Bibliographer: Suness Jones

A Trip to Melasge; or, concise instructions to a young gentleman entering into life: with his observations on the genius, manners, ton, opinions… of the Melasgeans.

This video seeks to capture capturing the different environments – coffeehouse, family parlor, circulating library - in which readers may have encountered A Trip to Melasge in 1778. Additionally, it is a window into the imagined community of the English nation that the novel formalizes and helps form, as Benedict Anderson theorizes.

Traditional Description

A Trip to Melasge; or, concise instructions to a young gentleman entering into life: with his observations on the genius, manners, ton, opinions… of the Melasgeans. Vol. Volume 1 and 2. [London], 1778.
A | TRIP TO MELASGE; | OR, CONCISE INSTRUCTIONS | TO A | YOUNG GENTLEMAN | ENTERING INTO LIFE | WITH | HIS OBSERVATIONS | ON THE | GENIUS, MANNERS, TON, OPINIONS | PHILOSOPHY, AND MORALS, | OF THE | MELASGEANS. | QUO SEMEL EST IMBUTARECENSSERVABIT | ODOREN | TESTA DIU. | Hor. | [Two horizontal lines that run from one side of the page to the other] | PRINTED FOR B. LAW. NO. 13, AVE-MARY | LANE, LUDGATE-STREET, 1778.
I viii, 232p; II viii, 232p, 8vo
Contents: A1r Half title, A1v title, A2r- A3v preface, B1r-Z1v text.
Notes: British Library, Gale Document Number: CW120708018
Same work published (with same number of pages) as THE SENTIMENTAL TRAVELLER, OR A DESCRIPTIVE TOUR THROUGH LIFE, FIGURATIVELY AS A TRIP TO MELASGE, IN WHICH IS INCLUDED THE ADVENTURES OF A GENTLEMAN IN THE EAST-INDIES: THE WHOLE FORMING A SYSTEM OF EDUCATION WITH INSTRUCTIONS TO A YOUNG GENTLEMAN, ENTERING INTO LIFE. IN TWO VOLUMES. (London: Printed for S. Brown, Strand. n.d. [ESTC:1780?], EM 2145:5, ESTC n021226.
The number of pages listed on ECCO is not consistent with the actual number of pages in the book. It has 232 pages, which is consistent with Garside and Raven, and not 238.
In this copy, “MELASGE” on the title page is underlined by hand, with a “K” drawn next to it.

Experimental Description