Broughton’s Monthly Planet Reader and Astrological Journal 1860-1869

2021-03-28 Philip 0

Editor: Broughton, L. D. (all issues)

Publication credits:

  • [L. D. Broughton], No. 353 North Tenth St., Philadelphia, Pa (Apr. – Sep. 1860; Nov. 1860 – Feb. 1861; Apr. – Jul. 1861; Dec. 1861; Feb. 1862)
  • Philadelphia (Oct. 1860; Mar. 1861; Aug. – Nov. 1861; Jan. 1862; Mar. 1862 – Sept. 1863)
  • 120 Greene Street, below Prince St., N. Y. / New York (Oct. 1864 – Mar. 1865)
  • New York (Apr. 1865 – Dec. 1866; Jul. – Sept. 1867; Oct. – Dec. 1869)
  • 814 Broadway, New York (Jan. – Jun. 1867)
  • 504 Canal Street, New York (Oct. – Dec 1867)

Holdings:

  • Vol. 1 No. 1, Apr. 1, 1860. [8 pp]
  • Vol. 1 No. 2, May 1, 1860. [pp. 9-16]
  • Vol. 1 No. 3, June 1, 1860. [pp. 17-24]
  • Vol. 1 No. 4, Jul 1, 1860. [pp. 25-32]
  • Vol. 1 No. 5, Aug 1, 1860. [pp. 33-40]
  • Vol. 1 No. 6, Sep 1, 1860. [pp. 41-7]
  • Vol. 1 No. 7, Oct 1, 1860. [pp. 49-56]
  • Vol. 1 No. 8, Nov 1, 1860. [pp. 57-64]
  • Vol. 1 No. 9, Dec 1, 1860. [pp. 65-72]
  • Vol. 2 No. 1, Jan 1, 1861. [pp. 1-4]
  • Vol. 2 No. 2, Feb 1, 1861. [4] + [pp. 7-8] + [2]
  • Vol. 2 No. 3, Mar. 1861. [pp. 9-12]
  • Vol. 2 No. 4, Apr. 1861. [3] + [pp. 14-16] + [2]
  • Vol. 2 No. 5 and 6, May & June, 1861. [1] + [p. 17]
  • Vol. 2 No. 7, Jul. 1861. [2] + [pp. 20-1]
  • Vol. 2 No. 8, Aug. 1861. [pp. 22-5]
  • Vol. 2 No. 9, Sep. 1861. [Frontis.] + [pp. 26-9]
  • Vol. 2 No. 10, Oct. 1861. [pp. 30-3]
  • Vol. 2 No. 11, Nov. 1861. [pp. 34-7]
  • Vol. 2 No. 12, Dec. 1861. [pp. 38-41]
  • Vol. 3 No. 1, Jan. 1862. 4pp
  • Vol. 3 No. 2, Feb. 1862. [pp. 5-8]
  • Vol. 3 No. 3, Mar. 1862. [pp. 9-12]
  • Vol. 3 No. 4, Apr.-Jun., 1862. [pp. 13-16]
  • Vol. 3 No. 5, Jul.-Sep., 1862. [pp. 17-20]
  • Vol. 3 No. 6, Oct.-Dec., 1862. [pp. 21-4]
  • Vol. 4 No. 1, Jan.-Mar., 1863. 4pp
  • Vol. 4 No. 2, Apr.-Jun., 1863. [pp. 5-8]
  • Vol. 4 No. 3, Jul.-Sep., 1863. [pp. 9-12]
  • Vol. 5 No. 1, Oct.-Dec., 1864. 8pp
  • Vol. 6 No. 1, Jan.-Mar., 1865. 8pp
  • Vol. 6 No. 2, Apr.-Jun., 1865. [pp. 9-16]
  • Vol. 6 No. 3, Jul.-Sep., 1865. [pp. 17-24]
  • Vol. 6 No. 4, Oct.-Dec., 1865. [pp. 25-32]
  • Vol. 7 No. 1, Jan.-Mar., 1866. 8pp
  • Vol. 7 No. 2, Apr.-Jun., 1866. [pp. 9-16]
  • Vol. 7 No. 3, Jul.-Sep., 1866. [pp. 17-24]
  • Vol. 7 No. 4, Oct.-Dec., 1866. [pp. 25-32]
  • Vol. 8 No. 1, Jan.-Mar., 1867. 8pp
  • Vol. 8 No. 2, Apr.-Jun., 1867. [pp. 9-16]
  • Vol. 8 No. 3, Jul.-Sep., 1867. [pp. 9-16]
  • Vol. 8 No. 4, Oct.-Dec., 1867. [2] + [pp. 17-22]
  • Vol. 9 No. 1, Oct.-Dec., 1869. 2pp + [p. 6] + [pp. 4-8]

Binding format and presentation notes:

  • Text printed in dual columns almost throughout
  • All issues bound together in a single full cloth volume.
  • Following Vol. 1 issue 6 is a fold-out partly hand-coloured chart, followed by 4 pages of advertisements, as issued.
  • The final issue is followed by a single-columned section entitled “Address to Students, &c., &c.”, numbered pp. [17]-20. This in turn is followed by a duplicate of the 4-page advertisement section found earlier

About this Book Scan

Carefully scanned in full colour from our original printing of the complete run of the journal as purchased from a specialist professional dealer in vintage American periodicals in the 2000s.

In 1860, British emigré to America Luke Dennis Broughton launched his own astrological journal in Philadelphia entitled Broughton’s Monthly Planet Reader and Astrological Journal. At first published monthly, it became a quarterly and suffered interruptions to publication lasting a year each on two occasions, before reaching its final issue in late 1869.

A limited number of bound sets of the complete run were sold by Broughton towards the end of his career and life. These are now rare, expensive and highly sought-after, partly on account of the commentaries relating to the American Civil War.

NB: Our source volume for the bound set is bound so tightly that scanning right to the edges was extremely difficult. For the purposes of this scan, I took great care to ensure that all text was reproduced wherever possible. Please note however the following minor faults on our source volume that cannot be helped:

  • On Vol. 7 No. 3, July-September 1866, the last two pages (numbered in print 23 and 24 – pages 231 and 232 in the overall file) were bound with inadequate inner margins, the stitching of the binding crossing some text so that it is impossible to capture or even see all the text without breaking the binding.
  • The penultimate issue (Vol. 8 No. 1, October – December 1867) has very fragile paper, and a few of its leaves have sustained marginal chips that have led to a small number of characters of text at the starts or ends of lines being lost – though in nearly all cases it is possible to work out at a glance what the complete word should be.
  • The original print quality of a few of the later pages is notably weak and the paper thin to the point of showing some bleed-through of text from the other side, but without detriment to legibility as this shows as a shadow and is distinguishable from the text on the current page.