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 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 Miscellany was dedicated to George IV of the United Kingdom, a privilege gained for Constable by Walter Scott. 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.Scott Bennett, John Murray's Family Library and the Cheapening of Books in Early Nineteenth Century Britain, Studies in Bibliography Vol. 29, (1976), pp. 139-166, at p. 141. Published by: Bibliographical Society of the University of Virginia. Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/40371632 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 VolumeYearAuthorTitleI1826 (3 vols.)Basil HallVoyage to Loo-Choo and other places in the Eastern Seas in the Year 1816 IVHugh MurrayAdventures of British SeamenVWalter Scott, introductionMemoirs of the Marchioness of La RochejaqueleinVI (2 vols.)1827Andrew CrichtonConverts from Infidelityarchive.org.VIII (2 vols.)1827Michael SymesAn Account of an Embassy to the Kingdom of Ava in the Year 1795X1827George MoirTable Talk, or Selections from the Ana (i.e. -ana)XIPerils and CaptivityXIIHenry Glassford Bell (editor)Selections of the Most Remarkable Phenomena of NatureXIII (2 vols.)1827John MartinAn Account of the Natives of the Tonga IslandsXV (2 vols.)Robert ChambersHistory of the Rebellions in Scotland in 1745, 1746XVIIOrlando W. RobertsVoyages and Excursions in Central AmericaXVIII (2 vols.)Friedrich SchillerGeorge Moir, translatorHistorical WorksXX (2 vols.)Richard ThomsonAn Historical View of the Manner, Customs, Literature, &c., of Great BritainXXII 1827General Register of Politics, Science and LiteratureXXIIIJohn Gibson LockhartLife of BurnsXXIV (2 vols.)Henry Glassford BellLife of Mary, Queen of ScotsXXVIFrancis WranghamEvidences of ChristianityXXVII (2 vols.)Adam Neale (two parts) Memorials of the Late WarXXIX (2 vols.)John Russell (brother of James Russell)A Tour in Germany in 1820, 1821, 1822XXXI (2 vols.)Robert ChambersHistory of the Rebellions in Scotland, under Montrose and Others, from in 1638 till 1660XXXIII (3 vols.)Christophe Guillaume de KochAndrew Crichton (translator)History of the Revolutions in EuropeXXXVI (2 vols.)John Dundas CochraneA Pedestrian Journey through Russia and Siberian TartaryXXXVIIIDerwent ConwayNarrative of a Journey through Norway, Sweden and DenmarkXXXIXJohn Smythe MemesHistory of Sculpture, Painting, and ArchitectureXL (2 vols.)Edward UphamHistory of the Ottoman EmpireXLII1829Robert ChambersHistory of the Rebellions in Scotland under the Viscount of Dundee and the Earl of Mar in 1689 and 1715archive.org.XLIII (2 vols.)John Parker LawsonHistory of the Most Remarkable Conspiracies Connected with European HistoryXLVGilbert WhiteThe Natural History of SelborneXLVIJ. D. SinclairAn Autumn in ItalyXLVII (2 vols.)1829Michael RussellLife of Oliver CromwellXLIXTelesforo de Trueba y CosioLife of Hernan CortesL (2 vols.)Henry StebbingHistory of Chivalry and the CrusadesLIIWilliam Cooke StaffordHistory of MusicLIII (2 vols.)1830John Donald Carrick Life of Sir William Wallace of ElderslieLV (2 vols.)Robert ChambersLife of James the FirstLVII (3 vols.)1830Fauvelet de BourrienneJohn Styles Memes (translator)Memoirs of Napoleon BonaparteLX (2 vols.)Thomas KeightleyHistory of the War of Independence in GreeceLXIITelesforo de Trueba y CosioHistory of the Conquest of Peru by the SpaniardsLXIII (2 vols.)Alexander SutherlandThe Achievements of the Knights of MaltaLXVJames Augustus St JohnA Journal of a Residence in NormandyLXVI (2 vols.)1831Derwent ConwaySwitzerland, the South of France and the Pyrenees in MDCCC.XXXLXVIII1831 (4 vols.)Alexander WilsonCharles Lucian BonaparteRobert Jameson (editor)The American OrnithologyLXXII1831John Styles MemesMemoirs of the Empress JosephineLXXIII (2 vols.)1831William Cooke TaylorHistory of the Civil Wars in IrelandLXXV1832 (2 vols.)Thomas BrownThe Book of Butterflies, Sphinxes and MothsLXXVII1832Robert MudieA Popular Guide to the Observation of NatureLXXVIII (2 vols.)1833Cyrus ReddingA History of Shipwrecks and Disasters at SeaLXXX1834Thomas BrownThe Book of Butterflies, Sphinxes and Moths, vol. 3Details - The book of butterflies, sphinxes and moths; illustrated by one hundred and forty-four engravings, coloured after nature; in three volumes - Biodiversity Heritage Library. biodiversitylibrary.org. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
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.
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