ABSTRACT
In the course of his career Defoe – whether as sole author, editor, manager or financial proprietor, or as freelance contributor – became connected with a considerable number of periodicals and newspapers, but not all of these functions come within the purview of a bibliography. There is, for instance, evidence that he was for a time proprietor of the Edinburgh Courant the Scots Post-Man and probably also the Daily Post, but it does not necessarily follow that he ever wrote for them, and there is no evidence that he did. Similarly, there is solid evidence that he was connected with the Whitehall Evening Post, but exactly in what capacity is not clear, nor is it possible to identify his written contributions with any certainty. We know, too, that he was engaged by William Hurt to assist him on a journal called The Flying-Post; and Medley (later simply the Flying-Post). According to a letter from Defoe to Robert Harley of 31 August 1714, he sent Hurt ‘paragraphs of forreign News’ (Letters, pp. 445–7), but, despite denials on his part, it seems likely that his contributions extended beyond this. Once again, however, there seems no way of establishing for which portions of the text he was actually responsible.
