> I'd be unlikely to go to the trouble of =
> typing this little rant, putting it in an envelope, addressing it and m=
ailing =
> it to Rohit so that he could just as unlike-ily copy it and distribute =
it to =
> the Forklist via the postal system or courier.
As a counterexample, see Notes & Queries Vol.1 #1 (3 Nov 1849).
Billed as "a medium of inter-communication for literary men, artists, =
antiquaries, genealogists, etc." and the motto "When found, make a note o=
f",
I see it as a distant ancestor of FoRK, or at least FoRK-archive.
'in short, Notes relating to all subjects ... should meet in our columns =
in =
such juxtaposition, as to give fair play to any natural attraction or =
repulsion between them, and so that if there are any hooks and eyes among=
=
them, they may catch each other.'
'...we are doing a service to writers and readers, by calling forth mater=
ials =
which they themselves thought worth notice, but which, for want of =
elaboration, and the "little leisure" that has not yet come, are lying, a=
nd =
may lie for ever, unnoticed by others, and presenting them in an unadorne=
d =
multum-in-parvo form. To our readers therefore who are seeking for Truth=
, we =
repeat "When found make a Note of!", and we must add, "till then make a Q=
uery"'
Looking back to 1731, we find that the "Gentleman's Magazine", apart from=
=
latency, does not seem so different from a modern mailing list in digest =
mode. =
The forwards from other publications, snippy comments about public =
personalitys, stock news, recent book synopses, and replies, ridicules, a=
nd =
defenses (conveniently threaded) -- all seem so familiar, yet are from ov=
er a =
quarter of a millenium ago.
-Dave
{Notes & Queries}
<http://erl.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/ilej/image1.pl?item=3Dpage&seq=3D1&size=3D1&=
id=3Dnq.1849.1
1.3.1.1.x.1>
{Gentleman's Magazine} also at the ILEJ