Between 1840 and 1869 Augustus De Morgan - Professor of Mathematics at University College in London, author, bibliographer, sometime secretary of the Royal Astronomical Society, first president of the London Mathematical Society, prolific contributor to the publications of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, consulting actuary, formulator of De Morgan's Laws, etc. - contributed reviews of over a thousand books to The Athenaeum, "Journal of English and Foreign Literature, Science, and the Fine Arts".

Volume One covers the period of 1840 - 1860, and contains the text of 425 reviews. The Athenaeum was notable for the comprehensiveness of its coverage of the cultural interests of its time; De Morgan's reviews cover mathematics, astronomy, engineering, statistics, philosophy, religion, the history of science, meteorology, and even spiritualism.

The revised, digital edition contains various corrections to the original print edition, adds a subject index, and provides links from the detailed table of contents in the front and from the indexes the rear to the corresponding reviews.