The Gentleman at the Gate: the world’s first magazine
- London On The Ground
- May 17
- 5 min read
'The Gentleman's Magazine', launched in 1731 at St John’s Gate, Clerkenwell, changed the meaning of the word 'Magazine'.
Its proprietor, Edward Cave, pioneered the use of the word to mean a periodical covering a range of topics. The previous meaning of 'Magazine' was a storehouse.
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The Gentleman's Magazine was first published in January 1731 by its founder, Edward Cave. A printer, editor and publisher, he ran his business from St John's Gate in Clerkenwell, where he also lived with his family.
From the outset, the first page of every edition featured an image of St John's Gate and this became the magazine’s logo.
Cave adopted the nom de plume ‘Sylvanus Urban’, under which he edited the publication. Even after his death in 1754, the magazine continued to use his pseudonym for the next 150 years.
The periodical aimed to cover anything that might be of interest to the educated gentleman. Its digest of news and commentary on a wide variety of subjects - from business to medicine and nature, from politics to poetry and science - was an innovation. Until then, journals tended to be specialised.
Cave successfully tapped into the growing numbers of the middle classes, who were literate, curious and keen to appear knowledgeable. It appealed equally to women, with features such as recipes and household tips, and was widely read.
In addition to articles by professional writers, Cave encouraged readers to send letters, poems and other contributions for publication (addressed to 'Mr Urban').
Cave was born in 1691 in Warwickshire, the son of a cobbler. He was expelled from Rugby School for ‘robbing the principal’s hen-roost’ and soon moved to London.
He worked as a clerk to an excise collector and a Southwark timber merchant, before being apprenticed to a printer. He later managed a newspaper office in Norwich and, back in London, wrote for Mist's Journal, a weekly publication that opposed Robert Walpole's Whig government.
Taking a job at the Post Office, in those days a centre for news and gossip, Cave was imprisoned for 10 days for supplying country printers with surreptitious reports of Parliamentary debates (freedom of the press was not yet an established concept).
After marrying a young widow, he saved enough money to buy the print shop at St John’s Gate.
It was Cave's own idea to produce a wide ranging periodical, but he could not persuade any London printers and booksellers of its merits, so he took it on himself.
It proved successful from the start and became the most influential periodical of its time, selling more than 10,000 copies a month by 1739. This was due not only to its content, but also to Cave’s business acumen and extensive distribution network, which led to sales throughout the English-speaking world.
Among the writers who contributed to the publication under Edward Cave were Jonathan Swift, author of Gulliver’s Travels, and Samuel Johnson, who later went on to produce his famous English dictionary. Oliver Goldsmith, another friend of Samuel Johnson, may also have written for the magazine.
Johnson’s first job after he arrived in London from Lichfield in 1737 was writing poems, book reviews, essays and Latin verse for The Gentleman’s Magazine in St John’s Gate. He later gained a reputation as one of the great literary luminaries of 18th century London.
Johnson arrived in London with a young friend named David Garrick, a talented young actor. It is said that Garrick made his London theatrical debut in an amateur production of a play called Mock Doctor by Fielding, in a room over the gate.
Cave agreed to the performance on Johnson's recommendation and called printers in to read parts alongside the young man who would later become the greatest stage actor of the age.
One of the popular topics that contributed to the magazine’s success was its coverage of parliamentary debates. This was written by its reporter William Guthrie, whose prodigious memory served him well in this assignment and who bribed the doormen to gain access to the Strangers Gallery at the House of Commons.
Cave took care to publish his reports on the debates only after the end of parliamentary sessions and only to use the initials of Members of Parliament.
However, after eight years, the reports were prohibited by the House as a breach of privilege.
Unbeaten by this, The Gentleman’s Magazine continued to write about parliamentary debates. It changed the names of MPs to Roman names or anagrams of their real names and renamed its coverage from 'Debates in Parliament' to 'Debates in the Senate of Lilliput' (a nod to the fictional land visited by Gulliver in Jonathan Swift's famous novel).
In 1740 Samuel Johnson took over the writing of the parliamentary reports, although he did not attend debates himself. Edward Cave continued to pay the doormen to allow access for himself and other employees, who would make notes on the subject, speakers and views expressed in the debates. On occasions Members of Parliament also provided source material to the magazine.
According to Johnson, “The whole was afterwards communicated to me and I composed the speeches… I saved appearances tolerably well, but I took care that the Whig dogs should not have the best of it.”
However, Cave was playing a risky game. In April 1747 he was convicted of breach of privilege for reporting on the treason trial of Jacobite rebel, Simon Baron Lovat. Cave was fined and made to beg for forgiveness at the bar of the House of Lords.
The Gentleman's Magazine was printed and published at St John's Gate until 1781, after which it moved to Red Lion Passage, off Fleet Street (this appears to be another name for Red Lion Court, one of the many alleys near Fleet Street). It later moved to Parliament Street and Piccadilly.
Publication continued monthly until 1907, after which it appeared in limited form until finally ceasing entirely after nearly two centuries in 1922.
The image of St John's Gate on the front page remained an important part of its branding throughout its long history, even after it moved to new premises.
The Gate was originally the southern entrance to the Priory of the Order of St John of Jerusalem, also known as the Knights Hospitaller. The medieval gatehouse was rebuilt in 1504 and further rebuilt/restored in the late 19th century (to read more about the history of St John’s Gate and the surrounding area of Clerkenwell, please read my post Would Elizabeth I recognise Clerkenwell today?).
From time to time, The Gentleman's Magazine changed the picture of the Gate as the wooden print blocks wore out and changes were made to the building.
The four examples below are from 1736, 1759, 1809 and 1813. The first three show the Gate as seen from the south, while the picture from 1813 is from the north side of the building.
The following two photos show the Gate as it looks today, the first from the south and the second from the north.
St John's Gate features on my Eclectic Clerkenwell tour. Please subscribe to my email list via the form at the bottom of the home page to be updated on when this tour (and all my tours) will next be scheduled.
Walks available for booking
For a schedule of forthcoming London On The Ground guided walks, please click here.
This is quite a story! What an enterprising man!