Annual Register
Encyclopedia
Edmund Burke
Edmund Burke PC was an Irish statesman, author, orator, political theorist and philosopher who, after moving to England, served for many years in the House of Commons of Great Britain as a member of the Whig party....
, and has been produced continuously since that date. In its current form the first half of the book comprises articles on each of the world’s countries or regions, while the latter half contains articles on international organisations, economics, the environment, science, law, religion, the arts and sport, together with obituaries, a chronicle of major events and selected documents. In addition to being produced annually in hardback, the book is also published electronically and its entire 250-year archive is available online from its publisher, ProQuest
ProQuest
ProQuest LLC is an Ann Arbor, Michigan-based electronic publisher and microfilm publisher.It provides archives of sources such as newspapers, periodicals, dissertations, and aggregated databases of many types. Its content is estimated at 125 billion digital pages...
.
Edmund Burke and the creation of The Annual Register
The Annual Register was created in 1758 by the publishers JamesJames Dodsley
-Life:Dodsley was born near Mansfield in Nottinghamshire in 1724. He was probably employed in the shop of his prosperous brother, Robert, by whom he was taken into partnership—the firm trading as R. & J. Dodsley in Pall Mall—and whom he eventually succeeded in 1759....
and Robert Dodsley
Robert Dodsley
Robert Dodsley was an English bookseller and miscellaneous writer.-Life:He was born near Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, where his father was master of the free school....
. On 24 April 1758 the Dodsley brothers signed a contract with Edmund Burke (1729–97) to write and edit the material for The Annual Register, which was conceived as an annual publication which would review the history, politics and literature of the day. Born in Ireland, Burke had trained as a lawyer before abandoning this field and turning to writing. He was an up and coming member of the intelligentsia and had already written several notable works, published by Dodsley. According to his contract with Dodsley, Burke was paid £100 pounds per annum as editor of The Annual Register.
In its original form, The Annual Register comprised a long historical essay on the “History of the Present War” (the Seven Years' War
Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War was a global military war between 1756 and 1763, involving most of the great powers of the time and affecting Europe, North America, Central America, the West African coast, India, and the Philippines...
1756–63), a Chronology, which gave an account of interesting and noteworthy events in Britain over the previous year, and a collection of “State Papers”, a miscellany of primary source material which included official documents, speeches, letters and accounts. In his preface to the 1758 volume Burke noted the difficulties he had faced in writing the history section of the book. Taking the “broken and unconnected materials” and creating from them “one connected narrative” had been, he commented, “a work of more labour than may at first appear”. Nevertheless, his perseverance and skill as an historian meant that by the time of its publication the first volume of The Annual Register contained a unique, contemporaneous account of the war, analysing its origins and development with a perspective not readily available at the time in newspapers or magazines. As a result the book sold widely, with the first volume going through five editions in its first 10 years.
Given the conventions of the day, within which journalism was seen as a disreputable profession for a gentleman, Burke was publicly reticent about his connection with The Annual Register. However, his biographers are in agreement that Burke wrote and edited the book single-handedly until 1765 when he entered Parliament. From this time Thomas English was closely involved in writing the book and is regarded by some authorities as having taken over the editorship from Burke in that year. Scholars are divided on the question of Burke’s association with the book thereafter, although many suggest that he continued to contribute to the history section and that he played a significant role in overseeing The Annual Register’s compilation until the 1790s, even though much of the editorial work by this stage was being done by others.
Competing editions
By the 1760s The Annual Register had established itself as amongst the most respected journals in print. However, the immense scale of the work meant that its early years were characterised by frequent delays in publication and a chaotic period in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries when there were two competing versions of the title, each claiming to be its legitimate incarnation.Having been created in 1758, The Annual Register was published by the Dodsley brothers until 1763 and, following Robert Dodsley’s death, by James Dodsley
James Dodsley
-Life:Dodsley was born near Mansfield in Nottinghamshire in 1724. He was probably employed in the shop of his prosperous brother, Robert, by whom he was taken into partnership—the firm trading as R. & J. Dodsley in Pall Mall—and whom he eventually succeeded in 1759....
alone until 1790. The sequence of Dodsley volumes was confused, however, by the practice of falsely dating a number of first editions in order to conceal the increasing delays (on occasions up to three years) between the year of publication and the year of the events described within a particular volume. A number of reprints and “counterfeit firsts” were also issued during the Dodsley period.
Following the publication of the 1790 volume in December 1793, Dodsley disposed of The Annual Register. He sold the stock and copyright of the volumes already issued to Messrs Otridge and assigned responsibility for future volumes to another publisher, Rivington. Under the new publisher the delays increased further, with the 1792 volume of the “Genuine” Annual Register not appearing until September 1798 (three months after the death of Thomas English) and the 1793 volume not being printed until July 1806. During this period Otridge produced volumes of its own “Original” Annual Register, covering the missing years and selling them at 8 shillings, compared with the 13 shillings charged by Rivington. Faced with this competition from a rival with greater resources, Rivington attempted to make good the arrears while also bringing out subsequent volumes more promptly. Some ground was recovered, although a number of years had still not been produced (1813–19) when Rivington finally went into partnership with Baldwin Craddock and Joy, a publisher which had already acquired a major share of Otridge in 1815. Thus, from the 1825 edition (produced in 1826) the competing Annual Registers were combined by Baldwin and Co. into a single title.
Subsequent developments
During the remainder of the nineteenth century The Annual Register was published without major difficulty. Following the end of the Napoleonic WarsNapoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
in 1815 it had adopted a format which gave a number of chapters to the history of Britain and followed closely the proceedings of Parliament. There followed chapters covering other countries in turn, no longer confined only to Europe. Its expanded history section meant that there was less of the miscellaneous material which had characterised its earlier volumes. Nevertheless, poetry remained included until 1862 and the book continued to reflect topical issues of the day.
In 1947 The Annual Register acquired an Advisory Board for the first time consisting of the then editor, Ivison Macadam
Ivison Macadam
Sir Ivison Stevenson Macadam KCVO CBE was a Scot, who was the first Director-General of the Royal Institute of International Affairs , and the founding President of the National Union of Students.-Early life:...
, the Assistant Editor, Hugh Latimer, and five representatives nominated by: the English Association, the Arts Council of Great Britain
Arts Council of Great Britain
The Arts Council of Great Britain was a non-departmental public body dedicated to the promotion of the fine arts in Great Britain. The Arts Council of Great Britain was divided in 1994 to form the Arts Council of England , the Scottish Arts Council, and the Arts Council of Wales...
, the British Association for the Advancement of Science
British Association for the Advancement of Science
frame|right|"The BA" logoThe British Association for the Advancement of Science or the British Science Association, formerly known as the BA, is a learned society with the object of promoting science, directing general attention to scientific matters, and facilitating interaction between...
, the Royal Institute of International Affairs, and the Royal Historical Society
Royal Historical Society
The Royal Historical Society was founded in 1868. The premier society in the United Kingdom which promotes and defends the scholarly study of the past, it is based at University College London...
. Explaining this innovation, Macadam stated in the preface to the 1947 volume that it was “a recognition of the need for specialisation in these complicated times”.
In 1994, after a century’s ownership by Longman
Longman
Longman was a publishing company founded in London, England in 1724. It is now an imprint of Pearson Education.-Beginnings:The Longman company was founded by Thomas Longman , the son of Ezekiel Longman , a gentleman of Bristol. Thomas was apprenticed in 1716 to John Osborn, a London bookseller, and...
, The Annual Register was transferred to Cartermill. In 1996 it was sold to a US publisher, Keesing’s Worldwide, which oversaw the process of digitising the book’s extensive archive and making this available for the first time to subscribers. In late 2005 the title was bought by another US publisher, Cambridge Scientific Abstracts, which subsequently became ProQuest.
List of editors
Although it is agreed that Edmund Burke was the first editor of The Annual Register and held the post from 1758 to 1765, the date upon which he relinquished the editorship is uncertain.It is only possible to record with accuracy those editors of the book from the modern period. The following list shows which volumes were produced by specific editors.
- M. Epstein 1922–1945
- H.T. Montague Bell 1946
- Ivison S. Macadam 1947–1972
- Harry HodsonHarry HodsonHenry Vincent "Harry" Hodson was a British economist and editor.-Career:Hodson was born in Edmonton, London. He was educated at Gresham's School, Holt, and Balliol College, Oxford, becoming a Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford, in 1928. He was later a member of the Economic Advisory Council and...
1973–1987 - Alan J. Day 1988–1999
- D.S. Lewis 2000–present
Editorial aims
The Annual Register in its current form aims to provide an authoritative, accurate, and interesting summary of the history of the year. This includes charting the immediate history of individual countries and also covering developments across a broad spectrum of science and the humanities. It aims to maintain The Annual Register’s traditional role as a well-respected reference work, while also providing an interesting and lively read.Modern format
The Annual Register begins with an overview of the year, a thought-provoking essay by an established modern historian. In recent years, the authors of this article have included Anatol LievenAnatol Lieven
Peter Paul Anatol Lieven is a British author, journalist, and policy analyst. He is presently a Senior Researcher at the New America Foundation, where he focuses on US global strategy and the War on Terrorism, Associated Scholar of the Transnational Crisis Project, Chair of International...
, Philip M.H. Bell, M.R.D. Foot, Richard Overy
Richard Overy
Richard Overy is a British historian who has published extensively on the history of World War II and the Third Reich. In 2007 as The Times editor of Complete History of the World he chose the 50 key dates of world history....
, and J.M. Roberts. There then follow articles on each country (or group of countries) in the world, ranging from a few hundred to 10,000 words in length. The second half of the book contains articles on major international and regional organisations, and essays on various topics. These include developments in the international economy, science and the environment, law and religion, and the arts and sport. The final sections of the book contain selected documents and statistics, an obituary section, and a day-by-day chronicle of the year’s events. A number of maps and colour photographs are included to illustrate the year’s key stories.
Contributors
Each article is written by an expert in that field. Of the ninety or so contributors, some of whom have written for The Annual Register for 40 years, the vast majority are academics or journalists. Although the contributors are scattered throughout the world, the publisher invites them to an annual dinner, which serves as a forum for discussion of the book, and at which a traditional toast “to the immortal memory of Edmund Burke” is still drunk in port, after the meal.Advisory Board members
The current Advisory Board of The Annual Register consists of the following luminaries, who are nominated by various learned societies.- Chairman: James Bishop, former editor of The Illustrated London News and Foreign News Editor of The TimesThe TimesThe Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
- Editor: D.S. Lewis
- Deputy Editor: Wendy Slater
- Philip M. H. Bell, Senior Research Fellow, University of LiverpoolUniversity of LiverpoolThe University of Liverpool is a teaching and research university in the city of Liverpool, England. It is a member of the Russell Group of large research-intensive universities and the N8 Group for research collaboration. Founded in 1881 , it is also one of the six original "red brick" civic...
(nominated by the Royal Historical Society) - Mark Furneaux (nominated by the chairman)
- Michael Kaser, Emeritus Fellow of St Antony's College, OxfordSt Antony's College, OxfordSt Antony's College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England.St Antony's is the most international of the seven all-graduate colleges of the University of Oxford, specialising in international relations, economics, politics, and history of particular parts of the...
, and honorary professor, University of BirminghamUniversity of BirminghamThe University of Birmingham is a British Redbrick university located in the city of Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Birmingham Medical School and Mason Science College . Birmingham was the first Redbrick university to gain a charter and thus...
(nominated by the Royal Institute of International Affairs) - Alastair Niven, Principal, Cumberland LodgeCumberland LodgeCumberland Lodge is a 17th century country house in Windsor Great Park located 3.5 miles south of Windsor Castle. It is now occupied by a charitable foundation which holds residential conferences, lectures and discussions concerning the burning issues facing society. The primary beneficiaries of...
(nominated by the British CouncilBritish CouncilThe British Council is a United Kingdom-based organisation specialising in international educational and cultural opportunities. It is registered as a charity both in England and Wales, and in Scotland...
) - Richard O’Brien, Partner, Outsights (nominated by the Royal Economic SocietyRoyal Economic SocietyThe Royal Economic Society is incorporated by a Royal Charter dated 2 December 1902. It is one of the oldest economic associations in the world. Currently it has over 3,300 individual members, of whom 60% live outside the United Kingdom...
) - Neil Weir, FRCS, Consultant otolaryngologist (nominated by the Royal Society of MedicineRoyal Society of MedicineThe Royal Society of Medicine is a British charitable organisation whose main purpose is as a provider of medical education, running over 350 meetings and conferences each year.- History and overview :...
) - Lorelly Wilson, Honorary Teaching Fellow, University of ManchesterUniversity of ManchesterThe University of Manchester is a public research university located in Manchester, United Kingdom. It is a "red brick" university and a member of the Russell Group of research-intensive British universities and the N8 Group...
(nominated by the British Association for the Advancement of ScienceBritish Association for the Advancement of Scienceframe|right|"The BA" logoThe British Association for the Advancement of Science or the British Science Association, formerly known as the BA, is a learned society with the object of promoting science, directing general attention to scientific matters, and facilitating interaction between...
)
The annual Board meetings are also attended by representatives of the publisher.
Current editors
The current editor is D.S. Lewis. He studied history and economics at Manchester University, and took his PhD there in 1983. In 1987 he published Illusions of Grandeur: Mosley, Fascism and British Society (MUP), and from 1997 to 2007 he served as editor of Keesing’s Record of World Events. He became chairman of the Advisory Board of The Annual Register in 1999 but stepped down in the following year upon becoming the book’s editor.The deputy editor is Wendy Slater. She read Russian at the University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
and Soviet studies at Manchester. After several years in journalism she obtained her PhD from Cambridge in 1998, and from 1999 to 2003 was lecturer in Russian contemporary history at the UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies
School of Slavonic and East European Studies
The UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies is a school of University College London . It is the largest centre for the study and research of Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe, and Russia in the United Kingdom...
(SSEES), a post which she left after becoming deputy editor of The Annual Register in 2002. In 2007, she published The Many Deaths of Nicholas II: Relics, remains and the Romanovs (Routledge).
Current publisher
The Annual Register is currently published by ProQuest. The company (then called CSA) bought the title in late 2005 from Keesing’s Worldwide.Winner of 2008 reference award
In 2008 the board of judges of the Specialized Information Publishers Association (SIPA) awarded The Annual Register the 2008 Best Reference Publication prize for its "editorial excellence".Online archive
The entire archive of The Annual Register is currently available to subscribers online. This includes every volume published since 1758 and is updated annually when each new volume is completed. Each page has been scanned. Text has been captured through OCR (optical character recognitionOptical character recognition
Optical character recognition, usually abbreviated to OCR, is the mechanical or electronic translation of scanned images of handwritten, typewritten or printed text into machine-encoded text. It is widely used to convert books and documents into electronic files, to computerize a record-keeping...
) for the earlier volumes, while recent volumes have text taken directly from the files used for the print publication. The online version includes contents tables and indexes to enable users to browse individual volumes. It also allows for keyword searches within the whole text.