''Constable's Miscellany'' was a part publishing serial established by Archibald Constable. Three numbers made up a volume; many of the works were divided into several volumes. The price of a number was one

shilling The shilling is a historical coin, and the name of a unit of modern currency, currencies formerly used in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, other British Commonwealth countries and Ireland, where they were generally equivalent to 1 ...

. The full series title was ''Constable's Miscellany of Original and Selected Publications, in the Various Departments of Literature, Science, and the Arts''. Archibald Constable died in 1827, and the ''Miscellany'' was taken over by a consortium of Aitken, Henry Constable, and a London publisher. When the publisher went bankrupt in 1831, the project became relatively dormant. The entire list was later advertised by the London firm of Whittaker & Co. There were 80 volumes in all, the first appearing in 1826 and the last in 1835.

Background and influence

Projected before the

Panic of 1825 The Panic of 1825 was a stock market crash that originated in the Bank of England, arising partly from speculative investments in Latin America, including the fictitious country of Poyais. The crisis was felt most acutely in Britain, where it led ...

, the ''Miscellany'' was dedicated to

George IV of the United Kingdom George IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 29 January 1820 until his death in 1830. At the time of his accession to the throne, ...

, a privilege gained for Constable by

Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European literature, European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'' (18 ...

. The initial plans were more ambitious; Constable himself became bankrupt in 1827, and this final project proceeded under constraints. The ''Miscellany's'' first editor was John Aitken. As a series of less expensive contemporary non-fiction books for a popular audience, by a commercial publisher, it was the precedent for '' Murray's Family Library'', which it anticipated by two years. It was recognised in the new genre, of "libraries of useful knowledge". Constable's project is recognised as initiating a publishing phenomenon of the later 1820s. Cheap editions marketed as small libraries were seen also in the '' Library of Useful Knowledge'', '' Library of Entertaining Knowledge'', '' Lardner's Cabinet Cyclopædia'', and series by Henry Colburn and Abraham John Valpy.

List of ''Constable's Miscellany''

Revival of the series

"A version of the series was revived in the mid 1850s, the early 1880s, and, finally, in 1928..."Constable's Miscellany
seriesofseries.com. Retrieved on 19 March 2017. The 1929 incarnation of the series was named "Constable's Miscellany of Original and Selected Publications in Literature" until about 1939.

Notes

{{Commons category, Constable's Miscellany Lists of British books 1820s in England 1830s in England Book series 19th-century British literature