Ralph Griffiths (c.1720 – 28 September 1803) was an English journal editor and publisher of Welsh extraction. In 1749, he founded London's first successful literary magazine, the ''

Monthly Review The ''Monthly Review'', established in 1949, is an independent socialist magazine published monthly in New York City. The publication is the longest continuously published socialist magazine in the United States. History Establishment Following ...

'' (1749–1845), and remained its editor until his death in 1803.

Biography

Griffiths was born in

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to th ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, but little is known of his early life; he began his career as a watchmaker at

Stone, Staffordshire Stone is a canal town and civil parish in Staffordshire, England, north of Stafford, south of Stoke-on-Trent and north of Rugeley. It was an urban district council and a rural district council before becoming part of the Stafford (borough), ...

, before moving to London around 1741 to work for the

Fleet Street Fleet Street is a major street mostly in the City of London. It runs west to east from Temple Bar at the boundary with the City of Westminster to Ludgate Circus at the site of the London Wall and the River Fleet from which the street was na ...

bookseller Jacob Robinson. In 1747 Griffiths erected the warning ''Sign of the Dunciad'' outside of his own shop. Two years later he launched the ''Monthly Review'', which became an instant success and earned him an estimated £2,000 a year. The bookseller's sign warning dunces that ''The Monthly'' would have no mercy in exposing dull and uninteresting authors. Throughout his life, Griffiths was an avid collector of books, pamphlets and essays. He was an early campaigner for improving the literary status of female poets and novelists, and in a 1798 review of Elizabeth Moody's ''Poetic Trifles'' wrote,

the Age of ingenious and learned Ladies; who have excelled so much in the more elegant branches of literature, that we need not to hesitate in concluding that the long agitated dispute between the two sexes is at length determined; and that it is no longer a question, whether woman is or is not inferior to man in natural ability, or less capable of excelling in mental accomplishments.- ''New Series xxvii. 441''

In 1748, Griffiths published his most famous pamphlet, "The Expediency and Necessity of Revising and Improving the Public Liturgy. Humbly Represented". In 1750, together with his brother Fenton, he published

John Cleland John Cleland (c. 1709, baptised – 23 January 1789) was an English novelist best known for his fictional '' Fanny Hill: or, the Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure'', whose eroticism led to his arrest. James Boswell called him "a sly, old malcont ...

's scandalous ''

Fanny Hill ''Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure''—popularly known as ''Fanny Hill''—is an erotic novel by English novelist John Cleland first published in London in 1748. Written while the author was in debtors' prison in London,Wagner, "Introduction", ...

'', or Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure", which he had bought for £20, but which earned him a reputed £10,000. More grounded than her husband, Griffiths' wife largely looked after his financial affairs and was a regular contributor to ''The Monthly''. Mrs Griffiths has variously been described as "his literary wife", and "an antiquated female critic". However, Griffiths ran into financial difficulties, and c. 1761 he was forced to sell a one-quarter share of ''The Monthly'' due to competition from the rival periodical ''

The Critical Review ''The Critical Review'' was a British publication appearing from 1756 to 1817. It was first edited by Tobias Smollett, from 1756 to 1763. Contributors included Samuel Johnson, David Hume, John Hunter, and Oliver Goldsmith. Early years The Ed ...

''. Griffiths' editorship of ''The Monthly'' brought him fame abroad, and on 1 May 1764,

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...

wrote,

I will do everything in my power to recommend the work Mr. Griffiths mentions, having the same sentiments of it that you express. But I conceive many more of them come to America than he imagines. Our booksellers, perhaps, write for but few, but the reason is that a multitude of our people trade more or less to London; and all that are bookishly disposed receive the reviews singly from their correspondents as they come out.

By 1780, he had again recovered sole ownership of the publication, though he had by then largely "retired from his public situation as a bookseller".''

The European Magazine ''The European Magazine'' (sometimes referred to as ''European Magazine'') was a monthly magazine published in London. Eighty-nine semi-annual volumes were published from 1782 until 1826. It was launched as the ''European Magazine, and London Rev ...

'', January 1804. vol. 45 , p. 4. He died, in his eighties, at Linden House, Turnham Green (now

Chiswick High Road Chiswick High Road is the principal shopping and dining street of Chiswick, a district in the west of London. It was part of the main Roman road running west out of London, and remained the main road until the 1950s when the A4 was built acro ...

), London.

References

Bibliography

* Kent, Elizabeth E. ''Goldsmith and His Booksellers''. Clifton, NJ: A. M. Kelley, 1973. * Lonsdale, Roger (ed). ''Eighteenth-Century Women Poets: An Oxford Anthology''. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1989.

Biography

References

Bibliography

Further reading