{{short description|Periodical}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2021}} {{italic title}} [[File:PriestleyFuseli.jpg|left|thumb|Engraving by Charles A. E. Turner (1836) of a Priestley portrait commissioned by Joseph Johnson from Henry Fuseli (c. 1783).]]
The '''''Theological Repository''''' was a periodical founded and edited from 1769 to 1771 by the eighteenth-century British polymath Joseph Priestley. Although ostensibly committed to the open and rational inquiry of theological questions, the journal became a mouthpiece for Dissenting, particularly Unitarian and Arian, doctrines.
Priestley promised to print all viewpoints, but only like-minded authors ever submitted articles. He was therefore forced to provide much of the journal's content himself. After only a few years, due to a lack of funds, he was forced to cease publishing the journal.<ref>See Schofield, Vol. 1, 193–201 for an analysis of the journal; Uglow, 169; Holt, 53–55.</ref> About a decade later, in 1784, Priestley revived the ''Theological Repository'', but he again became responsible for much of the journal's content and again the journal became insolvent after several issues (1784, 1786, 1788).<ref>See Schofield, Vol. 2, 202–207 for an analysis of Priestley's contributions.</ref>
Joseph Johnson, Priestley's close friend and publisher, was responsible for issuing the journal. Dedicated to the Unitarian cause, he bore much of the financial burden of the enterprise.<ref>Braithwaite, 12–13; 18–19.</ref>
==Contributors== Those contributing to the ''Repository'' included:
*Samuel Badcock<ref>{{cite DNB|wstitle=Badcock, Samuel|volume=2}}</ref> *Samuel Bourn the Younger (posthumous publication of correspondence with Philip Doddridge)<ref>{{cite DNB|wstitle=Bourn, Samuel (1689-1754)|volume=6}}</ref> *John Brekell, writing as Verus<ref>{{cite DNB|wstitle=Brekell, John|volume=6}}</ref> *Joseph Bretland,<ref>{{cite DNB|wstitle=Bretland, Joseph|volume=6}}</ref> writing as Philander and under other names in the second series.<ref name=Cameron>{{cite DNB|wstitle=Cameron, John (1724-1799)|volume=8}}</ref> *John Cameron,<ref>{{cite ODNB|id=4445|title=Cameron, John|first=M. J.|last=Mercer}}</ref> writing as Philander in the first series.<ref name=Cameron/> *Paul Cardale<ref>{{cite ODNB|id=4611|title=Cardale, Paul|first=M. J.|last=Mercer}}</ref> *James Duchal<ref>{{cite DNB|wstitle=Duchal, James|volume=16}}</ref> *William Hazlitt, father of the essayist, writing as Philalethes and Rationalis<ref>{{cite ODNB|id=95498|title=Hazlitt, William|first=Duncan|last=Wu}}</ref> *Joseph Mottershead, writing as Theophilus<ref>{{cite DNB|wstitle=Mottershead, Joseph|volume=39}}</ref> *John Palmer,<ref>{{cite ODNB|id=21196|title=Palmer, John|first=M. J.|last=Mercer}}</ref> who wrote in the first series as G.H., but in the second series as Christophilos, Symmachus, and Erasmus.<ref>{{cite DNB|wstitle=Palmer, John (1742-1786)|volume=43}}</ref> *Thomas Fyshe Palmer, writing as Anglo-Scotus<ref>{{cite ODNB|id=21220|title=Palmer, Thomas Fyshe|first=G. M.|last=Ditchfield}}</ref> *William Turner, writing as Vigilius<ref>{{cite ODNB|id=27877|title=Turner, William|first=John|last=Goodchild}}. {{DNBfirst|wstitle=Turner, William (1714-1794)|volume=57}}</ref> *John Wiche, writing as Nazaraeus<ref>{{cite DNB|wstitle=Wiche, John|volume=61}}</ref>
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==Notes== {{reflist}}
==Bibliography== *Braithwaite, Helen. ''Romanticism, Publishing and Dissent: Joseph Johnson and the Cause of Liberty''. Palgrave Macmillan, 2003. {{ISBN|0-333-98394-7}}. *Holt, Anne. ''A Life of Joseph Priestley''. London: Oxford University Press, 1931. *Schofield, Robert E. ''The Enlightenment of Joseph Priestley: A Study of his Life and Work from 1733 to 1773''. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1997. {{ISBN|0-271-01662-0}}. *Schofield, Robert E. ''The Enlightened Joseph Priestley: A Study of His Life and Work from 1773 to 1804''. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2004. {{ISBN|0-271-02459-3}}. *Uglow, Jenny. ''The Lunar Men: Five Friends Whose Curiosity Changed the World''. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2002. {{ISBN|0-374-19440-8}}.
{{Joseph Priestley}} {{Authority control}}
Category:Religious magazines published in the United Kingdom Category:Defunct magazines published in the United Kingdom Category:Magazines established in 1769 Category:Magazines disestablished in 1788 Category:1769 establishments in Great Britain Category:1788 disestablishments in Great Britain