ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL

The London cathedral figures prominently in most descriptions as a centre of worship, an architectural icon, and, occasionally, a common resort of the politicians, the news-mongers, and idle in general. What follows are two related excerpts from the London articles in the early Encyclopdia Britannicasection 3 from the 2nd edition (177784) and section 78 from the 3rd edition (178897). The list of authors in the 2nd edition includes Entick's history and survey of London, probably in reference to The history of London . . . , a publication that was updated to 1772 by John Entick through his supplement, A continuation of the history and survey of the cities of London and Westminster, and the borough of Southwark . . .. The 3rd-edition article quotes long treatments from Some Account of London (1790), by the naturalist Thomas Pennant. The text is presented in modern typography for ease in reading but otherwise retains the original spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and italicsincluding typographical errors. St. Paul's Cathedral The king's gift of all the great fish taken . . . except the tongues is probably a reference to whaling. According to the 2nd-edition article BALNA, or whale (volume 2, page 965), In old times the whale seems never to have been taken on our coasts, but when it was accidentally flung ashore: it was then deemed a royal fish, and the king and queen divided the spoil; the king asserting his right to the head, her majesty to the tail. For further treatment of the London cathedral and its environs, see the current articles Saint Paul's Cathedral and London. For similar excerpts from early editions of Encyclopdia Britannica and the Britannica Book of the Year, see BTW: London Classics.