1754. London: David Henry. With two folding maps, 21 [of 24] plates, text illustrations. 628 pp., 5 1/4 x 8 1/4 in. The July issue reports that Washington was ordered to use force to extricate the French, who "pushed their encroachments still farther, and committed yet more open hostilities." The French "gained intelligence of them and detach'd a party of 35 men to intercept" but Washington "immediately marched with 45 men to sustain them & a skirmish ensued in which all the French were either killed or taken prisoners, except 3 who were afterwards intercepted and scalped by some Indians." (321-323). With "A Map of the British American Plantations . . . Including all the Back Settlements in the Respective Provinces, as Far as the Mississippi," which includes Illinois, the Louisiana Territory, the land west of Lake Michigan, parts of Arkansas, and more, folding out to 11 3/4 x 9 1/2 in. The October issue reports on Benjamin Franklin's Albany Plan of Union for the British colonies of North America. Contents and ExcerptsJanuary- "Description of a Remarkable Venomous Insect found in South America" (p5-6);- An article about a form of sun dial with an illustration of it (p17);- "Of the Junction of Asia and America," which begins:"The termination & position of the N.E. parts of Asia, and the N.W. parts of America, & whether they are joined or not, has been matter of speculation for 200 years past, and is indeed one of the most important geographical questions that has ever been debated." French and Russian sources agree that the two continents are separated only by a "narrow streight." (p22);- "Some Account of the Plague at Marseilles in the Year 1720" (p32-36);In May 1720, a ship introduced the last major outbreak of bubonic plague in Europe at Marseille, France, which killed an estimated 100,000 people in Provence and Languedoc, including about half of the population of Marseille.- "Enquiry into the Causes of Dreams" (p36-37);- "Historical Chronicle" includes news from Boston on new taxes on coaches and other conveyances and a note from Rowan County, North Carolina, that "a skirmish has lately happen'd between some French Indians, and the Catawbas in alliance with the English, in which the latter gain'd a complete victory." (p46). February- "An Account of the Life of the late Mr Edward Cave," founder and former editor of The Gentleman's Magazine (p55-58);- "A new Method of increasing the Solidity, Strength, and Duration of Timber" (p62-64);- "A List of Seeds of Forest Trees and flowering Shrubs gather'd in Pennsylvania, the Jerseys and New York, by John and William Bartram" (p65);- Correspondence regarding the conflict between the Assembly of New York and the governor of that colony (p65-66);- "Cure for the Bite of the Tarantula" (p69-70);- Diagram and description of Eolian Harp (p74);- A description of the ruins of Palmyra (p78-81);- "Historical Chronicle" includes news of a conflict between the assembly and governor in Virginia over taxation without the assembly's consent, which they voted to be "illegal, arbitrary, and oppressive." (p94). March- "Farther account of the Ruins of Palmyra" (p103-106, 108, with fold-out plate of ruins);- "Method of increasing the Strength and Solidity of Timber" (cont.) (p111-112);- "Some Account of a Chart lately published by M. de l' Isle, with the different Conjectures and Opinions it has produced; from a Tract called, A Letter from a Russian Sea Officer to a Person of Distinction at Petersbourgh, &c.": "All Attempts to discover an outlet from Hudson's Bay into the South sea having been ineffectual, and the space between Japan and California, an extent of more than 1200 leagues, being totally unknown, the late Czar Peter the great, appointed one Beerings [Vitus Bering]to attempt the discovery." Details the exploration of Alaska and the Yukon by three different explorers. (p123-128)- "An Anemometer, or . (See website for full description).…