Smart Aleck (1730?)

[Gerald Cohen]

Barry,

>  The Grub-Street Journal, a "literary paper run by a number of smart
>alecks" was first issued in 1730 and was discontinued in 1737 and
>rerun in 1738.


***

     The question here is: Did the editors of the Grub-Street Journal
refer ca. 1730 to their publication as a "literary paper run by a
number of smart alecks"?
Or was this description added much later (19th or 20th century) by
someone injecting his own opinion about the editors and their work?

     If "smart aleck" really did appear in a London publication of ca. 1730,
this would be truly remarkable. As you know, the earliest attestation
thus far spotted is 1865 (in U.S.).

Jerry


>At 5:52 PM -0500 12/1/02, Bapopik at AOL.COM wrote:
>---------------------------------------------------------------
>SMART ALECK
>
>    From the NORTH AMERICAN WOMEN'S LETTERS ABD DIARIES database
>(available at the NYPL, NYU, and here at Columbia):
>
>
>1. Franks, Abigail Bilhah Levy. "Letter from Abigail Bilhah Levy
>Franks to Naphtali Franks, December 12, 1735" [ Note]
>28 There were three weekly newspapers in London in 1735. The Country
>Journal: or The Craftsman which began publication in 1727, reported
>foreign and domestic news, as well as carrying advertisements. The
>Grub-Street Journal, a "literary paper run by a number of smart
>alecks" was first issued in 1730 and was discontinued in 1737 and
>rerun in 1738. The third was the Weekly Miscellany, first issued in
>December, 1732. It included accounts of religion, learning, and
>foreign and domestic news.It was a leisurely paper written by those
>accustomed to deal...
>
>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>Results Bibliography
>Franks, Abigail Bilhah Levy, 1696-1756, Letter from Abigail Bilhah
>Levy Franks to Naphtali Franks, December 12, 1735, in The Lee Max
>Friedman Collection of American Jewish Colonial Correspondence:
>Letters of the Franks Family, 1733-1748. Hershkowitz, Leo and Meyer,
>Isidore S.. Waltham, MA: American Jewish Historical Society, 1968,
>pp. 171. [Bibliographic Details] [Biography] [12-12-1735] S2057-D011
>Franks:L2057-11