The
Tatler, a periodical edited by Richard Steele, appeared thrice weekly from 12 April 1709 to 2 January 1711: a total of 271 issues. Published in London by John Morphew and printed by John Nutt, it took the form of a single folio half-sheet, printed in double columns, containing between 1,000 and 3,000 words of text, including advertisements, and costing 1
d. A collected edition was published in 1710–11, under the title
The Lucubrations of Isaac Bickerstaff, Esq..
The Tatler appeared pseudonymously, but some contemporaries quickly identified the periodical as Steele's. The authorship of most of the individual Tatler numbers remains unknown, but Joseph Addison appears to have been Steele's only major collaborator. 62 Tatler papers have been identified as wholly or partly Addison's work.
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Citation: Italia, Iona. "The Tatler". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 05 November 2004 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=7889, accessed 21 November 2024.]