“Humbly dedicated”: Petiver and the audience for natural history in early eighteenth-century Britain

Abstract

Over the winter and spring of 1713–1714, Dr Patrick Blair (1666–1728) acted as agent for James Petiver (c. 1664–1718) while in Dundee and Edinburgh, promoting the London apothecary's publications on natural history. Blair was successful in attracting a readership for Petiver's works, despite enduring the diffi culty of having to wait for Petiver to act on his promise to supply the publications. Publications - through presentation copies, dedications, or subscriptions - were used as compliments to attract individuals into the network of correspondence and acquaintance by which natural history in early modern Britain was conducted. These dedications also exhibited the readership to itself, acting as a social advertisement for natural history. Blair's endeavours in 1713–1714 offer insight into the role of audience in the practice of natural history in early-modern Britain.