L’Echo du Monde Savant. Paris.
Began with a double issue on 10 April 1834, a Thursday, stating it would appear weekly. but might expand to two or three times a week. Issue 10 on Friday 6 June signalled a switch to publication on Friday. The first two years (1834-1835) were originally seen as a ‘volume’ containing 91 issues. Pagination: 464 pages; typically 4 pages per issue, some having supplements (mention of which first appears in issue 32: 7 November 1834).
In 1836 (Année 3: issues 92-193). From the beginning of the year the publication split: on Thursdays an issue covered astronomy, meteorology, physics, chemistry, mechanics, industrial economics, archaeology and history, and on Sundays another issue reported on zoology, physiology, botany, palaeontology, mineralogy, geology and geography, and included bibliographic notes. 52 issues appeared in each subseries. Pagination: Thursday/Wednesday issues: 1-222; Sunday/Saturday issues: 1-234. All issues continued the original series of running numbers, but in addition those in each subseries, which could be bought separately, were numbered 1 upwards. In October the days of issue changed again from Thursday to Wednesday, on October 19, and from Sunday to Saturday, on October 22. Shortly before, in the Sunday issue No. 41 (but not in the No. 41 of the previous Thursday) the publishers made apparent the acquisition of L’Hermès, initially giving this greater prominence in the ‘masthead’ than the name L’Echo du Monde Savant, however just seven issues later these names changed places. I believe issues 194 and 195 were applied to the index to ‘Années’ 1-3 (consistency with the original wording would require this to be treated as volumes 1 and 2).
In 1837 (Année 4: issues 196-296): issues 196 and 197 were each No. 1 in their subseries but this was judged an error and 198 and 199 followed as issue 54 in each subseries. Presumably the expectation was that 1836 and 1837 would be bound as volume 2. By year end each subseries had published 51 issues and reached No. 103. In the long run numbering scheme these were No. 295 on 27 December and 296 on 30 December (No. 59 of the Wednesday series was misnumbered as 58). Pagination: Wednesday series: 1-220; Saturday series 1-222. Issues were usually just 4 pp. But there were also some unnumbered pages of a ‘Révue littéraire’ which sometimes began on the fourth page of the basic 4 page signature. This volume has its own index.
In 1838 (Année 5: issue numbers 297-399; if bound in two volumes: Jan./Jun. issues 297-347 and July-Dec. 348-399; overall pagination 1-420): in this volume the mention given to L’Hermès in the masthead is significantly smaller. With issue 391 on Saturday 1 December the two separated streams of contents were merged again, presumably under the new direction of M. A. Desproz, and the issue numbers for the volume, which had again begun the year from 1 in each subseries, were dropped (No. 47 being the last in each subseries), while the long run numbering then continued from 391 to 399. From its inception there had always been a subtitle to the journal: “Journal analytique des nouvelles et des cours scientifiques”, in 1838 this changed twice: in the two issues No. 16 the words “et revue critiques des exploitations industrielles” was added after “cours scientifiques”, but on 28 November under the new management this was dropped again. Desproz seems to have had a very brief stay with le Vicomte Adrien de Lavalle replacing him before the year end.
1839 (Année 6: issues 400-503; if bound in two volumes: Jan./Jun. 400-451 and July-Dec. 452-503; overall pagination 1-828).
By 1840 (Année 7; the first 2 volumes of Series II: issues 504-597; if bound in two volumes: Jan./Jun. 504-550 and July-Dec. 551-597; overall pagination: 1-732). Only 94 issues {gaps not yet investigated}. Mention of L’Hermès disappears from the masthead. Laid out in 3 columns, but pages are numbered not columns. A note in issue 597 of December 30th. reveals that Saturday issues were normally printed in the Friday but that on Friday 1st. January 1841 the printers would not be working so that the Saturday and Wednesday issues would appear together on Wednesday 6th. January.
1841 (Année 8; the third and fourth volumes of Series II; issues 598/9-691; Jan./Jun. 598/9-644 and July-Dec. 645-691; overall pagination 1-752). Also 94 issues. The first issue, is a double issue, dated ‘6 janvier 1841’ (with new page numbering) for reasons given above. , the issue number is given as 598-599 (the last issue in 1840 No. 597 is dated ‘30 decembre’). [? page layout columns or full page width?]
In 1842 (Année 9; the fifth and sixth volumes of Series II; issues Jan./Jun. 692-742, with pagination 1-408; and Jul./Dec. 1-51 with numbered columns: 1-1218, equivalent to 406 pp.); from the first issue publication reverted to Thursdays and Sundays. Copy was set in full page width until July 1842 when columns return with numbers. Long run issue numbers that had begun at No. 1 in 1834 continued to 742 at end June 1842 when columns began.
1843 (Année 10, the seventh, actually mislabelled fifth, and eight volumes of Series II; issues Jan./Jun. 1-49, cols. 1-1175, and July-Dec. 1-52, cols. 1-1248): still Thursdays and Sundays.
1844 (Année 11, the ninth and tenth volumes of Series II; issues Jan./Jun. 1-51, cols. 1-1224, and July-Dec. 1-53, cols. 1-958).
1845 (Année 12; issues Jan./Jun. 1-49, cols. 1-1152, and July-Dec.1-52, cols. 1-1247).
1846 (Année 13; issues Jan./Jun. 1-44, cols. 1-1057). Last issue No. 44 (4 Juin 1846) suggested by sets in the NHM London and the MNHN in Paris. It there was an explanation regarding the cessation of publication this was not obvious.
In series II two volume numbers were assigned per year. It is not sure whether Series III was to begin in 1845 or later.