The Universal Magazine of Knowledge and Pleasure, an intelligent comprehensive magazine for world-curious Britons during the 1700s, was a looking-glass into the ways and cultures of the world beyond the English Channel, including the "Colonies" where so much of a ruckus was happening. In these incredibly rare bound issues of the compact, 5 x 8" monthly published by John Hinton of Warwick Lane, London -- from August 1776 (109 pages) and September 1787 (312 pages) -- is one of the earliest printings of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution! This former was printed, just one month after the signing. The historical value here cannot be overstated, as it marks the unearthing of the two most profound American documents of independence, as they were first reported in the pages of a highly heralded British publication. This was something few Americans had access to in their own newspapers. The 1776 issue has the inside title page, the 1787 only the "American Museum" section; neither has the cover. The pages are not fragile, frayed or torn, the only damage being some mild fading of the type and some foxing, more prevalent on the left and right edges of the pages. Overall, G-VG.