The World, which appeared weekly for four years, from 4 January 1753 to 30 December 1756, was the entrepreneurial, bookseller Robert Dodsley’s (1703-64) third venture into the potentially lucrative world of periodical publication, following on from The Publick Register, 1741, and The Museum, 1746-7 (see separate entries for both). The World was less ambitious in format than the two earlier publications, describing itself as a ‘paper’ rather than a ‘magazine’. Each week’s edition comprised a single essay of about 1500 words, rather than containing the range of different sections found in The Publick Register and The Museum. It was attractively set out with generous margins, carried no advertisements and sold for two pence an issue, compared to three pence for The Publick Register and sixpence for The Museum. The aim, as the editor wrote in...
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Citation: Gordon, Ian. "The World". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 23 April 2008 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=23557, accessed 09 June 2026.]
