Terry Foreman on 25 Jul 2008  •  Link

Natural and Political OBSERVATIONS Mentioned in a following INDEX, and made upon the Bills of Mortality.
By JOHN GRAUNT, Citizen of LONDON. with reference to the Government, Religion, Trade, Growth, Ayre, Diseases, and the several Changes of the said CITY.
--Non, me ut miretur Turba, laboro.
Contentus paucis Lectoribus --

LONDON, Printed by Tho: Roycroft, for John Martin, James Allestry, and Tho: Dicas, at the Sign of the Bell in St. Paul's Church-yard, MDCLXII.
http://www.ac.wwu.edu/~stephan/Gr…

Michael Robinson on 26 Jul 2008  •  Link

There were two physically distinct issues of Graunt in 1662, it is uncertain to which SP alludes on March 24th. 1662:-

Graunt, John, 1620-1674.
Natural and political observations mentioned in a following index, and made upon the bills of mortality. By John Graunt, citizen of London. With reference to the government, religion, trade, growth, ayre, diseases, and the several changes of the said city.
London : printed by Tho: Roycroft, for John Martin, James Allestry, and Tho: Dicas, at the sign of the Bell in St. Paul’s Church-yard, MDCLXII. [1662]
[16], 85, [1] p., [2] leaves of plates folded : tables ; 4⁰.
Wing (CD-ROM, 1996), G1599

or:
The "second edition" with the text set on 79 pages:-
London : printed by Tho: Roycroft, for John Martin, James Allestry, and Tho: Dicas, at the sign of the Bell in St. Paul’s Church-yard, MDCLXII. [1662]
[16], 79, [1] p., [2] folded leaves of plates ; 4⁰.
Wing (CD-ROM, 1996), G1599A

The edition presumably alluded to by Pepys on July 25th. 1665
( http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1… ):

Natural and political observations mentioned in a following index, and made upon the bills of mortality. By Capt. John Graunt, Fellow of the Royal Society. With reference to the government, religion, trade, growth, air, diseases, and the several changes of the said city. The third edition, much enlarged.
London : printed by John Martyn, and James Allestry, printers to the Royal Society, and are to be sold at the sign of the Bell in St Pauls Church-yard, MDCLXV. [1665]
[32], 205, [1] p., [2] folded leaves : coat of arms ; 8⁰ With an initial imprimatur leaf. Sig. a8 and O8 are blanks.
Wing (CD-ROM, 1996), G1600, Goldsmiths’/ Kress 1757

This edition was reprinted in Oxford later in the year, presumably after the arrival of the Court,
": printed by William Hall, for John Martyn, and James Allestry, printers to the Royal Society, MDCLXV. [1665]" Wing (CD-ROM, 1996), G1601

The City later published two variant issues of an annual compilation, to December 19th., (London’s dreadful visitation ... London : printed and are to be sold by E. Cotes living in Aldersgate-street, printer to the said Company, 1665.) Wing (CD-ROM, 1996), G1598A, Goldsmiths’/ Kress 1761

None of the above were retained in the Pepysian Library; consistent with his habit Pepys retained only the latest, and in this instance final, 5th. edition, of 1676 (not 1686 as stated by L&M Vol iii, P 52) PL 891 (1):

Natural and political observations mentioned in a following index, and made upon the bills of mortality. By Capt. John Graunt, Fellow of the Royal Society. With reference to the government, religion, trade, growth, air, diseases, and the several changes of the said city. The fifth edition, much enlarged.
London : printed by John Martyn, printer to the Royal Society, at the sign of the Bell in St. Paul’s Church-yard, MDCLXXVI. [1676]
[40], 150, [2] p., [2] folded leaves of plates : tab. ; 8⁰. With initial order-to-print leaf. Last leaf is blank. Wing (CD-ROM, 1996), G1602, Goldsmiths’/Kress, 2156

This title was entered in the Stationer's Register to J. Wolfe 14 July 1593; the first surviving copy of the weekly series is from 1603 (True bill of the vvhole number that hath died
At London : printed by I.R[oberts]. for Iohn Trundle, and are to be sold at his shop in Barbican, neere Long lane end, [1603]
1 sheet ([1] p.) ;c1⁰. STC (2nd ed.), 16743 1-3.
Numbering runs each year from no. 1-52; there are no volume numbers.

These are the weekly statistics list, reported by the Worshipful Company of Parish Clerks, of the deaths in the City of London and of parishes without the walls in Westminster, and out-parishes in Middlesex and Surrey. They include statistics on causes of death, numbers of christenings and burials, details on accidental deaths; includes the Lord Mayor’s assize of bread. The first surviving issue from the 'Parish Clerk's Press' is dated 1630. The issues from 30 Oct. 1688-c 1700, after the Parish Clerks gave up maintaining their own press 'in Hall' have an imprint reading: "Printed by Benj. Motte, printer to the Company of Parish-Clerks,"

Terry Foreman on 8 Jun 2014  •  Link

Bills of mortality were the weekly mortality statistics in London, designed to monitor burials from 1592 to 1595 and then continuously from 1603. The responsibility to produce the statistics was chartered in 1611 to the Worshipful Company of Parish Clerks. The bills covered an area that started to expand as London grew from the City of London, however they became fixed in 1636. New parishes were then only added where ancient parishes within the area were divided. Factors such as the use of suburban cemeteries outside the area, the exemption of extra-parochial places within the area, the wider growth of the metropolis, and that they recorded burials rather than deaths, made their data invalid. Production of the bills went into decline from 1819 as parishes ceased to provide returns, with the last surviving weekly bill dating from 1858. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bil…

Terry Foreman on 8 Jun 2014  •  Link

Demography & Vital Statistics (1662)
http://www.historyofinformation.c…

Terry Foreman on 30 May 2016  •  Link

Natural and political observations mentioned in a following index, and made upon the bills of mortality by John Graunt ... ; with reference to the government, religion, trade, growth, ayre, diseases, and the several changes of the said city.
Graunt, John, 1620-1674., Petty, William, Sir, 1623-1687.
London: Printed by Tho. Roycroft for John Martin, James Allestry, and Tho. Dicas ..., 1662.
Early English Books Online [full text]
http://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/eebo/…