The Edwardses of Halifax: The Making and Selling of Beautiful Books in London and Halifax, 1749-1826 9781442662001

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THE EDWARDSES OF HALIFAX

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G.E. BENTLEY, JR

The Edwardses of Halifax The Making and Selling of Beautiful Books in London and Halifax, 1749–1826

UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO PRESS Toronto Buffalo London

© University of Toronto Press 2015 Toronto Buffalo London www.utppublishing.com Printed in the U.S.A. ISBN 978-1-4426-4518-9 (cloth)

Printed on acid-free, 100% post-consumer recycled paper with vegetable-based inks.

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication Bentley, G. E. (Gerald Eades), 1930–, author The Edwardses of Halifax : the making and selling of beautiful books in London and Halifax, 1749–1826 / G.E. Bentley, Jr. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-4426-4518-9 (bound) 1. Edwards, James, 1757–1816. 2. Edwards, James, 1757–1816 – Family. 3. Publishers and publishing – England – Biography. 4. Antiquarian booksellers – England – Biography. 5. Book industries and trade – England – History. 6. Publishers and publishing – England – History. I. Title. Z325.E38B46 2015

070.5092′2

C2014-908310-6

This book has been published with the help of a grant from the Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences, through the Awards to Scholarly Publications Program, using funds provided by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. University of Toronto Press acknowledges the financial assistance to its publishing program of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council, an agency of the Government of Ontario.

Funded by the Financé par le Government gouvernement du Canada of Canada

Dedicated to Karen Mulhallen Student, Friend, Patroness who, without my foreknowledge, submitted this book to the University of Toronto Press and, by force of character and persistence, talked the book through to publication

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Contents

List of Appendices: Bibliographies

xi

List of Illustrations xiii Note on References

xvii

Acknowledgments

xix

Preface

xxi

Introduction 3 Locations of Leading Booksellers and Printers 6 Westward March of the Book Trade 7 Richard Edwards’ Edition of Young’s Night Thoughts (1797) with Plates Designed and Engraved by William Blake 9 Genealogy: Edwards of Halifax 12 Genealogy: Edwards of Northowram 14 Part I: William Edwards, Paterfamilias Bookselling 1748–1808 17 Bookselling at Auction 1749–60 20 Publishing 1749–1808 21 Bookbinding 24 Painted Transparent Vellum Bindings 27 Fore-Edge Paintings 33 Edwards Publications with Fore-Edge Paintings 36 Other Members of the Edwards Family: William [Jr] (1753–86), John (1706–93), and John (1745–1819) of Lisbon and Northowram Hall, Yorkshire 36 Style of Life 1796–1808 38

viii Contents

Part II: James Edwards, the Medicean Bookseller 1 The Medicean Bookshop and James Edwards’s Shop Catalogues 1784–1800 43 John Edwards 45 Catalogues 1784–1800 45 Some Notable Friends 52 Joseph Johnson the Bookseller 53 Henry Fuseli the Artist 55 Horace Walpole the Author 56 Giambattista Bodoni and James Edwards: The Best Printer in Europe and the Best Bookseller in the World 60 2 Buying on the Continent and Selling at Auction 1786–1799

73

3 James Edwards as a Publisher 1785–1800 87 Concealed Editions 87 Elegance 89 Books in French, Italian, German, and Latin, and Translations Reprints 90 Range of Subjects 92 Prospectuses 92 Books in Parts 93 Books Published by Subscription 94 James Edwards’s Printers 94 His Co-Publishers 96 His Accomplishments as a Publisher 106 Books Imported by James Edwards 120 Retirement from Publishing 122 4 The Bookseller as Diplomat: James Edwards, Lord Grenville, and Earl Spencer in 1800 126 5 Last Years

139

Part III: Richard Edwards, Publisher of Church-and-King Pamphlets and of William Blake Artist, Bookseller, and Civil Servant 153 Church-and-King Publishing 1792–6 159 Richard Edwards’s Co-Publishers in Chronological Order Printers for Richard Edwards 167

166

89

Contents ix

Illustrated Books Published by Richard Edwards 168 The Great Illustrated-Book Publisher 1796–8 168 Merigot’s Rome (1796–8) 168 Young’s Night Thoughts (1797) 170 Part IV: Thomas Edwards, an Important Provincial Bookseller Sale Catalogues 1812–34 195 Publishing 1788–1826 197 Style of Life 199 Notes

201

Index

243

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Appendices: Bibliographies

[available on the volume’s book page at the University of Toronto website: http://www.utppublishing.com/pdf/Bentley_Edwardsesof HalifaxVol2.pdf] Appendix 1: William Edwards’s Publications 1 Summary in Chronological Order 1 A Bibliography in Alphabetical Order 4 Appendix 2: James Edwards’s Publications 29 Summary in Chronological Order 29 Publications by Subject 34 A Bibliography in Alphabetical Order 41 Books Imported by James Edwards 279 Summary in Alphabetical Order 280 Bibliography of Books Imported in Alphabetical Order 282 Appendix 3: Richard Edwards’s Publications 300 Summary in Chronological Order 300 A Bibliography in Alphabetical Order 302 Appendix 4: Thomas Edwards’s Publications 351 Summary in Chronological Order 351 A Bibliography in Alphabetical Order 352 Appendix 5: Publications of the WRONG James Edwards (fl. 1787–1807) 364 Appendix 6: Publications of the WRONG Richard Edwards of Bristol (1792–1802) and London (1804–26) 365 Appendix 7: Catalogues of Mr Edwards of Great St Helens, Bishopsgate, Auctioneer (1798–1800) 366 Appendix 8: Publications of the WRONG John Edwards of 17 Conduit Street (1791) 367

xii Appendices: Bibliographies

Appendix 9: Works about the Edwardses 369 Contemporary Manuscripts (1774–1828) 369 Correspondence of James Edwards (1775–1815) 372 Correspondence of John Edwards (1792) 382 Correspondence of Thomas Edwards (1798–1819) 382 Contemporary Printed Books &c (1784–1835) 383 Retrospective Manuscripts and Typescripts (1912–1983) Retrospective Books and Essays (1874 ff.) 387 Works about Young’s Night Thoughts (1797) 390 Reproductions of Young’s Night Thoughts (1797) 395 Exhibitions of Blake’s Night Thoughts (1797) 396

386

Illustrations

1

2 3

4 5

6

7 8

9

10

John Horner, Buildings in the Town and Parish of Halifax (Halifax: Leyland & Son, 1835), lithograph of the “Old Market, Halifax, as it appeared in 1800” 19 The Book of Common Prayer (W. Edwards & Sons, 1791) title page 23 A Commentary on the Holy Bible: Containing the whole sacred text … with Notes (Bristol: William Pine, 1774), covers and fore-edge 26 The Letters of Lady Rachel Russell, 6th Ed. (London: J. Mawman, 1801), front cover 28 [Horace Walpole] The Castle of Otranto, 6th Ed. (Parma: Printed by Bodoni, for J. Edwards, Bookseller of London, 1791), title page 58 Bibliotheca Parisiana: A Catalogue of a Collection of Books, [which] ... will be Sold by Auction, in London on [26–31 March 1790] (London: [James] Edwards; Paris: M. Laurent; and “the principal Booksellers throughout Europe,” 1790), title page 81 Novelle Otto (Londra: Giacomo Edwards, 1790), title page 91 Sir Brooke Boothby, Sorrows Sacred to the Memory of Penelope (London: Caddell and Davies, [James] Edwards, and [Joseph] Johnson, 1796), frontispiece (Henry Fuseli-Anon.) 99 Prospectus (London: R. Edwards and J. Edwards, ?1796) for Young’s Night Thoughts (Richard Edwards, 1797) with Night Thoughts coloured copy N 103 The Fables of John Dryden, Ornamented with Engravings from the Pencil of The Right Hon. Lady Diana Beauclerc (London: J. Edwards and E. Harding, 1797), vignette (Lady Diana BeauclerkFrancesco Bartolozzi) for “Palamon and Arcite” Book II 107

xiv Illustrations

11

The Fables of John Dryden, Ornamented with Engravings from the Pencil of The Right Hon. Lady Diana Beauclerc (London: J. Edwards and E. Harding, 1797), vignette (Beauclerk-W.N. Gardiner) for “The Flower and the Leaf: A Vision” 108 12 Gottfried Augustus Bürgher, Leonora, tr. W.R. Spencer, with Designs by the Right Honourable Diana Beauclerc (London: J. Edwards and E. Harding, 1796), print (Beauclerk-Harding) 109 13 William Roscoe, The Life of Lorenzo de’ Medici (London: J. Edwards, 1795), Vol. 1 title page 115 Illustrations in Appendices 14 15

16

17

18

19 20 21

Name card of G.E. Bentley, Jr, formed from the harp and flute in the corners of Blake’s Job (1826) frontispiece The Fables of John Dryden, Ornamented with Engravings from the Pencil of The Right Hon. Lady Diana Beauclerc (London: J. Edwards and E. Harding, 1797), engraving for Arcite threatening Palamon for “Palamon and Arcite” Book II 397 Joseph Strutt, A Complete View of the Dress and Habits of the People of England, Vol. I (London: J. Edwards, R. Edwards, B. and J. White, G.G. and J. Robinson, and J. Thane, 1796), in colour 398 [C.E. De Coetlogon], Reflections ..., on the Murder of Louis the Sixteenth (London: R. Edwards, Rivingtons, Knight, and Debrett, 1793), title page 399 [C.E. De Coetlogon] Reflections ... on the Murder of Louis the Sixteenth (London: R. Edwards, Rivingtons, Knight, and Debrett, 1793): “Fils de S.t Louis, montez au Ciel” 400 Edward Young, Night Thoughts (London: R. Edwards, 1797), title page 401 Edward Young, Night Thoughts (London: R. Edwards, 1797), p. 4 (Blake-Blake, with Blake’s monogram) 402 Transparent vellum cover of The Book of Common Prayer (1784) 403

Colour Plates (following page 72) Plate 1

James Edward Smith, The Natural History of the Rarer Lepidopterous Insects of Georgia (London: J. Edwards, Cadell and Davies, and J. White, 1797), plate 5 (John Abbot-John Harris)

Illustrations xv

Plate 2

Plate 3 Plate 4

Plate 5

Plate 6 Plate 7 Plate 8

Captain J.G. Stedman, Narrative, of a five years’ expedition, against the Revolted Negroes of Surinam ... (London: J. Johnson and J. Edwards, 1796), vol. 2: engraving ([J.G. Stedman?] Blake) of “Europe supported by Africa & America” Moses Harris, The Aurelian (London: The Author and J. Edwards, 1794), plate 29 (Moses Harris-Moses Harris) [J. Merigot] A Select Collection of Views and Ruins in Rome (London: R. Edwards, [James] Edwards, White,and Robinson, 1797), aquatint of “ARCH OF SEPTIMUS SEVERUS,” on pale plum paper [J. Merigot] A Select Collection of Views and Ruins in Rome (London: R. Edwards, [James] Edwards, White, and Robinson, 1797), aquatint of “ARCH OF SEPTIMUS SEVERUS,” hand coloured Edward Young, Night Thoughts, vol. 1, frontispiece, William Blake, watercolour (?1796) Tickets of (a) James Edwards and (b) Richard Edwards J.G. Stedman, Narrative, of a five years expedition, against the Revolted Negroes of Surinam (London: J. Johnson and J. Edwards, 1796), engraving ([J.G. Stedman]-William Blake) of “The Execution of Breaking on the Rack”

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Note on References

G.E. Bentley, Jr, Blake Books (1977) = BB G.E. Bentley, Jr, Blake Records, 2nd Edition (2004) = BR (2) Edwards, James and Thomas, letters: Their sources are given in the bibliography (see Appendix 9) Farington, Joseph, diary (1793–1820), quoted by date from the manuscript in the Royal Library, Windsor; see The Diary of Joseph Farington, ed. Kenneth Garlick & Angus Macintyre, Vol. 1–6, ed. Kathryne Cave, Vol. 7–16 (New Haven, CT, & London: Yale University Press, 1978 [1–2], 1979 [3–6], 1982 [7–10], 1983 [11–12], 1984 [13–16], 1999 [Index]) Hanson: T.W. Hanson, “Edwards of Halifax” (c. 1965), unpublished manuscript in Bodley; for more details, see appendix 9. Hanson rarely gives his sources, and usually I quote him because I do not know where he found his information Roscoe, William, correspondence, mostly with James Edwards: Quoted from reproductions of the manuscripts in Liverpool Public Library, with a few noted exceptions; for the James Edwards correspondence, see Appendix 9 Note that the bibliographies (see appendices 1–8) often give details that are cited or quoted without sources in the text of parts 1–4. Most copies of books reported here were seen in Bodley and the British Library, but many were examined in the Huntington Library, Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Toronto, National Library of Australia, and elsewhere. Locations of the copies reported but not seen are taken from the National

xviii

Note on References

Union Catalog and the catalogues of the British Library, the Bibliothèque Nationale, and elsewhere, identified in alphabetical order of institution: “Toronto” = University of Toronto Library. Note, however, that “Halifax Public” = Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Library in Halifax, Yorkshire. The existence of reviews of poetry is sometimes taken silently from my friend J.R. de J. Jackson’s Annals of English Verse 1770–1835: A Preliminary Survey of the Volumes Published (1985). The books cited here from the Doheny Collection were for forty years in the library of St John’s Seminary, Camarillo, California; they were somewhat abruptly dispersed at Christie auctions in 1987 and 1988, and I have not attempted to trace their new locations.

Acknowledgments

A great deal of the material for this book derives from the essays of T.W. Hanson, a native of Halifax. This material consists principally of documents concerning the family that Hanson gathered and that are now in the Bodleian Library – manuscripts of contemporaries, deeds, books published and bound by them, clippings from catalogues, and his own notes and correspondence about them – as well as a book he drafted in longhand entitled “Edwards of Halifax.” This last contains most of his conclusions about the Edwards family and omits the sources of almost all his evidence. Hanson’s interest was primarily in Edwards of Halifax bindings, and most of my information on this subject derives from him. His information on Edwards publications was, however, only the beginning of my own, and I have rarely depended upon him or left his facts unextended, though often, of course, he drew my attention to a fact that I have pursued independently. I quote from the writings of T.W. Hanson by generous permission of his daughter-in-law Carola D. Hanson. The information that I published in “The ‘Edwardses of Halifax’ as Booksellers by Catalogue 1749–1835,” Studies in Bibliography (1991), I have, by permission of the editor Professor Fredson Bowers, distributed in the separate sections here covering William, James, and Thomas Edwards. The essay “The Bookseller as Diplomat: James Edwards, Lord Grenville, and Earl Spencer in 1800,” Book Collector (1984), is reprinted with only minor changes by permission of its editor. The article “Richard Edwards, Publisher of Church and King Pamphlets and of William Blake,” Studies in Bibliography, 41 (1988): 283–315, is adapted here in part 3. I have been generously assisted by many correspondents, some of whom are acknowledged in footnotes. I should like to mention here

xx Acknowledgments

with special gratitude Gerard Vaughan, Elizabeth Swaim, who generously shared with me portions of her work on the eighteenth-century Yorkshire book trade, and Rosa Edwards, widow of Walter M. Edwards, great-grandson of James Edwards, who collected information about Edwards of Halifax bindings. I am also grateful to the custodians of the books, manuscripts, and pictures cited and reproduced in this book and to the anonymous readers for the University of Toronto Press for valuable suggestions carefully followed here. I owe a special debt to Professor Karen Mulhallen, first my student and now my patron, whose enthusiasm and powerful disinclination to accept excuses have achieved wonders, here and elsewhere. My work on the Edwardses of Halifax has been generously supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, which provided a research leave fellowship in Oxford and summer grants, and I express here my deep sense of appreciation for the council’s enlightened support of original scholarship, both my own and others’. Work on this book has been conducted in scores of research institutions, particularly the libraries of the Boston Athenaeum, Boston Public Library, Cambridge University, Calderdale (i.e., Halifax) Public Library, the Courtauld Institute, Doheny Library (Camarillo, California, since dispersed), Glasgow University, Harvard University, Leeds University, Manchester Public Library, National Library of Australia, Princeton University, Toronto Public Library (Osborne Collection), the University of Chicago, University of Toronto, Victoria & Albert Museum, Victoria University in the University of Toronto, and Yale University (Beinecke Library, Center for the Study of British Art, W.S. Lewis Library, and Stirling Library), but the most satisfying and rewarding work was done among the endless riches of the British Library and British Museum Print Room, the scholarly friendships of the Huntington Library, the humane glories of the Bodleian Library – and the still and lonely woods of Dutch Boys Landing, Mears, Michigan.

Preface

The challenge of finding materials concerning the Edwardses of Halifax is a formidable one. No publishing archive or extensive cache of family manuscripts is known to survive, and many of the records of the family and of their publications are quite unrelated to one another, so there is rarely a chain of evidence to pursue. For James Edwards, the best-known and most distinguished member of the family, there is moderately extensive surviving correspondence with William Roscoe of Liverpool and Giambattista Bodoni of Parma; he issued a number of shop and auction catalogues, and many of his books were advertised and offered second-hand in these catalogues. Publications of the Edwards family were regularly listed and reviewed with their names in the Analytical Review (1788–98), published by their friend Joseph Johnson, and a number of Edwards publications were first noticed there. (Most other reviews and lists in journals, such as the Gentleman’s Magazine, did not identify the publisher.) However, it is probable that some publications by James Edwards and numbers by William, Thomas, and Richard Edwards have not yet been noticed, and several here were discovered by mere serendipity. Anon., Lodowick (Richard Edwards ... 1795), for instance, was offered in a 1981 bookseller’s catalogue and immediately acquired by the Osborne Collection of Toronto Public Library. For William, Thomas, Richard, and even to some extent for James Edwards, the publications recorded here should be regarded as symptomatic rather than comprehensive. It is unlikely that any major publication initiated by James or Richard Edwards has been overlooked, for their publications were apparently recorded fairly systematically in the Analytical Review and in James Edwards’s own catalogues (for his own publications), but unrecorded

xxii Preface

books published by congeries including them are still likely to turn up. What follows is probably a good record of the shape and even the bulk of the publications of the Edwards family, but minor details certainly need to be added to it. The Edwardses of Halifax were famous in their time and distinguished as bookbinders, as antiquarian booksellers, and as publishers, but their personal lives are remarkably obscure. I have searched for and presented extensively information about their publications and about their lives as booksellers, especially in London, but my evidence about their bookbindings, their social lives, and their descendants is largely summarized from the papers of T.W. Hanson in the Bodleian Library, derived from half a century of searching and an acquaintance with a number of Edwards descendants. The omission of extensive details about their work as bookbinders is a serious one, and in justification I can only plead that I have no competence as a scholar of bookbindings to supply the omission. Their work as booksellers and as publishers has heretofore been neglected, while their bindings are described in numerous articles and books. In any case, they were in general important as inventors of bookbinding styles and as commissioners of bookbindings in their Edwards styles rather than as craftsmen executing the covers and fore-edges themselves. A comprehensive book about the Edwardses of Halifax as bookbinders would be very welcome, but it is not to be found here. This book endeavours to set forth the evidence concerning the family of Edwards of Halifax through three generations as booksellers, bookbinders, and publishers. The family is known primarily for its inventions in bookbinding, but my focus is chiefly upon them as booksellers and publishers, in which roles their accomplishments are more formidable though not so unusual. There are separate parts on the bookselling and publishing careers of William Edwards (1721–1808), the paterfamilias in Halifax, on his son Thomas Edwards (1762–1834), who continued the shop in Halifax, and on his youngest son Richard Edwards (1768–1827), who opened a shop in London and sponsored one of the greatest illustrated books of the time, Young’s Night Thoughts (1797), with folio plates designed and engraved by William Blake. Most of the book, however, is about William’s eldest son, James Edwards (1756–1816), who established in Pall Mall a shop that was wonderfully fashionable and who became one of the most distinguished antiquarian booksellers and book publishers of the day, with a surprising excursion into secret international diplomacy.

Preface

xxiii

In addition, there is a bibliography of all the books James, Richard, William, and Thomas Edwards are known to have published. This is an area in which little information had previously been collected. C.J. Weber remarked in 1966 that since “this aspect of his [James Edwards’s] career has received almost no attention from many of those who have written about him, it may be well to try to correct that omission here.”1 However, Weber named only six books published by James Edwards, concluding somewhat lamely, “Doubtless there were others.” I have traced rather more than 150 books published by James Edwards, but doubtless there are others that I have missed. Still, I am persuaded that almost all of them are here, including the most important ones. There are relatively few books on English publishers of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, and none of them has a full bibliography of the firm’s publications. Among the best of these books are the studies of Cadell & Davies,2 Joseph Johnson,3 Longman,4 the Minerva Press,5 John Murray,6 and James Robson.7 Additionally, there are records of the copyrights of the Robinson firm8 and of the illustrated publications of Robert Bowyer (Hume’s History of England, folio),9 John & Josiah Boydell (Shakspeare and Milton, folio),10 F.J. Du Roveray (English poets, octavo),11 and Thomas Macklin (Bible, folio).12 Among these publishers, the only ones who specialized in elegant illustrated books were John & Josiah Boydell, Robert Bowyer, Thomas Macklin, and F.J. Du Roveray. And none of them was like the Edwardses of Halifax and London in printing on vellum, satin, and silk and binding in Etruscan calf, painted transparent vellum, and shot silk. The case of William Blake is somewhat peculiar. Joseph Viscomi has published a brilliant book on Blake as a printmaker and printer,13 but there is no book on Blake as a publisher, though he was the publisher of all his own books.14 Note on Orthography An abbreviation that ends with a period and superscript letter represents a common orthographical convention of Blake’s time in which the superscript letter is above the period, e.g., M.r

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THE EDWARDSES OF HALIFAX

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Introduction

The work of the firm known as Edwards of Halifax is widely recorded and celebrated in the field of bookbinding.1 However, little has been published about the Edwardses of Halifax as antiquarian booksellers or as publishers.2 In fact, the title should refer to both Halifax and London, for there were family shops in both cities, and the title was held not by just one man but by five. The Edwardses of Halifax and London were important actors in a series of remarkable changes in the book trade in the last twenty years of the eighteenth century. Before this time, English pretensions to taste and accomplishment in the art of bookmaking had been modest and insular; thereafter, they were self-confident and imperial. The best-known English illustrated editions of the time, the Boydells’ great folio Shakspeare (nine volumes, 1802) and Thomas Macklin’s folio Bible (five volumes, 1800), were regarded as National Editions, and Richard Edwards’s folio edition of Young’s Night Thoughts (1797), with extraordinary engravings by William Blake, was created “with those advantages of dress and ornament which have lately distinguished the immortal productions of Shakspeare and of Milton,” in order “to increase the honours of the british press.”3 These revolutions in book taste and accomplishment were concentrated in three areas: quality of materials, skill of craftsmen, and aesthetic ambition. The very materials of bookmaking altered. Paper of the first quality was manufactured in England by new firms such as that of James Whatman, so that the best paper no longer had to be imported at great expense from Holland, France, and Italy. Far more use was made of luxurious vehicles for printing such as India paper, vellum, silk, and satin, all used by the Edwardses. New inks were invented by

4

The Edwardses of Halifax

Joseph Cooper (c. 1749–1808) and for John Boydell, so that the printed impressions would appear more sharp, black, and uniform. The eighteenth century is the first great age of British typography, with type designers of the stature of William Caslon father (1692–1766) and son (1720–78), Robert Foulis (1707–76), and William Baskerville (1706–75), and their achievements in type design rivalled those of the Continent and are still in cherished use. Books were sheathed in handsomer covers, some publishers issued books in leather bindings (not just in sheets or boards), and new methods of decoration were invented, particularly by Edwards of Halifax, with fore-edge paintings and exquisite designs under transparent vellum covers. The Edwards patent for transparent vellum covers is the earliest and perhaps the only English patent for hand binding. The skill of the new craftsmen in the book trade in the late eighteenth century was as remarkable as their new methods and materials. Printers such as Thomas Bensley (c. 1760–1835) and William Bulmer (1757–1830) transformed and made commercially successful the accomplishments of the printing trade. James Edwards employed both firms, as well as those of the great Continental printers Didot in Paris, and Bodoni in Parma, and Schmidt & Alberti in Vienna. The illustration of books improved dramatically in the last quarter of the century. Previously the best book illustrations had been made on the Continent or by Continental designers and engravers in England, but the works of William Hogarth (1691–1764) and Richard Bentley (1708–82) and particularly the foundation of the Royal Academy in 1769 fostered extraordinary changes in English book decoration. English designers and engravers at the end of the century such as Sir Joshua Reynolds, President of the Royal Academy, Benjamin West, P.R.A., Sir Thomas Lawrence, P.R.A., John Flaxman, R.A., and William Sharp deservedly established European reputations. The new art also revived interest in painters of earlier times, and James Edwards published important books of engravings after Holbein, Leonardo, and other Continental artists. Stimulated by such accomplishments – and by the final lapse of the concept of Perpetual Copyright in 1774 – the publishers of the time became enormously ambitious, especially with illustrated books, and four of their undertakings were on an imperial scale previously attempted only by royal presses on the Continent. The National Editions of Shakspeare (1786–1805) published by John and Josiah Boydell, of the Bible (1791– 1800) by Thomas Macklin, of Hume’s History of England (1793–1806) by

Introduction 5

Robert Bowyer, and of Young’s Night Thoughts (Part I, 1797) by Richard Edwards, were on a scale of magnificence in cost, size, beauty, and achievement hitherto unknown in England, and they were accompanied by works on a smaller scale but of comparable beauty, such as Dryden’s Fables (1797), Smith’s Insects of Georgia (1797), and Bűrgher’s Leonora (1796), all published by James Edwards. Connected with this revolution in bookmaking was a renewed interest in the great books of the past. New opportunities of acquiring such books stimulated booksellers such as James Edwards and collectors such as his customer Earl Spencer to extraordinary accomplishments. Both men exhibited remarkable diplomatic qualities, Spencer as First Lord of the Admiralty during the British Navy’s greatest years and Edwards in negotiating with Continental collectors in the troubled times of the French Revolution to allow their books to be sold in London. In a surprising collaboration, James Edwards acted as Lord Spencer’s secret agent on a delicate diplomatic mission to France in 1800. James Edwards was probably best known in his own time as an antiquarian bookseller and collector, and some of the finest works he acquired went into his own personal collection – until they were dispersed in two great sales of 1804 and 18l5. James Edwards worked with important authors such as Horace Walpole and with great artists such as Henry Fuseli and William Blake. He published some of the most spectacular books of his time. Many were enormous, some had coloured plates, and a few copies were printed on vellum or silk or satin.4 These included Anon., Beauties of the Dutch School (1793), 40 × 30.5 cm (15½ʺ × 12ʺ), Albanis Beaumont, Select Views in the South of France (1794), 29 × 43 cm (11½ʺ × 17ʺ), Burg[k]maier, Le Triomphe de l’Empereur Maximilian I (1796), 57 x 41.5 cm (22½ʺ × 16ʺ), Caracci, Original Designs (1797), 42 × 54 cm (16½ʺ × 21ʺ), Dryden, Fables (1797), 30.6 × 42.9 cm (12ʺ × 16½ʺ), Moses Harris, The Aurelian (1794), 32 × 42 cm (12½ʺ × 16ʺ), Hodges, Select Views in India (1794) 59 × 49 cm (23½ʺ × 25ʺ), Leonardo da Vinci, Original Designs (1796), 42 × 54 cm (16ʺ × 19½ʺ), and J.E. Smith, Coloured Figures of Rare Plants (1790–3) 46 × 60 cm (18ʺ × 23½ʺ). Even the scientific works were extraordinary for elegance. James Edward Smith’s Lepidopterous Insects of Georgia (1797) was, wrote James Edwards, a work “wch. our Friend Fuseli says will immortalize me – it is 20 Guineas in Sheets 104 plates.” And Fuseli, who was an authority on butterflies, praised the work for its “splendor of appearance, and uniform excellence of execution ... we return our thanks to

6

The Edwardses of Halifax

the publisher ... for ... the perseverance and taste with which he superintended the execution of the whole.”5 To the surprise of both author and bookseller, William Roscoe’s handsome quarto edition of The Life of Lorenzo de’ Medici6 became what we would call a best-seller. Not only were there authorized editions in 1795, 1796, 1797, and 1800 (in octavo), but at the same time there were editions, almost certainly not authorized, in German (Berlin, 1797), English (Basil, 1799), French (Paris, 1799), and Italian (Pisa, 1799). In addition, James Edwards collaborated with distinguished booksellers such as Joseph Johnson, James Robson, and Cadell & Davies, and he employed the best printers from London and the Continent. As a publisher James Edwards had remarkably good judgment in both art and literature. In the antiquarian book world, he was one of the chief suppliers of Earl Spencer, the greatest English collector of his time, he outbid King George for The Bedford Missal, and he ransacked the Continent for books in time of turmoil, sometimes bringing back whole libraries to London. James Edwards therefore appears in a remarkable variety of roles in the book world – as maker, decorator, publisher, and collector of beautiful books new and old. In all these roles, he achieved distinction, and his achievements were echoed and fostered by those of his father William Edwards and his brothers John (his partner for a time), Thomas, and Richard Edwards. It is a very remarkable family, whose accomplishments illuminate a great age of English bookmaking. Locations of Leading Booksellers and Printers The most notable booksellers and printers associated with the Edwardses of Halifax – and William Blake – had shops in a very restricted area of the City of London, Westminster, and Lambeth. In general, the trade spread westward and along the Thames from where it had originally been established in the City of London, round St Paul’s Cathedral. None of these booksellers was east of St Paul’s, but a number of those in the list below were in St Paul’s Churchyard and in Paternoster Row just north of it. The survival of rural names such as St Giles in the Fields, St Martin in the Fields, and Leicester Fields, all in Westminster, suggests how recently these areas had been built over, after the Fire of London in 1666. All the great open areas, such as Green Park, St James Park, Hyde Park, and Regents Park, are at the western end of Greater London, beyond the fashionable book world.

Introduction 7

Some of the shops were very grand, such as those of Robert Bowyer and James and John Edwards in Pall Mall, John & Josiah Boydell in Cheapside, and Thomas Macklin in Fleet Street. Bowyer, the Boydells, and Macklin held annual exhibitions of pictures commissioned for their extraordinarily ambitious books, and the beau monde flocked to their shops. James Edwards’s shop “became the resort of the gay morning loungers of both sexes,”7 and Colonel Brandon in Sense and Sensibility hears some fashionable and unwelcome news in a bookshop in Pall Mall.8 But some shops were distinctly modest, such as that of Richard Edwards in New Bond Street and those of William Blake, which were merely his increasingly humble residences. In the list below, book shops are aranged in geographical order, from the City of London and St Paul’s in the east to Westminster, Bond Street, and Pall Mall in the west. Westward March of the Book Trade Horwood Plan9 15 City of London Leadenhall Street John Lane, Minerva Press Great St Helen’s F.J. Du Roveray Cheapside John & Josiah Boydell Horwood Plan 14 City of London St Paul’s Churchyard Joseph Johnson (No. 72) Rivington Paternoster Row Longman & Co (No. 39) G. G. & J. Robinson Green Arbour Court, Old Bailey R. Noble, Printer Fleet Street Thomas Macklin John Murray Benjamin & John White

8

The Edwardses of Halifax

Bolt Court, Fleet Street Thomas Bensley (printer) Horwood Plan 13 Westminster Fountain Court, Strand William Blake (No. 3) 1821–7 Strand (continuation of Fleet Street) Thomas Cadell & William Davies W. Faden Green Street, Leicester Fields William Blake (No. 23) 1782–4 Mews Gate, Leicester Fields Thomas Payne Horwood Plan 12 Westminster Piccadilly J. Debrett Poland Street William Blake (No. 28) 1785–90 Broad Street, Golden Square William Blake & James Parker print shop (No. 27) 1784–5 William Blake exhibition (No. 28) 1809–10 New Bond Street Richard Edwards Robert Faulder James Robson Bond Street James Robson South Molton Street William Blake (No. 17) 1803–21 Horwood Plan 22, under Plan 12 Westminster Russell Court, Cleveland Lane, St James William Bulmer (printer) Pall Mall Robert Bowyer James Edwards (No. 77, 78, 102)

Introduction 9

John Edwards Edward & Sylvester Harding (No. 98) Horwood Plan 23, under Plan 13 Westminster Whitehall Thomas & John Egerton Horwood Plan 24, across the river Lambeth Hercules Buildings William Blake (No. 13) 1790–1800 Felpham, Sussex William Blake 1800–1803 Halifax, Yorkshire East Side of the Old Market Place (No. 20, Red Hall) Thomas Edwards William Edwards Almost all Blake’s sales from Felpham were by post. Few buyers came to his cottage in Felpham besides his friends William Hayley and Johnny Johnson, and E.J. Marsh. But in Halifax, a woollen manufacturing town of five thousand in 1787, local people flocked to William Edwards’s shop in the Red Hall in Old Market Street. In 1795 Dorothy Wordsworth’s uncle bought her at the Edwards shop two books “very elegantly bound.”10 The shop even became a sight for tourists. In 1788, John Thomas Stanley wrote that “No Traveller leaves Halifax without paying a Visit to Mr Edwards the Bookseller” to see his “elegant bindings” and elegant rare books. Richard Edwards’s Edition of Young’s Night Thoughts (1797) with Plates Designed and Engraved by William Blake Paradoxically, today the best-known publication of the Edwards family is the edition of Young’s Night Thoughts (1797), with forty-three extraordinary folio engravings by William Blake (see plate 6 and illus. 19–20 in the appendix). This was commissioned, but scarcely published, by

10

The Edwardses of Halifax

Richard, the youngest bookselling member of the Edwards family. Certainly, by far the largest commission Blake ever received was for his 537 folio watercolours for Young’s Night Thoughts. He was “employed for more than two years” (?1794–6) upon the drawings (see plate 6),11 neglecting during that time most other commercial engraving work and his own works in Illuminated Printing. The drawings alone should have made Blake’s fortune. However, according to the Royal Academy gossip Joseph Farington, “Blake asked 100 guineas for the whole. Edwards said He could not afford to give more than 20 guineas for which Blake agreed.”12 Perhaps Blake hoped that the fees for the 150 folio engravings proposed, worth at least 750 guineas, would make up the difference. Or perhaps Blake had agreed with Richard Edwards to provide the engravings from his Night Thoughts designs in return for copies of the published work, which Blake could then colour and sell for himself.13 A prospectus announced that Edwards’s folio Night Thoughts would be in “four parts, with one hundred and fifty engravings” at a cost of only £5.5.0.14 This was an engraving undertaking of extraordinary magnitude. In all his professional engraving career before 1794, Blake had engraved only 167 commercial plates;15 very few of them were folios, and for 102 of them in 1790–3 he probably had the assistance of his only apprentice, Thomas Owen.16 The plates for Night Thoughts Part I are dated 27 June 1796 – 1 June 1797. At this rate, the remaining 107 plates for parts 3–4 might have occupied 1798–1801. There is no evidence as to how much Blake was paid for his Night Thoughts engravings – or whether he was paid for them at all in cash. In his integral Advertisement for Night Thoughts, Richard Edwards said that he had “shrunk from no expence in the preparing of it.” This is distinctly disingenuous. He shrank from the expense of Blake’s 537 folio watercolours, offering £21 when Blake had asked £105,17 and he shrank from the expense of a really fine printer like Bensley or Bulmer. R. Noble, whom he hired, was little more than a jobbing printer. And he may have shrunk from paying Blake in cash for his engravings. At any rate, there is no evidence that Blake received for them more than thirty copies of the printed text – there are records of twenty-eight copies of Young’s Night Thoughts (1797) with the prints coloured by Blake and his wife Catherine. But he did choose fine WHATMAN paper both for Blake’s watercolours and for the printed Night Thoughts.

Introduction 11

It is difficult to imagine how Blake lived during the three or four years he was working on Richard Edwards’s edition of Young’s Night Thoughts. His probable earnings for other engraving work were £33 in 1794, £88 in 1795, £6 in 1796, and £184 in 1797, while in 1780–9 he had averaged £130 a year and in 1790–3 he had averaged £330 a year.18 For four years Blake worked on his watercolours and engravings for Young’s Night Thoughts and looked forward to its publication. However, part 1 was scarcely published in the sense of being advertised and sold by a bookseller at a fixed address. In 1797 Richard Edwards was going out of business, reducing his commercial commitments, and he may not have advertised or published the Night Thoughts then at all. The book seems to have passed to a congeries of booksellers led by Richard’s brother James, who was himself going out of business, replete with honour, beautiful old books, and gold. In 1798 Night Thoughts was apparently taken over by James Robson, one of the congeries. We don’t know who sold it thereafter – nor apparently did his customers. In 1810 Crabb Robinson wrote that it “is no longer to be bought.”19 In this commercial turmoil, Night Thoughts was virtually lost to sight. There were only five advertisements for it and no review. Perhaps 250 copies were printed and sold, but we scarcely know by whom or when. Blake’s greatest commercial enterprise apparently earned him little gold or glory.

GENEALOGY EDWARDS OF HALIFAX RICHARD EDWARDS (1691–April 1767) Schoolmaster, Stationer, and Bookseller

Allan Mary (b. 1716) (d. 17 March 1722)

m

Martha (c. 1694–1773)

Hannah m WILLIAM m Jane Green (1716–10 (baptised 6 (1726–25 Dec 1749) Jan 1722, July 1772) d. 10 Jan 1808) Bookseller

William [II] Mary JAMES JOHN Sarah (25 Dec (b. 20 (8 Sept (23 Dec (b. 12 1753–23 April 1756–2 1758–13 April June 1786) 1755) Jan 1816) May 1793) 1761) Shag-maker m Bookseller Bookseller m m Disney m 1805 James Mary Alexan- Catherine Macauder, M.D. Bromhead lay (b 1769)

William Elizabeth Jane [III] m Ackroyd

John in India in 1807 (d. 1817)

Catherine James (b. 31 Aug 1810) (10 May m Frederick Carne 1809–22) Rasch Guy Elland Rasch (d. young)

John

Judith (?1725– 177[1?]) Joseph (1765–71)

THOMAS Joseph RICHARD (1 Aug 1762– (26 Nov (16 March 26 May 1765– 1768–10 1834) 8 July Oct 1827) Bookseller 1771) Bookseller m m 1793 Caroline Miss Chapman Matilda m 1803 Lister (1776– Miss Howard 1860)

James Mary Thomas Anne Richard John Anne

Edward James Jane Beatrice James Justinian George (d. m John Powlatte (26 Dec 1811– single) Orde, Bart 27 Nov 1884) m Elizabeth Anne Beatrice Heathcote (alive in 1912) Captain Justinian Edith L. Edwards Heathcote m Reynolds

Jane Caroline Catherine Elizabeth Caroline (4 Nov 1806– (1809–40) (1813–98) (b. 1818) 16 March1809) m Francis m Benjamin m John MackenRusthforth Blundell zie Broadbent (d. 1846) Children

Walter Fawkes John (7 Feb 1815– (15 Dec 1816– 10 Aug 1836) June 1864) m Louise Molesworth

Daughters

Children

Thomas

4 other sons

Mary Jane

Introduction 13 Edwards of Halifax Genealogy Notes The genealogy derives chiefly from 1 Hanson, pp. 1‒2, 6, 15, 28‒9, 258‒9, 286, 304, 314, 406, etc., and his miscellaneous notebooks, principally transcribing a Baptismal, Marriage, and Burial Registers in Northgate End Chapel, Halifax b Harrow Church records (for James Edwards) c Tomb inscriptions for William Edwards (1722‒1808), William’s two wives, and their sons John and Thomas, Thomas’s wife Caroline Matilda, and their children Jane and Walter Fawkes Edwards 2 C.J. Weber, A Thousand and One Fore-Edge Paintings (1949), the authority for Allan (b 1716) 3 Inscriptions on grave-covers in Halifax Parish Church recording the deaths of (a) Richard Edwards, “Bookseller,” “buried April the 13th 1767 Aged 76 years,” (b) Richard’s wife Martha, buried 14 Oct 1773, “aged near 80,” (c) His daughter Mary (d. 17 March 1722), (d) His daughter Judith (d. 25 July 177[?]), “age or near 46 years,” (e) Judith’s son Joseph (d. 8 July 1771), “aged [5] years 7 months and [11] days,” (f) Richard’s son William, “Bookseller” (d. 10 Jan 1808), “aged 86 years,” (g) William’s first wife Hannah, “departed this life the 10th day of December 1749 in the [34th] year of her age,” (h) William’s second wife Jane Green and her children (i) William (b. 25 Dec 1753), (j) Mary (b. 20 April 1755), (k) James (b. 8 Sept 1756), (l) John (b. 23 Dec 1758), (m) Sarah (b. 12 April 1761), (n) Thomas (b. 1 Aug 1762), (o) Joseph (b. 26 Nov 1765, and (p) Richard (b. 16 March 1768). (The Halifax tomb inscriptions from Calderdale Archives TS/HP B35 were generously transcribed for me by D.A. Betteridge, archivist, Calderdale Central Library, Halifax.) 4 The Will (13 February 1807) of William Edwards recording the names of the children of Sarah [Edwards] and James Macaulay.

14

The Edwardses of Halifax

GENEALOGY EDWARDS OF NORTHOWRAM Edwards

Richard (1691–1767), schoolmaster, paterfamilias of the bookselling Edwardses of Halifax

Edwards

John (1706–9 Dec 1793) Lisbon merchant

m Mary 12 Hargreaves Oct (1712–49) 1743 of Craven

William

Robert

Jeremiah Dyson (1737–91) Lisbon merchant associated with John Edwards

Daniel Dyson m Sarah John of Willowfield (b. 1744) (1745–16 March 1819

Joseph m (1747–10 June 1808)

Sarah (1747–21 May 1812)

Robert (b. 1756)

Thomas Fournis Dyson John Dyson m Harriet Edwards \ / daughter of John four sons, three daughters Edwards of Pye Nest Sarah (1774–3 Aug 1797)1

Edwards of Northowram Genealogy Notes The Genealogy derives from W.B. Trigg, “Northowram Hall,” Halifax Antiquarian Society Transactions (1932), 143‒50, and [Anne Lister], “Social Life in Halifax in the Early Nineteenth Century No. XI [and XIX] ‒ Some Extracts from the Diary of a Halifax Lady,” Halifax Guardian ‒ see chapter 1. Trigg says (p. 143) that “The Northowram Edwards family and the famous bibliophile family of Edwards were connected, the father of Richard Edwards, school master, being probably the common ancestor of both branches,” and he quotes (p. 150) their contemporary Miss Lister as calling the booksellers Thomas and Richard Edwards “distant cousins” of John Edwards II of Northowram. However, the connection must be more distant than Richard Edwards (1691‒1767), who was only fifteen when John Edwards (1706‒93) of Northowram was born.

PART I William Edwards, Paterfamilias

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 Halifax is a surprising place to find one of the most distinguished bookshops in the kingdom. In the mid-eighteenth century it was a growing centre of the cloth trade, and in 1787 “The population of the Town is estimated at 5000, and in the Parish which is very extensive, there may be 30,000, five and twenty of which may be occupied in the Woollen Manufactories.”1 Halifax was among the first places to experience dramatically the effects of the Industrial Revolution, and in 1781 “The appearance of trade, population, and advancement of every kind there, is striking.” Its situation in the abrupt Yorkshire dales is protected, for “The town is in a bottom with monstrous hills about it, which you see rising over the houses as you walk the streets.”2 According to a visitor in 1787, “The Town itself cannot in any Degree be call’d handsome[;] the Streets are many of them narrow and very irregular.”3 “The town is not extraordinary, except for the many magnificent houses lately built, and now daily building in and about it [of fine light colour’d stone],4 by the manufacturers chiefly.”5 Its most extraordinary new building was the enormous and handsome Piece Hall, built in 1779, which J.T. Stanley justly described in 1787 as “among the first [buildings] of great Britain.”6 It occupied one hundred thousand square feet and had over three hundred rooms for the display of cloth at the weekly market, and for two centuries it has testified to the aesthetic ambition and commercial prosperity of Halifax. William Edwards, the original Edwards of Halifax, was born in Halifax probably in the last days of 1721 and was baptised there on 6 January 1722. His father, Richard (1691–1767), was a schoolmaster, stationer, and bookseller,7 and it is possible that when William grew up he took over a family business and that at first he worked with his father. However, the earliest publications of the firm, in 1749, 1751, 1752, 1759, and 1767, while Richard Edwards was still alive, give the name as merely William (or W.) Edwards, so clearly William Edwards from the start was his own man at least as a publisher. Bookselling 1748–1808 By 1748, when he was twenty-six years old, William Edwards was successful enough to acquire property in Halifax, and deeds and agreements with various vendors8 identify him indifferently as Stationer

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William Edwards, Paterfamilias

(25 April 1748, 13 July 1762, 19 November 1764, 23 September 1779), Bookseller (11 October 1757), and Bookseller and Stationer (2 September 1793), plus three without profession (1–2 January 1756, 23 June 1766, and 1776). From an early date he had large sums of money to spare from his business to lend on land mortgages, including £300 in 1756 and £400 in 1793. By 1749, the year in which his wife Hannah died, William Edwards had established himself in a shop at No. 20 on the east side of Old Market Place, where he conducted his business as bookseller, auctioneer, publisher, and bookbinder. According to “An anonymous Halifax man,” “On the left-hand side, going down the street [south], Mr. Thos. Edwards, a seller of rare books and old prints, had a shop, a very old building ... At the Halifax Midsummer Fair, Mr. Edwards filled his shop-windows with old prints and old engravings and scarce old books.”9 It was a large, three-story building, with some 1440 square feet on each floor and half as much in the cellar. The outside timbers were painted red, and at one time it was called the Red Hall. A view of Halifax Old Market, apparently seen from “one of the shop windows” of Edwards’s shop10 in 1800, shows street vendors’ stalls in the foreground, venerable half-timbered buildings on the left (west), solid newer stone buildings on the right, and in the distance a stagecoach approaching down the broad cobbled street (see fig. 1). In back of the shop was an open space called Edwards Yard, and in Gaol Lane nearby was a little stable that William Edwards purchased and that he may have used as his bindery. A contemporary wrote that William Edwards “was remarkable, early in life, for his great attention, industry, and application to his business, which were bookbinding and bookselling; in both of which he excelled almost every one of that branch, and particularly in the latter he has been noted the world round.”11 When he died, an obituary reported that “his skill in collecting rare books, not less than his exquisite taste in rich and expensive bindings, will long be recollected in the annals of Bibliography ... The Catalogues which he occasionally published abounded in rare and valuable books, many of them most ornamentally and superbly bound, in a manner peculiar to himself.”12 His book-stock at the time was probably not ambitious. His advertisement in The Union Journal: or, Halifax Advertiser 1, no. 9 (3 April 1759) named thirty-nine books as “Just PUBLISHED and SOLD by WILLIAM EDWARDS, BOOKSELLER, IN HALIFAX,” priced mostly at a shilling or less (some are in weekly numbers at sixpence). Most of them are on religion, such as Bunyan’s Sighs and Groans, and there are also nine dictionaries, a few works of history and literature, and

William Edwards, Paterfamilias

19

Figure 1 John Horner, Buildings in the Town and Parish of Halifax (Halifax: Leyland & Son, 1835), lithograph of the “Old Market, Halifax, as it appeared in 1800.” Calderdale Central Library, Halifax. The view is apparently taken from a window in William Edwards’s bookshop.

seven named magazines plus “all other Monthly and Weekly Numbers” and “several Hundred” back numbers. (Note that none of his own publications is named, not even his Treasure of Maxims [1759].) He also offered twenty-four “New Prints, Just Published,” plus “several Hundred more ... ready Glazed and Framed, Plain and Coloured.”13 In addition, like many country booksellers, he had in stock “MEDICINES truly prepared in London”; his advertisement names thirty-two of them, such

20

William Edwards, Paterfamilias

as “Dr Fraunce’s Female Strengthening Elixir” (ls 6d) and “Specific Drops, for Cureing Diseases” (3s 6d). The average cost, for a bottle of unspecified size, was ls 4d, about the same cost as a book. At the end of the list are [playing?] cards, ink, and mustard. Probably he also carried other kinds of stationery-ware such as paper, pens, and sand that he did not bother to advertise. After the death of his childless first wife Hannah on 12 December 1749, William Edwards married Jane Green, and by her he fathered a large brood, four of whom joined their father in the bookshop and three of whom became booksellers and publishers of distinction in their own rights. William was born on 25 December 1753, Mary on 20 April 1755, James on 8 September 1756, John on 23 December 1758, Sarah on 12 April 1761, Thomas on 1 August 1762, Joseph on 26 November 1765, and Richard on 16 March 1768. All but one of these eight children grew up to adulthood, a remarkable achievement in the eighteenth century, and all but one of the adults married and in turn begot children. The Edwardses of Halifax clearly were a hardy stock. When William’s son James, aged nineteen, went to London about 1775, he apparently carried with him commissions from customers for many kinds of goods besides books, for James wrote to an unnamed correspondent (perhaps James Bolton the artist) about his efforts to obtain for him “genuine Indian manufactured ink” (£6 a pound), pencils [i.e., paintbrushes], “flower roots,” and miniature paintings by Jean Petitot – “I have been at some great sales of Paintings.” Such generous serviceability must have done much to create and retain loyal customers for the bookshop in Halifax. Bookselling at Auction 1749–60 William Edwards seems to have started selling books at auction about the same time (1749) as he commenced publishing. There are advertisements for seven sales by Edwards (sometimes William Edwards) in Halifax from 1749 through 1760; the first of these was in conjunction with the Halifax bookseller Nathaniel Binns, and the rest were by Edwards alone.14 No surviving catalogue has been traced, so these sales are ill known. In particular, it is difficult to gauge how extensive they were, for at least two sales (those of 1749 and 1759) began on a specified date and continued “every Evening till they are Sold.” Only one collector is named in the advertisements, and the contents are described merely as “Choice and valuable Books” or as “Books on Divinity, History, Law,

William Edwards, Paterfamilias

21

Physick, Antiquities, Voyages, Travels, and Miscellanies,” a common range of interests for a country gentleman. The sales did not take place in Edwards’s shop or in a regular auction room but at The Old Cock Inn, Halifax. Evidently Edwards did not act as agent for the vendors, taking a percentage of the prices at which the books were sold, as a modern auctioneer might do. Instead, he sold his own books at auction, presumably as a way of realizing cash on them more quickly than he could in his shop. At any rate, his auction of 1760 is described as “part of several libraries lately purchased,” indicating that they had already been paid for, presumably by the auctioneer. The sales are infrequent, not quite one a year from 1754 through 1760, mostly in the autumn, and it is likely that they served primarily as a priming device for William Edwards’s second-hand book business, drawing attention to it, bringing in sudden infusions of money, and making it possible for him to purchase stock on a larger scale, sometimes whole libraries at a time, such as that of the Rev. Mr Nathaniel Makent in 1754. The William Edwards auctions thus far recorded cover only 1749–60; apparently when he became firmly established as a bookseller he discontinued the practice. So far as I have ascertained, William Edwards never issued a catalogue of the stock of his shop. For that matter, neither did his son Richard. It was only his most successful sons James and Thomas who published catalogues of their book-stock. James did so almost as soon as he had established himself in London. Publishing 1749–1808 William Edwards was very much a provincial publisher. Of the sixtyone editions that have been traced with his imprint from 1749 to 1808,15 most are by local authors or on local subjects. For many, the subject was of very local interest, such as Psalms for the Use of the Congregation of the Holy Trinity Church in Halifax (1798), Whitaker’s History of the Original Parish of Whalley (1806), and Newton’s Memoirs of ... William Grimshaw, Minister of Haworth (1799) – and even Chetham’s Book of Psalmody (1752, 1767, 1779) seems to have been published for a northern clientele. For most of these books, Edwards was simply one of a congeries of booksellers from Northern towns and cities such as Halifax, Wakefield, York, Huddersfield, Hull, and Leeds. For a number of them, Edwards published only later editions, such as Chetham’s Book of Psalmody (8th–10th editions, 1752–79), Fawcett’s English Exercises (3rd edition,

22

William Edwards, Paterfamilias

1802), and Whitaker’s Whalley (2nd edition, 1806), or even only one of several volumes, as in Bolton’s Funguses (vol. 2, 1788). The great majority of the works are concerned with piety or local antiquities (the latter evidently mostly initiated by his son Thomas), and the only books of widespread interest are The Book of Common Prayer (1791), British Prose Miscellany (?1799), Defoe’s Memoirs of a Cavalier (1751), Dodsley’s Chronicles of the Kings of England (?1800), and Mrs Gomersall’s The Citizen, A Novel (1790). The style of Edwards’s imprint varies from a clear W. or WILLIAM EDWARDS (1749, 1751, 1752, 1767, 1770, 1771, 1779, 1782), when William Edwards was working by himself, to (W.) EDWARDS & SONS (1785, 1788, 1790, 1791), when he was joined by his sons Thomas (1762–1834) and Richard (1768–1827). When Richard moved to London about 1791, the imprint was reduced to (W.) EDWARDS & SON (1790, 1791, 1792, 1793, 1794, 1798, 1799, 1800, 1802, 1812). But, at the same time that these fairly clear imprints were in use, there appeared books with a bare EDWARDS, HALIFAX, on the title page (1752, 1759, 1775, 1785, 1787–90, 1792–1800, 1802, 1805, 1806, 1807, 1808, 1809, 1810). The first of these EDWARDS, HALIFAX books clearly represents William Edwards, and the rest may be the equivalent of Edwards & Son, or they may represent Thomas Edwards. And of course both Edwards & Son and Edwards on publications dated after 1808 clearly represent Thomas Edwards, for William Edwards died in 1808. For most of the titles that bear his name, William Edwards did little more than sell the work. The only ones he seems to have initiated are the anonymous Impartial Examination (1749), The Book of Common Prayer (1791), and Select Portions of the Psalms (1798). The only one of real ambition was The Book of Common Prayer, handsomely printed in Paris by Didot (see fig. 2) and probably arranged by James Edwards, who was selling his Bibliotheca Parisiana in 1790. Numbers of copies were bound in Edwards of Halifax style, at least five of them with foreedges, three of them representing Eton College. Probably The Book of Common Prayer was sold by William Edwards in Halifax largely for its contents and by James Edwards in London largely for its appearance. William Edwards then is a provincial book publisher scarcely of interest as a publisher beyond Yorkshire except for his association with his more distinguished sons and his participation in Didot’s Book of Common Prayer (1791). By 1766 William Edwards was already widely known in his trade, as an anecdote will illustrate. In that year Thomas Wright of Halifax

Figure 2 The Book of Common Prayer (Halifax: W. Edwards & Sons, 1791), title page. Huntington Library. The work was handsomely “Printed by P. Didot” in Paris, probably under the management of James Edwards. Numbers of copies were bound in Edwards of Halifax style, at least five of them with fore-edges, three of them representing Eton College.

24

William Edwards, Paterfamilias

eloped with his sweetheart to be married at Haddington, and he and his bride went on to Glasgow, where Thomas bought a copy of The Beggar’s Opera in a shop. “The bookseller, understanding I came from Yorkshire, asked me if I knew Mr. Edwards of Halifax? I told him ‘Yes, very well.’ He said ‘If you spear him he will ken me. My name is Robinson.’”16 By the beginning of 1780 William Edwards’s sons James (age twentythree), John (twenty-one), Thomas (seventeen), and perhaps Richard (eleven) were grown up enough to be taken into the business,17 and the name of the firm was changed to WILLIAM EDWARDS AND SONS, BOOKSELLERS.18 When James and John went to London late in 1784 to open the shop in Pall Mall, the Halifax imprint remained EDWARDS & SONS in books of 1785, 1788, and 12 April 1790,19 the sons representing Thomas and Richard. The imprint of the Halifax shop changed to EDWARDS & SON singular (in works of November 1791–2,20 1794, 1798–1800, 1802, 1807), when Richard Edwards (then twenty-two) went to London, and only Thomas Edwards was left working with his father in Halifax. This is just the time when James Edwards’s London imprints change from JAMES EDWARDS, PALL MALL, to EDWARDS & SONS (plural), PALL MALL,21 or MESSRS EDWARDS, PALL MALL,22 indicating that Richard Edwards was working with James Edwards at 102 Pall Mall. It was apparently not until late 1791 that Richard Edwards opened his own shop in New Bond Street, and his first imprints there are in January 1792. The Edwards shops were closely linked in commerce as they were in family, for they published books jointly in 1785 and 1787–94, and they probably shared bookbinders, books, and customers as well. After James and Richard left business, books they had published turn up repeatedly in the catalogues of Thomas Edwards of Halifax. Bookbinding We do not know when William Edwards began binding books for his customers, but within thirty years of opening his shop in Halifax he was famous for it, and his firm became known even in London for its distinctive and beautiful styles of binding. In time, his shop became one of the standard tourist sights of the neighbourhood, along with the Piece Hall. When Thomas Christie of Montrose passed through the city on his six-month tour of Britain in 1787, he wrote: “At Halifax, the elegant bindings of Edwards, the [botanical] drawings of Bolton and the

William Edwards, Paterfamilias

25

Matchless Cloth-hall were objects of entertainment.”23 John Thomas Stanley wrote on 29 September 1788: No Traveller leaves Halifax without paying a Visit to Mr Edwards the Bookseller. He possesses the Art of binding Books in the greatest perfection of any Man in England, and excells not only in neat & elegant bindings, but his plain bindings are as superior. Besides you will see at his House a fine Collection of Books, among which are some very curious as well from their rarity as the elegance of the Editions. He has likewise a collection of the best Prints.

And Dorothy Wordsworth, who lived with her aunt for a time in Halifax, wrote to Jane Marshall on 2 September 1795: “We spent a forenoon at Edwards when the Empsons were with us and were highly delighted. Mr Rawson [her uncle] bought me Mrs Barbauld’s edition of the Pleasures of Imagination and the Pleasures of Memory both very elegantly bound.”24 T.H. Horne summarized his account of contemporary bindings in 1814 by saying: where so many excel, it would be invidious to specify any [living] individuals. Yet we cannot but mention, Messrs. Edwards, eminent booksellers of Halifax, in Yorkshire; whose style is unique, and has not hitherto been successfully imitated abroad: they have introduced several new styles of tasteful decoration to books, instead of profuse gilding, an imitation in their proper colours of the borders of Greek or Etruscan vases, and also a new method of ornamenting vellum bindings with exquisite drawings, but of which on account of their expense few were executed. To Messrs. Edwards the lovers of ornamented books are indebted for a method of gilding upon marbled leaves, and decorating the edges of leaves with exquisite paintings: we have seen landscapes thus executed, with a degree of beauty and fidelity that are [sic] truly astonishing; and when held up to the light in an oblique direction, the scenery appears as delicate as in the finest productions of the pencil.25

Edwards bindings were in a variety of styles,26 for Thomas Edwards’s 1826 catalogue says that “the greater part of the following books, are in splendid, costly and substantial russia, various coloured morocco and Etruscan Bindings,” some with fore-edge paintings. However,

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Figure 3 A Commentary on the Holy Bible: Containing the whole sacred text … with Notes (Bristol: William Pine, 1774), bound in Edwards of Halifax transparent vellum. Collection of Mrs Walter N. Edwards. The front cover depicts Moses Striking the Rock, the back cover shows David Playing the Harp, and the foreedge seems to represent Townley Abbey, Yorkshire.

there are three distinct styles now known as “Edwards of Halifax” bindings: (1) Their patented method of painting under transparent vellum on the covers. (2) “Etruscan calf,” with designs stained with acid (not gilt) on the boards in imitation of Etruscan vase paintings (see fig. 3).27

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(3) The fore-edges painted so that, when the leaves are fanned, a scene, usually a landscape or housescape, appears where the closed book showed only gilt or marbled edges (see fig. 3). The first two styles were apparently rarely imitated. The firm also of course bound in other styles, such as inlaid morocco, which are not unique to Edwards of Halifax. The painted transparent vellum and the painted fore-edges are sufficiently unusual and important to be worth describing at greater length. Painted Transparent Vellum Bindings The Rev. Mr Thomas Twining, who was an eager collector and who called himself a “country bookworm,” wrote in August 1781 to his brother: I should not have expected to meet with a bookseller in Halifax who is one of the best and most elegant binders in England, and has a valuable collection of books and prints. We were much amused at his shop. His sons are ingenious young men, and have got a method of binding books in vellum, with drawings in black and white on the sides, like black-lead pencil or indian ink, which will not rub out. They have great demand for these things, and are perpetually employed by Lady Rockingham, and Lady –, and Lady –, and all the great folks in that country. I have bespoke two Prayer-books, as specimens, one for my sister, and the other for Mrs. T. that they may keep pace with the great ladies of the North.28

Notice that the date of the letter is 1781, that the method mentioned is one that Edwards’s sons “have got” (perhaps implying that they invented it), and that these “ingenious young men” seem actually to be doing the binding. The method was described in the patent taken out by James Edwards four years later on 28 January 1785, apparently the only patent ever taken out for hand binding. It is a huge, tediously redundant vellum document, full of “Executors, Administrators and Assigns” and “any thing hereinbefore contained to the Contrary thereof notwithstanding,” but its crucial claim is that James Edwards hath by great Study and Application discovered the Means of embellishing Books bound in Vellum by making Drawings on the Vellum which are not

Figure 4 The Letters of Lady Rachel Russell; from the Manuscript in the Library at Wooburn [sic] Abbey, The Sixth Edition (London: J. Mawman, 1801), front cover. Victoria University in the University of Toronto. It is in an Edwards of Halifax calf binding, with a fore-edge of Woburn Abbey, the armorial bookplate of Caroline Phillips, and an inscription: Mr Thomas Edwards requests Mrs J. Leigh Phillips will do him the honour to accept this Book as a small token of the high Regard and Esteem he entertain’d for his late revered friend John Leigh Phillips Esq South Port – August 29. 1820–

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liable to be defaced but by destroying the vellum itself[,] a Method never before in practice [; he was consequently granted] ... Royal Letters patent for the Sole and exclusive use Exercise and Benefit of this discovery within that part of our Kingdom of Great Britain called England our Dominion of Wales and Town of Berwick upon Tweed and our Colonies and Plantations abroad for the term of fourteen Years [1785–99, provided that he does not make any] ... Transfer or Assignment of the said Liberty and priviledge ... to or for any number of Persons exceeding the Number of ffive.29

A central clause was that James Edwards shall “particularly describe and ascertain the Nature of the Said Invention ... and cause the same to be enrolled in our High Court of Chancery within one Calendar Month next,” and on 19 February 1785 James Edwards enrolled his specifications: ... my said new Invention is made and performed in manner following (that is to say):– Having chosen a skin with a firm grain, take off with a sharp knife all the loose spongy part of the flesh, then soak the part to be ornamented with water, in which a small quantity of pearl ash [potassium carbonate] has been dissolved, till it is thoroughly wet, afterwards press it very hard, and it becomes transparent. In that state it may be drawn upon, beginning with the most light and delicate shades, afterwards with the stronger, and ending with the coarsest, because a rough outline at first cannot be concealed with a fine finishing or shading, as where the drawing is made upon the surface which is looked at. When it is made a finished drawing, it may be painted with strong opake colours; but in this case the shades must be painted first, and the lights afterwards. Copper plates may also be impressed, so as to have a similar effect. When the ornaments are compleated it must be lined with fine wove paper, put on with paste made of the best flour, and is then ready for covering, as with other vellum books.30

A number of examples of this “new method of ornamenting vellum bindings with exquisite drawings” (as Horne wrote) were made in 1780–4, probably by those “ingenious young men” William Edwards’s sons James, John, Thomas, and Richard. Examples of their graphic work may be seen in a suite of four competent small illustrations inscribed “By EDWARDS” or “Original drawing by Edwards.”31 A copy of Richard Gough’s Account of a Rich Illuminated Missal Executed for John Duke of

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Bedford (1794) bound by Roger Payne has “three brilliant illuminations on vellum in gold and colours, being exact reproductions of the three principal illuminations of the missal ... executed by a brother of Mr. James Edwards.”32 Another early example of the book painting of William Edwards’s sons may be seen in a set of Horace Walpole’s Anecdotes of Painting in England (1762–71) bound with his Catalogue of Engravers ... In England (1765) in painted vellum with portraits on the covers signed Edwardi adelphi fecerunt (Vol. I upper cover, Vol. II upper cover [last word illegible]) Edwards fect Halifax (Vol. I lower cover, Vol. II lower cover [last word omitted]) Edwards fect 1780 (Vol. III and V upper covers) Edwards f (Vol. V lower cover).33 The year 1780 is the earliest date that can be confidently assigned to such bindings. Note the plural, “Edwardi ... fecerunt,” implying that several of the Edwards brothers helped with the designs. The different styles of signature may imply that one worked on upper covers and another on lower covers. I take it that “adelphi” means “at Halifax.” A transparent vellum binding of about this time signed “EDWARDS. FEC” is on The Proceedings at Large of the Court-Martial on the Trial of the Honourable Augustus Keppel, Admiral of the Blue ... January 7th. 1779 (1779), which almost certainly was made for the Marquis of Rockingham (d. 1782), who moved a vote of thanks to Keppel in the House of Lords; according to the inscription by George III, “This Book was presented to me by ... the Marchioness of Rockingham.”34 Note that in 1781 the Rev. Mr Thomas Twining said the Halifax bindery was “perpetually employed by Lady Rockingham.” Another transparent vellum binding of the same time is on W. Speechly, A Treatise on the Culture of the Pine Apple, and the Management of the Hot-House (York, 1779), with the superscription of the Marquis of Rockingham;35 Hanson speculates that the pineapple, nectarine, and grapes on the covers were painted by James Bolton, the great Halifax fruit painter with whom James Edwards may have corresponded about 1775 (see Appendix 2). A copy of The Book of Common Prayer (Oxford, 1774) is bound with The Whole Book of Psalmes (1781) in painted vellum with the autograph in the former of “Eleanor Greene. 1782” (Harvard), the earliest signature in a painted vellum binding I have encountered. Another copy of The Book of Common Prayer (Oxford,

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1775) bound in painted vellum with the arms of the Marchioness of Rockingham on the upper cover and a view of Wentworth Woodhouse on the lower cover was presented by James Edwards in 1782 to Lady Rockingham (Wormsley Library). Yet another copy of The Book of Common Prayer (1779) in painted vellum is inscribed “The gift of Thomas Ramsden to Richard Ramsden, his son. 1784” and stayed in the family for over 150 years.36 A copy of William Mason’s The English Garden (York, 1783) was bound in transparent vellum with a view of Strawberry Hill and the monogram M.W. for Maria Waldegrave (the niece of Horace Walpole) before 16 November 1784, when she married the Earl of Euston and changed her initials.37 It is worthwhile to identify these painted transparent vellum bindings made before 1785 to demonstrate that this unique style was produced by the Edwardses before they applied for a patent on it. From an early date, the Edwardses had the most exalted patronage for their bindery. Another copy of Mason’s The English Garden (York, 1783) is bound in painted vellum with the arms of the Duchess of Devonshire on the upper cover, a representation of The Dance after an engraving of 1782 (W. Bunbury-Bartolozzi) dedicated to the Duchess of Devonshire on the lower cover, and a fore-edge painting of Chatsworth; it was presented by the Duchess on 30 October 1786 to John Marshall.38 And a copy of The Book of Common Prayer (Cambridge: Baskerville, 1760) bound in painted vellum has “C.R.” in silver on the inner cover for Queen Charlotte, wife of George III.39 The binding business of the firm is exhibited in a letter of 24 July 1784 from James Edwards in Halifax to the great collector Richard Bull. Bull had apparently sent several works to be bound, and on receipt of some of them with the bill he had written to query their price and durability. James Edwards replied: As to the Drawing being perfectly fixd, you need not be under any apprehension – whenever the Back is soil.d, it may be cleand with a wet Cloth, without any Detriment, if it touches not the Gilding – nothing can hurt the Drawing w. ch is not destructive to the vellm:My Brother has colord the Ornaments of our Sett of Warren’s Memoirs – and I am now able to say that if his Time is to be valued at what it is worth in Business (as there are near 200 arms), they and the Ornaments cod not be Emblazond by us w.th Gold & Colours at less than 4 or 5 Guineas P Sett. – People who make it their Business cou.d no Doubt afford [to do] them at much less– ...40

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William Edwards, Paterfamilias I fear an Ornamental Border round it [the two Delolme volumes] wod not have all the Effect you wish, but make it appear too heavy for the small figures w.ch compose this Gem, perhaps 2 or 3 Lines with a light Tint between them (such as prints are Enclos.d in) might take off the Baldness [like] this– An Etruscan border round the sides wod be an Elegant addition, and I think a little Improvem.t might be made to that, by a very light drawn ornament upon the white vellum within it– We wod not have you give yourself any Trouble about paying for the Books – it will make no difference if you please to let it alone till I come to Town – but if it is more agreable to you to pay it to M.r Johnson N.o 72 St Pauls Ch. y.d his Receipt will be a full Discharge for any Sums wh you may pay him on our account– ... I think Miss Bull said on seeing a Prayer Book w.ch I had at your House that she wo.d sometime wish to have one– we hope you will Excuse the Liberty we have taken of sending this, and desiring that you will receive it as a faint Expression of Gratitude for the Recommendations and other Favors with which you have honor.d Sir, Your most oblig.d, & very hble Serv.ts J. Edwards

In this letter the note that “My Brother has colord the Ornaments” indicates that at least for a time the Edwardses actually did some of the manual work in finishing the books. Note too that Joseph Johnson of St Paul’s Churchyard acts as the firm’s London agent; that James Edwards is shortly to “come to Town”; and that the Halifax shop was making a gift to their customer, in part to mollify him for the unexpectedly high cost of the bindings. Evidently Mr Bull was satisfied with the treatment he received, for he did a good deal more business with the Edwards firm, particularly with James Edwards in London. James Edwards continued to have these transparent vellum bindings made for customers of his shop in Pall Mall. According to a manuscript memoir of John Harris (1767–1832), the son of Moses Harris, He was articled [c. 1781?] to a Mr. Tho.s Martyn, the author of several works on Spiders Insects, Shells &c, and upon these works he was employ’d, making the Drawings for the Engravings &c. And Painting & Colouring them from the natural subjects, for the works as Published, Mr. Martyn, being no Artist. On the termination of his time with Mr. Martyn [c. 1788?], Mr. Edwards the Bookseller of Pall Mall, sought his assistance on Italian Works of Art, (which he at that time imported) to Paint up, in the early

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style of Italian Art, in which employment he continued till Mr. Edwards’s retirement from business [in 1799].41

There are a number of errors in this account: Thomas Martyn was an artist, and so far as is known James Edwards of Pall Mall did not import early “Italian Works of Art” (and the Italian books he imported were not coloured, except for the Hamilton Etruscan Vases). It is clear, however, that John Harris was associated with James Edwards, for Edwards bequeathed £10 to [blank] Harris, miniature painter, and it seems likely that Harris was employed in the decorating of books and their covers, at least among other things. He certainly engraved twenty-three plates (1794–5), and he may well have engraved and coloured all the folio plates, for J.E. Smith’s great Insects of Georgia (1797), as well as colouring other works that James Edwards issued in colours about this time, such as Strutt’s Dress ... of England (1796–9), Dryden’s Fables (1797), Lyson’s Roman Antiquities (1797), and De Lille’s Gardens (1798). Fore-Edge Paintings Fore-edge paintings were made on the outer edges of medieval books, because the fore-edges on the shelves faced the viewer, and the early foreedges were thus immediately visible. The art was abandoned when books were rearranged on the shelves so that the spines faced the viewer. William Edwards apparently revived the art about 1780 – there are examples from his shop fairly clearly dated 1782 and 1784 (see below). In its revived form, fore-edge painting was almost entirely an English art, and the foreedges were painted under the gilt (as it were), so that the painted scenes are visible only when the leaves are fanned. In the great age of fore-edge painting, 1780–1820, probably most of the fore-edges were painted for Edwards of Halifax. However, it is exceedingly difficult to ascertain the date, authorship, and shop of a fore-edge painting, and, since then, many have been added to books printed and bound before 1820.42 The Edwards fore-edge paintings were probably made mostly in Halifax, for James Edwards’s London catalogues (1785–1815) seem not to mention them, whereas they are frequently mentioned in those of Thomas Edwards in Halifax (1815, 1816, 1818, 1821, 1826, 1828). Probably most of the Edwards fore-edges were the responsibility of Thomas Edwards, whose Etruscan bindings ... with matchless and unique Drawings on the leaves, in a style of peculiar excellence and beauty, which for many years has been

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William Edwards, Paterfamilias well known to the public. – In the superintendance of this department, the utmost care and expence has [sic] been lavished on the part of Mr. [Thomas] Edwards, and in the Mechanical, the most experienced skill has been shewn by the workman, in the forwarding, united with equal taste and excellence in the finishing part ...

The subjects of fore-edges are chiefly landscapes and buildingscapes. Normally the fore-edge designs were copies of engravings in books, especially those by William Gilpin. The Book of Common Prayer was a popular vehicle, and on many appeared a view of Eton Chapel, deriving from Samuel Ireland’s Picturesque Views on the River Thames (1802), volume 2.43 One source of fore-edge paintings is an unfinished samplebook of “DRAWINGS” (as it is labelled on the spine) bound in Edwards of Halifax style in vellum with pink watered silk end cloths. It contains batches of heavy paper coloured on one side in dull orange, green, raspberry, black, brown, and turquoise, rather like wallpaper. The date of the book is 1789 or later, for one flyleaf is watermarked 1789, and some of the leaves are stamped on the versos in large letters: G R | DUTY CH.D ON | PAPER 32 STAINED 1789. On these coloured leaves are mounted sixteen small vignettes, thirteen large designs in monochrome, and seven large, elaborate designs in colours (rather like the colours on the walls of Herculanaeum) including gold; a number of designs have been removed, and other leaves never had mounted drawings. The designs are mostly, perhaps entirely, copied from engravings after Raphael, and their connection with the Edwards firm is made clear by a large design of the Last Supper after Raphael there. This design appears also on the fore-edge of volume 1 of The Holy Bible (Bath: R. Crutwell, 1785 [published from 1796 by James Edwards]) bound in Edwards of Halifax Etruscan calf44 – the book is inscribed “From Edwards of Halifax, 1816.” Indeed, this very copy was offered at £15.15.0 in Thomas Edwards’s Halifax catalogue of 1816, No. 2685: “very superbly bound in Etruscan calf, gilt leaves, and 3 fine drawings thereon.” Almost certainly, therefore, the unfinished sample book was used in the Edwards family. Perhaps the book was originally made for one of the two Edwards firms in London about 1792 to show the kinds of designs that could be copied on fore-edges; presumably it passed to Thomas Edwards in Halifax after 1800, when James Edwards retired. Probably at least a few of the early fore-edges were painted by one or more of William Edwards’s sons in Halifax.45 In a copy of The Holy Bible (Cambridge: Baskerville, 1763) bound in transparent vellum with

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a painting of Belshazzar’s feast on the lower cover, the fore-edge painting of St Paul preaching to the Athenians is signed “Edwards fct”; it was commissioned by Oliver Farrer (1742–1808), probably for his marriage in 1782.46 And Virgil, Opera (Birmingham: Baskerville, 1766), bound in transparent vellum with a fore-edge painting, has a note on the flyleaf by Horace Walpole: “This book was bound by Edwards of Halifax and the covers were painted by his Son, 1784; on the gilt leaves, by holding them aslant, may be perceived a view of Chatsworth. The pictures will resist water.”47 Probably the artist was John Edwards, who was certainly a painter of skill. In 1789 he made three very fine copies on vellum from the illuminations in the Bedford Missal that his brother James had bought in 1786, and these were bound in the copy of Richard Gough’s Account of a Rich Illuminated Missal (1794) which Gough sent to James Edwards on 9 April 1794. These were described, apparently by James Edwards (“J.E.”): Artificem commendat opus. 21. July 1789. M.r JOHN EDWARDS of Pall Mall Bookseller was the very ingenious artist who made these beautiful FAC SIMILIES of remarkable paintings in the BEDFORD MISSAL. The original Book is a most curious monument of the piety and skill of former times, and these copies record the care and abilities of a modern Genius who could so exactly and neatly imitate the Originals in an art long disused and supposed to be lost.48

Later they clearly employed others to do the painting, for about 1795 Dr Johnson’s quondam friend Mrs Piozzi wrote to her daughter: I have seen a newer – to me at least – a newer Method of displaying Elegance, in which, if you do not exceed all Your Competitors, it will be your own fault. Tis in Bookbinding – a White smooth Vellum cover to – [Mason,] The English Garden – for example: must be painted with some Device relative to the subject on both sides – and the Leaves apparently gilt, must when you hold them in a particular manner – slanting, exhibit a beautiful Miniature Landscape painted likewise by the Lady: but concealed when the Book is shut. They are ten Guineas each, if you purchase; and Edwards of Pall Mall is the Owner of the Invention: but perhaps I am talking of a well known contrivance, which however surprised me–49

The phraseology seems to imply that both panels and fore-edges were painted by a “Lady” and that Mrs Piozzi saw or heard of them in

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James Edwards’s shop in Pall Mall. Mrs Piozzi speaks of “the Invention” which “Edwards of Pall Mall” owned, but his patented invention concerned only transparent vellum, not fore-edge painting. Unless she has carelessly conflated the two, this letter indicates that fore-edges were also made for the Pall Mall firm – though of course the books could have been sent from London to Halifax to be painted. A number of copies of works published by one of the Edwardses have fore-edge paintings, presumably commissioned through James Edwards or made as a speculation by William or Thomas Edwards. Edwards Publications with Fore-Edge Paintings The Holy Bible, 3 vols. (Bath, 1785) Novelle Otto (1790) The Book of Common Prayer (1791) – at least five copies Cicero, De Officiis (1791) E.D. Clarke, Tour (1793) Ellis, Specimens of Early English Poetry (1790) – at least five copies Hamilton, Mémoires de Conte Grammont (?1794) Lenoir, La Compagne de la Jeunesse, 2 vols. (1791) Shakespeare, Plays, 8 vols. (1797) Virgil, Opera, 4 vols. (1793) Walpole, The Castle of Otranto (1791) – at least three copies Edwards of Halifax is thus of major importance in the revival of the minor art of fore-edge painting. Most of the Edwards fore-edge paintings were apparently made in Halifax, though some were probably commissioned through James Edwards in London, particularly those on books that James Edwards published. Other Members of the Edwards Family: William [Jr] (1753–86), John (1706–93), and John (1745–1819) of Lisbon and Northowram Hall, Yorkshire Of William Edwards’s family besides his four bookselling sons, little is known. His two daughters Mary and Sarah married men named Dr Disney Alexander and James Macaulay, the first of whom wrote a book on the croup published in 1794 by William, Thomas, and James Edwards. William’s seventh child, Joseph, died at the age of five in 1771. William’s eldest son and namesake was the only son to reach manhood who did not enter his father’s profession. His father set him up

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in business as a manufacturer of shag, a woollen cloth with a velvet nap on one side, by 1777 – a deed of that date identifies him as William Edwards of Halifax the younger, manufacturer.50 Six years later, in 1783, he went bankrupt, with unsecured debts of £546, was sent to Debtor’s Gaol in Halifax, and was released only when two friends stood bail for him in the sum of £60.51 A circular letter from the family attorney to his creditors said: “William Edwards junr. has applied to his Father for his assistance. Tho’ his Father has several other children, and has resolved never to put him in trade again, having before given him what he intended him, yet from a principle of Justice to Creditors in the Situation, he proposes paying them 6s. 8d. in the Pound [£182 in all].”52 His landlord John Waterhouse wrote, “as we have no claim upon his Father as Creditors, we are certainly oblig’d to Him for anything he pleases to give.”53 I do not know what William Edwards [Jr] did for the next few years. He died at midnight on 23 June 1786 at Warnfield, leaving a widow, Mary, and four children. His father probably looked after William’s widow and children. He certainly left them money in his will and “provided for ... [my Grandson John] by his appointment in India.” This grandson in India may be the “J.W.E.” who wrote on 31 August 1808 to My Dear Uncle “from the fort of Kalpi [Calpi] on the banks of the Jumna” in India about his life with the Company.54 Another relative was John Edwards (1706–93), a prosperous merchant of Lisbon, shipping West Riding cloth to Portugal and port, dyestuffs, etc., back to England.55 He returned to England, settled at Northowram Hall near Halifax, and on 12 October 1743 he married Mary Hargreaves of nearby Craven.56 She bore him Sarah in 1744, John in 1745, and Joseph in 1747, and died in 1749.57 John Edwards was active in local charities and committees and in renovating Northowram Hall, to which he apparently added the underground swimming bath.58 Some time after 1771 he returned to Lisbon, where he died on 9 December 1793.59 His daughter Sarah married Daniel Dyson, whose father Jeremiah was a merchant connected with the Lisbon house of Edwards60 and an energetic collector of engravings. Joseph Edwards, Sarah’s youngest brother, remained at Northowram Hall, where he was active on local committees and charities, acquired a wife named Sarah and a daughter named Sarah, and became Deputy Lieutenant of the West Riding and a Justice of the Peace.61 John Edwards [Jr] went to Lisbon to carry on the family business, but in 1807, when Napoleon was threatening an invasion of Portugal, he returned to England with a Miss Dove and her grandmother

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under his protection.62 He settled the Doves in Savile Row, London, and reached Halifax on 16 May 1808, only a few weeks before his brother Joseph died there in June.63 Thereafter Mrs Joseph Edwards kept house for John Edwards at Northowram Hall64 until her death on 21 May 1812. John died seven years later in the house in Savile Row.65 The Northowram Hall Edwardses had close ties with the Edwardses of Halifax. W.B. Trigg claimed that “The Northowram Edwards family and the famous bibliophile family of Edwards were connected,66 the [?grand-]father of Richard Edwards, schoolmaster, being probably the common ancestor of both branches,” and their contemporary. Miss Lister in her diary described the booksellers Thomas and Richard Edwards as “distant cousins” of John Edwards [Jr] of Northowram.67 A copy of The Book of Common Prayer (1783)68 bound in painted vellum has on the flyleaf the name of J[oseph] Edwards, D.L., J.P., a white satin lining with the initials “S.E.” for his wife Sarah (or perhaps for his daughter Sarah, who died in 1797), and a fore-edge painting of Northowram Hall that “seems to be the only traceable picture” of it.69 Joseph Edwards was named the executor of William Edwards’s will in 1807, and John Edwards [Jr] was the executor of James Edwards’s will in 1816. John was also a sponsor at the christening of Thomas Edward’s son Walter Fawkes Edwards on 9 July 1816 (see p. 199 below). When John died on 16 March 1819 he left an enormous inheritance in stocks, real estate, and legal estate (Miss Lister in her diary reported it as £300,000)70 with benefactions in his will in specified sums of over £140,000 (plus miscellaneous property), including £2,000 to James Edwards (as executor), £2,000 to Thomas Edwards (as executor), and, in a codicil after James Edwards’s death, £1,200 more to Thomas Edwards and £2,000 to Richard Edwards (who was not mentioned before).71 It seems at least possible that the John Edwardses of Lisbon and Northowram Hall may have helped finance some of the very extensive enterprises of William, James, Richard, and Thomas Edwards, booksellers. Style of Life 1796–1808 By 1796, when he was seventy-four, William Edwards was willing to leave the running of the Halifax shop to his son Thomas. He was still full of energy, however, and, when James Edwards went to the Continent in June of that year, William Edwards came to London to look after the Pall Mall shop – with somewhat unfortunate results.72 And when Richard Edwards had retired to High Elms, near London, his father

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visited him there in the summer of 1806.73 It seems to have been a closeknit and harmonious family. In his last years, William Edwards lived with his daughter Mary in a style of considerable elegance at Spring Head, Northowram, near Halifax. According to an account of “a musical performance & grand fete at Miss Edwards, Spring Head Northowram,” “the house ... situated on the summit of a lofty hill, commands a fine and extensive view of the beautifully picturesque surrounding country.” One enters a very neat and rather small back room, where however at 2 tables, 20 pairs sat down very comfortably to a handsome cold collation ... Besides the room, in which the collation was served, there were two front rooms opened for our reception, one of which, more particularly, was finished and furnished in a style of taste & elegance perhaps unrivalled in this neighbourhood. The room was a moderate size with a large bow window, to which a handsome fireplace was opposite. The floor was covered with an elegant carpet, corresponding with the buff Turkish couches, & the drapery which was most tastefully hung with the muslin curtains. The walls were finished in the foreign style, being alternately pannelled, the body of the pannel painted a sky blue, and the carved work of the edges, white; and papered with a beautiful French paper, which with the neat cornish at the top, had altogether a novel and striking effect ... About 20 couples danced, 10 in each room.74

William Edwards divided up most of his very considerable fortune among his children and grandchildren. According to his will made on 13 February 1807, he had “already provided for” his sons James and Richard, his grandson John (son of William [Jr]), and “my Daughter Mary Edwards ... I have before amply provided for by the Security of an Annuity of One hundred fifty pounds per annum ... and the Estate at Spring Head.” The will provided annuities for his daughter Sarah Macaulay (£150), his grandson William Edwards [III] (£20), his granddaughters Elizabeth Edwards (£10) and Jane [Edwards] Ackroyd (£10) (daughters of William Edwards [Jr]), and lump sums to Sarah Edwards Macaulay’s five children (£100 each), his grandson John Edwards (son of William [Jr]) (£200), his daughter Mary Edwards (£200), his son Richard (£200) plus “my Gold watch with two Seals” to be given to Richard’s son; while all his “real Estate ... and Remainder of my personal Estate,” presumably including the Halifax shop and its contents, went to his son Thomas.75

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William Edwards, Paterfamilias

In 1808, when he was eighty-five years old, William Edwards saw the last of his sons married, and the account of the wedding in the Halifax Journal for Saturday, 9 January 1808, devoted more space to the bookshop than to the bride or the groom: “MARRIED: On Tuesday lst, by the Rev. Doctor Coulthurst, Mr Thomas Edwards of Halifax and one of the partners in the house of Messrs. Edwards and Sons, whose celebrity as booksellers has been for many years, deservedly and universally acknowledged by persons of taste and literature in every part of this kingdom as well as abroad, to Miss Caroline Matilda Lister of Halifax, an union which promises the most lasting happiness[.]”76 When the paterfamilias died five days later, on 6 January 1808, a respectful obituary appeared in the Halifax Journal: “On Sunday evening, Mr. William Edwards, of this town, in the 86th year of his age, a character of distinguished eminence in his profession, and of no common estimation for the vigorous faculties of his mind.”77 But his greatest accomplishment was probably his sons James, Thomas, and Richard Edwards and what they did.

PART II James Edwards, the Medicean Bookseller

I have seen much of the world and found enjoyments in every place (Letter of 20 September 1798)

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1 The Medicean Bookshop and James Edwards’s Shop Catalogues 1784–1800

James Edwards was born in 1756, the third child of William Edwards of Halifax. Like his four brothers, he must have grown up in the big, red-timbered shop in Market Street and tumbled down the steep hills that surround the town, and sung street ballads in the broad Yorkshire accent of his friends. He was, however, unlike his older brother William in his native love for books and his instinctive sympathy with book lovers. He “was probably born a bibliographical bookseller,”1 and he certainly possessed from an early age both profound understanding and acute symptoms of what his later friend T.F. Dibdin called bibliomania: Symptoms of this disease are instantly known by a passion for I. Large Paper Copies: II. Uncut Copies: III. [Extra-] Illustrated Copies: IV. Unique Copies: V. Copies printed upon Vellum: VI. First Editions: VII. True Editions: VIII. A general desire for the Black Letter.2

Almost certainly while still in Halifax he both sold such works and bought them for himself. Our first information about James Edwards beyond his christening is when we find him about 1775, when he was nineteen, making the long journey to London with commissions from the Halifax shop. In his letter from London to one customer he speaks casually of the “great sales of Paintings” he has been to, of the sale of Sir William Hamilton’s antiquities to the British Museum (“Mr. Holden pd. the Bill [of £8,000 for ’em] at sight”), and of the sale of flower roots and aquamarine. He must have been an invaluable assistant to his father, not only in the bookshop but also in the family bindery. Indeed, he may have been at least in part responsible for the invention of painting on transparent vellum bindings

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that he and his brothers had practised in the early 1780s. When he made the journey to London again in 1784, it was doubtless in part to take out the patent for the process, which was registered in his own name. If the firm was to expand yet further, it was time for James to be established independently in business by his father. James went to London in 1784, probably at least in part to find premises where he and his brother John could open the London branch of Edwards & Sons.3 He also called on the great collector Richard Bull and sent his daughter a present with his July letter. The building that James Edwards took with his brother John when they set up in business in London was at a very fashionable address, No. 102 Pall Mall. The Edwards shop was there ten years, through 1793; from 1784 through 1790 it was listed in the London directories as EDWARDS & SONS and, for somewhat longer period, 1784–93, as JAMES EDWARDS.4 James Edwards’s imprints are rarely very helpful as to his addresses. Sometimes he is identified only as EDWARDS,5 particularly in congeries or in Latin titles (twelve in 1790–9), occasionally with J. or Giacomo added, and even the addition of Pall Mall is not very helpful (over a hundred books in 1786–1800), since both of James Edwards’s shops were in Pall Mall. Seventeen imprints show him at 102 Pall Mall in 1785–91, including his shop catalogues of 1785, 1787, 1789, and 1790. Probably James Edwards had a lease on 102 Pall Mall that was taken over by his sometime publishing partners E. & S. Harding, who are listed at the same address for 1792–7.6 James Edwards then moved east to an address that was given in his imprints at first as 78 Pall Mall,7 before it settled down to 77 Pall Mall.8 Perhaps the building was renumbered about 1794. Here he paid the rates in 1794–1810,9 and from here he issued his great catalogues of 1794 and 1796. He converted the shop into a house in 1799 – “I still live & mean to continue at N. 77 P.M.l – as my house,” he wrote on 9 August 1799 – but he probably found a tenant for it by 1805 when he bought the Manor House in Harrow and moved there with his bride. James Edwards’s imprints are often vague also as to the number of Edwardses who are acting as publishers in Pall Mall. When the identification is merely EDWARDS (1788–98), plus Pall Mall occasionally, the number and identity of the publishers are obscure, but J. and James and Giacomo EDWARDS, and even Mr. (or, in French, M.) EDWARDS at (No. 102, or No. 77, or No. 78) Pall Mall are clear (1786–1800); if there is only one Edwards in Pall Mall, it must be James.10 Messrs. EDWARDS

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AND SON, Pall Mall on the Shakspeare Illustrated prospectus (1789) must refer to James as the Son at 102 Pall Mall, with his father in Halifax implied by courtesy. Note that John Edwards is not clearly alluded to even in imprints of 1785–9 when he was in partnership with James, suggesting that the partnership did not extend as far as publishing. John probably confined his activities to the shop, and the publications were James’s ventures. John Edwards John Edwards was not only the very ingenious artist of the family, but he clearly had a flair for languages and for books. He wrote business letters in French, and he was prepared to deal with correspondence in Italian, as he told Bodoni in his letter of 2 November 1792. Like his brother James, he travelled to Paris on book business during the crises of the French Revolution, and his November 1792 letter was written from there. Six months later, according to his fond brother James, He died of a decline at Paris, 13th May 1793. aet. 34, much lamented by all who knew him. Artibus ingenius quæ sita est gloria multis. Ovid.11

Messrs. EDWARDS, like EDWARDS & SONS (plural), Pall Mall, in the imprints of books 1790–1,12 refers to James, John, and perhaps to Richard Edwards. However, it would be rash to attach much weight to the distinction between “Mr” and “Messrs,” for in these same years (1790–1), J. or James Edwards (102 Pall Mall) appears in eleven imprints, one of which, for Bibliotheca Parisiana, was in a cancellandum title page (“Mr. EDWARDS, No. 102, Pall Mall”), which was altered in the cancel to “Messrs EDWARDS, No. 102, Pall Mall.” “Mr” and “Messrs” may be indifferent usages. Catalogues 1784–1800 Two events early in the history of EDWARDS AND SONS of 102 Pall Mall made it extraordinarily well known among book lovers. The first was the great catalogue of January 1785, shortly after the shop opened, which established James Edwards immediately as among the most important antiquarian booksellers of his time, a time which was just

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James Edwards, Medicean Bookseller

beginning to indulge extensively a relish for fine books. The works most eagerly sought were incunabula, and the most anxious competition was over works printed on vellum and preserved in elegant bindings. Such works James Edwards from the first proved himself adept at securing, and, equally important, he proved himself adept in winning the confidence of major collectors and then in becoming friends with them. The first catalogue from 102 Pall Mall is thus described by a contemporary: In 1784, when he [William Edwards] was himself 64 [i.e., 62] years of age, he settled his son James, with a younger brother (John), in Pall-Mall; where, under the firm of Edwards and Sons, they published a Catalogue13 which astonished, not only the purchasers of books, but the most experienced and intelligent Booksellers in the Metropolis. Never, perhaps, was a collection more splendid, or more truly valuable, presented to the curious; and its success was proportionate to its merits. It was formed principally from the libraries of N. Wilson, esq. of Pontefract; two eminent Antiquaries, deceased; and H. Bradshaw, esq. of Marple Hall, Cheshire.14

It is surprising that no copy of this superlatively “splendid” and “truly valuable” catalogue has been traced. As a consequence of its rarity, its character and even its date are uncertain. On 24 July 1784 James Edwards wrote from Halifax to the ambitious bibliophile Richard Bull that Our Catalogue is with the Printers, but will not be ready in less than 2 or 3 months – one of the first shall certainly wait upon you– Among other articles are above 20 folio manuscripts of Heraldry of w.ch many are Herald’s Visitations, and 6 of those not known to M.r Gough15 – perhaps the most complete Collection in the Kingdom of historical & Political Papers of the Time of the Civil Wars of Cromwell’s administration, having been collected by President Bradshaw’s nephew – some of them by the President himself16 – a few old Plays – Caxtons, and almost all the Old Chronicles, Dugdales Works, & many County Books in the finest condition &c–

This letter implies that the catalogue would not be finished before about October 1784 – and that it would be an Edwards & Sons, Halifax, catalogue. Since we know from newspaper advertisements that James Edwards’s Catalogue of Books for “January 1785” was ready on 4 January 1785, and since it is unlikely that he had two major catalogues ready

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within three months, it seems probable that James Edwards’s Catalogue mentioned in the advertisements is the same as the Edwards and Sons catalogue mentioned in the Gentleman’s Magazine; after all, James Edwards’s Catalogue was “to be had of Edwards and Sons, Halifax,” among others, though the “Sons” mentioned here are Thomas and Richard in Halifax rather than James and John in London. This first London catalogue was clearly seen as related to the Halifax shop, for not only was the first of its vendors named as Edwards and Sons, Halifax, but it was available “Also of the Booksellers at York, Leeds, Wakefield, Manchester and Rochdale,” all of them more in the sphere of influence of Halifax than in that of London.17 Notice that the advertisements speak vaguely of “above Thirty-Thousand ... of the scarcest and most valuable Articles on various Subjects” and that the four libraries of which it was chiefly composed (according to the Gentleman’s Magazine) are not identified there. Further, the libraries, at least so far as they are described, are conspicuously English. Thereafter James Edwards secured his best books and reputation from the Continent, and he advertised both the gems of the collection and their immediate provenance in large letters. From January 1785 the shop must have been well known throughout the London book world. The second extraordinary event was his competition with the king at an auction in 1786 for the famous fifteenth-century Bedford Missal with fifty-nine full-page drawings and over a thousand miniatures, of which T.F. Dibdin wrote: “’Tis in truth a lovely treasure in the book way; and it should sleep every night upon an eider-down pillow encircled with emeralds!”18 Edwards’s own account of the sale is this: At the time when the Bedford Missal was on sale, with the Duchess of Portland’s Collection in 1786, the King sent for his bookseller (Mr. Nicholl) & expressed his intention to have it. The Bookseller ventured to submit to his Majesty that the book was likely to fetch a high price. “How high?” “Probably 200 gs.” “200 Guineas for a missal” said the Queen, who was present & lifted up both her hands with extreme astonishment. “Well, well,” said the King “I’ll still have it, but as the Queen thinks 200 gs. so enormous a sum for a missal, I’ll go no further”; & this actually was the last bid on behalf of the King, & Mr. Edwards bought it by advancing £3.3.0 more. Thus the Queen kept this book from going into the royal library, where alone it ought to be.19

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James Edwards, Medicean Bookseller

To have won the work from his sovereign, and at such a price, was a sensation even beyond the book world, and John Nichols truly affirmed that with the purchase of the Bedford Missal “His fame as a Bibliographer was now completely established.”20 Edwards was enormously proud of possessing the Bedford Missal. He repeatedly refused much larger sums for it.21 When Richard Gough was collecting material for his Account of a Rich Illuminated Missal Executed for John Duke of Bedford (1794), Edwards assiduously sought information for him about its provenance; and an image of the Bedford Missal appeared on James Edwards’s tombstone. His accomplishment, in rising “from a humble station to great opulence, and to a familiar conversation with the noble and the great,” is summarized by William Beloe, who identifies Edwards merely as The Exotic Bookseller: He was the introducer of a new aera, in the profession of which he was so successful a member ... [He] was the first person who professedly displayed in the metropolis shelves of valuable books in splendid bindings, and having taken a large house in one of the most frequented and fashionable streets, it soon became the resort of the gay morning loungers of both sexes. At the same time also invitation was held out to students and scholars, and persons of real taste, from the opportunity of seeing and examining the most curious and rare books, manuscripts, and missals. His success at home of itself seemed sufficient to satisfy any ordinary speculator in this sort of commerce, but this was not enough for the personage of whom we are speaking. He determined to make a circuit of Europe ... [and] he had abundant cause on his return to felicitate himself on his success. Other speculations also connected with his profession, proved alike fortunate, and ere long elevated the subject of these remarks to considerable distinction and opulence. He became a sort of literary oracle, and was consulted by the grave and the gay, and lively and severe, the scholar and the sciolist; and truth to say, his manner was so inimitably fine, that he had as much to say on an illuminated missal, and an Etruscan vase, as on the books printed at the Sabiaco monastery, or the Florence Homer of 1488. … [He] was both courteous and courtier-like. They who were less favourably inclined towards him, complained that his enunciation was affectedly soft, and that he had too much of the air and grimace of a Frenchman; and by the shrug of his shoulders, and his facility in speaking the language, has more than once been mistaken for a native of that

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country. But his peculiarities were harmless, his knowledge of the mysteries of his craft, more extensive, perhaps, than that of any of his contemporaries, his merits considerable, and death might easily have spared a less amiable character.22

In all, James Edwards produced six catalogues of the stock of his shop, in January 1785, in 1787, in 1789, in 1790, in 1794, and 1796. These catalogues were available not only from the bookshop of James Edwards but also from those of Thomas Payne in Mews Gate (1785), of Joseph Johnson in St Paul’s Churchyard (1785, 1787, 1789, 1790), and of Edwards (and Sons) in Halifax (1785, 1787, 1789, 1790). Thereafter James Edwards felt able to stand on his own feet unaided, and only his own name appears on the catalogues of 1794 and 1796. It is striking that the name of James Robson, with whom he collaborated closely and continuously in his book-auction catalogues, never appears on his shop catalogues. His first few shop catalogues were not so much notices of what he had in his shop as they were advertisements of his acquisition of whole libraries. The May 1787 title page mentions three libraries, though only one former owner is identified (J. Mainwaring). The books singled out there for attention are divided into two categories, Ancient and Modern. Among the Ancient works, attention is drawn to illuminated missals, manuscripts of English history, publications of Caxton and other printers of incunabula, books printed on vellum, and early chronicles, poetry, and topography. Among the best Modern Books, the ones considered worthy of special mention were works printed [at Horace Walpole’s press] at Strawberry Hill, illustrated books on birds, insects, shells, vegetables, vases, archaeology, voyages, and fine art (Van Dyke, Claude, the Vatican ceiling), many “in the most elegant Bindings.” These elegant bindings were probably often in the style of Edwards of Halifax; at least one (No. 83) is said to be “bound in the Etruscan stile” that the Edwards bindery had made peculiarly its own. The catalogue is clearly aimed not at country gentlemen but at bibliophiles, though there are many novels in English, Italian, and French for the pleasure of the less discriminating. We should note that the illustrated books of voyages, insects, archaeology, birds, and fine art were exactly the sorts of works which Edwards was to publish himself. Edwards’s next catalogue of about eighteen months later (1789) stressed on the title page both Ancient and Modern Books as before, but the range of subject was wider (Every Branch of Pleasing and Useful

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James Edwards, Medicean Bookseller

Science), and the focus of admiration was narrower, on Magnificent Books of Prints beautifully coloured and in the most elegant and splendid Bindings. It was half again as large as his previous catalogue (202 vs 140 pages) and was the catalogue of his shop that pleased Edwards most: There was at this time an uncommon emulation between Egerton, White, Payne & myself.23 Faulder also was pushing at a great rate. But what makes it more singular is, that I had only been abt. 5 years in London. It is printed with more attention to correctness than any other. This seems to be the best Cat. I ever made, being after my 2d. journey to Italy. At this day it surprises me. Jan 14, 1800 J.E.24

In his letter to William Roscoe of 6 December 1789, Edwards wrote: “I am just returnd from Italy where I have pick.d up some things w.h you will see in my next Catalogue w.th Pleasure – about the Beginning of March I hope to send it you.” The James Edwards catalogue of [March] 1790 is similar to that of 1789, though larger (245 vs 202 pages) and specifying on the title page the choicest part of the Libraries of Monsignor Salichetti of Rome; of Cav. Zanetti of Venice; and an Assortment of the rarest and most esteemed Articles collected in various Parts of Europe. This stress upon works bought on the Continent was of course particularly remarkable during the turmoil engendered by the French Revolution. It was the insecurity created by this turmoil that made it possible for Edwards to acquire such libraries so readily. After producing four catalogues of the stock available at his shop in six years (1785–90), Edwards waited four years before he published another. He was, of course, not idle during these years, for from 1789 through 1795 he collected works for six important auctions (see below), mostly of works obtained on the Continent. Probably he could not afford to finance these purchases by the slow, piecemeal sale of their contents, and the auction provided a quicker way of recovering his capital. The travels incident to acquiring these books and the labour of cataloguing them on his return, plus his vigorous publishing business being established at the same time, prevented him from making new catalogues of his shop stock. These large catalogues of course required endless labour; on 20 December 1793 Edwards wrote to William Roscoe: “My Attention has been so wholly directed to a

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Catalogue for the last 6 M.s that I scarcely know how my regular Business has been going on.” The [January] 1794 catalogue is yet larger than that of 1790 (314 vs 245 pages), though there are about the same number of lots (almost seven thousand). The title follows the 1790 formula, though it claims to be A Very Select Collection rather than merely A Select Collection. The contents include Chinese paintings, a Koran written in gold (No. 1,192), a manuscript collection of Persian poetry (No. 1,197), Didot’s and Bodoni’s splendid editions, coloured prints, incunabula, a receipt for £200,000 “for betraying Charles I,” and numerous publications by James Edwards. It maintained the high standard of accuracy established in the earlier catalogues, and T.F. Dibdin quoted a description from it “out of respect to the bibliographical talents of Mr. Edwards. His catalogues are full of curiosities; and his descriptions of, and observations upon, rare and beautiful books, are accurate and interesting.”25 Edwards’s last shop catalogue, of [February] 1796, has the least exclamatory title page, is about the same length as that of 1794 (316 vs 314 pages), and has about ten per cent more entries (7,743 vs 6,694). It was apparently accompanied by engraved “specimens,” which have not been traced. To a modern eye, the prices seem admirably modest: the second Shakespeare folio (1632) is offered at £3.3.0 (No. 962) and £1.5.0 (No. 963, lacking the title page), and even incunabula are within reason, such as Gutenberg’s Bible at £126 (No. 1). English shop catalogues before 1800 are not common. Those that James Edwards produced in 1787, 1789, 1790, 1794, and 1796 are probably among the most extensive and distinguished that survive. The amount of information given about books is surprisingly full, and the accuracy is in general admirable. James Edwards would be memorable for these shop catalogues, even had he confined his work to them. The fame of the Edwards shop spread very wide, as a fashionable resort, as a place where splendid bindings could be seen, and as the home of great books. Perhaps only two more witnesses need be called. On 21 September 1790 James Edwards wrote to William Roscoe of Liverpool concerning his Italian researches: “I think I can put you into correspondence w.h may produce something on your Subject w.th Mr Cumberland who is just ret.d from Italy where he has employd himself in lookg after the works of the early Artists in Engraving &c.” George Cumberland was a dilettante painter, engraver, poet, novelist, biographer, and inventor of modest independent means who was an intimate friend of William Blake, with whom he collaborated on a

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book in 1796. He clearly became attached to the Edwards shop, for on 19 October 1791 he wrote to his brother Richard, “If you do come to Town, I must beg of you to bring all the books of mine and leave them ... with Edwards the Bookseller of Pall Mall who has many others of mine to bind and may send all in one parcel.”26 Probably the volumes Cumberland was having bound were the books of early Italian prints that he had collected in Rome. Dr Johnson’s friend Mrs Thrale, who had ceased to be his friend when she married Gabriel Piozzi in 1784, was evidently one of the gay morning loungers at 77 Pall Mall, and in a letter of 4 September 1795 she testified to Edwards’s courtier-like manner: “[I] stept ... into Edwards’s Shop ... when a genteel Foreigner coming in – the Book seller kindly wrote on a scrap of Paper & laid before me, Monsr the Marquis de Bouillé ... [We had] some general Chat concerning the diffusion of Literature in London, which Edwards the Bookseller drove forward till somebody coming in; (Mr Piozzi I believe,) broke off the Conversation.”27 Five years later, when she was improving her husband’s estate, she wrote: “The library here ... at old Streetham Park has been enriched with new and expensive publications till it looks like Edwards’s showy shop in Pall Mall.”28 And on 1 November of the same year she wrote more expansively to the Rev. Mr Leonard Chappelow: “You never Saw any thing so fine as our old Library is grown. I felt as if transported by Magic into Edwards’ Shop Pallmall. Such Bindings! such Colrd Drawings! &c!”29 It would be charming to think of Jane Austen and her characters dropping into Edwards’s Medicean shop, as William Hayley called it. In Sense and Sensibility, written in the 1790s though not published until 1811, Col. Brandon was “In a stationer’s shop in Pall Mall, where I had business” when he overheard from “Two ladies ... waiting for their carriage” the sensational news of “Mr. Willoughby’s marriage with Miss Grey” and her £10,000.30 This is one kind of gossip one might expect from the gay morning loungers in Edwards’s shop. Some Notable Friends31 James Edwards had a happy faculty of becoming friends with his customers and collaborators. He clearly had many friends of whom we know little and a few of whom we get only glimpses, such as the book collector Earl Spencer, the bookseller George Robson, with whom Edwards travelled to Italy in 1787, and the bookseller Thomas Payne,

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to whom Edwards would have liked his infant son to be apprenticed and to whom he left £100 in his will. Four of these friendships deserve somewhat broader treatment. That with William Roscoe is displayed at large through these pages, and it is appropriate that Edwards’s last known letter is addressed affectionately to Roscoe. His friendship with the bookseller Joseph Johnson, the artist Henry Fuseli, the dilettante Horace Walpole, and the printer Giambattista Bodoni deserve more concentrated attention. Joseph Johnson the Bookseller Joseph Johnson was probably the man James Edwards knew longest and most intimately in London. When he came to London on business for his father about 1775, then only nineteen years old, he gave his address as “At Mr. Johnson’s, No. 72, St. Paul’s Church Yard,” and his letter of 1781 is from “N.o 72 S.t Pauls Ch Y.d” Joseph Johnson himself had come from Everton, near Liverpool, and had connections particularly with religious dissenters and political liberals – Joseph Priestley of Leeds and Birmingham was one of Johnson’s most prolific authors and often stayed with him. Yet more strikingly, in July 1784, just before James Edwards opened his shop in Pall Mall, he suggested to Richard Bull: “if it is more agreable to you to pay it [our bill] to M.r Johnson N.o 72 S.t Pauls Ch. y.d his Receipt will be a full Discharge for any Sums w.h you may pay him on our account –.” This shows a remarkable degree of trust and dependence. Johnson’s name was listed on Edwards’s shop catalogues as long as any publisher’s name besides Edwards’s appeared there, in 1785, 1787, 1789, and 1790, and, though most of the other books that they published together were financed by congeries (e.g., Shakespeare’s Plays [1793; 1797] and Nugent’s Dictionary [1795; 1797]), two of their publications were especially significant: they were the only booksellers listed in the proposals for the edition of Milton edited by William Cowper and illustrated by Henry Fuseli (1791) and on the title pages of Stedman’s Surinam (1796), both among the most important enterprises either man engaged in. They also tried unsuccessfully in 1796 to collect subscriptions to print Fuseli’s separate Milton illustrations. When Joseph Johnson was tried for sedition by a vindictive government in 1798 – for selling a pamphlet widely sold by other booksellers who were left unprosecuted – James Edwards appeared as a character witness for him at his trial. This was an act of importance for both men:

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for Johnson, as providing support from a prosperous citizen in his own trade who scarcely dabbled in politics, whose own loyalty, not to say orthodoxy, was unquestioned – and who later performed important services for government; for Edwards, in being willing to stand up for his friend in a time of national, or at least government-fostered, hysteria, and to put himself forward as an associate and admirer of a man the government clearly regarded as an enemy. At the trial, James Edwards of Pall Mall in the County of Middlesex bookseller maketh oath and saith that he hath intimately known the above named Defendant Joseph Johnson for the space of twenty years last past and that from observations of his conduct and conversation during that time he believes him to be a good moral character and peaceable subject well affected to the Constitution of this Country and wholly incapable of doing anything with a view or design to injure or bring it into contempt. Sworn at Serjeants Inn Hall this 14th day of November 1798 James Edwards32

When Johnson was imprisoned for a year, the government agents rejoiced, but Johnson’s friends did not repine. On 9 August 1799 James Edwards wrote to Roscoe: “Johnson comes out tomorrow and I think without any injury to his health from confinemt but rather the contrary – if you co.d persuade him to relinquish the cares of business it wo.d add years & health to his life – for he ought not to reckon upon the vigour & exertion he co.d produce in former days–”. The two men evidently visited William Hayley at Eartham, near Chichester, after James Edwards had retired – or at least Hayley expected them when he wrote to John Johnson on 2 April 1801.33 The relationship between James Edwards and Joseph Johnson was a long and close one, lasting at least from 1775 until Johnson’s death on 20 December 1809. A year later, on 27 December 1810, Edwards wrote to Roscoe: “You will regret as well as myself the departure of our worthy friend of St Paul’s Ch Yard – he once din.d w.th us here [in Harrow] last Year – but his feeble frame then seem.d to have made its utmost exertion–”. Joseph Johnson and James Edwards were probably as different as the books they dealt in. Johnson was concerned with utilitarian works, with politics and medicine and practical religion, with schoolbooks and books for children, and he had small but important connections with major authors and artists such as William Cowper, William

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Hayley, William Wordsworth, William Godwin, William Blake, Erasmus Darwin, S.T. Coleridge, Henry Fuseli, and Mary Wollstonecraft. He held regular informal dinners to which he invited his authors and caused alarm to government by his friendship with and publication of authors such as Priestley (whose house was burned by a government mob) and Tom Paine (who was the object of a carefully orchestrated government campaign of vilification). James Edwards, on the other hand, dealt in works of the greatest luxury, in new books with hand-coloured illustrations printed on satin and bound in transparent painted vellum with shot-silk endcloths and painted fore-edges, and in Italian incunabula printed on vellum that passed from royal libraries in Venice and Vienna and Savoie to noble libraries in England through James Edwards’s capable hands. Where Joseph Johnson was bluff and friendly, James Edwards was discrete and accommodating. They must have been drawn together at least in part by mastery of their profession, by remarkable generosity and integrity – and by their friendship with Henry Fuseli. Henry Fuseli the Artist Fuseli and Joseph Johnson had long been friends when James Edwards came to stay with Johnson about 1775. An indication of the connection of Fuseli with James Edwards and Joseph Johnson may be seen in Fuseli’s reviews of Edwards’s editions of Hewlett’s Parian Chronicle (1789), Ellis’s Dutch Republic (1789), and Smith’s Insects of Georgia (1797) in Joseph Johnson’s Analytical Review. When Fuseli determined to devote himself to painting a great gallery of pictures illustrating Milton, like those Alderman Boydell was commissioning for his Shakspeare Gallery, James Edwards became an enthusiastic supporter. On 16 November 1791 he assured Fuseli’s Liverpool patron William Roscoe, “You will be astonish.d when you see a picture w.h Fuseli has almost finish.d for ye Milton.” Neither he nor Joseph Johnson was able to raise enough subscriptions for it. When James Edwards was publishing Roscoe’s great Life of Lorenzo de’ Medici, Fuseli wrote to Roscoe on 5 July 1794, “Edwards has Sent me Your Sheets.” On 22 January 1797 Joseph Farington recorded in his diary an incident that must have delighted Edwards: Fuseli ... [said that William] Beckford of Fonthill, some years ago proposed to publish his travels. Johnson printed them in Quarto. They were written with genius ... there was a spirit like Champaign prevailing, sparkling

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James Edwards, Medicean Bookseller everywhere. – Fuseli had half a doz: of leaves of the letter press which He gave to Edwards of Pallmall.– When ready for publication the Books were all sent for, and faithfully delivered by Johnson, to Beckfords agent. – Beckford had been prevailed on to suppress the work, as it would have made him enemies everywhere.

On 3 November 1797 Edwards told Roscoe, “I din.d yesterday in Company w.th our friend Fusseli – ’tis not unlikely he may pay you a visit before Xmas.” Two years later, on 9 August 1799, he wrote to Roscoe with more news of him: “Fusseli’s [Milton] Exhibition has turn.d out very unsuccessfully – a journey will do him much good – the middle of next week we hope to ease his mind a little by settling w.th Christie what he is to pay for the use of the Exhibition Rooms – a want of accuracy in the person who negociated for him wth Christie has perplex.d him prodigiously–”. When Fuseli undertook to bring up to date Pilkington’s General Dictionary of Painters, he wrote to Roscoe on 27 March 1804: “Edwards will lay before you the Prospectus ... and the two first plates done by Aaron from the work which we have undertaken to publish with and without Subscription.” Fuseli apparently came to see Edwards at Harrow, according to Edwards’s letter of 27 December 1810 to Roscoe, and perhaps he saw there, or brought with him, the painting by Fuseli of Erasmus with his printer Frobens which Dibdin says hung in the drawing-room.34 It is surprising that James Edwards commissioned Fuseli to design plates for only one of his publications (Boothby’s Sorrows [1796]), though he seems to have commissioned at least one painting from him. The relationship between Fuseli and Edwards was long and apparently close, probably based on a shared love of books and pictures and an eclectic taste for works in German, French, and Italian, for Greek art and Italian history and butterflies of Georgia. Both men shared an extraordinarily sophisticated Continental taste. Would that they had collaborated to leave us a work exhibiting the genius of each. Horace Walpole the Author James Edwards had an early, long, and profitable relationship with Horace Walpole. He may have helped to paint the vellum covers on a set of Walpole’s Anecdotes of Painting (1762–71) in 178035 and on a copy of Mason’s English Garden (1783) for Walpole’s niece Maria Waldegrave

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about 1784,36 and Walpole said that his own copy of Virgil’s Opera (1766) “was bound by Edwards of Halifax and the covers were painted by his son, 1784.”37 Such work may have brought James Edwards into contact with Walpole directly, and he probably visited his famous eclectic mansion called Strawberry Hill on one of his visits to London before he opened his shop there in 1784. Mr Edwards, thrice identified as “bookseller,” appears in the Strawberry Hill Book of Visitors on 21 April (with three others) and 15 September 1785 (with one other), 2 August 1793, and 29 August 1794 (with “Paine [Thomas Payne] and White, booksellers”), and invitations were obtained “from Mr Edwards” for “4 foreigners” (11 September 1786), Mr Gale (16 June 1791), “4” (2 June 1794), Mr John [?Johnes] (26 May 1795), Mr Forbes (12 June 1795), and Dr Pitcairn (30 June 1795). This indicates a long and easy relationship. John Pinkerton dedicated his Essay on Medals (Edwards & Johnson, printed in 1788) to Walpole, and about the time when Edwards was in Parma38 he commissioned the great Italian printer Giambattista Bodoni to print for him Walpole’s Castle of Otranto, which had first appeared twenty-three years previously. “The edition was printed by Bodoni, at the expence of Mr. Edwards,”39 with Horace Walpole’s approval and assistance. Horace Walpole’s friend Miss Berry wrote in her journal on 8 November 1790 in Parma: “At the printing-office [of Bodoni] they go on very slowly, but their work is excellent: they had just finished an impression of three hundred copies of the ‘Castle of Otranto,’ for Edwards the bookseller in London, and five copies upon vellum. With the director (Bodoni), who seems to be a clever man and fond of his art, I had a good deal of conversation in a bookseller’s shop.”40 Apparently Miss Berry asked Bodoni for a copy of Otranto, for on 28 November 1790 Walpole wrote to her: “I am sorry the bookseller [i.e., Bodoni the printer] would not let you have an Otranto. Edwards told me above two months ago that he every day expected the whole impression; and he has never mentioned it waiting for my corrections. I will make Kirgate [his printer and amanuensis] write to him.”41 Note the severely classical style of the Gothick title of Otranto. The types are in the later style of Bodoni and are beautifully cut and printed, and the work is a collector’s item for typophiles. But note also that on the first title page the vital word “PARMA” was omitted and that on both title pages J. Edwards is described as “BOOKSELLER,” though, as he wrote to William Roscoe in a different context, this is redundant – of course it is printed for a bookseller.

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Figure 5 [Horace Walpole] The Castle of Otranto, a Gothic Story. Translated by William Marshall, Gent. from the Original Italian of Onuphrio Muralto, The Sixth Edition (Parma: Printed by Bodoni, for J. Edwards, Bookseller of London, 1791), title page. Victoria University in the University of Toronto. Of course the story was written in English; William Marshall, Onuphrio Muralto, and Italian are all part of the joke. “Onuphrio Muralto” is a rearrangement of the letters of “Horatio Walpole” (M = W). Because of the international and interlingual character of the publication, the first copies, on vellum, were full of errors. James Edwards also published an illustrated edition of Il Castello di Otranto in 1795.

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Later Walpole was pleased that Miss Berry had not been able to secure a copy of the first version of Otranto, for he wrote on 20 December 1790 to Mary Berry: “I am glad you did not get a Parmesan Otranto. A copy is come so full of faults, that it is not fit to be sold here.”42 Some corrigenda in it are mere mistakes (e.g., “lo[c]ked,” p. 25), and others were stylistic features that proved my sterious to Italian compositors such as the division of words at line ends: “sou |ght” and “so | me” (p. 33). So many corrections were necessary that publication was much delayed while Bodoni prepared cancels for thirteen separate leaves and three whole gatherings. For example, the 1790 title page was replaced by one of 1791. It was not until 21 October 1791 that James Edwards could write to Walpole: The Castle of Otranto is at length arrived and I have sent you the first we have yet got done up43 – as soon [as] they are bound I will do myself the honour to wait upon you with a few others. The printer has withheld all the vellum copies and says he will not give them to me but at twenty sequins [£9] each.

Copies were produced with a variety of refinements that Walpole would have relished – on vellum, with plates in three states and printed “on Sattin,” with extra plates printed for it, and “most superbly bound.” Walpole is also likely to have relished the contrast between the severe classicism of the typographical style and the Gothick extravagance of the tale itself. Walpole was clearly pleased with Edwards, for he permitted him to publish an Italian translation of Otranto in 1795 with the same plates, and he responded enthusiastically when Edwards generously showed him the manuscript of Roscoe’s Life of Lorenzo de’ Medici. And when Walpole died, it was natural that Edwards should be one of the two booksellers who were entrusted with his Works (1798) – including the plates for his Castle of Otranto of 1791. The friendship between Horace Walpole and James Edwards was clearly important to both men. Indeed, James Edwards with his courtier-like qualities, his extraordinary taste, his love for objects of virtu, his connections in the fashionable world, his discretion, and his generosity seems to have been a man very much after Horace Walpole’s heart. And Walpole, as an arbiter of taste, had an important effect upon Edwards’s work as a publisher, particularly his edition of Roscoe’s Lorenzo de’ Medici, the pre-publication popularity of which was largely due to Horace Walpole.

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Giambattista Bodoni and James Edwards: The Best Printer in Europe and the Best Bookseller in the World When James Edwards was in Parma, he visited the press of Giambattista Bodoni, one of the most distinguished printers in Europe, and he was enormously impressed both by his printing and by his character. He was determined to have Bodoni print for him, and he made many proposals to him. The first of these, and indeed the only one that bore fruit, was for an edition of Horace Walpole’s Castle of Otranto. He wrote in French to Bodoni on 4 January [1788]: I wish to have printed 1,000 in the same format of small octavo, of which 500 copies should be on paper of the same quality and of the same colour as Condillac Cour d’Etude, which is sold at your printing office. The other 500 on the best paper which you can obtain of this format; and 4 more copies on vellum, which I would ask you to have sent from Rome with the help of our friend Mr Astorri saying that it is for me– Be so kind as to carry out this commission as soon as you can – not only to satisfy my impatience, but also to let England see that there is no one but you who is worthy to distinguish our superb edition of Shakespeare– [Je voudrois en avoir imprimè 1000 sur le meme format de petit Octavo, dont 500 Exemplaires sur Papier de la meme qualitè et de la meme Couleur que Condillac Cour d’Etude qui se vend chez votre Imprimerie[.] Les autres 500 sur le meilleur Papier que vous pouvez avoir de ce format – & 4 Exemplaires encore sur Carta pecora ce que je vous prie de faire venir de Rome par le moyen de notre Ami M.r Astorri en le disant que c’est pour moi – Ayez donc la Complaisance de faire executer cette Commission le plutot que vous pouvez – non seulement pour satisfaire à mon Impatience, mais aussi pour faire voir à l’angleterre qu’il n’y a que vous qui etes digne de distinguer notre superbe Edition de Shakespear –]

You will note that in this commission there is no reference to anything so vulgar as money. The next reference to The Castle of Otranto in the Bodoni correspondence is in James Edwards’s letter of 23 August 1790: “C’est avec un tres grande Satisfaction que j’ai appris dans une Lettre de M Blanchon que vous avez fini le Castle of Otranto & que vous en avez tirè 4 Exemplaires sur velin” [It is with great satisfaction that I have learnt from a letter of Mr Blanchon that you have finished The Castle of Otranto

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& that you have printed 4 copies on vellum.] But it was not until five months later, on 11 January 1791, that he could write: I have at last received your volume of The Castle of Otranto. I find it the most beautiful book in English possible – nevertheless there are some faults which will oblige you to reprint some sheets, so that it may be as correct as it is beautiful; I would prefer also that the imprint should be set as Parma. Printed by Bodoni, for J. Edwards, Bookseller of London. MDCCXCI. [j’ai a la fin reçu votre volume de Castle of Otranto – je le trouve le plus beau livre en anglois possible – cependant il y a quelques fautes dont je vous serai obliger de reimprimer les feuilles, pour qu’il soit aussi correct que beau[;] je voudrois aussi que le titre auroit plutot cette Souscription Parma. Printed by Bodoni, for J. Edwards, Bookseller of London. MDCCXCI.]

The copy received in January 1791 was of course only a proof. It was not until six months later that Edwards received notice of the shipment of all the copies and the bill, and on 28 July he wrote with very different reactions to the two pieces of information: I am pleased to have your letter which informs me of the despatch of The Castle of Otranto &c to Leghorn – I must confess that I have been greatly surprised at the price which you set on it & I would like to be persuaded that you are mistaken in your calculation or that you have not considered enough ... When I engaged you to print the whole edition of this book on my account I relied on your honour and discretion entirely for the price – believing that you would ask a sum in proportion to its value and the trouble which it had cost you, so much for the paper, so much per sheet for the printing, and so much for the folding, &c, again, so much for the vellum – as is the custom of Mr Didot of Paris and of all the great printers

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James Edwards, Medicean Bookseller of the world – because if the entire edition is for me I should only pay for the value of the vellum, and for unusual printing, or for damage to the types– The edition of this book contains only 380 small 8vo pages although having been printed on a paper which remains useless to the Royal Printing House [i.e., Bodoni could not use the left-over paper] of a format which only allows that it can be used as a quarto – thus it is twice the trouble to print – but is still a small octavo page – such as it is for the format – for the beauty &c, the execution would not have cost here half the sum of 15 Pauls if it had been done with our most handsome type like the enclosed sheet, on much handsomer paper, & more correctly (for since the reprinting of these sheets more than 50 spelling faults have been found)[.] Moreover, I will have considerable expense for the plates, transport, customs, advertising, &c to make the edition sell – & being responsible for my character and standing with the public for the price I set, it must be so reasonable that I can justify the price by the expense, and that that outlay is not foolishly inflated– If it were not to run the risk of losing a considerable sum I would not speak to you of it – but it is impossible to sell 500 copies of this book at the price they will cost me following your charges– Therefore I beg you Sir, to consider my situation – with your natural candour – and to reconsider the cost of this book – then I hope that at the most you will put it at 8 or 10 Pauls per copy or perhaps less and will include also in this price the 4 copies on vellum – making me pay for the vellum only – & I am sure that there is not in England another bookseller who would take it up at this price – but I would not want to break the bonds of friendship with which your character has inspired me. [J’ai la plaisir de votre Lettre qui me mande l’Expedition du Castle of Otranto &c à Livorne– Il faut vous avouer que j’ai etè fort surpris au prix que vous y mettez & je voudrois me persuader que vous vous etes trompè dans le Calcul où que vous ne l’avez pas bien considerè ... Quand je vous ai engagè d’imprimer toute l’Edition de ce Livre pour mon Compte je me suis entierement rapportè à votre Honneur & Discretion pour le prix – en croyant que vous me feriez une Demande juste & proportionnè a sa valeur & la peine qu’il vous eut coutè tant pour la papier, tant par feuille pour l’Impression, & tant pour etre lissè plie, &c, encore tant pour le Velin – comme c’est la Coutume de M.r Didot de Paris & de tous les grands Imprimeurs du monde – parceque si l[’]Edition entiere est pour mon Compte je ne dois payer que la Valeur du Velin & du tirage extraordinaire, ou pour l’abus des Types–

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L’Edition de ce Livre ne contient que 380 pages petit in 8vo quoique etant tirè sur un papier qui restoit inutile a l’Imprimerie royale d’un format qui ne permettoit qu’il fut employè pour ce page qu’en 4to – ainsi c’est une double peine de tirage – mais c’est toujours une petite page d’octavo – tel qu’il est pour le format – pour le beaute &c, l[’]Execution n’auroit pas coutè ici la moitiè de la Somme de 15 Pauls si elle eut ete faite avec nos plus belles caracteres comme la feuille incluse, sur un paper beaucoup plus beau, & bien plus correctement, (car depuis la reimpression de ces feuilles on y a decouvert plus de 50 fautes d’orthographe) encore j’aurai une depense tres considerable de planches, de transport, douane[,] avertissemens public, &c pour faire aller l’Edition – & etant responsible par mon Caractere & Situation au public pour le prix que je le fixerois il faut etre si raisonnable que je pourrai le justifier par le depense & que cette depense n’est pas follement accrue – Si c’etoit de courir la risque de ne pas perdre une somme considerable je ne vous en parlerois pas – mais c’est impossible de vendre 500 Exemplaires de ce livre au prix qu’ils me couteroient selon votre Charge – Ainsi je vous prie Monsieur, de considerer ma Situation avec votre Candeur naturelle & de refaire la Charge de ce livre – alors j’espere qu’au plus vous le mettrez a 8 ou 10 pauls l’Exempl. ou peut etre moins et me cederez aussi dans ce Calcul la les 4 Exemplaires sur Velin en me faisant payer le velin seulement – & je suis sur qu’il n’y a pas en Angleterre un autre Libraire qui le prendroit à ce prix la – mai je ne voudrois pas rompre les biens d’amitiè dont votre Caractere m’avoit inspire.]

Bodoni somewhat stiffly refused almost all these requests. In a draft reply, apparently of 16 August, he wrote: With the same sincerity and frankness with which you have expressed your feelings concerning the edition of The Castle of Otranto, I answer your esteemed letter of 28 July last, repeating always that I constantly rely on your discretion and honesty. All the reproach which you could bring against me for this edition, should concern the number [of copies] which in fact exceeds your order; but may I bring to your notice that only when the seventh or eighth sheet was being printed did I realize that 500 copies were being produced; so I told [my staff] that you had ordered only 300 copies, and the manager of the press answered that he would keep the [extra] 200 copies on account; but since I had promised you that I would not have made copies to be sold to other people I thought it right to send you all the printed copies. If, however, you do not want them, I entreat you to keep them on my account, and I shall see to it that Signor Molini will be asked to take charge

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James Edwards, Medicean Bookseller of the distribution. Then as concerns the errors, of which you say that fifty have been discovered after the re-impression of the leaves, I have the honour to assure you of the contrary, and you will see when you receive the book: I have in fact ordered several whole sheets and many pages to be reprinted. Thus you will only find some very slight defects in the division of a few words; and, if now my edition does not correspond in the correction exactly to the example which you have sent to me as a basis for my setting, I shall be satisfied for you not to accept it, but that it should remain with you on my account. Another reason for the very high price for each copy, to speak candidly, is that I have reprinted for you now this book independently of the supervisors, they would never have given me permission to print it; and if our Duke should have learnt from Signor Infante[?] that I had dared to publish [pubblicare] such work without having obtained the necessary permission, I might perhaps be in danger of losing my position; and this would be for me much more than the profit of a few Sequins. About all the rest of what you tell me I need not give you any justification; this would be useless since I know very well that you can get the things printed by many others and at a much lower price than mine; and specially by the one who printed the proof enclosed in your letter, known to me many months ago. If I had some similar paper I would make the whole of Europe see [things] perfectly clearly; because I am well aware [that] paper receives the impression and the ink without being wetted, and in the same way in which one prints on vellum. In conclusion I wish you to accept the price fixed by me of fifteen Pauls per copy. This reduction for which you ask and which I cannot grant you will be compensated by the sacrifice of the four copies on vellum, which I shall give you free in order to give you proof that I am not guided by money interest in the art which I exercise; and I hope that you will be satisfied.44

To this Edwards replied on 29 September 1791: I have the honour of your letter of the 16 August, which I would not have failed to answer immediately if I had not been in France, from which country I returned only yesterday. I will take all that you have sent me for 7685 Pauls while adding to it the 4 copies of The Castle of Otranto on vellum. [J’ai l’Honneur de votre Lettre du 16 d’Aout à laquelle je n’aurois pas fallu de vous faire reponse immediatem.t si je n’eusse pas etè en France, de quel pays je suis revenu qu’hier–

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Je prendrai tout ce que vous m’avez envoyè a 7685 Pauls en y ajoutant les 4 Exemplaires du Castle of Otranto sur Velin.]

Apparently Bodoni agreed to these terms, and on 7 November 1791 Edwards wrote: I have the honour of your letter & I will send on the other side a bill on Mr Moir of Rome for 4469 Pauls which with 2460 for the lead [for type which Edwards had sent at Bodoni’s request] & 756 of Mr Blanchon will settle our account to the present– [J’ai l’Honneur de votre Lre & je vais envoye à l’autre Cotè une Traite sur M Moir de Rome pour 4469 Pauls qui avec 2460 le plomb & 756 de M Blanchon soldera notre Compte jusqu’a ce jour–]

James Edwards had extensive dealings with Bodoni for books besides Walpole’s Castle of Otranto (1791), but all the others seem to have been for antiquarian books or for quantities smaller than the entire run of editions Bodoni was printing on other accounts. On 4 January [1788] Edwards wrote to Bodoni: If you can spare the time, I shall be very happy if you could also print a book in quarto, for which I will have made the most beautiful engravings that have ever been included in a book– [Si vous pouriez y donner le Tems, je serais bien aisé que vous m’imprimiez aussi un Livre en Quarto auquel je fais faire les plus belles Estampes qu’on a jamais donne dans un Livre–]

Perhaps this is the work referred to in Edwards’s letter to Bodoni of 12 January 1790: The English book Gray’s Poems is the prettiest in our language – he is called the English Pindar – if you wish to print it some time in a pocket edition I will take the whole edition. [Le Livre Anglois Gray’s Poems est le plus joli de notre Langue – Il s’appelle Le Pindar anglois – si vous voulez l’imprimer à quelque tems dans une format de poche je prendrai toute l’Impression –]

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But I know no evidence that this occurred. Clearly Edwards had been so impressed by Bodoni’s printing that he was eager to have his name associated with Bodoni’s on almost any work. On 24 January 1788 he wrote: Knowing the perfection to which you have brought printing I can no longer be satisfied with the usual style in this country in any book belonging to me – therefore – having conceived the idea of publishing a French book in 4 octavo volumes, I would like you to do it (as well as the English book [THE CASTLE OF OTRANTO]) in rivalry with the French books of Mons. Didot of Paris .... Further, would you be so kind as to let me know how much per sheet it will cost to print & to send me a specimen page of whatever French book, in prose, you wish of a type and layout consistent with the enclosed page & to calculate the cost of printing 1,000 copies– [En connoissant la perfection á laquelle vous avez portè l’Imprimerie je ne puis me contenter avec la Maniere ordinaire de ce pays ci dans aucune Livre qui m’appartient – ainsi – ayant conçu le Dessein d’imprimer un Livre francois de 4 vols en 8vo, je voudrais que vous le fassiez (aussie bien le Livre anglois) en Rivalitè des Livres francois de Mons.r Didot de Paris ... encore aurez vous la Complaisance de me dire combien P feuille couterait l’Imprimerie & de m’envoyer un Echantillon d’une page de quelque livre francois que vous voulez en prose d’un type & page conforme à cette page inclus – & de faire le Calcul pour en imprimer 1000 Exemplairs–]

The identity of this four-volume French book remains sadly obscure. When Edwards was in Parma in the autumn of 1789, he clearly discussed with Bodoni his desire to publish editions printed by Bodoni of Pindar, Homer, Sophocles, and Theocritus in Greek, of Horace, Virgil, Lucretius and Plautus in Latin, and of Dante, Petrarch, Ariosto, and Tasso in Italian, and on 27 September 1789 Edwards wrote from Venice: Then for the edition of 4 Greeks, 4 Latins, & 4 Italians in quarto on which we agreed, if you would be so good as to execute them I promise on my honour all that you can wish from me – & at whatever time you wish to begin to use the money for paper or other things, you have only to draw on our London house by means of Mr Sirventi & they will always be honoured ...

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I cannot express to you the pleasure that I feel in having the friendship of someone with your skill in printing– [Encore pour les Editions de 4 Grecs 4 latins & 4 Italiens en 4to que nous nous sommes accordès, si vous me ferez la grace de les executer je vous promets en honneur tout ce que vous pouvez desirez de moi – & à quel tems que vous voulez commencer d’y employer d’Argent pour papier ou d’autre chose, vous n’avez qu’a faire des Traits sur notre maison à Londres par moyen de Mr Serventi[?] & elles seront toujours honorès ... Je ne puis pas vous exprimer la plaisir que je sens d’etre en Amitiè avec une personne de votre Genie superieure –]

And on 23 August 1790 he wrote from London: Dare I hope that you will not forget to print the 4to editions in Greek, Italian, & Latin on which we agreed – I have spoken of them to several of our nobility, who passionately desire to see them– [Oserais je Esperer que vous n’oublierez pas de m’imprimer les Editions in 4to Grecs Italien, & Latins dont nous nous sommes convenus – J’en ai parlè a plusieurs de nos Nobles qui desirent passionnement de les voir–]

On 11 October 1790 he referred to them again: we wait with the greatest impatience for you to begin the editions in quarto – what pleasure you would give me in starting on the Petrarch or the Dante– [nous attendons avec la plus grande Impatience que vous commenciez les Editions in 4to – ah quel plaisir vous me feriez en commencant sur la Petrarch ou le Dante –]

Three months later he still had not heard of progress on them, and on 11 January 1791 he wrote: “Je desire beaucoup que vous commenciez quelqu’un de nos grandes Editions in 4to [I want very much for you to start some of our great editions in quarto].” – Finally on 1 April he could write with delight: I was very pleased to learn from Mr de Rossi that your Horace will be finished soon. If you intend the whole edition for me I will be very willing

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James Edwards, Medicean Bookseller to have it in the same way as all the other authors on which we agreed, although we thought we were to have them in quarto– [J’ai eu bien de plaisir d’apprendre par M.r Rossi que votre Horace sera bientot fini – Si vous me destinez l[’]Edition en Entiere je serai bien aisè de l’avoir ainsi que tous les autres Auteurs dont nous nous etions convenu, quoique nous pensions alors de les avoir in 4to–]

Notice that there is still no agreement about price. When Edwards received Bodoni’s letter with the shocking price for printing The Castle of Otranto, he wrote on 28 July 1791 urgently requesting a reduction in Bodoni’s charges, and he continued: If you agree to this then I will accept your proposition concerning the Anacreon, the 300 & 4 on vellum for 200 sequins. It is a very high price, but I will not make any difficulty for you to show the different position in which I consider the circumstances when you print a book at your own risk & when it is printed at my expense. After your reply I will make other propositions about the Horace– [Si vous convenez à ceci alors j’accepterai votre proposition de l’Anacreon les 300 & 4 sur velin pour 200 Seq.s c’est un prix tres fort, mais je ne fais pas de difficulte pour vous montrer la differente position dans laquelle je considere la circonstance quand vous imprimez un Livre à votre risque & quand c’est imprimè à mes depenses– apres votre reponse je vous ferai d’autre propositions sur les Horace–]

Notice that the work is no longer being printed on Edwards’s account but that he is merely taking a number of copies. And even these arrangements began to break down. In his reply to Edwards’s request for a reduction in price for The Castle of Otranto, Bodoni wrote: Concerning the copies of my Horace which I had offered you, I cannot keep my promise, since Signor Cavaliere Azara has requested all the copies for himself with a generous money compensation. Finally I have started sending to Rome the 225 copies of Horace which Signor Cavaliere Azara had me print. I have only been able to keep one copy on vellum, 15 copies on common paper, and 10 on carta d’Annonai, but he has compensated me generously in money. As a result of prayers, he has granted four copies to Signor Molini, and I flatter myself that, when you see

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this recent edition of mine, you will give me the palm above all the printers whom you know. Then, regarding the small Anacreon in lettere quadrate, of which I have offered you 300 copies and 4 copies on vellum for 200 sequins, I am waiting to hear whether this is convenient for you or not, and I am indifferent whether you take it: because if it is not convenient, I shall put it on the market and hope to sell the whole lot within a few weeks, in Italy alone there are 150 booklovers who take copies of all the books which I offer for public sale. At present I have in the press the Virgil, which was newly corrected in Rome from original MS preserved in its most celebrated libraries, in the way it has been done for Horace, as you can see from the enclosed preface.

In his reply of 29 September 1791 accepting Bodoni’s proposals for the price of The Castle of Otranto, Edwards wrote: I will take for 200 Sequins the 300 Anacreon with the 4 on vellum – also 2 copies of the Horace on Carta Annonai [paper] at 10 Sequins and 6 copies of the same on ordinary paper for 5 Sequins –with 6 other Anacreon in quarto– [je prendrais pour 200 Sequins les 300 Anacreon avec les 4 sur Velin – aussi 2 Exemplaires de l’Horace Carta Annonai à 10 Sequins & 6 Exemplaires du meme, papier Commun a 5 Sequins – avec 6 autres Anacreon in 4to–]

And in his letter of 7 November 1791 he went on: with the arrival of the Anacreon & Horace &c I will send the money for them which will be due to you. If you will send me the Horace on vellum or some other of your works on vellum – please tell me the exact sum which it is necessary to ask for each one & then I will offer them to the King, to Lord Spencer & all other booklovers to try to get for you whatever you ask – & if they are not bought then I will offer them at auction – where sometimes they are sold much dearer because of competition– I have great difficulty in importing English books printed abroad – because of an ancient law – so that I dare not take on the Gray– [à l’arrivèe des Anacreons & Horace &c je vous les remettrai l’argent qui vous en reviendra du[.] Si vous m’enverrez le Horace sur Velin où quelque autre de vos Ouvrages sur Velin – je vous prie de me dire la somme precise qu’il faut

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James Edwards, Medicean Bookseller demander pour chaqu’un & alors je les offrerai au Roi, a Lord Spencer & à tout autre amateur pour tacher de vous avoir ce que vous demandez – & s’ils ne sont pas achetès alors je les mettrai au plus offrant – où quelquefois ils se vendent beaucoup cher à cause de la Concurrence– Je trouve bien de difficultès de faire entrer des Livres Anglois imprimès chez l’Etranger – a cause d’un ancien Loi – de sorte que je n’ose pas entreprendre le Gray–]

But notice that Edwards now seems to be selling on commission for Bodoni rather than taking the risk and publishing on his own account. He clearly wished to disengage himself from his extensive but amorphous commitments with Bodoni. This disengagement, and the reason for it, are made clear in Edwards’s letter of 8 April 1793: I am very precise in my affairs, if you wish to be the same we can be very useful to each other, & I do not want any business that I cannot carry out with satisfaction as well as profit – if you are the best printer in Europe I do not boast in saying that I have always the very best collection of all other booksellers in the world ... I do not believe that the English books printed by you will sell well here – but whatever books you are printing – if you would like to send 25 or 30 to be sold here on your account I will do my best to place them. [Je suis tres exacte dans mes affairs, si vous voulez etre de même nous pouvons etre tres util l’un à l’autre & je ne veux point de Commerce que ce que je puis faire avec Satisfaction aussi bien que profit – si vous etes le meilleur Imprimeur de l’Europe je ne me vante pas en disant que je tiens toujours la plus belle Collection de tout autre Libraire du monde ... Je ne croix pas que les Livres Anglois imprimes chez vous se vendiront bien ici – mais de tel livre qu’il soit que vous faites – Si vous aimez en envoyer 25 où 30 pour etre vendus sur votre compte je ferai mon possible de les placer.]

And he was more precise in his letter of 27 January 1795: I would be pleased to be useful to you in receiving & transmitting to different addresses the books which you wish to send to England – & send the money to you as your correspondents will pay me– The present events in Europe are not very favourable to literature & the considerable enterprises in which I find myself engaged do not permit me to enter into new speculations, but to prove to you my desire to have

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good relations with you I will take the following books if it is convenient to grant me a discount of 20–25%– If that does not suit you I am equally at your service to have transported to different persons in England whatever you want. [Jaurai un plaisir de vous etre utile en recevant & transmettant aux differentes addresses les livres que vous desirez envoyer en Angleterre – & vous remettrai l’argent a mesure que vos Correspondans le payeront chez moi– Les Circonstances presentes de l’Europe ne sont pas tres favorables á la Literature & les entreprises considerables dans lesquelles je me trouve engagé ne me permettent pas de me fondre sur de nouvelles Speculations, mais pour vous prouver le desir que j’ai de me trouver en relation avec vous je prendrai les livres suivants s’il vous convient de m’accorder un rabais 20–25 p Ct– Si cela ne vous est pas agreable je m’offre egalement á votre Service pour faire transporter aux differentes personnes en Angleterre ce qui vous desirez[.]]

And he enclosed a list of works of which he wished two to twelve copies, for a total price of 401 Sequins, minus his 25% discount of 100 Sequins. The Edwards-Bodoni correspondence contains no further reference to the publishing relationship between them. They had, however, numbers of other kinds of dealings. Clearly each was deeply impressed by the other, and they sent one another gifts, compliments, and commissions. On 27 September 1789 Edwards sent from Venice his thanks for your beautiful present of [a type specimen of Bodoni’s] Greek characters on vellum ... When I am in England I shall spend on the binding as much as such a jewel deserves & I will show it for your greater glory to all the curious in our Capital ... P.S. Since I saw you I have acquired the most superb possible copy of the 1462 Mayence Bible on vellum; it cost me 300 Sequins. I also acquired a vellum MS prayer book which was made for Alex. Farnese with miniatures of Clovio; if the Librarian of His Royal Highness [the Duke of Parma] believes it a thing which would be pleasing in the Library I would exchange it for a classic of Aldus on vellum. [votre beau prèsent des Caracteres grecs sur velin ... Quand je serai en Angleterre je depenserai sur la relieure tant que merite une telle Bijou & je le montrerai a votre Gloire à tous les Curieux de notre Capital ...

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James Edwards, Medicean Bookseller P.S. depuis vous avoir vu j’ai acquis la plus superbe Exemplaire possible de la Bible de Mayence 1462 sur Velin[;] elle m’a coute 300 Sequins[.] J’ai aussi acquis une Livre de prieres MS. sur Velin qui á etè fait pour Alex. Farnese avec des miniatures de Clovio[;] si le bibliothecaire de son Altesse Royal croit une Chose a plaire dans la Bibliotheque Je [l’echangerais – cut off] pour un Classique d’Alde imprimè sur veli[n.]]

On 12 January 1790, “en reconnoissance de vos politesses envers moi [in recognition of all your courtesies towards me],” James Edwards in London sent a large packing-case containing many books and particularly the “Sallustius Londres 1790 le plus beau livre de cette ville” [Sallust, London, 1790, the most beautiful book of this city]. Thus “the best printer in Europe” and the owner of “the very best collection of all other booksellers in the world” dealt on terms of admiring equality in matters of typographic beauty and bibliophilic antiquarianism but found some difficulty in reaching accommodation in matters of mere commerce. In gentler times, perhaps they would have been able to achieve those beautiful editions of Homer, Virgil, Dante, and Gray printed by Bodoni in Parma and published by James Edwards in London. But in time of war, even the accomplishment of The Castle of Otranto strained the patience and resources of each of them. As James Edwards concluded at the end of their relationship, on 2 February 1797: “ces moments du Guerre sont peu favorables pour les Entreprises de Commerce [the time of war is little favourable for commercial enterprises].”

PLATE 1 James Edward Smith, The Natural History of the Rarer Lepidopterous Insects of Georgia (London: J. Edwards, Cadell and Davies, and J. White, 1797), plate 5 (John Abbot-John Harris). Bodley. The prints for this enormous work (33.5 × 42 cm) were probably coloured by Thomas Martyn or Moses Harris. It was issued in parts in 1793 ff. James Edwards wrote that “our Friend Fuseli says it will immortalize me – it is 20 Guineas in Sheets 104 plates,” and Fuseli praised it in a review for its “splendour of appearance ... uniform excellence of execution ... the richness and novelty of its contents.”

PLATE 2 Captain J.G. Stedman, Narrative, of a five years’ expedition, against the Revolted Negroes of Surinam ... (London: J. Johnson and J. Edwards, 1796), Vol. 2, at p. 394: engraving ([J.G. Stedman?]-Blake) of “Europe supported by Africa & America,” “Published Dec.r 1.st 1792 by J. Johnson” (21.0 × 26.8 cm), with contemporary colouring. Victoria University in the University of Toronto. The features of all three women are European. Stedman, a soldier of fortune for the Dutch, thought that the imported slaves were lucky to be in European control and that the Europeans masters treated their slaves savagely. Stedman married a slave girl but could not take her to Europe – nor did she want to go. The date on the print suggests that publication was expected to be four years earlier than it actually occurred. Stedman became a close friend of Blake, despite Stedman’s fierce eccentricity. In August 1796 Stedman wrote: “I visit Mr Blake for 3 days who undertakes to do business for me when I am not in London – I leave him all my papers.”

PLATE 3 Moses Harris, The Aurelian (London: The Author and J. Edwards, 1794), plate XXIX (Moses Harris-Moses Harris). Huntington Library. This beautiful, enormous (32 × 42 cm), and expensive work (£6.6.0–£10.10.0) was surprisingly popular, with editions in 1766, [1775], 1778, 1794, 1840. It was elaborately produced, with coloured prints and one copy printed on vellum. The butterflies were “Drawn from the Life” (“ad Vivum”), and the work was “Intended as well for Ornamental Furniture as the Instruction of Young Aurelians.” Most prints had elaborate dedications to individual patrons by “his most Obedient Servant Moʃes Harris,” presumably in the hope of tangible gratitude.

PLATE 4 as in plate 5, “ARCH OF SEPTIMUS SEVERUS,” printed on plumcoloured india paper. Victoria University in the University of Toronto. This extraordinarily elegant copy is inscribed “To Miss Mary Anne Dod | with kind regards and best wishes | from her sincere friends | James & Catherine | The Library Pallmall | Feb 18. 1805” James Edwards of Pall Mall married Catherine Bromhead on 8 September 1805.

PLATE 5 [J. Merigot] A Select Collection of Views and Ruins in Rome, and Its Vicinity; Executed from Drawings Made Upon the Spot in the Year 1796 (London: R. Edwards, [James] Edwards, White, and Robinson, 1797), aquatint (22.5 × 29.0 cm), “ARCH OF SEPTIMUS SEVERUS” (“Pub.d Jan.y 9, 1797, by J. Merigot, 28 Haymarket, & R. Edwards, 142 New Bond Street”), hand-coloured, bound in Edwards of Halifax dark green morocco with a Greek key design. Victoria University in the University of Toronto. Ordinarily, of course, the prints are in black and white. Some copies are hand-coloured. The work had a very checkered publishing history. It was offered at £5.5.0 to £6.10.0.

PLATE 6 Edward Young, Night Thoughts, Vol. I, frontispiece, William Blake, watercolour (?1796). British Museum Print Room. Blake later engraved the design as the frontispiece for Night IV, “THE C HRISTIAN TRIUMPH ” (London: R. Edwards, 1797), p. 65 (“Pub. d June 1st. 1797, by R. Edwards”). The Night Thoughts, with 537 folio watercolours and 43 folio engravings (originally advertised with 150 prints), was the most ambitious commercial work ever undertaken by Richard Edwards or William Blake, and both must have been sadly disappointed at the financial results. Blake may not have been paid at all for the engravings, and Richard Edwards may not have sold a single copy.

PLATE 7 (a) Ticket on pink paper of James “Edwards | N.o 102, Pall Mall | London. | and at Hallifax Yorkʃ hire,” affixed at the bottom right of the paste-down of Biblia Sacra (Fust & Schoeffer, 1462), Vol. 2. Reproduced by courtesy of the Director and University Librarian, the John Rylands University Library of Manchester. The Biblia Sacra, the first dated printed Bible, was bound for Lord Spencer by Edwards of Halifax in red morocco, with the Spencer coat of arms on the front cover of each volume. The ticket represents the lettering on the cover of a book bound [in Etruscan calf] with a Greek key design matching the inner dentelles of the host volume. The same ticket is in the Rylands copy of Longus, Gli amori pastorali di Dafni et di Cloe (Parma: Bodoni, 1786), 4°, bound in Etruscan style for Lord Spencer. (b) Richard Edwards ticket: “Sold by | R· EDWARDS | – No. 142 – | NEW BOND STR.t” pasted to the top left of the front board on orange-grey paper in Edward Young, Night Thoughts (London: J. & F. Rivington, T. Longman, E. & C. Dilly, J. Dodsley, T. Cadell & W. Otridge, 1787), 12°. Victoria University in the University of Toronto. Booksellers’ tickets are uncommon for this date. Richard Edwards’s ambition is indicated by his possession of a ticket; the modesty of his ambition is indicated by comparison with the discrete opulence of the ticket of his brother James.

PLATE 8 J.G. Stedman, Narrative, of a five years expedition, against the Revolted Negroes of Surinam (London: J. Johnson and J. Edwards, 1796), at Vol. 2, p. 296: an engraving ([J.G. Stedman]-William Blake) of “The Execution of Breaking on the Rack,” “Published Dec.r 2.d 1793 by J. Johnson,” with contemporary colouring. Victoria University in the University of Toronto Such representations of barbarity distressed some reviewers; the one for the British Critic thought that “The representations of the negroes suffering under various kinds of torture, might well have been omitted, both in the narrative and as engravings.” These images had a powerful effect upon English abolitionists, and Stedman’s words, images, and love-story were widely published even outside Britain.

2 Buying on the Continent and Selling at Auction 1786–1799

By his zealous activity in his profession he exhausted the treasures of foreign Cabinets to enrich the store of the Scholar and the Man of Taste in his native Land. (Inscription on James Edwards’s monument in Harrow Church)

James Edwards was extraordinarily skilled at finding and identifying precious books, as is indicated in an anecdote narrated by T.F. Dibdin: “A pleasant circumstance occurred to the Rev. Dr. Burney. At a small sale of books which took place at Messrs. King and Lochee’s, the Doctor sent a commission, for some old grammatical treatises; and calling with Mr. Edwards to see the success of the commission, the latter in the true spirit of bibliomaniacism, pounced upon an anciently-bound book, in the lot which turned out to be nothing less than the first edition of Manilius by Regiomontanus, one of the very scarcest books in the class.”1 After the wonderful success of his 1785 catalogue, “Edwards determined to make a circuit of Europe, and proceeding from his native island with abundance of money, great acuteness, the most intimate and familiar acquaintance with the objects of his research ... he had abundant cause on his return to felicitate himself on his success.”2 His first Continental journey was to Paris, for “After all Paris is the place to get scarce books in any language.”3 Of Edwards’s first bookbuying trip abroad, we know little more than that the enthusiastic young bibliophile Henry George Quinn of Dublin was in the Hôtel Bullion in Paris on 25 July 1786 when he met “Edwards of Pall Mall the bookseller brother [sic] to the Bookbinder of Halifax; he tells me my Ariosto is not yet finished.”4 The last phrase suggests that Quinn had arranged with James Edwards to have his Ariosto bound. On 1 August Quinn went to

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rue Tournon to see Edwards’s friend the Paris bookseller M. Laurent, who was to send Edwards’s books to London, and on 7 August Quinn sent his own books to Laurent to be forwarded to London with those of Edwards.5 Presumably during this and James Edwards’s next trip to the Continent, John Edwards stayed behind in Pall Mall to mind the shop. James Edwards’s second journey is much better known. In the summer of 1787, he made a tour of France, Geneva, and Italy, searching for books with James Robson, Robson’s kinsman Robert Faulder, and Peter Molini, with all of whom he later collaborated in publishing books, and in the diary that James Robson kept6 we can catch occasional glimpses of the pleasures, hazards, and book successes of the journey. For instance, on Tuesday 31 July 1787 near Geneva we dined with Mr. Mange the Books[eller] & to whom Mr. Barde his Partner had given us a particular recommendation at Paris: We call’d with him to his Villa about a Mile out of Town, & were nobly entertained with a Trout of near 20 pounds from the Lake. The Evening we spent upon the Lake at His Father’s Villa near Coppet, where the Setting Sun, & rising Moon added every glory to the Spot, that could possibly enrich the Scene. Augt 1st, Wednesday ... we went to Mr. Manges, & Mr. E[dwards] took some books of him ... [On Sunday August 5th] In turning upon one of the Bridges this morning about a post from our Inn [in St Michel] My Friend Edw[ard]s & I had the misfortune to be overturned, & if it had not been for the railing of the Bridge the Chaise might have gone compleatly into the River, rolling many feet beneath us amidst the rocks, & the Affair been of some consequence: however thank God as we escaped unhurt, it passed off with our Companions as a Joke, who being some way before us came to our Assistance as soon as they could[.] We shall however remember Pont St. Andree, & the good Saint I hope will be canonized for our preservation.

On 14 August they bought £50 worth of books from the Firmian Library in Milan – they had offered £450 for all the English books, but this was refused. Their most important bibliographical visit was on Sunday 26 August: This morning we were appointed to meet Mr. Lanki the Proprietor of the Pinellian Library that has so long made so much noise in the World, & wh. was one great cause of this Tour: we accordingly at Nine o’clock were introduced to him, by Abbe Morelli, who had taken [i.e., made] the

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Catalogue; they both went with us to the House of the late Pinelli: The Books fill three or four Rooms compleatly, & the Catalogue of them is composed in six volumes in Quarto. They are indeed curious & valuable, and scarcely ever more of the 1400 [i.e., incunabula] were collected by one man, & in excellent preservation. We spent four hours examining all that were strikingly curious, but found that the price expected for them was immense, & real[l]y double their value; 30000 Sequins [c. £13,500] was the Sum: we shall therefore decamp from Venice.

However, on Wednesday the 29th they “b[ough]t a parcell of the 1400,”7 and eventually they acquired the entire library by offering “a price [about £7,000] which the executors and trustees found it in their interest to accept.”8 The books were brought to England, where they were announced for auction by Edwards & Robson beginning on 2 March 1789. However, the Gentleman’s Magazine review of the Pinelli catalogue of Edwards & Robson in January 1789 remarked that “it has been conveyed to England at the great hazard of the sea, during the late severe weather” and “From the unforeseen delay of the books the sale is now to begin [not on 2 March but] on the 20th of April with the second part first.” In fact, the books apparently were not “at length received safe by the proprietors” until the Spring of 1789.9 Such sea hazards were inevitable in all British international commerce.10 James Robson at the Three Feathers in New Bond Street worked closely with James Edwards throughout Edwards’s career; as well as co-publishing with him a number of books, he appears on the title page of all his book auctions, at least as a vendor of the catalogue. The title page of the 1789 Pinelli auction catalogue calls attention to the “unparalleled Collections” of the classics, to incunabula printed on vellum, to manuscripts of the sixth through sixteenth centuries, and to the “singularly fine Preservation” of the whole library. Oddly enough, the auctioneer is not identified in this or in any of Edwards’s other auction sales, but the address is given: the Great Room in Conduit Street, Hanover Square, where all his later London book auctions were held. James Robson, Edwards’s collaborator in these sales, had a house in Conduit Street, and the sales were probably held there.11 James Edwards himself may have been the auctioneer. The making of the catalogue itself was comparatively simple, for it is “an exact Abridgment, merely for the purpose of sale by auction,” of “The Catalogue of the Collection, published by the learned Abbe Morelli, in Six

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Volumes Octavo” (1787).12 Its appeal to both classical scholars and Continental buyers is indicated by the prefatory matter in Latin, including even the Ordo Venditionis. The catalogue had to be issued well in advance of the sale, so as to reach Continental customers in time; it was reviewed in Joseph Johnson’s Analytical Review for October 1788 and the Gentleman’s Magazine for January 1789, before the sale, and the British Mercury for March 1789 (No. IX, p. 43) announced that its publisher, Remnant of Hamburg, had “a considerable Number” of copies of the Bibliotheca Pinelliana for sale. The main sale lasted sixty-one days (if the published sequence was followed), and the 12,859 lots realized £9,356.13 So extensive was the library that an Appendix was issued free14 to the purchasers of the main catalogue, and this added sale lasted from 1 February to 9 March 1789, a further thirty-three days, with 5,722 more lots. The entire sale, lasting ninety-three days, was one of the greatest events of the English bookselling world of the last quarter of the eighteenth century. However, though it confirmed his reputation, the Pinelli sale did not go far towards establishing James Edwards’s finances, as he told Lord Glenbervie on 23 October 1801: He says the Pinelli library cost him and Robson £10,000 before he had cleared it of expenses, duties, etc., and that he and Robson did not clear on the whole above £500 by it exclusive of the interest of their money. Many of the Italian books, such as local and provincial histories, antiquities, etc., were bought in and sold literally for waste paper, and in Italy they would have fetched a great deal of money. What brought them home was the classics ... Edwards said the great advantage he derived from the Pinelli Library was a skill of rare and valuable books; that Lord Spencer when he began collecting used to rely very much on the judgment of [Peter] Elmsley.15

While waiting for the Pinelli books to arrive from Italy, Edwards was already planning his next trip abroad. On 31 January 1789 he wrote to Roscoe, “If you particularly want any Thing w.h can be collected on the Continent – pray make memorand.m of it & I shall be happy to serve you any way in my Power in my Excursion there next Summer.” Many of his acquisitions on this trip were evidently sold through his shop (rather than through a separate auction), and he remarked in connection with the first item in his 1790 Catalogue, the Furst & Schoeffer Latin Bible of 1462, “I have seen most of the cabinets and public libraries of

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Italy and France, which are distinguished by the possession of this fine specimen of early typography.” It was a bold claim for a man of only thirty-three who had apparently been to France and Italy only thrice. When James Edwards went abroad in the summer of 1789, the French Revolution was setting first Paris and then all Europe in turmoil. On this trip James was apparently accompanied by his younger brother John, his partner in Edwards & Sons at 102 Pall Mall. When James returned alone to London in late autumn, he evidently expressed anxiety about his brother to William Roscoe, and Roscoe responded with a request for news of John. On 12 November 1789 James wrote to Roscoe: “I shall not fail to inform you of the return of my Bro.r which is expected very soon.” We know little more of John than that “Mr. John Edwards died in early life,”16 but some of the family clearly thought he had died sensationally. When Anne Lister was in Paris in 1825, she wrote in her diary: “Anyone who suspected the loss of a friend in Paris during the Revolution might ascertain the matter here. Mr. Edwards, the bookseller, at Halifax, might know whether his brother was guillotined here or not.”17 But James Edwards knew that John Edwards had died of natural causes there in 1793. On 11 December 1789 Edwards wrote to Bodoni: It is only a fortnight since I arrived in England having been held up in Amsterdam in order to examine the books of Mr Crevenna which should be sold by auction. I have made him an offer for the purchase of the Library as a whole, and we are at the present moment in correspondence on the subject. [Il n’y a que quinze Jours que je suis arrivè en Angleterre etant arretè a Amsterdam pour bien examiner les Livres de M.r Crevenna qui doivent etre vendus a l’Encaut – Je lui a fait proposition pour l’Achat de toute la Bibliotheque ensemble & nous sommes actuellem.t en la correspondance sur ce Sujet–]

This was one of the largest and most distinguished libraries on the Continent. T.F. Dibdin wrote of the Catalogue raisonné de la collection des Livres de M. Pierre-Antoine Crevenna, five volumes (1789): “I possess an interesting copy of the small paper [issue] which has numerous marginal remarks in pencil, by Mr. Edwards, who examined the library at Amsterdam, with a view to purchase it entire.”18 But Edwards’s offer was not accepted, and the huge library never came to England.

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The first fruit of James Edwards’s 1789 trip to Italy may have been his curious sale on 8 March 1790 of Imperial Gold Coins at his own bookshop at 102 Pall Mall. This was not an auction, for, according to the catalogue, there were “Prices Affixed to Each” coin, but the sale seems to have been limited to one day. The four hundred lots were priced at 10s 6d to £31, and Edwards confidently expected them all to be sold immediately, for a note on the title page verso said: “To prevent any suspicion of partiality, those who intend to become purchasers are desired to deliver in, on Saturday [6 March], lists of such Medals as they choose, and each list shall be supplied as fully as possible, in the order they shall stand as to value.” This seems to imply that the largest purchasers would get the earliest choices. The confidence implied by this one-day sale of coins at fixed prices suggests that the value was fixed largely by weight. I suspect that Edwards needed to raise money rapidly. I know of no other occasion on which he sold anything else but books, manuscripts, prints, and designs. (Well, his 1815 sale did include his Etruscan vases.) Another acquisition of his 1789 Italian excursion was evidently the library of the late Giovanni Battista Paitoni (1703–88) of Venice, which was sold over forty-three days (9,754 lots) in two parts, from 22 November to 15 December 1790 and from 24 January to 17 February 1791. As with other book auctions by Edwards, it was held at the Great Room in Conduit Street, Hanover Square, the catalogue was available from James Edwards of Pall Mall and James Robson of New Bond Street, and no auctioneer was named. Who owned the books at the time of sale is not clear, but as the title page of the Bibliotheca Paitoniana is very similar to that of the Bibliotheca Pinelliana, which was jointly purchased by Edwards & Robson, it seems reasonable to suppose that they shared the ownership of the Bibliotheca Paitoniana as well, though James Robson signed the Conditions of Sale. The Preface to the catalogue said emphatically: “Too much, with Truth, cannot be said in Commendation of the PAITONI-LIBRARY; which, in point of Choice, in most Branches of Science and Polite Literature, in various Languages, but more especially in Italian, is inferior to few; and, with respect to Condition, almost without Exception, is one of the finest ever offered to Public Sale” (p. iii). The most important section was that of “The Class of Italian Poetry, Novels and Miscellanies [which] is very complete; including all the best Writers, several of the rarest, and some of the earliest Editions ... Of the Italian Theatre there are about 1000 Volumes” (pp. iv, v).

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Indeed, two of the Boccaccios are so rare that they are “not in the Pinelli Catalogue” (p. v). Clearly Edwards & Robson must have been the chief suppliers of Italian books to the English market at the time, for the Pinelli and Paitoni sales in 1790–1 lasted 136 days and disposed of 28,335 lots of books. James Edwards crossed the Channel occasionally even after the beginning of the French Revolution. On 21 September 1790 he wrote to William Roscoe, who was working on a life of Lorenzo de’ Medici, of “a most Valuable Acquisition w.h I have made of the Library of the [late] Marquis de Paris of Paris – the most elegant & Curious that were ever seen together ... the Cat. shall be sent you soon – they will be sold by Auction at [the] end of next March.” On 7 December 1790 he wrote again: “Beside M.r Paris’, I have a smaller Library of choice Italian Literature coming.” The identity of the owners of the books is somewhat obscure. Jean Baptiste Pâris de Meyzieu, Marquis de Paris, died in 1778, and at least part of his library was sold in 1779. Some of the works sold by Edwards in 1791 had been bought after 1778 (when M. Pâris died), presumably by a member of the family, perhaps his nephew, and bound with the Pâris arms, but “the majority includes books which have nothing to do with any Pâris.”19 Perhaps the major collection of books in the 1791 sale was bought in France by M. Laurent, who is listed with Edwards on the French auction title page – the owner is not mentioned in the Avis au Public – and Edwards may have been misled by the identification of several lots (e.g., No. 475, 486) in the French catalogue as from Mr. P’s collection and by the ambiguous French title (Bibliotheca ... Parisina). The supplementary Grand Collection of choice Italian Literature is identified in Edwards’s Preface as that of Claude d’Urfé, but it was apparently in fact that of Cardinal de Lomenie de Brienne.20 The attribution to d’Urfé may have been made for political reasons in those troubled times, but whether by Edwards or by M. Laurent (his partner in Paris) or by another is not clear. The identity of the second collector is made clear in a note of a conversation between Edwards and Lord Glenbervie on 23 October 1801: He says he gained £1,500 by the Paris Library. On his first expedition to Italy he says he found the Cardinal Loménie a very troublesome competitor; that, afterwards, on the Cardinal’s retirement to Sens (having renounced his Hat and embraced the Revolution) he went to visit him there, when he offered to sell him his whole collection, which he declined,

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James Edwards, Medicean Bookseller but made him an offer for a select part of it, the most curious, which was accepted, and I think he said he afterwards bought the natural history books; that the remainder was sold at Paris for more than they had cost.

The Paris catalogue was issued in two forms and with three title pages. The first was in French (Bibliotheca Elegantissima, Parisina), it was sold by M. Laurent in Paris and by Edwards in London, it gave the first day of the sale as lundi 28 mars 1791, and it did not mention the place of sale (other than Londres) or where the books could be seen. The second catalogue (Bibliotheca Parisiana) (see figure 6) was in English, and its integral title page said it was sold by M. Laurent in Paris, by Edwards in London, and by the principal Booksellers throughout Europe, it corrected the date on which the sale began to Monday 26 March 1791, and it too neglected to mention where the sale was to be held (beyond London) or where the books might be seen. Finally and tardily, an English cancel title was issued substituting James Robson in London for M. Laurent in Paris as vendor of the catalogue, and giving at last the place of sale (the Great Room in Conduit Street), where presumably the books also were to be seen before the sale. The title pages spoke of Books of the Greatest Splendour and Rareness, many Magnificently Printed on Vellum, in the finest (parfaite) Condition, in Bindings superlatively rich (avec un luxe extraordinaire), consisting especially of classical authors, manuscrits avec de superbes miniatures, and books of Natural History with coloured engravings and the original designs. Some of the most remarkable books in this six-day sale were Aldine editions that probably came directly from Italy. Indeed, some of them manifestly did not arrive in London before the sale took place, and the English catalogue descriptions must have derived from information sent to Edwards from abroad. One copy of the catalogue is inscribed: “Some of the Articles in this Catalogue, not having been received in due time, were sold [by Edwards & Robson] with the books of Sigr. Santorio of Venice, May 12th, 1791, & the two following days.”21 Among these postponed books were lot 210, an Aldine Ovid (1502–3) sold in Paris on 13 May for £63, and lot 201, an Aldine Virgil (1501) sold on 14 May for £74.10.0. Some entries among these Aldines are ghosts,22 and Renouard in his Catalogue de la Bibliotheque d’un Amateur (1819), 4:258–9, commented: “C’est bien le plus fautif de tous les catalogues. On y estropie les titres, on y crées des éditions qui jamais n’existèrent.” Considering the carefulness of most of Edwards’s descriptions, it seems likely that the English catalogue accounts of the ghosts, and perhaps of

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Figure 6 Bibliotheca Parisiana: A Catalogue of a Collection of Books, formed by A Gentleman in France [M. Pâris, and] ... another Grand Collection [Claude d’Urfé, which] ... will be Sold by Auction, in London on [26–31 March 1790] (London: [James] Edwards; Paris: M. Laurent; and “the principal Booksellers throughout Europe,” 1790), title page. Victoria University in the University of Toronto. The catalogue exists in three forms: (1) Bibliotheca Elegantissima, Parisina: Catalogue De livres choisis, provenant du cabinet d’un amateur … [et] un autre collection … La vent se sera a Londres [29 mars–2 avril 1790] (Londres: [James] Edwards; Paris: Laurent, 1790); (2) Bibliotheca Parisiana in English, as above, the sale dated 26–31 March 1790; and (3) a cancel title page with the sale dated 28 March–2 April 1790, M. Laurent replaced by Mr Robson, and adding the crucial location: the Great Room in Conduit Street, Hanover Square.

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all the Aldines, derived from information sent him from the Continent of copies he had never seen. In his Preface, Edwards said: “The collection exhibited in this catalogue is, for its number, by far the richest and most valuable ever offered to the public ... most of them are bound by De Rome.” This view of its value was clearly accepted by contemporaries, for, according to the exclamatory Thomas Frognall Dibdin, on Monday 28 March 1791 there were to be seen the most notorious bibliomaniacs, with blood inflamed and fancies intoxicated, rushing towards the examination of the truly matchless volumes contained within this collection ... the whole of Pall Mall was thronged with the carriages of collectors, anxious to carry off in triumph some vellum copy of foreign extraction ... Since the days of Gaignat and the Duke de la Valliere, the longing eyes of bibliographers were never blessed with a sight of more splendid and choice books than those in the possession of M. PARIS DE MEYZIEUX ... having seen only these books out of the Paris collection, I hope to descend to my obscure grave in perfect peace and satisfaction! ... we are indebted to the enterprising spirit and correct taste of Mr. Edwards for these, as well as many other, beautiful books imported from the Continent.23

Clearly Edwards had judged his market very shrewdly. Cooperation between French and English booksellers was still possible in revolutionary times, for Edwards’s next sale was actually held in Paris, on 12–14 May 1791. It consisted of the Library of Signor Santorio, at least some of the books had been intended for the Parisina sale, and Edwards’s partner once again was James Robson. Edwards went to France that autumn, returning by 16 November 1791 when he mentioned to Roscoe that he had been in France. And he was on the Continent again in 1796–7, when he wrote to Bodoni from Venice (27 September 1796) and Rome (28 December 1796, 2 February 1797). The last auction that James Edwards himself managed was that of the late William Wootton and a dead nobleman on 24 February–2 March 1795. The subjects of the books were the conventional ones of an English gentleman, with English history, classics, books of prints, and natural history, but they were “all in the best and finest condition,” and the whole was “supposed equal in value (for the quantity) to any ever offered to public Sale.” Edwards and Robson were joined as catalogue vendors by the booksellers Thomas Payne and Benjamin White, whom

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Edwards had described as “pushing at a great rate” in the antiquarian book field, and perhaps the sale was the joint venture of the four of them. No catalogue seems to have survived, and the sale is known only from an advertisement. Edwards’s most extensive journey to the Continent seems to have been from the spring of 1796 through the winter of 1797. On this trip he went to Italy and Vienna but apparently not to France, for, as he wrote to Roscoe on 20 December 1793, “France can trade w.th no other Country” now. In his absence, the shop at 77 Pall Mall was looked after by his shop manager Charles Barron and by his father, who came down from Halifax for the purpose. On 28 May 1796 James Edwards wrote to Roscoe: I beg you will write out as particularly as you can what you wish to have copied or extracted from any of the public Libraries in Italy as I mean to set out the 2d Week in next m.h As soon as I return I will settle the acc.t of [publishing] your Lorenzo – but if any thing unforeseen prevents it – my Father or Brother [Richard in Bond Street] will always be here to answ.r any demands – I fancy you know that very little ready money is paid me till the settling of Xmas acc.ts

And on 9 June he wrote again, settling his financial affairs most scrupulously: “as I know not what construction may be put upon my rambling disposition, lest you sho.d wish to negotiate them [two drafts at eight and twelve months] I have made them payable and accepted by my Father– Tho’ you wo.d not have requir.d this Security I think it perfectly right that your family sho.d have it.” (If the drafts were payable only by James Edwards, and he should not return, they would have been worthless.) It was probably about this time that the popular gentleman-poet William Hayley wrote a sonnet to Edwards as he was about to set out for Italy, with tactful compliments about Edwards bindings and Roscoe’s Life of Lorenzo de’ Medici published by Edwards in 1795: Edwards Kind Merchant of the letter’d World Learning with you embellish’d by your Care Smiles at the splendid Vest she joys to wear[.] Safe be your sails for Travel now unfurld From every Bolt by mad Contention hurld! Pleasant your Life as that serener air You haste to breathe with Italy the fair Whose Robe of Honor every Muse impearld.

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James Edwards, Medicean Bookseller Tell that sweet Nurse whom foster’d Art endears How England pays a debt of mental Fame For Milton cherish’d in his early years And taught by Tuscan Friends an epic aim Grateful in Roscoe she a Herald rears Fit to emblaze the Medicean Name.24

While James Edwards was away, the correspondence for his shop was conducted in a somewhat peremptory tone “for J. Edwards” by his shop manager Charles Barron at the direction of James’s father. Many of James Edwards’s customers were aristocratic, some of his authors, such as Horace Walpole, William Roscoe, and Lady Diana Beauclerk, were remarkably genteel, and Edwards had dealt with them with the most consummate tact. His relations with Roscoe were particularly delicate, for Roscoe was at once a good friend, an important customer for antiquarian books, and a business partner, for whom James Edwards was selling the Life of Lorenzo. James Edwards’s father William Edwards and his manager Charles Barron, however, persistently treated Roscoe only as a business associate – and a rather inefficient one at that. On 5 July 1796 Barron wrote to Roscoe: “M.r Edwards being gone abroad, his father who is now in town desires you will be so good as to favour him soon with the following imperfections in your Life of Lorenzo de Medici.” And on the 25th he wrote again: M.r W. Edwards Sen.r will be obliged to you to send him 3 Comp. copies of Lorenzo, his Son having written for them from abroad as soon as possible ... by the last accounts M.r W.E. has the Satisfaction to Say that his Son is well and is now on his way to Vienna.

It was probably on this occasion that James Edwards arranged to import from Vienna Hans Burgmaier’s Le Triomphe de l’Empereur Maximilien I (1796) and Der Weis Kunig (1799). He sold many works to the Imperial Library in Vienna, where most of the Caxtons seen in 1818 by Dibdin, including the superb copy of Godfrey of Boulogne from Count Revizcky’s collection, “were supplied to the Imperial library by the late Mr. Edwards,” and “out of our own country, I question whether the united strength of all the continental libraries could furnish a more copious supply of the productions of our venerable first printer.”25 Edwards clearly kept up the connection even when he could no longer go to the

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Imperial Library himself, and “In 1800, through a lucky exchange with the Vienna library, Edwards brought to England a number of magnificent books from the library of Prince Eugène de Savoie.”26 Barron wrote once again to Roscoe on 15 August 1796 in his usual peremptory fashion: “M.r W. Edwards Sen.r having been disappointed in his hope of getting the three Cop. of Lorenzo de Medici ordered by his last, will be much obliged to you to favour him with a Set of that book which he has promised to one of his friends who is very impatient for it, and will be glad of an answer pr return of the post.” And on 26 October he reported somewhat more amiably: “M.r E. had the Satisfaction to Say that by the last letter recd from his Son, he was then very well and just Setting out from Venice for Naples.” When James Edwards returned to England in April 1797, after an absence of ten months, he found his affairs in some confusion, partly because of the difficulty of getting books either to or from the Continent, and partly also no doubt because he had to mollify some of his best customers and authors who may have found his father and his shop manager somewhat trying. In his letter to Roscoe of 10 May 1797 he wrote in terms of old friendship: On my return from Italy about a month ago I had the mortification to learn that I had miss.d the pleasure of seeing you & M.rs R in London during the winter ... … I had sent a parc.l [of LORENZO] to Florence but all the Cargo was seizd at Genoa by ye French– ... Since my return I am so little able to enjoy any thing owing to various derangements I am now attempting to rectify that I must defer speaking to you about any thing of arts or Literature till more settled.

After his return from the Continent in April 1797, Edwards talked more and more firmly of retirement. James Edwards conducted no more sales himself, but he did have a number of important sales through established auctioneers. The first of these sales was, like Edwards’s earlier ones, composed of works from one major library, in this case “From a monastery at Bamberg.” According to The Monthly Mirror for April 1798 (vol. 5, p. 230): “EDWARDS, in PALL MALL, is just returned from Italy, where he has purchased many rare and magnificent editions of the classics; he is preparing a catalogue, which is expected to be perfectly unique.” Note that Edwards himself “is preparing a catalogue,” even though the anonymous sale of 15 June

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1799 was by Leigh & Sotheby.27 Presumably under such conditions, the auctioneer’s percentage was reduced a good deal. The sale was apparently not a success, for it realized only £156.5.0, not much more than the two Aldines bought at the Santorio sale in May 1791. The Gentleman’s Magazine commented on James Edwards’s short career: “some fortunate purchases on the Continent soon filled up the measure of fortune which his unambitious mind and strong natural sense informed him, was sufficient for all the rational enjoyments of life.”28 But despite his difficulties of 1797–8, his book buying on the Continent and selling at auction had enormous effects upon his reputation and his skill in his trade. And where his arts of commerce failed, his arts of diplomacy apparently succeeded in re-establishing his fortune and aiding his country.29

3 James Edwards as a Publisher 1785–1800

The name of James Edwards appeared on the title pages of over 150 publications dated 1785–1800, and he “imported” a number of other works from Vienna, Rome, Paris, Leipsic [Leipzig], Bath, and elsewhere. His books ranged in size from modest duodecimos to handsome folios more than twenty times as large1 and in price from four pence for Taylor’s Our Saviour’s Commission (1785) to twenty guineas2 for Smith’s Insects of Georgia (1797). He began modestly in 1785 with his own catalogue and with Dan Taylor’s Sermon, which was clearly undertaken as a favour to his father and to Taylor (a Halifax man), and most of his publications in the 1780s cost only a few shillings. In 1785–91 he published at least eighteen works costing 4d to 15s (averaging 5s) and only five at over a pound; in each year from 1793 through 1798 he published works that cost more than those eighteen works put together, and the average recorded price for 1793–1800 is well over £3.10.0. At first he published only in a very small way – three books in 1785, three in 1786, and his own catalogue in 1787 – but by 1788 the pattern of his publishing was already clear: books of travel, natural history, and fine art. Concealed Editions Two of these early works, Harris’s Exposition of English Insects (1786) and Worlidge’s Select Collection of Drawings from Antique Gems (?1788) were apparently the first of Edwards’s reprints of beautiful illustrated books. In many of his illustrated publications, most or all of the engravings had been made for an earlier edition,3 and in many the plates were the raison d’être of the book. In a number of cases, Edwards’s responsibility for the publication is not apparent in the work itself – in

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James Edwards, Medicean Bookseller Publications by Year Volumes

Sheets 4

Plates 5

Year

Books

1785

3

3

49

2

1786

3

3

75

63

1787

1

1

18

1788

10

11

224.5

1789

9

13

221

1790

19

95

915.5

105

1791

9

10

90

46

1792

9

9

178.5

32

1793

13

33

1,101.5

167

1794

19

19

297

222

1795

16

29

325.5

52

1796

27

32

510+

433

1797

16

28

919.5

398

1798

8

14

666

276

1799

4

4

119

313

1800

1

3

86.5

16

167

307

5,766.5

2,370

Totals

0 237 8

Worlidge’s Antique Gems, Holbein’s Triomphe de la Mort and Dance of Death – but there does not seem to have been any attempt to mislead on the part of the publisher, for James Edwards advertised in his own catalogues that they were published by him. They are careful facsimiles rather than frauds.6 Occasionally James and Richard Edwards appear in subscription lists as taking a significant number of copies, and sometimes this seems to have warranted putting the name of Edwards on the title page. In Valentine Green’s History ... of Worcester (1796), James Edwards is named on the title page, and the subscription list records that he took “6 copies.” However, in John Hunter’s Historical Journal published by Stockdale in 1793 no Edwards appears on the title page though the subscription list names R. Edwards as taking eight copies and J. Edwards as taking six. James Edwards may be as much the publisher of Hunter’s book as he was of Green’s. However, no significant attempt is made here to record books in which James Edwards took a number of copies without having his name on the title page.

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Elegance These early publications exhibit a number of elegant features that Edwards incorporated in many later publications. Except for his folio editions, most of his ambitious works were published in at least two sizes, the more desirable Large Paper copies being reserved for special customers, for, as he wrote to Roscoe on 18 September 1795, “Lord Spencer & such like are dissatisfyd if they have not ye best.” A few works had plates printed on India Paper,7 and some copies had the plates printed on satin.8 A surprising proportion of the illustrated books were published with hand-coloured plates,9 either as the normal mode of issue (e.g., Harris’s Aurelian and Lyson’s Roman Antiquities) or to make a few copies especially handsome (as in Stedman’s Surinam and Walpole’s Castello di Otranto). With a few works, extraordinary pains were taken to have the plates coloured in the most authentic manner. Copies of Albanis Beaumont’s Travels through the Maritime Alps (1795) and Select Views in the South of France (1794) were “coloured upon the outline in Switzerland.” Since the most desirable copies of incunabula such as his own unique Livy (1469) were printed on vellum, Edwards often had a few copies of his own publications printed on vellum10 such as the single copy of Hamilton’s Grammont (?1794) and the six copies of Walpole’s Castle of Otranto (1790). Sometimes there was only “one [copy] on Vellum for myself,” as he wrote to Roscoe on 20 February 1794. And the copies that excited the most intense admiration were Large Paper copies printed on vellum and coloured by hand. Edwards was particularly known for these “petits Maîtres,” as the Earl of Charlemont called them.11 Books in French, Italian, German, and Latin, and Translations James Edwards was an extraordinarily cosmopolitan bookseller, making friends and customers easily in France and Italy, Austria and Germany, and speaking French like a native. Mrs Thrale reports meeting Monsieur the Marquis de Bouillé in Edwards’s shop in 1795 and chatting with him and Edwards in French, and clearly James Edwards had many French customers, or at least French-reading customers in London. A surprising number of his publications were in French,12 including works as diverse as treatises on the insects of Georgia and on English costumes and customs, a French-English dictionary, his own book catalogues, and examples of German artistic masterpieces. Further, he published

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several works in German13 (all bilingual) and Italian,14 including one of Walpole’s Castle of Otranto, the English version of which had itself pretended to be a translation from the Italian, and his publications in Latin15 included not only classical authors such as Horace and Virgil but his own book catalogues and a treatise on botany. And a number of his books were translations from French, Italian, German, Sanskrit, and Pracrit – and English.16 This is a very sophisticated list, presuming very wide learning and interest in the buyers. James Edwards’s publications were often as remarkable for their learning as for their beauty. The early publication by James Edwards that perhaps best epitomizes the cosmopolitan elegance for which he became famous was the Novelle Otto of 1790. In Edwards’s Pinelli sale in 1789 had appeared “three very ancient Italian novels printed on long Strips of Paper as Ballads are usually printed.” Edwards had twenty-five copies of the work printed and then had “the Types Broke up.” Fifteen of these copies were for Lord Clanbrassil, Thomas Stanley, and Wogan Browne (who probably paid the expenses of printing), some were on Large Paper, four were printed on vellum at “half a guinea a Sheet” (£15.9.9), and the copy for the Royal Library was supplied with a special title page (see fig. 7). The ten copies that James Edwards had for sale found ready buyers even at £10.10.0, and before the year was up they were “all dispersed.” One was illustrated by Countess Lucan, and two were bound by H. Walker. In aristocratic associations, antiquity, rarity, beauty, obscurity, and expense, the Novelle Otto had most of the qualities for which Edwards became best known – except for illustrations. Reprints More than a quarter of James Edwards’s publications were reprints of works published earlier, sometimes with very little change. A few of these works were simple commercial undertakings in which Edwards was a minor member of a congeries, as in Nugent’s French and English Dictionary, 9th edition (1795) and 10th edition (1797), Shakspeare’s Plays (1790, 1793, 1797), and Johnson’s Works of the English Poets (1790),17 but in most his role was larger, and the reprint contained important novelties. Thus Burgmair, Maximilien I (1796) and Weis Kunig (1799), Calidas, Sacontola (1790), Holbein, Triomphe de la Mort (?1790) and Dance of Death (?1794), and Novelle Otto (1790) were published for the first time in England, and Bacon’s Essays (1798), The Book of Common Prayer (1791), Butler, Hudibras (1793), Dryden, Fables (1796), Hamilton, Grammont

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Figure 7 Novelle Otto (Londra: Giacomo Edwards, 1790) title page for the copy in the Royal Library. British Library.

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(?1794), and Walpole, Castle of Otranto (1791) were printed in particularly handsome forms, usually illustrated. Others gathered familiar matter in new ways, such as Bibliotheca Pinelliana (1789) and its Appendix (1790), Ellis, English Poets (1790), Horace, Opera (1792, 1793), Officer of the Guards, Narrative, 2nd and 3rd editions (1796), and Walpole, Works (1798). And of course some of the reprints were of works that Edwards himself had first published: Dutens, Table (?1792, ?1796), Hodges, Travels in India (1794), and Roscoe, Lorenzo (1796, 1797, 1800). The other reprints in which Edwards played a major role were mostly illustrated works scarcely changed from their original form: Harris, Exposition (1786) and Aurelian (1794), New Copper Plate Magazine (1796), Strutt, Dress ... of England (1796, 1799), and Worlidge, Antique Gems (?1788, ?1794). Most of these reprints are works of beauty and interest in their own right; very few seem to be merely commercial publications. Range of Subjects The range of James Edwards’s publications was surprisingly broad, including factual treatises such as The Horse’s Foot and Insects of Georgia, Epidemic Fevers and The Croup, and others on costume, gems, and medals, the Opera of Horace and quarrels among classicists, sermons and political pamphlets, and accounts of Wales, Ireland, France, Gibraltar, the Black Sea, Tunis, West Africa, Surinam, the Pacific, and India. His most important publications, however, were in art and literature, and particularly in illustrations of literature, as may be seen in the list of James Edwards’s publications by subject (see Appendix 2). Prospectuses An epitome of Edwards’s ambitions as a publisher may be seen in the fifteen works for which he issued prospectuses: busts of Homer and Pope (1787), Shakspeare Illustrated (Harding, 1789), Sowerby, Florist’s Delight (1789–91), The Bible (Macklin, 1790), the Cowper-Fuseli Milton (Johnson & James Edwards, 1791), Birch’s British Views (1791), Lewis, Cardigan (?1792), Landseer’s Isle of Wight (?1792), Hume, History of England (Bowyer, 1792, 1793, 1795), Hasted, History of Kent, vol. 4 (1794, 1796), Lally-Tolendal, Comte de Strafford, tragédie (1795), Hearne & Byrne, Antiquities of Great Britain, II (1796), Strutt, Dress ... of England (James Edwards, ?1796), Young, Night Thoughts (Richard Edwards, ?1796), and Frye, Pantographia (1798). All the works were illustrated, for all but

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Hasted, Hearne & Byrne, and Lally-Tolendal the illustrations were the raison d’être of the edition, and four of the books were to be among the greatest illustrated works of literature of the age: Macklin’s Bible, Fuseli’s Milton, Hume’s History of England, and Young’s Night Thoughts. Macklin’s Bible, and Bowyer’s Hume cost tens of thousands of pounds and employed scores of the best painters and engravers of the day, and each was a decade and more in production, but Richard Edwards’s Night Thoughts was never completed, and the Johnson-Edwards edition of Fuseli’s Milton was never published at all. These were works of enormous ambition and promise, and they comprise all but one of the greatest illustrated works of literature undertaken in Britain at the time.18 James Edwards was one of the greatest illustrated book publishers of the time, even though he himself eventually published only five or six of the fifteen books for which he issued prospectuses – and indeed three of the works do not seem to have been published at all. James Edwards’s publishing accomplishments, like his prospectuses, were largely concerned with illustrated books. Books in Parts Some of these books are known to have been published in parts and by subscription, and others may have been as well – without a prospectus or a list of subscribers it is often hard to tell. Publication in parts has the advantage to the customer that the cost is spread over a long period of time and to the publisher that he secures some return from the early parts with which to finance the succeeding parts. It has the advantage to the printer that it keeps his presses rolling with work at more-orless foreseeable intervals with regular pay. The costs of publishing in parts are, of course, significantly higher than in ordinary volume publication, with more accounting, stitching, and delivery expenses, and it was certainly more troublesome. Edwards occasionally helped other publishers announce their works in parts, as in Macklin’s Bible (1790), Sowerby’s Florist’s Delight (1789–91), Bowyer’s Hume (1792, 1793, 1795), Hearne & Byrne’s Antiquities of Great Britain, vol. 2 (1796), Landseer’s Isle of Wight (?1792), Lewis’s Cardigan (?1791), Harding’s Shakspeare Illustrated (1789), and his brother Richard’s Night Thoughts (?1796), but, with two possible exceptions,19 he published by this method only at the end of his career. Smith’s Views in Italy, vol. 2 (1796–9), Strutt’s Dress ... of England (1796–9), Merigot’s Rome (1797), and Salmon’s Rome, vol. 1 (1798) were all issued in parts, but Edwards never completed the three

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James Edwards, Medicean Bookseller

with scenes in Italy, and the only one he finished (Strutt) was one that he had initiated himself. Books Published by Subscription Publication by subscription assisted the publisher by bringing in payment before he had incurred much in the way of expense, and it was attractive to the purchaser not only because he paid less than the nonsubscriber and got better (earlier) copies of the prints, but also because his name was often recorded in a subscription list printed with the book. Many works in parts were also sold by subscription,20 including most of those named in proposals issued by James Edwards, but he issued thus also a number of his other publications that were not in parts. These include Beaufort, Map of Ireland (1792), Lally-Tolendal, Le Comte de Strafford (1795), Long, Voyages and Travels (1791), Penhouet, Tour (1797), Stedman, Surinam (1796), Strutt, Dress ... of England (1796–9), Williams, Monmouthshire (1796), and Worlidge, Antique Gems (?1788, ?1794). Most of these subscriptions were probably secured among the author’s friends. Publication by subscription was, however, a troublesome method, as James Edwards explained to William Roscoe on 7 December 1790 about his Lorenzo de’ Medici: “If you think proper to publish it by Subscription I will get you many names among my Customers and if you are at much Expence in Engravings that will be the best way– Otherwise it is a troublesome Method & what I w.d not recommend to you as a Gentleman–.” Probably James Edwards, as a gentleman, avoided it unless his authors themselves solicited the subscriptions from among their friends. James Edwards’s Printers In rather more than half James Edwards’s publications, especially for the slighter works, the printer is not named,21 and, even when the printer is known, it is often difficult to be sure which member of the publishing syndicate chose him. We can only be moderately confident that Edwards chose the printer when he was the only publisher of a book, when he published For the Author, when his name heads the list of booksellers, or when we have evidence outside the book itself, as in his letters to William Roscoe. James Edwards was remarkably eclectic in his printers, using at least forty different ones in ten cities and four countries. Some of them were

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merely provincial craftsmen in Cambridge, Canterbury, Doncaster, Edinburgh, Gainsborough, Hamburg, Huddersfield, Leeds, Liverpool, and York,22 and in each case we may be fairly confident that the printer was chosen by the author who lived in the same place. We can be sure that this is the case with Lorenzo de’ Medici (1795) by William Roscoe and Rembrandt (1796) by his brother-in-law Daniel Daulby, for both lived in Liverpool where their printer M’Creery worked, and the printing was arranged by Roscoe. Much more remarkable are James Edward’s Continental printers, for two of them were at the head of their trade and were almost certainly chosen by Edwards himself. Schmidt and Alberti in Vienna were probably chosen by Edwards when he was in Vienna in 1796 to print Burgmair’s Maximilien I (1796) and Weis Kunig (1799) – the works had to be printed in Vienna, where the engravings were. He almost certainly arranged for the printing of The Book of Common Prayer for Edwards & Sons (1791) by the great Parisian printer Didot, and he certainly commissioned the distinguished printer Bodoni in Parma to print Walpole’s Castle of Otranto (1790, 1791). The latter is particularly beautifully printed, with a few copies on vellum, but it illustrates the difficulties of printing at a distance and in a language different from that of the printer. (It is a fine irony that The Castle of Otranto, pretending to be a translation from the Italian, was set in Italy in 1790 by monolingual Italian compositors, while Il Castello di Otranto was set in London in 1795 by presumably monolingual English compositors.) When the first copies of The Castle of Otranto were received in London in 1790, they were found to be so inaccurate that many cancel leaves had to be supplied to replace faulty ones, including the new title page of 1791 (see fig. 5, p. 58), though the vellum copies with an old title page of 1790 were never corrected. Thereafter Edwards stayed with English text printers, probably largely because the Continent was almost entirely closed to foreign commerce but also doubtless because of the difficulty of printing at a distance and of what he clearly regarded as Bodoni’s extortionate prices and methods for vellum copies. Clearly compositors were expected to be able to set texts in languages other than their own, and for his works in foreign languages Edwards did not confine himself to one specialist printer. His books in French were printed by at least eleven different firms,23 and Bensley printed books for him in English, French, German, and Italian.24 Edwards was remarkably eclectic in his choice of printers, and more than forty of them apparently printed for him only once. Only eight firms are known to have printed more than once for him, and those who printed most were the best-known printers of the time: John Nicols

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(two titles), Andrew Strahan (four, including three editions of Roscoe), Spilsbury & Son (five), Thomas Rickaby (six), William Bulmer (five), and Thomas Bensley (eight).25 At first Edwards favoured Rickaby, who printed twelve volumes for him in 1789–93, including seven volumes of Butler’s Hudibras and Virgil’s Opera in 1793. Thereafter he gave his most ambitious volumes to Bulmer, Nicols, Strahan, and especially to Bensley, who printed Albanis Beaumont’s South of France (1794) and Maritime Alps (1795), Bacon’s Essays (1798), Bűrgher’s Leonora (1796), Caracci and Leonardo’s Original Designs (1796, 1797), De Lille’s Gardens (1798), Dryden’s Fables (1797), Lysons’ Roman Antiquities (1797), J.E. Smith’s Insects of Georgia (1797), John Smith’s Select Views in Italy, vol. 2 (1796–9), and Strutt’s Dress ... of England (1796, 1799). Among these works, James Edwards is likely to have had a deciding hand in Bacon, Bűrgher, Dryden, Smith’s Insects, and Strutt, in all of which his name heads the list of booksellers in the imprint, and all save one are printed by Bensley. For his most ambitious works, especially those with illustrations, James Edwards clearly chose his printers with care. At the same time, it must be confessed that, in most of the forty works for which James Edwards was the only bookseller named on the title page, no printer is named and the presswork is indifferent. Most are as well unambitious in scale and illustrations, especially in 1787–93. Perhaps this shows little more than that for his expensive works of 1794–7 James Edwards joined with other booksellers to share the cost and risk, the greater cost being in part due to fine presswork by named printers. His Co-Publishers James Edwards issued a score or more of books and prospectuses in congeries of five to forty-two booksellers. A few of these works, such as Shakspeare’s Plays (1790, 1793, 1797), Johnson’s edition of The English Poets (1790), and Nugent’s Dictionary (1795, 1797), were merely commercial speculations in which he probably had only a slight role, but a few, like Lysons’s Roman Antiquities (1797) and Leonardo and the Caraccis’ Original Designs (1796, 1797), were publications of considerable importance whose expense probably required the financial resources and risk of a number of booksellers. In thirty-two of his publications, no other bookseller is listed with James Edwards, and in seven more he appears only with the author as vendor of the work. Clearly he had chief or entire responsibility for these works,26 but they were mostly minor undertakings (except reissues

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of plates and his own catalogues). On most of his publications, and in almost all the important ones, he shared the responsibility on the title page with other booksellers, sometimes with well over thirty of them in huge congeries. In all, he was associated with over a hundred other booksellers in his publications, but with many he appears only in large congeries, and a score of his co-publishers were provincial booksellers whom he probably knew neither in person nor through correspondence. Among this welter of non-entities, there were ten firms with which James Edwards was repeatedly associated, and each is of some importance: Edwards & Sons of Halifax (8 books, 1785–94) Joseph Johnson27 of St Paul’s Churchyard (27 books, 1785–97) Thomas Payne of Mews Gate, Leicester Fields (19 books, 1785–99) Benjamin & John White of Fleet Street (28 books, 1786–99) James Robson28 of Bond Street (29 books, 1787–98) Thomas & John Egerton of Whitehall (17 books, 1787–97) Robert Faulder of New Bond Street (19 books, 1788–98) Richard Edwards of New Bond Street (7 works, 1794–8) Thomas Cadell Jr & William Davies of the Strand (13 books, 1796–1800)29 Edward & Sylvester Harding of Pall Mall (8 books, 1793–8) All these booksellers were in some sense specialist publishers, and it is remarkable that James Edwards was only involved with the bigger and more general publishers such as Longman, Rivington, and Robinson in large congeries. James Edwards was associated with the family firm in Halifax, chiefly in his early catalogues (1785, 1787, 1789, 1790), and in a few works of special interest to customers in the north , such as Our Saviour’s Commission (1785) by Dan Taylor of Halifax, Cardonnel’s Picturesque Antiquities of Scotland (1788, 1793), and Treatise on the Croup First and Second Editions (1794) by Disney Alexander, who later married James Edwards’s sister Mary.30 It is striking that the Halifax firm is not listed in his most ambitious publications. Clearly there was no reliable market for such expensive works in the provinces, even with an old, established, and elegant firm such as Edwards of Halifax. Joseph Johnson was associated with Edwards not only in his early catalogues when he was getting established (1785, 1787, 1789, 1790) and in a number of congeries (Johnson, English Poets [1790], Smith, Spicilegium Botanicum [1791–2], Shakspeare, Plays [1790, 1793, 1797],

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Alexander, Croup [1794], Hasted, Kent, IV, prospectus [1794], and Nugent, Dictionary [1795, 1797]), but also in a number of his more important publications as well. Johnson was particularly known for dissenting and medical books (such as Alexander’s Croup and Clerke’s Thoughts upon ... Health [1790]) and for his liberal sympathies, for which he was jailed in 1798–9. James Edwards’s few publications dealing with political subjects are of a conservative bent, like Anon., Funeral Oration for Louis XVI (1794) and like his brother Richard’s editions of sermons and pamphlets. Joseph Johnson’s unadorned scientific pamphlets were quite unlike James Edwards’s handsome folios, and his humble clerical customers would have sorted oddly with James Edwards’s aristocratic connections, but the two men were clearly good friends (see pp. 53–5). Johnson was co-publisher with Edwards of Pinkerton’s Essay on Medals (1789), but their most significant collaborations were artistic, in Sowerby’s Drawing Flowers (1788) and Florist’s Delight (1789–91), Smith’s Coloured Figures of Rare Plants (1790–3), Fuseli’s Milton proposals (1791), and Boothby’s Sorrows (1796), and in colonial work among Africans, in Wadstrom’s Essay on Colonization, vol. 1 (1794), and Stedman’s Surinam (1796). The two men were special friends of Fuseli and were the only two booksellers whose names appear on his prospectus. Fuseli’s project was enormously ambitious, with the text of Milton edited, annotated, and translated (from Italian and Latin) by William Cowper,31 as well as the “THIRTY CAPITAL PLATES” and “FORTY-FIVE ELEGANT VIGNETTES” designed by Fuseli, at a cost to subscribers of £15.15.0. This was one of the great projects of the age, clearly in rivalry to Macklin’s Bible (1790) and Boydell’s Shakspeare proposals (1786) – and Milton (published 1794–7) – but, unlike those, it never attracted enough subscribers to justify publication, and by 1796 it had been abandoned, though Fuseli went ahead with exhibitions of his Milton paintings in 1799 and 1800. Edwards and Johnson were more successful in their collaboration (with Cadell & Davies) in Sir Brooke Boothby’s Sorrows Sacred to the Memory of Penelope (1796) with a fine frontispiece after Fuseli (see fig. 8). This indeed is the only plate after Fuseli that James Edwards published. In practical terms, the collaboration of Edwards and Johnson was even more significant in their works on Africans in European colonies. C.B. Wadstrom’s Essay on Colonization was an extraordinarily liberal work, designed primarily to benefit African tribesmen rather than European merchants, and it was not merely an airy proposal, for its

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Figure 8 Sir Brooke Boothby, Sorrows Sacred to the Memory of Penelope (London: Caddell and Davies, [James] Edwards, and [Joseph] Johnson, 1796), frontispiece (Henry Fuseli-Anon.). Victoria University in the University of Toronto. Fuseli’s much-admired design (23.3 x 33.5 cm) represents the child Penelope being raised to heaven by an angel. Fuseli and James Edwards were good friends, but this is the only design after Fuseli which James Edwards published. One reviewer said the book was “printed in the first style of elegance,” and another admired the “plates, executed in the best style of our best artists.”

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Swedish author secured subscriptions and actually founded a colony in West Africa on his plan. Edwards is likely to have been particularly involved with Wadstrom and his plan, for he was the only bookseller of the congeries who exhibited the drawings made on the spot. The direct, practical effects of Wadstrom’s plan were felt immediately. The effects of J.G. Stedman’s Narrative of a five years’ expedition against the Revolted Negroes of Surinam, which Johnson and Edwards published together in 1796 (see plates 2 and 8), were felt more slowly and lastingly. For one thing, the book was in production for five years, due partly to the fierce eccentricity of its author. For another, its eighty-four plates, tactfully mended from Stedman’s drawings by distinguished engravers like Francesco Bartolozzi and William Blake, represented fascinating local fauna and customs, such as the young thirty-foot Aboma Snake and A Slave Broken on the Rack (see plate 8), and attracted the wonder and admiration of reviewers and readers. For another, Stedman’s manifest fellow-feeling with the Africans, whose rebellion he had been hired by the Dutch to subdue, and the romantic tale of his marriage to a beautiful mulatto slave whom he could not free, seized the sympathy of those who might not have been concerned with his natural history or his art. His book has been repeatedly reprinted and translated and is a wonderful if eccentric production of natural genius. Johnson certainly had a great struggle with its author, who called him a “demon of hell” and apparently challenged him to a duel, and Edwards was probably primarily an onlooker. Both men, however, deserve great credit for the work, which is one of the most remarkable of its time. In 1800 James Edwards wrote of his 1789 Catalogue of antiquarian books, “There was at this time an uncommon emulation between Egerton, White, Payne & myself. Faulder also was pushing at a great rate.”32 With each of these antiquarian booksellers James Edwards was also extensively involved in publishing. Thomas Payne and his father in Leicester Fields were co-publishers of James Edwards’s first Catalogue (1785), but thereafter the son was associated with Edwards chiefly in publishing the classics – Cicero, De Officiis (1791), Horace, Opera (1792, 1793), Virgil, Opera (1793), and Combe, Statement of Facts about Horace (1794) – and in congeries.33 The two exceptions, however, are important: Bacon, Essays (1796) published only by Payne and Edwards, and La Perouse, Voyage (1799), in which they were joined by the Robinsons. Bacon’s Essays is a work of ambitious elegance, though without illustrations, and La Perouse’s Voyage is of much importance even in the great age of exploration books.

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Benjamin White and his son John in Fleet Street were associated with James Edwards in a large number of congeries publishing illustrated books34 – their interests were clearly very similar to his. They were first associated with him in Harris’s Exposition of English Insects (1786), which Benjamin White had published by himself in 1782, and this must have been one of the first of James Edwards’s publishing speculations, and a particularly important one. He was also linked with the Whites as an alternate (not joint) publisher of Butler’s Hudibras (1793) with Hogarth’s plates, an expensive and handsome work. Most important, Edwards persuaded John White to join him and Cadell & Davies in publishing the extraordinarily dear and beautiful edition of Smith’s Insects of Georgia (1797), the apogee of his publishing career. And when he left business, important works from his antiquarian stock went to John White and were sold through his catalogues. The most important association between James Edwards and James Robson was in buying books on the Continent and selling them together at auction in Robson’s rooms in London. They published together Bibliotheca Pinelliana (1789) and its Appendix (1790), Bibliotheca Paitoniana (1790), and Bibliotheca Wootoniana (1795). Aside from these and a number of publishing congeries mostly for illustrated books,35 Robson was connected with James Edwards chiefly in the Hardings’ Shakspeare Illustrated prospectus (1789) and the Beauties of the Dutch School (1793). He also evidently sold to Edwards his share of Harris’s Exposition of English Insects (1786) and the copperplates and copyright of Harris’s great Aurelian (1794) with its splendid coloured prints.36 Robson and Edwards clearly found each other to be profitable and congenial business partners. Thomas & John Egerton, with whom James Edwards was in such eager competition as an antiquarian bookseller, were associated with him in publishing chiefly in congeries for illustrated works.37 They were, however, with Edwards and W. Faden, the only booksellers named in Heriot’s Historical Sketch of Gibraltar (1792). Their publishing association with James Edwards was probably not very important. Robert Faulder, the last of the antiquarian booksellers with whom James Edwards compared himself in 1790, was clearly not very closely associated with him as a publisher, being linked with him only in congeries.38 The last three firms with which James Edwards was extensively linked as a publisher were in some ways the most interesting. With his brother

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Richard, James Edwards began publishing books in 1794, the last year in which he appeared on title pages with the Edwardses of Halifax. At this time Richard Edwards had been publishing religious and political pamphlets in a modest way by himself for several years, but about 1794 his ambition expanded dramatically with his commission of William Blake’s hundreds of drawings and scores of engravings for Young’s Night Thoughts, the prospectus for which was issued by Richard and James Edwards (with Robert Bowyer) apparently in the spring of 1796. In the same year, Richard joined his brother in publishing the first numbers of James’s edition of Strutt’s important Dress and Habits of the People of England (1796), and next year James joined Richard in his edition of Merigot’s Select Collection of Views and Ruins in Rome (1797). Richard was also associated with James in the production of Vancouver’s Voyage of Discovery to the North Pacific Ocean (1798), though he had dropped out by the time the title page was printed. The two brothers were thus associated in some of their most ambitious publishing ventures. James Edwards clearly developed a special relationship with Thomas Cadell [Jr] & William Davies about 1796, when the very young firm still described itself as SUCCESSORS TO MR. [THOMAS] CADELL. Their first joint publication was probably the jocular Narrative of the War, 2nd and 3rd editions (1796), by An Officer of the Guards, of which Cadell & Davies had published the first edition in 1795 and which was registered at Stationers’ Hall on 16 February 1796. At about the same time, Edwards had invited them to join him in selling Daulby’s Rembrandt, which was advertised in February and published in May 1796. In March 1796 Edwards called on Cadell & Davies to propose that they should buy from the author the copyright of Roscoe’s Lorenzo de’ Medici, the first edition of which (dated 1795) he had just published for the author, and they promptly offered the handsome sum of £1,200 for it. They thus became with James Edwards the publishers of the 2nd (1796), 3rd (1797), and 4th editions (1800) of this extremely creditable work. It is striking that James Edwards proposed the purchase of the copyright to his young colleagues instead of securing it for himself. Perhaps the explanation is that after about 1791 James Edwards did not publish for himself works by living authors in which the major feature was the text rather than the designs. At the same time that the negotiations for Roscoe’s Lorenzo were going on, Cadell & Davies were publishing with James

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Figure 9 Prospectus (London: R. Edwards and J. Edwards, ?1796) with Young’s Night Thoughts (Richard Edwards, 1797), with coloured copy N. Yale Center for British Art.

Edwards Kotzebue’s Negro Slaves, the translator’s dedication to which is dated April 1796. And in the same spring, Cadell & Davies published with James Edwards and Joseph Johnson Boothby’s Sorrows Sacred to the Memory of Penelope, which was entered at Stationers’ Hall on 25 May 1796.

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From June 1796 to April 1797 James Edwards was on the Continent. In 1797 Edwards was joined by Cadell & Davies and the Whites in publishing Smith’s Insects of Georgia, and Cadell & Davies were joined by James Edwards and six others in publishing Lysons’s Roman Antiquities. Finally, in 1798 Cadell & Davies invited James Edwards and two others to publish Wieland’s Oberon with them.39 Except for the trifling Narrative of the War, these are all very creditable works, and it is remarkable that the relationship is one of reciprocal benefits, Cadell & Davies having primary responsibility in the Narrative of the War, Kotzebue’s Negro Slaves, Boothby’s Sorrows, Lysons’s Roman Antiquities, and Wieland’s Oberon, and Edwards in Daulby’s Rembrandt, Roscoe’s Lorenzo, and Smith’s Insects. James Edwards shared with Cadell & Davies the major responsibility for more publications than with any other firm of booksellers, and their joint publications were almost all important ones. The relationship was clearly both congenial and profitable to both sides. The last of the extensive relationships between James Edwards and other publishers is in some ways the most intriguing and tantalizing. Edward and Silvester Harding were both designers and engravers who published their own works and commissioned books in which such engravings were included. They approached the publishing of illustrated books from the craftsman’s side, as William Blake the engraver and William Bulmer and Thomas Bensley the printers did, publishing works that they had not only sponsored but largely made. They seem to have shared James Edwards’s premises at 102 Pall Mall in 1792–3, for they are listed there in the London directories and in their imprints for these years,40 and they may have taken over James Edwards’s lease, for they are also recorded at 102 Pall Mall in 1794–7,41 after James Edwards had moved to No. 77 Pall Mall. (However, the imprints that they shared with James Edwards in 1796–8 show them at 98 Pall Mall, and in the last year Silvester Harding is also shown at 127 Pall Mall.) At any rate, they were close neighbours. They were associated, singly or together, with James Edwards in nine books, often as engravers, sometimes as publishers, usually as both. They made a specialty of copying portraits and views that they collected, often somewhat implausibly, into books. Thus the plates in Shakspeare Illustrated (1793) are adapted to “any Edition,” their frontispiece (1793) for The Castle of Otranto is related to Horace Walpole but not to his novel, and the Biographical Mirrour, vol. 2 (1798), seems to have as its organizing principle merely the fact that the Hardings had copied or acquired portraits of the individuals recorded. The first work in which

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they were associated with James Edwards was the prospectus (1789) for Shakspeare Illustrated with portraits (eventually 150) copied by Sylvester [sic] Harding and published by his younger brother E[dward] Harding at 132 Fleet Street with subscriptions received in London also by Edwards & Sons and by Robson. The finished work had a title page listing only S & E Harding at 102 Pall Mall, 1793. In the same year they joined with James Edwards and the Halifax Edwardses in publishing parts 3–4 of Cardonnel’s Picturesque Antiquities, an amorphous work of exactly the kind in which they specialized, though James Edwards had begun this one in 1788. One of their most enterprising collaborations was in Hamilton’s life of the Comte de Grammont. In 1793 S. & E. Harding at 102 Pall Mall had published an English translation of it illustrated with seventy-nine rather miscellaneous plates (dated 10 April 1792–2 December 1793) copied largely by S. Harding and engraved by E. Harding, E. Harding Jr, S. Harding, and others, in which the booksellers “have spared no expense.” Probably within a few weeks, in 1794, James Edwards, at 78 Pall Mall, published the French original, with the same plates still bearing the imprint of “E & S Harding, Pall Mall,” and the two editions must have been published by pre-arrangement. Certainly James Edwards advertised both in his 1794 and 1796 catalogues, and when he went out of business he probably sold his stock of the French edition to the Hardings, for some text and plates were later reprinted on paper watermarked 1801 and 1802. Their later collaborations were even more substantial.42 Bűrgher’s Leonora (1796) and Dryden’s Fables (1797), two of James Edwards’s most ambitious undertakings with designs by Lady Diana Beauclerk, were published by James Edwards and E & S or just E. Harding and contain Harding plates, and E. Harding is one of a number of publishers of the parts (1796) of Strutt’s Dress ... of England. Finally, James Edwards is one of four co-publishers with Silvester [sic] Harding of the Biographical Mirrour, II (1798). The Hardings were thus involved in a peculiarly intimate and extensive way with several of James Edwards’s most noteworthy illustrated books. James Edwards was associated with a wide range of publishers, and he published books in many different ways: by himself, with authors, as an alternate or joint publisher with one other bookseller, and with groups of from two to thirty-seven publishers. He rarely acted with exactly the same group of booksellers twice, and he seems to have chosen his collaborators with some care. Those he acted with most

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intimately, Joseph Johnson, Cadell & Davies, and the Hardings, are all publishers of considerable enterprise and interest in their own right. His Accomplishments as a Publisher As a publisher, James Edwards is particularly noteworthy in four areas: for works of literature, particularly translations; for elegantly produced editions; for illustrated books; and for beautiful works on natural history. Sometimes, as in De Lille’s Gardens (1798), all four features are combined in one work. The important works of English literature that James Edwards published were all reprints: Ellis, Early English Poets (1790), Johnson, English Poets (1790), Walpole, The Castle of Otranto (1791), Anderson, British Poets (1798), Butler, Hudibras (1793), Chatterton, Poems (1794), Shakspeare, Plays (1790, 1793, 1797), Works of the British Poets (1795), and Dryden’s Fables (1797; see figs 11 and 12).43 Of these, Shakspeare’s Plays, The English Poets, and The British Poets are merely creditable commercial speculations, but The Castle of Otranto was an enterprising exercise in fine printing by Bodoni in Parma (later illustrated), and Hudibras and Dryden’s Fables are of great importance for their illustrations. As a literary publication, probably the most important is the Early English Poets, for most of the authors represented in it were very difficult of access in 1790, and the work was sufficiently attractive to be repeatedly expanded and reprinted. James Edwards was more enterprising with foreign literature, with original translations of the Indian classic, Calidas’s Sacontola (1790, 1792), and of Bűrgher’s Leonora (1796), De Lille’s Gardens (1798), Kotzebue’s Negro Slaves (1796), Walpole’s Il Castello di Otranto (1795), and Wieland’s Oberon (1798). In literary terms, the most important of these is Sacontola, but Leonora has memorable and ambitious designs. And he published in the original languages Ariosto, Orlando Furioso (1789), Horace, Opera (1792, 1793), Sousa, Adèle (1794), Lally Tolendal, Comte de Strafford (1st edition, 1795), Lenoir, La Compagne de la Jeunesse (1st edition, 1791), Alexandre Lenoir, L’Institutrice et son élève (1794), Novelle Otto (1st English edition, 1790), and Virgil, Opera (1793). This is a creditable list, though few editions on it are of major literary significance. Two of his publications notable primarily for typographical elegance are the Novelle Otto (1790) and Bacon’s Essays (1798). The former was printed in only twenty-five copies, four of them on vellum, and one with a special title page for presentation “alla Bibliotheca del Re” (see figure 7). The latter was a commercial edition, but it was

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Figure 10 The Fables of John Dryden, Ornamented with Engravings from the Pencil of The Right Hon. Lady Diana Beauclerc (London: J. Edwards and E. Harding, 1797), p. 27 vignette (Lady Diana Beauclerk–Francesco Bartolozzi) for “Palamon and Arcite” Book II. Victoria University in the University of Toronto.

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Figure 11 The Fables of John Dryden, Ornamented with Engravings from the Pencil of The Right Hon. Lady Diana Beauclerc (London: J. Edwards and E. Harding, 1797), p. 173, vignette (Beauclerk-W.N. Gardiner) for “The Flower and the Leaf: A Vision.” Victoria University in the University of Toronto. This large work (32.6 × 42.9 cm) was sometimes printed on vellum, with the engravings on satin, “printed in colours,” with Large Paper copies. It was often bound with Bűrgher’s Leonora with designs by Lady Diana (1796). See Blake’s similar design for Young’s Night Thoughts (1797), p. 4, of a sleeping figure with dancing spirits but with a different effect (illustration 20).

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Figure 12 Gottfried Augustus Bűrgher, Leonora, tr. W.R. Spencer, with Designs by the Right Honourable Diana Beauclerc (London: J. Edwards and E. Harding, 1796), print (Beauclerk-Harding) at p. 33 (26.3 × 35.5 cm). Victoria University in the University of Toronto. Countess Spretti posed for the figure of Leonora falling from the horse. In an advertisement, the bookseller Richard White wrote “that of all the Books ever published in England, or perhaps in the Globe, this Work holds the very first Place in the Splendor of Decoration, and in the Elegance of Typographical Execution.” The Analytical Review acclaimed it as a “splendid publication” with “beautiful type and paper” and “exquisite designs.” In some copies the prints were coloured, some engravings were printed on satin, and one copy has borders printed in gold.

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handsomely printed by Thomas Bensley, and four copies were struck on Large Paper “exclusively for the Countess Spencer,” with text 2 ½ʺ x 4 ½ʺ on pages c. 12 ½ʺ x 16ʺ. In such extraordinary copies, James Edwards was creating the kinds of works coveted by his customers for antiquarian books, such as George III (against whose bidding he secured the Bedford Missal) and Earl Spencer. The earliest of James Edwards’s publications with beautiful plates (after Harris’s Exposition of English Insects [1786]) seems to have been Holbein’s Triomphe de la Mort (?1790) and Dance of Death (1794). He acquired the thirty etchings from an aristocratic English family, made a facsimile without imprint of Le Triomphe de la Mort with some copies on vellum, had the plates “rebitten with great care,” and made a facsimile of The Dance of Death without imprint, some copies on vellum with coloured prints. It was clearly designed to appeal primarily to his customers for antiquarian books, though advertised as newly printed.44 Most of his other notable plates of the early 1790s were also acquired second hand. The splendid Hogarth plates for Butler’s Hudibras (1793) had first been printed over half a century previously and must have been borrowed from the Boydell firm that owned them. Hodges’s handsome plates for his Views in India (1794) had first been published in parts in 1785–8, and the engravings for Hamilton’s Grammont (1794) had first been published in the previous year by his friends and collaborators the Hardings. Similarly in later years the plates for Burgmair’s Maximilien I (1796) and Weis Kunig (1799) had been made in the sixteenth century, the New Copper Plate Magazine (1796) had first appeared in 1789–96, and Strutt’s Dress ... of England (1796, 1799) had first been printed in 1774–6. James Edwards did not have to bear the original expense or risk of commissioning any of these hundreds of engravings, though he deserves great credit for reprinting such glorious works. Probably his first important publication with new plates was Hodges’s Travels in India (1793, 1794), which he sold FOR THE AUTHOR. The “beautiful engravings” gave special pleasure to reviewers and posterity, and this collaboration doubtless led to the even more ambitious one in Hodges’s Views in India (1794). Edwards was always particularly interested in illustrated books, and the Rev. Joseph Stirling wrote to Bishop Percy on 11 February 1791: “I had a conversation the other day with Edwards the bookseller in Pall Mall; he wishes that your Lordship, in the next edition

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of your ‘reliques,’ would have engravings for each ballad; it would certainly make it a charming book. I wish you would recommend it to Dodsley; he is, I think your Lordship’s bookseller.”45 But the next edition of Percy’s Reliques of Ancient English Poetry (F. & C. Rivington, 1794) was not illustrated, attractive though the proposal was. Macklin, with his British Poets, was doing something similar with both classics of English literature and popular ballads, though on a much larger scale, and Joseph Ritson’s Select Collection of English Songs with charming plates after Thomas Stothard (1783) had proved quite successful. When Thomas Johnes bought a superb vellum copy of the fourteenthcentury French historian Froissart at Edwards’s sale of the Bibliotheca Parisiana in the spring of 1790, he was so pleased with it that he used to read it aloud to his wife. As he wrote to Bishop Percy on 15 May 1794, Mrs. Johnes one winter’s evening, as I was reading part of it to her, offered to write for me if I would translate it, and give her the profits to build an habitation for six poor old men and six old women, and endow it afterwards at so much per week. I wrote to my friend Mr. Edwards of Pall Mall, who directly accepted the proposal, and, made the most generous offers ... [I began] on it last year, and to my surprise, it was approved of in London.46

However, the translation was not completed until after Edwards had given up business, and it was eventually printed privately in 1803–5 in four very handsome quarto volumes at Johnes’s own press at Hafod in North Wales. Edwards collaborated with others in the very uncommon and beautiful Original Designs of Leonardo (1796) and the Caracci (1797), and in Lyson’s Roman Antiquities Discovered at Woodchester (1797), and he participated in a suite of folios with Italian views: John Smith’s Select Views in Italy, vol. 2 (1796–9), J. Merigot’s Select Collection of Views and Ruins in Rome (1797), and J. Salmon’s Description of the Works of Art of ... Rome, vol. 1 (1798). These are all very handsome and dear works, among the best of their time. The most ambitious illustrations of literature that James Edwards published were by Lady Diana Beauclerk with nine designs to Bűrgher’s Leonora (1796) and the twenty-four for Dryden’s Fables (1797). Lady Diana made “beautiful drawings” from Mr Stanley’s manuscript translation of Bűrgher’s poem47 using “the beautiful Countess Spreti ... as

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a model for Lenore” (see fig. 12, p. 109), W.R. Spencer then improved Stanley’s translation, her designs were engraved for E. & S. Harding, and Spencer’s translation with Lady Diana’s designs was published by J. Edwards and E. & S. Harding, Pall Mall. The preface remarked that the “exquisite designs ... are its brightest ornament,” and the Monthly Mirror review said that “The designs of Lady Beauclerc ... are conceived in the true spirit of the German poet.” The account in the Analytical Review praised the “beautiful type and paper” of “This splendid publication,” its “exquisite designs,” and the “complete justice” done to them by the engravers (chiefly Bartolozzi); “it affords the admirers of graphic art a luxuriant treat.” The virtues of Edwards’s edition of Walpole’s Castle of Otranto (1791) had been solid and sober, but those of Bűrgher’s Leonora are appropriately wild and macabre. The reception of Bűrgher’s poem was so emphatic that the same designer, engraver, and publishers promptly set to work on Dryden’s translations of Fables by Chaucer and Boccaccio of the same size but with three times as many plates (twenty-four vs nine) and two and a half times the cost (£2.12.6 vs £1.1.0). It was clearly designed as a companion to Leonora and was sometimes bound with it. The cherubs in the vignettes often imitate childishly and charmingly the serious preoccupations of the adults in the full page designs (see figs. 10 and 11, pp. 107–8). There is also a vignette strikingly similar to an engraving by William Blake for Young’s Night Thoughts (1797), which was dated 27 June 1796 and which Lady Diana may have seen before she made her design, which is dated 4 June 1797 on the plate. With the further refinements of Large Paper copies, plates printed in colour, on satin, or coloured by hand, this was James Edwards’s most ambitious illustrated literary work. Like his brother Richard’s edition of Young’s Night Thoughts (1797), all the designs are by one hand, but, unlike that, they were copied by four engravers, all different from the designer. The publishers have done everything possible to make Dryden’s Fables attractive, but it falls as far short of Richard Edwards’s Night Thoughts in splendour of genius as it exceeds it in charm and refinement. James Edwards’s most ambitious artistic publications were in the years 1796 and 1797, when most of his works have important illustrations. This accomplishment is the more striking when we consider that he was on the Continent from June 1796 to April 1797 and thus lost all those months for overseeing and initiating his publications. James Edwards’s most beautiful and unusual publications were in natural history,48 specifically in entomology and especially butterflies, a

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subject on which his good friend Henry Fuseli was a learned authority. The first of these publications was Moses Harris’s Exposition of English Insects (1786), a half-share of which Edwards seems to have acquired from his friend James Robson the year before they made a book-buying tour on the Continent together. The work had been repeatedly printed in the previous ten years. The chief feature of the book is the fiftythree large plates of almost five hundred insects designed from the life, engraved, and sometimes coloured by Moses Harris, and a richly bound coloured copy was offered in 1790 for the huge sum of £12.12.0. The work was clearly a companion to Harris’s Aurelian, first published in 1766; by 1794 Edwards had acquired the plates and copyright of this work from James Robson and printed his own folio edition with forty-five plates of English moths and butterflies designed from the life, engraved, and probably coloured by Moses Harris. It was printed on two kinds of paper and on vellum and is an extraordinarily beautiful work (see plate 3). As the publisher of the most important works on English insects, James Edwards was the natural person for James Edward Smith to turn to for his edition of The Natural History of the Rarer Lepidopterous Insects of Georgia ... Collected from the Observations of Mr John Abbott. James Edwards had already published Smith’s Coloured Figures of Rare Plants (1790–3) and his Spicilegium Botanicum (1791, 1792). Smith’s Insects of Georgia was the same enormous size as Harris’s Aurelian, but it had twice as many splendid coloured plates (104 vs 53) engraved in 1793–5 by Edwards’s protégé John Harris (apparently not related to Moses Harris). It was advertised in James Edwards’s 1794 catalogue but not finished until the end of 1797, when it sold for the heroic sum of £21. Edwards reported with delight that “our Friend Fuseli says [it] will immortalize me,” and Fuseli took pains to fulfil his own prophecy. In the Analytical Review he wrote that Smith’s Insects of Georgia is of “the highest value” for “splendour of appearance, ... uniform excellence of execution, ... the richness and novelty of it’s contents, ... [and] the precision and vivacity of the designs [see plate 1] .... We return our thanks to the publisher, equally for the spirit with which he rescued so valuable a collection from obscurity, and the perseverance and taste with which he superintended the execution of the whole.”49 With such friendly praise ringing in his ears, James Edwards could retire from publishing well content. A vignette of James Edwards as a publisher may be gleaned from his correspondence with William Roscoe of Liverpool, whose Life of Lorenzo de’ Medici he published in 1795. The work is unusual among Edwards’s

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publications in that it has few and minor illustrations, it was published for the author rather than at the risk of the publisher – and it became an instant bestseller, with new editions in 1796, 1797, 1800, and later. Roscoe had first been Edwards’s customer when trying to acquire the books necessary to write his great life, and Edwards’s transition from bookseller to publisher is a natural one – one which was probably repeated with Roscoe’s brother-inlaw Daniel Daulby and others of Edwards’s authors. In the correspondence, Edwards’s generosity of spirit, commercial shrewdness, and professional expertise are striking50 and were plainly much valued by Roscoe. William Roscoe evidently arranged for his biography to be printed at his expense by J. M’Creery in Liverpool, and he wrote to James Edwards about it, sending a sample of his provincial printer’s work and asking on what terms Edwards would publish it for him. On 17 January 1790 Edwards replied:51 Respectg your Work I am sure it will do Credit to any one from the Execution & I shall be very happy to be your publisher – I am not very conversant w.th the mode of Books[elle]rs’ Charge of publicat.n for Authors52 –but as I sh.d run no risque except from Booksell.rs Debts, I w.d undertake it at 5–p Cent– besides all Charges – or 10–p C.t including Warehouse Room, Insurance & Casual Expenses – to settle every Exmas – in short you may allow me just what you like for ye publicat.n

Edwards was not at first sanguine about its prospects for popularity, and on 7 December 1790 he wrote: It does not appear to me a Book for w.ch there will be a rapid Sale– If you think proper to publish it by Subscription I will get you many names among my Customers and if you are at much Expence in Engravings that will be the best way– Otherwise it is a troublesome Method & what I would not recommend to you as a Gentleman–

There weren’t many engravings, so the troublesome subscription method was not attempted. Edwards wrote frequently with advice about the work: I have never read History with more pleasure than the Sheets deliver.d me of your Life of Lorenzo de Medici– Every reader will find that you have made yourself complete master of the Subject, which you express in clear nervous and elegant language ...

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Figure 13 William Roscoe, The Life of Lorenzo de’ Medici (London: J. Edwards, 1795), Vol. I title page. W.S. Lewis Collection, Yale University. This copy in Etruscan calf was “Bound under the Direction of M.r [James] Edwards Pall Mall” with Walpole’s Orford crest. The book was given the “highest praise” in the Analyitical Review [by Fuseli], who was, Roscoe wrote, “the very person ... whom I often placed before me as my Judge, & whose favorable sentence once obtained I should make light of all the rest.” Roscoe’s Lorenzo was successful beyond the imaginations of the author and his bookseller, and there were James Edwards editions of it in 1795, 1796, 1797, and 1800.

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The print & paper are as good as can be, but in a second Edition (w.ch I am sure will be wanted in a few months after its publication) I will beg you to take off 250 Copies on Royal paper and one on Vellum for myself[.] [20 February 1794] I recommend you to divide the Life of Lorenzo in 2 nearly equal Volumes. [7 March 1794]

Proof copies were shown to Lord Lansdown, the Princess Royal, Miss Berry, Mrs Damer, and Horace Walpole (Lord Orford),53 the last of whom wrote to Edwards: Berkeley Square March 12.th 1794 Lord Orford feels himself most sensibly obliged by M.r Edwards, for allowing Miss Berry to communicate to him the Fragment of the Life of Lorenzo de’ Medici– Lord O. has not enjoyed so much and such unexpected pleasure a long time, as from this most able, informing and entertaining Work – which, tho’ it will leave a most agreeable impression on his mind, gives him great inquietude too, as he does not think that it will appear very soon – an afflicting circumstance to Lord O. – as Very soon may be of great Consequence to a very infirm man of 76, and who has no hopes of being so well amused as he should be by reading the completion of this Work, for the sight of which he again thanks M.r Edwards.

Edwards advised Roscoe: impatient as I am to see it I wo.d not recommend to you to give the first volume alone[;] endeavor to get the other out by Xmas [1794] or Janu.y [26 May 1794] I wish you wo.d press forward for publication next Spring– if your part is nearly completed ... and it only stops wth the printer I sho.d think you might send the Appendix & paper of ye 2d vol. to be printed here while your printer was going on w.th ye rest[?]. The proofs might still be corrected by you– ... I recommend to you by all means to hotpress the work – we pay 1/ for every 100 Sheets but I sho.d think the proportion

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of Country wages ought to reduce the price to about 8d – I wish you may have tho.t of Engraving ye Vignettes upon a piece of Copper the Size of ye whole page to prevent an ugly mark in ye Impression – if you give a Head of Lorenzo as Frontispiece let us get it done by Bartolozzi–54 it will not cost you above 15/15/ & you may make 1/2 the money by a few proof Impressions– [29 November 1794] I rec.d your Vol. 1.st of the Life of Lorenzo and immediately sent one of the large paper wth your Letter to Lord Orford ... As to the printing & paper of both small & large I am perfectly satisfy.d One makes really a fine Book & the other a very handsome one– I forget what number you printed, but if you can afford it, I wish you to put the fine [i.e., Large Paper copies] at 1/11/6 & the other at 1/1 p vol[.]55 If you had not printed off ye title, I w.d have advisd you to leave out – Bookseller – after my name because it seems tautology following sold by – or as if you sho.d say printed by A.B. printer.– if the work was not classical in other respects this w.d hardly be worth mentioning–56 [24 March 1795] you had better send [copies] by Sea on Acc.t of ye Expence[;] if we can publish it in November it will be the best time possible to supply our friends when they arrive hungry from the Country ... P.S. One of Ld Orford’s Friends has been very sollicitous to have a large paper Copy– I wish you wo.d allow about 6 Copies of that to be sold at 3/3/.. or more if you please – because Lord Spencer & such like are dissatisfyd if they have not ye best. [18 September 1795] I sent you by the Mail Coach this Evening 600 Impressions of the beautifull Engraving of Lorenzo – I think the printing will please you and be found of a piece (as we say in Yorkshire) w.th the rest of the work– pray let me have them to publish as soon as possible– [21 November 1795] I rejoice to hear your Work is finish.d – as soon as ever they arrive they shall be advertisd – Your form of Advertis.t is perfectly what it sho.d be – but I shall be afraid to mention ye Day before I have ’em in possession owing to the irregularity of Carriers–

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The allowance I must make to other Booksellers cannot be less than 3/ p Volume – but I will charge you nothing upon that, as I shall sell a sufficient number retail to reimburse the inconvenience of Credit &c– I w.d advise you to let the same allowance be made to ye Booksell.rs of Liverpool – because they will have a pride in shewing a Book so creditable to their town – and you have too much liberality to wish the poor creatures to work for nothing– ... my pride w.d be gratify.d by the publication (independant of my regard to you) if I had not a farthing profit; & to tell you truth I have no occasion for it – .... dont enter the Book at Stationer’s Hall as you have so few Copies– in a Second Edition you may do it– I shall put your large paper Setts at 3/3/0 – being so few I might get 4 – but people wd call us greedy of money w.ch no part of your character agrees wth – .... P.S. dont let any be sold before the 13th ins.t [4 February 1796] Every body tells me that your 2d vol exceeds the first tho’ that gave the highest Satisfaction – It is a subject of conversation in every company – not to be able to speak of it or to say they are to have it from the next parcl is to be void of taste or discernment. [26 February 1796] let as many as you chuse to sell be sent off in any Condition by ye first Waggon and let your printer immediately set about a 2d Edition of 500[.] I wd not recommend you more because after that if wanted you sho.d give it in 8vo. Notwithstandg your other business pray remember that I am fretting and harrass.d continually from the disappoint.t of being without a Copy of your Book[.]57 [3 March 1796 (postmark)] your binder has been very inattentive in putting them in b.ds (I fancy we hurried him too much)[;] some want the leaves w.ch ought to contain ye cancell.d pages & some of them have had wrong Sheets in them[.] – I advise you not to print more than 500 in Quarto as sufficient for that Size[;] the next if call.d for must be in 8vo & ye n.o 1000– [12 March 1796]

Edwards’s account for the first edition in his letter of 9 June 1796 gave Roscoe credit for 315 ordinary copies sold at £1.16.0 each and 6 large

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paper copies at £2.12.6 for a total of £585.15.0. There were debits for carriage (£3.7.1); binding(?) (£24.14.10); paper and printing for the plate (£2.8.0); two gift copies (£4.12.0, including one to Fuseli); advertising on 20 February and 1 March in the Monthly Review (£2.2.0) and at 6s each in the Sun (five times), Courier (thrice), Times (twice), Chronicle (twice), and Star (twice) (£4.4.0); plus books supplied. Edwards sent Roscoe two drafts for the balance, “and as I know not what construction may be out upon my rambling disposition, lest you sho.d wish to negociate them [during my absence in Italy] I have made them payable and accepted by my Father– Tho’ you wo.d not have requir.d this Security I think it perfectly right that your family sho.d have it.” The remaining 179 copies (of the 500 printed) were given away and sold, mostly in the next six months, though a number proved to be defective as James Edwards’s father William pointed out to Roscoe somewhat brusquely (25 July, 15, 20, 25 August, 12 December 1796) while he was looking after the shop in Pall Mall during James’s absence in Italy. Henry Fuseli, who had reviewed the book in the Analytical Review, told Joseph Farington on 2 August 1796 that Roscoe has forsaken his principles. He is here the advocate of Tyranny; though He has been always ready to sign any parchment of remonstrance against encroachment of Liberty. Roscow was 12 years preparing the life of Lorenzo. He was assisted by Mr. [William] Clarke Son of a banker at Liverpool, who collected for him at Florence such materials as were necessary; a part of these Fuseli said are extremely valuable. Lord Orford has done the business for Roscoe with the world. His warm panegyricks drew the attention of fashionable collectors. The first Edition was published for Roscow. It consisted only of 450 copies;58 & being put at 2 guineas, a high price, made a handsome profit. The credit of the work is now so high that Cadell & Davi[e]s have given Roscow 1200 guineas [pounds], and 50 [20] copies on fine paper, for the 2d. edition. The History of Lorenzo might have been comprised in one Volume.

Arrangements for the publication of the second, third, and fourth editions in 1796, 1797, and 1800 were conducted with Cadell & Davies.59 James Edwards was a generous and enlightened publisher. His correspondence with William Roscoe about the publication of the first edition of his Life of Lorenzo de’ Medici constitutes a kind of manual of fine-book publishing in the 1790s.

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Books Imported by James Edwards James Edwards published a fair number of books that bear his name on the title page. He also “published” a disconcerting number of books with which he can be associated only indirectly. The evidence for his part in these works is of three kinds: 1) notices in his own catalogues of 1790, 1794, and 1796 that he had “lately imported” works from abroad; 2) notices in the 1794 and 1796 catalogues that he had “lately published” books that do not bear his name on the title page60 and that in fact had been published as much as fifty-three years before in Bath or Canterbury or Oxford – or even London – and for which Edwards was acting only as the London agent; 3) London books to which he subscribed for twenty or more copies,61 clearly taking the works for resale, or for which he bought the remainders (see Appendix 2). Most of these books were imported from abroad, from Italy, France, Austria, and Germany, almost certainly as a result of his travels on the Continent buying antiquarian books and libraries. If we ignore the books he “imported” from Bath and Canterbury and Oxford (a Bible, a history of Kent, and an edition of Euclid) and the London books with which he dealt in an irregular way (“Robinson Crusoe, Edwards’s Birds, Cicero’s De Officiis, Claudian’s Carmina, Harris’s Natural System of Colours, Pinkerton’s Iconographia Scotica, Shakspeare Illustrated, and Works of the British Poets), the pattern of Continental books that he imported becomes clearer. Their costs were not perhaps much more than those for the publications that bear his name, from 10s 6d to £16.16.0, averaging about £3.10.0 (median £2.2.0). One of them was listed in his 1790 Catalogue, eight more appeared in that of 1794, and the same eight plus four others (including that of 1790) in the 1796 Catalogue. Nine were identified as “Imported by Edwards” in reviews – Edwards seems to have been particularly effective in getting his publications noticed in his friend Joseph Johnson’s Analytical Review – and of those only one was also listed in Edwards’s own catalogues. It seems likely, therefore, that he “imported” a large number of books beyond those that were identified with him in print, such as those he ordered two to a dozen at a time from Bodoni in Parma. I presume that Edwards was the only London agent for the books he imported.

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The books from the Continent came from cities in Italy (Rome, Naples, Parma, Milan, and Venice), France (Paris, Marseilles, ?Lyons), Austria (Vienna), and Germany (Hamburgk, Leipsic [Leipzig]), and they are in Latin (8, French (8), Greek (3), Italian (1), and English (1) – several are bilingual or trilingual, and all those from Germany and Austria are in French, English, or Latin. Most of them are about theology (the Bible and biblical commentary), the classics (Anacreon, Homer), biography (French Academicians, Dictionnaire des Artistes, Mémoires of S. Simon), natural history (fossils and shells), and antiquarian subjects (coins, engraved stones, Museo Pio-Clementino), and only one is on a severely practical subject, on recognizing and valuing Italian money. Many are lavishly illustrated, the plates being the raison d’être of the work, and some are landmarks in the development of European taste, such as Il Museo Pio-Clementino and Sir William Hamilton’s Etruscan, Greek and Roman Antiquities. James Edwards must have been an important channel through which Continental learning and taste reached England during the late 1780s and the 1790s. Notice that the earliest date on these Continental works is 1766, but the latest is only 1792, though Edwards was certainly publishing until the end of the decade. Probably the expanding war with Revolutionary France made it increasingly difficult for him to import works from France and Italy, though he imported sheets with his own imprint from Vienna as late as 1799. The English works with which Edwards is associated even when they do not bear his name are more heterogeneous. Some were first published before Edwards began in business for himself – Edwards, Uncommon Birds (1743–64), Hasted, Kent, vols. 1–2 (1778, 1782), Euclid, Elements (1781), and Harris, Natural System of Colours (1781) – and these Edwards probably obtained as remainders. For the Bible (Bath, 1785) and Hasted’s Kent, vols. 3–4 (Canterbury, 1790, 1799), he may have acted as the London agent. For the rest,62 he obtained sufficient stock to warrant calling him a publisher either through subscription (Defoe, Robinson Crusoe [1790], Pinkerton, Iconographia Scotica [1797]) or perhaps through trade auctions (Cicero, De Officiis [1791], and Works of the British Poets [1795]). Such associations make it plain that the word “publish” was remarkably flexible in the late eighteenth century – as it is today. James Edwards was also a de facto publisher of William Roscoe’s translation of Luigi Tansillo’s children’s poem The Nurse. When Roscoe sent him a gift copy, Edwards replied eagerly on 7 December 1798: I have hastily gobbled a few pages of your poem & tho’ my judg.t in poetry is without rule I pronounce it will be one of the most popular poems of the

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time – and I hope will gratify your patriotism as much as your muse in its general approbation – Try to get 1/2 a Dozn beautiful Drawings of Contrasts (for we must have pictures for the Children of this age to catch their glances). Then let it be printed in the Stile of Hayley’s triumph of Temper for the pocket – and it will sell by thousands– ... unless you are offerd a very good price let it be publish.d in the small Size on your own Acc.t.

Note Edwards’s discretion in this letter: not only does he not suggest himself as publisher of The Nurse, but he proposes that no commercial bookseller should publish it63 – it should be sold “on your own Acc.t” Roscoe must have sent copies of The Nurse to Edwards very promptly, and less than a month later, on 4 February 1799, Edwards reported that he had already sold 230 copies of it and intended to repeat the advertisement for it. And he went on most illuminatingly: because “Advertising is so very serious an Expense to us,” we use only ten or twelve papers, “and in our Choice of these we are influenced wholly by our Idea of their Circulation.” They have therefore ignored The Courier but will include it if Roscoe so directs. “When the Nurse is reprinted,” let us make it like Rogers’s Pleasures of Memory “and several other little Volumes we have lately published.” Perhaps Fuseli could be persuaded to make designs for the new edition. Despite the extensiveness of his responsibility for The Nurse, in advertising it and advising on its form in a new edition, Edwards was evidently selling the work only on commission and acting in friendship for its author. Retirement from Publishing Successful though James Edwards’s business was, it suffered from strains visible only to its owner. First among these was probably the fact that not only were French ports closed to English trade, but English goods were seized in countries conquered by the French. As Edwards wrote to Roscoe as early as 12 August 1797: “none of my Books can come off from that Country [Italy] before a Peace– ... [One book for you] I pick.d up at Venice and expect to see some future day, if Buonaparte does not make a requisition of all English property there as they did at Leghorn & Genoa &c–”. Consequently Edwards determined to wind up his business affairs, as he told Roscoe on 3 November 1797: “My health has suffer.d much from the Strict attention I have given to a very extended and multifarious business– I have already alter.d it

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into a private House meaning to reduce it to a few Select Connexions w.ch will just amuse me, and by degrees to reduce my Stock to a very complete private Library–”. His affairs were even somewhat perilous two months later, when he wrote to Roscoe on 2 January 1798: “I have enclos.d your Acc.t and as I am almost run aground w.th various expenses & unwise Speculations if it is convenient to you a remittance will be very acceptable–.” This was repeated on 13 January 1798: “I dont wonder to hear you like all thoughtfull people talk of ye necessity of oeconomy in these times– Some very large losses –the great difficulty of getting in debts and our present prospect make me feel it very sensibly.” Consequently he must have been greatly relieved when a consignment of books from Italy came through in March 1798, which he sold at Sotheby’s on 15 June 1799. His decision to retire from business entirely was clear by 14 September 1798, when he wrote to Roscoe: You will perhaps be surpris.d when I tell you that I have determin.d to quit a Business w.ch I enter.d into by Choice & w.ch has afforded me as much gratification as an employment congenial to the mind and successful in its attempts can produce – but every thing has its bourn[.] I carried it so far as to be overwhelmd wth its fatigue and sicken.d with parts of it w.ch I co.d neither delegate nor exclude– With such views I am now getting rid of my Stock among the trade and various ways so that your obliging offer of the Aldine Classicks does not suit me to accept – When by degrees I shall have disencumber.d myself and regulated my future walk I shall be happy to use my past experience in accommodating a few Friends and pleasant connexions[.]

He was gratified that Roscoe agreed with him, and on 20 September 1798 he told Roscoe that he did not think large possessions or the Society to w.ch fortune w.d introduce [me] w.d give them [a family] a better chance for happiness– Vigour of mind or body must be call.d out by circumstances and fortune w.th young people usually begets Indolence[.] You & I have been too much in contrary habits to be capable of its corroding influence[.] I have seen much of the world and found enjoyments in every place – why sho.d I subject myself to characters I cannot esteem or sacrifice my time to what leaves no gratification in a Review? My determination is not hasty tho my movements seem precipitate.

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He sold his good will to Robert Harding Evans, who later became a distinguished auctioneer and in fact sold James Edwards’s own books at auction in 1815. Edwards was scrupulous in introducing the young man to his best customers, as he did to Roscoe on 4 February 1799: On the Closure of my Acc.ts in business I now send your Bill of last year – and beg to introduce to your notice as my Successor M.r Evans of PallMall– He is a young man of considerable talent, well read in the Classicks and very desirous to form connexions w.th distinguish.d Characters– he has liv.d 7 years past w.th Mr Payne of Mewsgate [with whom Edwards frequently collaborated]. I flatter myself that my retirem.t from business will not debar me from intercourse w.th my friends but that they will consider my past experience in it as most valuable to myself when it can be apply.d to their interest or amusement[.]

Six months later he was still completing his arrangements, and on 9 August 1799 he had to decline Roscoe’s invitation to come to Liverpool with his old friends Henry Fuseli the sharp-tongued painter and Joseph Johnson the gentle bookseller: It wo.d give me great pleasure to accept your invitation of a trip w.th Fusseli & Johnson but as yet I have many remains of ancient toils from wch to disencumber myself and am employing the vacant season of town for that purpose and some alterations &c in my house – for I still live & mean to continue at N.o 77 P. M.l – as my home– By the end of the m.th I may perhaps get into the Country but my present engagements point Southward.

When Edwards gave up business about 1800, he must have turned over much of his new and antiquarian stock to R.H. Evans, his successor in Pall Mall. When Evans took over James Edwards’s business, he acquired numbers of his publications, which he offered in his Catalogue (1804), describing himself as “Successor to Mr. Edwards.” Many of the Edwards publications were described as “new and very neat,” a formula evidently indicating that they were not second-hand. Among the more remarkable Edwards editions were Benaven, Le Caissier (1781), No. 380; Horace, Opera (1792), Large Paper, No. 520; Dutens, Table Généalogique (London, n.d.), new, No. 629; Eckel, Doctrina Numorum, No. 865–6; Cardonnel, Scotland, quarto, No. 958, and octavo, No. 1608; Pinkerton, Essay on Medals, No. 1888; Roscoe, Medici (1796, the 2nd edition, not the current one), No. 3671; works with plates coloured (Lysons, Roman

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Antiquities, No. 48, 240; Harrison, Colour, No. 306) and in elegant bindings (Smith, Views in Italy [1792], No. 29; Holbein, Triumph of Death, No. 64; Hamilton, Grammont, No. 76, 648–9). And Evans took the place of Edwards in the second volume of Merigot’s Rome (1799). Some of his rights in new publications went to other publishers. He dropped out of the imprint on the second volume of Salmon’s Rome (1800), and a new title page was struck in 1800 for his edition of Kotzebue’s Negro Slaves (1796) for a congeries omitting his name. He sold to Edward & Sylvester Harding, his successors at 102 Pall Mall, some of his most notable illustrated books: Bűrgher’s Leonora (1796), Burgmaier’s Weis Kunig (1799), Dryden’s Fables (1796), De Lille’s Gardens (1798), Hamilton’s Grammont (?1794), Holbein’s Dance of Death (?1794), and Pinkerton’s Medallic History (1790), which the Hardings advertised and published in 1801 and 1802. Other works that James Edwards published, such as the Original Designs of Leonardo (1796) and the Caracci (1797), Cooke’s Conversation (1796), Ellis’s English Poets (1790), Harris’s Colours (1781), Stedman’s Surinam (1796), Symmons’s Inez (1796), and Worlidge’s Antique Gems (?1788) were also republished during James Edwards’s retirement (1801–14), and presumably he sold his shares in them.64 With the exception of the fourth edition of Roscoe’s Lorenzo, which appeared with his imprint dated 1800, James Edwards was apparently out of the publishing business by the end of 1799. Though he had retired from bookselling by the end of 1800, the last date on any of his publications, he had not given up the exercise of his bibliographical talents, and through them he entered upon one of the most interesting episodes of his life.

4 The Bookseller as Diplomat: James Edwards, Lord Grenville, and Earl Spencer in 1800

James Edwards was a notable collector as well as bibliophile. Not only was his library extraordinary, with its illuminated fifteenth-century Bedford Missal and its immaculate vellum Livy of 1469, but he collected miniatures such as the one by Cooper copied in Hamilton’s Grammont (?1794), and he had nine extraordinary Etruscan vases that were the subject of attention by scholars, chiefly his great Capo di Monte vase, which was represented on his funeral monument. He was clearly a man of respected taste in many of the arts most prized by English connoisseurs. He may have been courtier-like with his customers, but his taste, judgment, and collections usually rivalled or surpassed theirs. And when he retired into the country as a gentleman of taste and leisure, he dealt with the great world on his own terms. In the course of winding up his commercial affairs, James Edwards needed to realize what he could from the large stocks of his books that the French had seized in Leghorn, Genoa, and elsewhere. Therefore he had to go to France to talk to any officials who would listen to him. And in order to go to France legally, he had to secure passage in a cartel boat licensed by the French and English governments; the one that he took carried contraband cotton, coffee, and sugar, a traffic which “the Governments on each side winked at,” he said. Early July 1800, when he apparently crossed the Channel, was a particularly uneasy period, for not only were France and England still at war, but Napoleon had very recently seized power in France, and it would require all Edwards’s “courtier-like” graces, his “air and grimace of a Frenchman ... and his facility in speaking the language ... like a native” (as William Beloe said) to secure a French laissez-passer once he reached France. His French passport came from Talleyrand. His English authority came

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from William Wyndham Grenville (1759–1834), Baron Grenville, the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, to whom Edwards may have been introduced by his elder brother Thomas Grenville (1755–1846), the great book collector. On his return to England, Edwards wrote from Pall Mall on 12 August 1800 an extraordinarily shrewd letter to Lord Grenville which is as remarkable for its cultural as for its political information: Having, through your protection, obtained His Majesty’s licence to go to France to enquire after goods belonging to me which have been laying there [since] before the war, I conceive it my duty to relate to your Lordship the situation and disposition which I had an opportunity of observing in that country, as well as the conversations I had with several political characters in it. The whole country through which I passed from Calais to Paris is in the highest state of culture, and the crops most abundant. The population appeared to me equal to what I had formerly seen it. The manners of the people peaceable and obliging; the reverse of a disgusting pertness which I witnessed when I was last in France about 1791. At every place where I stopped, an anxious enquiry for peace; not the least expression of reproach to England or its Government anywhere, except that in all the Public Offices there is a printed paper “Guerre au Gouvernement Anglais;” and at a post-house near Amiens, a number of women sitting together in the street, one of them cried out, “Ah, Monsieur Anglais, vous nous avez donnée assez de misère. Donnez-nous la paix.” The posts are exactly as before the war, and the roads nearly as good. I saw no marks of republicanism or revolution at any town through which we passed except the demolition of churches, and the destruction of Chantilly; nor any military except what might be expected to support civil order in times of peace. At Paris instead of the devastation, disorder, and misery which I expected, the houses and streets in every quarter are in a most perfect state of decency and order. I saw very few private carriages, but they numbered more than 2,000 hackney coaches and cabriolets for hire. Though some of the monuments of art have been destroyed, all the best have been preserved, from St. Denis, the Sorbonne, the Mazarine, and every other public building, so as to make a school of French art in sculpture from its infancy; all classed under their different ages, and placed with great taste in the college and gardens of the Petits Augustins. I saw them and have got an octavo volume of their description.

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They have not been less careful of the monuments of art plundered from Italy, Germany, and other countries. The statues of the Apollo, Laocoon, and every other I saw have arrived as perfect as I saw them at Rome, except Michael Angelo’s part of the Laocoon which was not applied. The pictures of the Italian, French, Dutch, and Flemish Schools are about half placed in the uppermost story of the Louvre. The whole length of the room is 1,400 feet; only half of it is yet filled, but I saw piles of pictures for the rest (chiefly of the Italian school) not yet hung. Numbers of artists were employed in cleaning and repairing them. Those which are hung up seem to have arrived in perfect condition. The Bibliothéque Royale is preparing to be enlarged more than double, and the piles of books from foreign countries, as well as their own, ready to fill it.1 It is remarkable that the late Queen’s Library is preserved entire, and kept separate from all the rest. Every one of the royal palaces have been preserved, and in higher condition of repair than formerly. The Thuilleries is ornamented in front with fine Roman statues of senators and a number of modern statues of heroes are ordered at £1,000 sterling each – among which is our Duke of Marlborough. No gold coin has been struck during the whole Revolution, and the louis d’ors as well as écus of the ancient monarchy always permitted. At the few places where I saw the cap of liberty, it seems to have been ironically formed as a fool’s cap. The trees of liberty are almost everywhere suffered to decay, or purposely destroyed. The great statue of Liberty at the Champs Elysées was pulled down a few days after I arrived at Paris. About 16 days ago an order was issued that the Décadé was only binding to the Offices of State, that others were at liberty to use it on Sunday as their day of rest. The Sunday following I saw more than half of the shops shut, and the people going in parties to the country as formerly. I went into Sainte Sulpice on 2 or 3 Sundays, and saw mass performed as usual, but only attended by the lowest people. When I was in society where religion was mentioned, the infidelity of Voltaire seemed to have pervaded everywhere, so as to have made all but the lowest class a nation of Deists. Bonaparte appears to wish to restore Christianity. He ordered Te Deum to be performed in Notre Dame for the victory of Marengo,2 and has permitted the emigrant priests to return on condition they would live under the laws of the French Government. In the music at the église des Invalides, July 14, were passages addressed to the Supreme Being expressed as decently as anything of its kind. The country people in general are attached to the

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Christian sabbath, and have always observed it as much as they durst during the Revolution. The National cockade is still worn by the men, but diminished to the size of a half-crown, and even that but half exposed above the hat-band. I did not choose to wear it, and was never interrupted for the want of it except once in passing a corps de garde, faubourg St. Germain. The soldier stopped me and took me into the guard room for not having it. I asked to see the officer, and told him I did not conceive myself entitled to wear it, being an Englishman. He said “Oh, c’est différent,” and very politely showed me to the door. I was never addressed as citoyen but by the lowest people, and seldom heard it among the natives; in good company it is Monsieur as formerly. In various companies I have spoken of the return of monarchy in the restoration of some branch of the family, and never found any repugnance from Frenchmen to the admission of it as the only hope of stability. I saw nothing of democracy anywhere among Frenchmen, nor heard the word mentioned by them but with horror. On expressing my surprise at this change to some who had been most violent formerly, they seemed ashamed and lamented their error; they said it was impossible for an Englishman to conceive what they had suffered, and how they had been made to expiate their folly; that till Bonaparte had taken the reins of government, they had been in the hands of villains who knew nothing of regular government; that everything was disorganized and trusted to the effects of chance; that they even sought to increase the disorder to fill their own pockets more securely; that every fibre of government was relaxed and no confidence in anyone. All classes speak of Bonaparte with enthusiasm for having given them for 6 months past such security and calm as they have never before had since the change of government. They seem convinced that he only seeks their happiness. He appears to shun every kind of popular applause and ostentation, he is secret and decisive in all his operations, he consults but never argues, and nothing can be more absolute. He is a strong fatalist, and has inspired the nation with the idea that he is to give them peace; though he has preserved most of the old officers of government he has almost universally checked them by rivality or jealousy. Fouchet (Minister of the Police at Paris) and Talleyrand3 are said to hate each other; indeed I had an instance of it in the refusal of the former to countersign Talleyrand’s passport to me. Again the prefet of the police at Boulogne is the friend of Talleyrand and enemy of Fouchet; on this account Fouchet has placed Mengaud, one of his friends, as Commissary of Police at Calais.

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Bonaparte has made a disposition for a succession in case of his death by means of the Conservatory Senate; ’tis supposed Carnot would supply his place, and Barthélemy one of the other Consuls,4 but this was considered by the people I conversed with as provisionary till complete order could be restored. I breakfasted twice with Monsieur Le Blond, the intimate friend of Sièyes.5 I asked him if it was possible Bonaparte could have an idea of establishing himself in the supreme authority. He treated the question with ridicule; that it was impossible any other than some one of the ancient family could be placed at the head. He said “Vous Anglais nous méprisez assez hautement, mais vous ne nous méprisez pas la dixième de ce que nous méritons.” He said this when three others besides myself were at his table. In one of his apartments was hung up a very fine picture of the Queen, and on the other side a portrait of Mary of Médicis by Rubens. I was three times with Monsieur Talleyrand; he hoped I had found Paris in a different state from what it was represented with us, and begged that I would report it so. I was introduced to the Consul Le Brun,6 who is a very amiable man and good scholar; he was the principal instrument of the Chancelier Maupeou, and was placed by the late King in the Finance. At the time of terror he retired to his estates which are considerable, and was recalled from that situation by Bonaparte to fill the place of 3rd Consul. He hoped I had a pleasant journey and found France in a different state from what it was represented in England. I told him I had come over in a merchant’s ship laden with coffee, cotton and sugar; that I was happy to find the Governments on each side winked at an indirect commerce; that I hoped it was the prelude to more regular communications and peace; that we wanted their corn as much as our colonial produce was sought for by them. He said it has not been owing to France but your own Government that corn has not been supplied to England. We have been twice on the point of permitting a free exportation, but it has been prevented by the discovery of intrigues which do no honour to your Government. I answered it was very likely that the persons to whom he alluded gave themselves out as employed by Government, but without the least title to it; that I was totally unconnected with Government, but in such a situation as to communicate with every class; that knowing the character of my country I was persuaded they had nothing to do with anything dishonourable; that England was too powerful a nation to stoop to such means, and indeed the few English I had seen [in France] were more likely to be such as had quitted their country from discontent, and expressed with little regard to

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truth whatever related to England; that we might have agents for information, but I could not believe the extravagancies imputed to them. He said he did not allude to Englishmen but to Swiss.7 Blond asked him if the armistice with the Emperor was confirmed. He said it was, and now they had only to employ their strength against England if she persisted in continuing the war. This being directed to me, I said England had made ample provision for the war however long it was necessary, but desired peace, and was ready to make it whenever it could be done upon grounds of security and liberality. He asked me what I meant. I told him as an individual unconnected with any party I spoke the sentiments of the nation in saying England never could make peace with France but when it was separated from Belgium; that we were a nation so deeply engaged in commerce it was thought of importance by every individual that our trade should not be so endangered at the breaking out of a future war as by having such an extent of coast in their possession; that no Ministry could make a peace otherwise; that England did not demand for itself, but that it should belong to some power capable of supporting it against France, and would be ready to give its full equivalent in the surrender of some part of those possessions we had taken from them; that having lost nothing we had nothing to ask for ourselves, we were in the fullest exercise of commerce and protection but lamented the miseries of war, and were too just to treat for peace but upon the most honourable terms. He said if we insisted upon Belgium it was in fact to say we would have war; that we showed it both by spurning the offers of Bonaparte, and by the invectives we were continually throwing out against him. I begged leave to observe that at the time Bonaparte sent his message he had but just overturned in the most violent manner what had before been the Government;8 that he must allow it was then as natural to suppose Bonaparte might be as suddenly overturned; that as to the invectives he complained of, they were as abundantly employed by Opposition to Ministers and Ministers to Opposition, and had no other personal meaning than as applied to the subject in debate; that it was impossible for men of great abilities not to respect each other in reality, whatever language policy might dictate to influence the people; that in the answer of our Government they looked forward to a moment when they could treat with France securely; that they did not pretend to dictate a government, but to advise what seemed most likely to bring about stability. Here he did not appear to wish I should go on, but said with great cordiality, “Vous étes un véritable Anglais; dites à votre Gouvernement ce que vous voyez de l’ordre, de la regularité, de la bienséance partout.”

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I was several times with Monsieur Caillard,9 Gardes des Archives (formerly minister at the Hague and at Berlin). I said as much to him on the subject of Belgium which he did not seem surprised at. He desired me to present his compliments to Lord Malmesbury and Lord St. Helens.10 I saw Barthélemy several times, and once dined with him. He expressed his disappointment at the reception he met with in England, but without bitterness; and said he had met with such kindness formerly as must always endear England to him. He wished to know the sentiments of the country for war or peace. I explained to him the readiness with which every loan was raised, the immense resource for the continuance of the war by the produce of the income tax, and the strongest proof of our prosperity by the gradual rise of the funds for the last two years; but that we all wished for peace when it could be had without danger. He wished me to explain what I conceived that to be. I said the restoration of Flanders, and a regularity of succession at the head of government. He made no observations upon it. I was introduced to the Chevalier Flicurieux of the Marine.11 He showed me a fine maritime atlas of the Baltic which was nearly ready, and, he said, would be of great use to English sailors. I told him we should receive it with great pleasure. He said though the nations were at war individuals were made to respect each other. I forget whether it was he or Monsieur Lescallier who told me they were meditating an increase of their navy by a ship from every department. I made a bow and answered that they were very generous. Comment? I said by saving us the trouble of building, unless they could build British sailors also. He exclaimed diable! and dropped the subject.

Edwards was clearly impressed when Talleyrand “begged that I would report” on the state of Paris and when Le Brun, the Third Consul, said “dites à votre Gouvernement ce que vous voyez de l’ordre, de la regularité, de la bienséance partout,” and he wrote very fully to Lord Grenville. Lord Grenville in his turn was properly impressed with the information and tact revealed in this letter, which he carefully preserved. During his first visit, Edwards was, as he wrote, “totally unconnected with Government,” but his second visit two months later probably had more than one political purpose. He was escorting back to France a “returning French bookseller,” perhaps P.F. Basan or his son A.L. Basan, authors of Dictionnaire des Graveurs (1767), its Supplément (1791), and the Seconde Edition (1809). On 8 October 1797 Joseph Farington had

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written in his diary, “Basan – the Printseller of Paris, was with Byrne 3 or 8 weeks ago. He came in disguise. He is a Democrat but much truth came out.” And on 1 December 1797 Farington remarked: R. Ford, of the Police Office, ... has the management of employing Frenchmen &c to go to & from France to collect information.– It is by comparing their accts. that they collect something like the truth from these fellows, – who are searched at Dover even to taking off their buttons every time they go or return.– Had Bassan, the Printseller been taken, He would have been sent to Botany Bay.

This second trip to Paris by Edwards in 1800 is known directly from a letter Thomas Grenville wrote to his brother Lord Grenville on 10 September 1800 about the sculptress Anne Damer (1749–1828), who had inherited Strawberry Hill from Horace Walpole in 1797 and who was a friend of both Nelson and of Napoleon’s wife Josephine. James Edwards would have known her both as a friend to the arts and as Walpole’s friend and executor.12 Thomas Grenville said: I have a request to make to you in favour of an old friend of mine and of the fine arts. Mrs. Damer is going to pass three weeks or a month at Paris, and is very anxious to be allowed to pass over from Dover to Calais in a cartel boat with Edwards and his returning French bookseller. As she is a very good aristocrat and no politician, I have promised her that I will do what I can to obtain this indulgence for her, and I know no other way than that of applying to you upon the subject. If she can obtain this permission, she has no doubt of getting through Perrégaux a French passport for the three weeks of October, which she means to pass there; she would take only a friend and their two maids to Calais, and from thence take a travelling servant at the recommendation of the banker there.13

The second trip James Edwards made to Paris in 1800 is probably the one referred to by his son the Rev. E.J. Edwards in the following account: About the year 1801, General –– came to England to negotiate a treaty of peace with this nation: there was some secret our Government wished to gain private information of, and which could only be obtained through a private French family (name forgotten). Mr. [James] Edwards (the father of

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the Rev. E.J. Edwards) was breakfasting with Lord Spencer, then first Lord of the Admiralty, when this was mentioned. Mr. Edwards was personally acquainted with this family, and told Lord Spencer he could learn anything from them that he was desirous to know. Shortly after, Lord Spencer asked Mr. Edwards to go over to Paris (promising him a safe conduct) to ascertain the particulars that the Government required. Having satisfactorily performed the business, he returned, and thought no more of it till, six weeks later, he received a letter enclosing a draft from the Treasury for £500. Not understanding why this was presented to him, he took it to Lord Spencer, who said it was a remuneration from Government for transacting the business in Paris, and that it was the usual payment for such a mission. Mr. Edwards, not having anything to do with diplomacy, declined accepting it, having undertaken the negotiation as an act of private friendship to Lord Spencer. Shortly after, Lord Spencer told Mr. Edwards that he thought he had something to offer him which he could not withstand though he refused the money, for he had heard from agents of the French Government that some of the neglected treasures of the Jewel-Office in Paris were to be sent to this country. So little was known of their value that these Stuart miniatures14 lay disregarded among the old chains and ornaments of this collection, which was accompanied with a written document, stating that James II. had brought them over from England, and had deposited them with Louis XIV. when he went to St. Germains, intending to reclaim them on his return.15

Lord Spencer is George John Spencer (1758–1834), second Earl Spencer, who was at this time (1794–Feb 1801) First Lord of the Admiralty. More important to Edwards, he formed between 1789 and 1813 what Dibdin called “the RICHEST PRIVATE COLLECTION IN EUROPE.”16 Edwards had sold him many books, and they were probably talking about literary matters when the “private information” of the “private French family” came up. Note that in 1800 Edwards was neither a bookseller nor a servant of government. He refused payment for services but accepted a gift “as an act of private friendship” in the spirit in which he had acted. He doubtless felt special gratitude at this time to Lord Spencer, who in 1799 had sent Richard Edwards on government business to the Balearic Islands. The importance of the relationship between Edwards and Lord Spencer is indicated by a conversation that Lord Glenbervie recorded in his journal for 1 October 1801:

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Edwards the bookseller dined with me yesterday. He says Lord Spencer’s collection is richer in classics than even the National Library [the Bibliothèque Nationale], enriched as it now is with the spoil of so many countries. I asked him what he thought Lord Spencer’s may be worth. He thinks it may have cost him £25,000 ... He gave us the story of Lord Spencer’s purchase of Rivizky’s collection.17 Edwards was going to France and Italy and had received a variety of orders and commissions from Lord Spencer. Towards the time of his departure Lord Spencer coming into his shop found Revizky there, and said to him, “No expence or pains will ever enable me to form so complete a collection as you.” Revizky answered, “Will you buy my collection?” and Lord Spencer immediately said, “Yes, and I will refer the price to Edwards.” “No,” said Revizky, “not so fast. I must consider of it and add many conditions. One I will now mention, that I may have free access to the books after they become yours.” To this Lord Spencer said he would be so far from objecting that the circumstance would enhance their value to him. “Well,” said Revizky, “but I must consider of it.” Edwards when at Paris received a letter from Lord Spencer to say he had concluded for £6,000, one half in money, the other in annuity at ten persent (or £300 a year), for the life of Revizky. He died in two and a half years.18

Edwards and Lord Spencer were enormously important to one another’s book activities. Notice that by 1800 Edwards was on such close terms with the great Lord Spencer that he feels he can do personal favours for him – and Lord Spencer to ask them. James Edwards thus crowned his career by serving his country, or at any rate his government, with the same talents of shrewd observation and extraordinary discretion he had used with such effect to serve his friends as a bookseller. And this last achievement resulted in a contest not to gain a prize but to give one away. James Edwards’s diplomacy, in getting to Paris when England and France were at war, in seeing the right individuals and delivering and receiving information important to his government, was matched by that of Earl Spencer in finding a reward suitable for a private gentleman of substantial means who had undertaken such delicate work for love of his country – and for love of Earl Spencer. It is a tale, I think, that reflects lustre on all concerned. There was some reason for calling James Edwards the Medici of booksellers.

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Payments to James Edwards by Earl Spencer Date of bill 1788

Sum

Period Covered

Number19

May 27

£ 23. 6.0

Dec 31

£ 61.11.0

7 May–27 Dec 1788

170 179

1789

June 15

£ 42. -. -

10 Jan–17 May 1789

201

1790

March 30

£130.-.-

15 Aug 1789–29 March 1790

214

May 1

£ 84. 9

4 April 1790

226

July 5

£ 38.14.6

12 May–28 June 1790

236

1791

Jan 15

£ 55.14.-

5 July–7 Dec 1790

251

1792

Feb 6

£ 57.15.-

30 May 1791–2 Dec 1792

268

May 1

£144. 3.6

4 Feb–25 April 1791

286

June 25

£111. 1.-

11 May–15 June 1792

306

Aug 8

£136. -. -

Aug 28

£ 9. 6. -

14 July–28 Aug 1792

308

Dec 22

£ 57.14.-

May 3

£ 60.10. 1

9 Feb–22 April 1793

325

1793

3 3

June 10

£ 80. -. -

16 April–10 June 1793

339

1796

May 31

£359. 2. -

25 June 1793–16 April 179620

456

1799

Jan 5

£244.19. -

1800

Jan 2

£510.11. 6

7 Jan–21 Dec 179921

579

£295.9. -

31 May 1796–6 Dec 179822

582

£510.11. 6

7 Jan–21 Dec 1799

597

£310.16. 6

2 Jan 1800–29 May 1801

735

£61.7.4

July 1803–15 June 1805

909

£3,395.-.4

27 May 1788–15 June 1805

1802 TOTAL

Sept 25

539

The relationship between James Edwards and Earl Spencer is displayed in the many receipts for Edwards bills among the Spencer papers, which are summarized in the table above. The relationship between James Edwards and Earl Spencer is also displayed in their correspondence. For instance, on 22 February 1797 James Edwards wrote from Turin to Lord Spencer listing the six collections in Italy and France in which he had located the first edition of Virgil and describing how he had “employ.d the interest of all my Friends to procure” the duplicate copy in the Monastery Porte del Popolo. We were at first absolutely refus.d by the Superior – but my wish to serve Your Lordship at last prevail.d and I got it the day before I left Rome– ...

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When I have the honor to see Dow.r Lady Spencer I have to deliver her most friendly assurances of regard and Esteem from the Queen of Naples[.] I beg your Lordship to acquaint Lady Lucan that I shall bring her the ancient method of gilding w.th the highest Lustre – and flatter myself it will succeed perfectly for the Shakespere–

Even after his retirement from business, James Edwards continued as he had said he would, to help in finding books for his friends, particularly Earl Spencer. On 6 November 1807 he wrote to the noble lord about the “2d Edition of Caxton’s Game of Chess” that the dealer Evans had obtained “from Mr Stanhopes” (£55), which is “complete according to Ames (84 leaves including the first blank leaf)” and about a “copy of the Recueils of Troy.” On 1 October 1811 he wrote about payment to “The Dean” (apparently of the cathedral) at Lincoln for “Jason and Renard the Fox” and commented: “After this acquisition from a public Body I think your Lordship need not despair of obtaining any other Book.” Despite the war, he was still receiving books (in this case a Cicero for the Bishop of Ely) “from Barrois of Paris” (who, according to his letter of 13 September 1814, “lived with me” “many years ago,” apparently as a clerk). On 23 May 1814, after Napoleon’s great defeat, he wrote to Earl Spencer to say that he was “going for 2 or 3 weeks to Paris and to ask if Lady Spencer or your Lordship wd employ my Services there,” and on 14 June he reported bibliophilic news from Paris, though “Among the Booksellers here I have seen little deserving your Lordships notice.” The books he was acquiring for Earl Spencer were not all early ones, for his letter of 3 September 1814 concerns the intricacies of the current edition of Bossuet and “the Grand Chinese Dictionary executed at the Expense of the French Gov.t by De Guisnes w.th the Title &c as it was to have been publish.d before the expulsion of Bonaparte– The Title or wherever his name occurs is now to be cancelld and dedicated to Louis XVIII–”. He was still buying for himself as well, for on 1 October 1814 he wrote that “it will afford me great pleasure to shew your Lordship some of my late acquisitions – but particularly one which may be of great importance in settling the pronunciation of the Greek Language in the 9th Century.” This was, as he said in his letter of 13 September, a vellum copy of “a Liber Psalmarum[?] – Greek and Latin done for Peter the 2.d Abbot of the Monastery of S.t Ambrose at Milan between the Years 856 and 897 – but its Singularity is this – that the Greek Version is in the Roman Character. Therefore it gives the Italian pronunciation of

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the Greek at a period when the Byzantine Empire was in Splendor – ” He had also acquired “a magnificent [vellum] Copy of the 4 Gospels in Greek of the 10.th Century which probably was Stolen from the Vatican” and “perhaps the only copy known to exist” of La Legende Doree (Lyons, 1476). On 1 February 1815 he wrote of his determination to sell my Books and Greek Vases – I fear my cupidity has been excited by the high prices of the Roxburgh & Stanley Sales[.] Mr Evans has just finish.d the Catalogue so that it will go to the press probably in a few Days[.]

In disposing of his books, he had, however, some previous commitments to honour: “Your Lordship can more easily excuse than I explain or apologize for departing from a resolution I formerly made of bequeathing my Livy on Vellum to your Lordship.” (One reason was that Earl Spencer already had “a fine Copy on paper of the same Livy” and another was that he had a vellum copy of a contemporary Pliny.) In its place he sent “The Book I conceive of next importance to your Lordship’s Library in my collection ... the first Book printed at Lyons – Legende Doree 1476 ... I have taken the liberty of addressing that Book to your Lordship in S.t James’s Place and shall feel much honoured by its being placed in your Lordship’s Library[.]” Thus one of James Edwards’s last acts as a collector, before he sold his beautiful books at auction, was to give one of the greatest treasures of his collection to the greatest book collector of his time, one of his best customers – and one of his best friends among the nobility. The munificence and appropriateness of the gift and the delicacy and appropriateness of the manner in which it was given express beautifully the nature of the giver. In the aristocracy of bibliophilia, James Edwards was the peer of the noblest of his customers and friends.

5 Last Years

During his last years, James Edwards continued to influence the worlds of art and literature. As one of the most enterprising and successful publishers of illustrated books in his time, and as a man deeply concerned with the arts, from Rembrandt etchings to Etruscan vases, James Edwards of course knew a great many artists and engravers. He had a special relationship with Fuseli, but he also published engravings after Sir Joshua Reynolds when he was President of the Royal Academy, Thomas Lawrence, later President of the Royal Academy, William Hodges, and E.F. Burney, and some of his plates were engraved by Joseph Strutt, Francesco Bartolozzi, Louis Schiavonetti, and James Heath, all of whom were closely associated with the Royal Academy. Perhaps it was this connection with the Royal Academy that prompted the resolution of the Royal Academy Council reported by Joseph Farington in his diary for 3 July 1801: “The Council last night ... resolved to appoint Edwards of Pallmall to arrange and make out a catalogue of the R. Academy.”1 However, A Catalogue of the Library of the Royal Academy, London (1802) contains no reference to Edwards, and I do not know whether he had a hand in it or in any other catalogue of the Academy. Two years later, James Edwards had a number of casual encounters with one of the most remarkable men of the age, the poet and engraver William Blake. Edwards must have known of Blake through his intimate friendship with Henry Fuseli, Blake’s good friend, and with Joseph Johnson, Blake’s frequent employer. James Edwards had been a secondary publisher of both the prospectus (1792) of Hume’s History of England, in which engravings by Blake were announced, and of J.G. Stedman’s Surinam (1796), with many plates by Blake. He was the publisher of the edition of Bacon’s Essays (1798) that Blake annotated

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extensively, and his successor R.H. Evans was the London publisher of [William Hayley’s] Designs to A Series of Ballads (June–September 1802), which was printed for Blake’s benefit. Most important, Richard Edwards had published and James Edwards had sold Young’s Night Thoughts (1797) with Blake’s designs, the most ambitious project in which Richard Edwards or William Blake ever engaged and one of the most ambitious book-illustration projects of the age. In the autumn of 1803, William Blake had but recently returned from Felpham, where he had lived three years under the genteel patronage of William Hayley. Hayley was preparing to follow his very successful biography of his dear, recently deceased friend William Cowper with one of his dear, recently deceased friend the painter George Romney, and William Blake was busy devilling for him in London on the subject, calling on picture dealers and others who had known Romney. James Edwards was known to Hayley as the “really magnificent & very civil Bookseller of Pall Mall” to whom he had offered his biography of Milton in 1794, and he had written a sonnet to Edwards on his departure for Italy. Edwards in turn knew Sir William Hamilton, whose book on his collection of Etruscan, Greek and Roman Antiquities (1766–7) he had probably undertaken to import when Sir William returned from his post as Plenipotentiary at the Court of Naples to be married in London in 1791. His bride, Emma, had been Romney’s favourite model – and later was Nelson’s mistress. Obviously Hayley needed information from Lady Hamilton, and to locate her Blake went to James Edwards. On 26 October 1803 Blake wrote to Hayley about Romney’s pictures “by the favour of Mr. Edwards,”2 who was probably also writing to Hayley, and on 23 February 1804 Blake wrote again: “Neither Mr Flaxman nor Mr Edwards know Lady Hamiltons address[;] the house Sr William livd in Piccadilly She left some time ago[.] Mr Edwards will procure her address for you & I will send it immediately.” Clearly Edwards was in contact with Lady Hamilton, for on 28 May 1804 Blake wrote: “I have delivered the letter to Mr. Edwards, who will give it immediately to Lady Hamilton.” And evidently Hayley asked Blake to call on Edwards yet again, for on 28 December 1804 Blake reported that “Mr Edwards is out of Town.” These contacts are wonderfully ephemeral and are only worth recording because they concern a major publisher of illustrated books and a major illustrated-book maker. Blake’s own greatest epics The Four Zoas (MS of ?1796–1807), Milton (1804[–11?]), and Jerusalem (1804[–20?]) were being written at just this time, and it is intriguing to speculate on

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the result if Blake had been able to interest James Edwards in his own writings – intriguing, perhaps, but futile to do so in writing. In 1799 James Edwards converted his shop at 77 Pall Mall to an elegant residence. After he had lived in retirement there for a few years, he apparently thought of returning to his native city: “In 1802 James Edwards purchased from Jonathan Oldfield, surgeon and apothecary of Halifax, for £700, a house now called Spring Head and property at ‘The Top of the Hough’ and he added to the property but his occupation was but short as he sold Spring Head to his sister Mary for £1708 in 1806. Spring Head is in Northowram township, about a mile and a half north-east of Halifax.”3 Evidently he moved from London to Spring Head at least for a time, and Mrs Elizabeth Spencer-Stanhope in a letter of 4 December 1805 reported some horseplay concerning Edwards that took place at the nearby estate of Mr Fawkes of Farnley. She said that she was charmed by a story that Mr Fawkes told when she visited Farnley: You have doubtless heard of Edwards the great bookseller. He has quitted his shop in Town, and gone to reside at his native place, Halifax. He is a great miser, but being a man of talent, often visits Mr Fawkes.4 One day he arrived upon such a miserable hired horse that they resolved to play him a trick. Accordingly, after dinner the Steward came in, with a solemn face, stating that instead of killing a horse that was meant for the dogs, they had shot Mr Edwards’s; that it was half eat before they found out the mistake. Edwards was in a dreadful pucker; but at last, having condoled with him, they told him that the only difference between his deceased horse & the one of Mr Fawkes’s which they had meant to kill, was that Mr Fawkes’s horse had not a white spot on its fore-head, & his legs were not white, but that by painting them it would look just the same, and that the people at the livery stable would never find out the mistake. Edwards was highly delighted with this plan, and, would you believe it, he was mean enough to hope by this means to cheat the man. You may picture what fun it was to Mr Fawkes and his servants to see him ride home on his own hired horse all bedaubed with paint; after which he wrote word triumphantly, “The man at the Livery Stables has never found out the trick we have put on him!” How they will all quiz him when finally they tell him the truth.5

Doubtless James Edwards had become used to gentler jokes in London. A few years after he withdrew from business at his Pall Mall house, he decided to Retire into the Country as A Gentleman of Distinguished Taste,

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and he sold part of his private collection anonymously at Christie’s on 25–8 April 18046 to enable himself to do so. The title page of the catalogue describes it as “A Splendid and Valuable Collection,” and the books are indeed extraordinarily luxurious. Numbers are “unique,” extra-illustrated with the original drawings, proofs, etc., printed on vellum, and “superbly” or “sumptuously bound.” Clearly Edwards had acquired from friendly publishers remarkable copies such as the Large Paper issue of Hunter’s Travels through France, Turkey, Hungary (1803) with coloured plates of which “there were [sic] none printed for sale” (No. 138) or the “unique” copies of Bulmer’s editions of Goldsmith’s and Parnell’s Poems (1795) and Somerville’s Chase (1796) printed on vellum (No. 251–2). Indeed, there is evidence that such vellum copies were printed especially for Edwards. The dates of the books range from the sixteenth century to 1803, there are a number of Strawberry Hill publications, as we might expect from Edwards’s friendship with Horace Walpole, and the plays include King Lear (1608), Romeo and Juliet (1609, “exceedingly rare” [£4.18.0]), Hamlet (1611), and Pericles (1611), as well as all four Shakespeare folios uniformly bound [£73.10.0] (No. 94–7, 220). And of course these were just the ephemeral works from his library that he did not care to move into the country. When he retired into the country, it may have been to a house in rural St Albans, where “He now began to enjoy the calm retirement of the country, in the neighbourhood of Old Verulam.”7 This may well be the house called High Elms off the St Albans Road, Watford, to which his brother Richard Edwards went when he retired from Minorca in 1803 and from which he was married on 8 September 1803. When James Edwards himself was about to be married, in September 1805, he decided that he needed a more substantial country residence: “some letters ... written by James Edwards to his wife before their marriage ... show that just before his marriage – he sold the house he had near S. Albans in order to buy the house at Harrow which he purchased of Lord Northwick whom he seems to have met and made friends with abroad. To this house he took his bride.”8 The evidence as to when James Edwards moved to the Manor House at Harrow is conflicting. According to F.W. Ragg and John Nichols, it was “About the same time” as he was married, in September 1805, and all his children were christened in Harrow Church, in April 1808, May 1809, August 1810, and December 1811. However, James Edwards wrote to William Roscoe from the “Manor House Harrow” on 27 December 1810: “having found last year by a nine months’ residence that a more Comfortable situation co.d not be – I sold my house in Pall Mall last

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Summer [1810] and transported hither my Books vases &c–.” Apparently he rented the Harrow Manor House from about September 1809 until June 1810 before he bought it about July (“summer”) 1810. If so, his daughter Catherine James and his son James were christened in Harrow Church before James Edwards bought the Manor House, Harrow. On 10 September 1805 James Edwards was married to Catherine, only daughter of the Rev. Edward Bromhead, M.A., Vicar of Repham, County of Lincoln,9 the service being conducted by the Rev. George Gordon, to whom the bridegroom presented a set of Piranesi etchings.10 It was a “matrimonial union” that “completed his happiness.”11 The house to which the Edwardses moved was the famous old manor-house at Harrow, which had formerly been the residence of several Archbishops of Canterbury: a delightful residence, commanding the most extensive prospects. There he continued, during the remainder of his life, in the exercise of elegant hospitality, in the full enjoyment of domestic felicity, and the social intercourse of many of his old literary friends. In this romantic, but classical retreat, is laid the scene of a considerable part of Mr. Dibdin’s “Bibliomania” Mr. Edwards being the generous RINALDO of that famous “Bibliographical Romance.”12

Most of Edwards’s friends rejoiced at his marriage, but the Rev. Stephen Weston affected to believe that Edwards was diverted by it from his proper business. In a parody of Macbeth entitled Fragment of a Tragedy Lately Acted at the British Museum and set among “The Shades below,” Clayton Mordaunt Cracherode laments the recent theft of the prints he had bequeathed to the British Museum: I’m glad I’m dead, I never could have stood The shock ... … for if my prints are stol’n, My books will go, and Sir John Thorold, too, In spite of me, and Edwards, have at last My Aldus Virgil. O Edwards! Edwards! Where wert thou then when the remorseless hand This basest of base deeds did perpetrate? For neither in the house of Montague,13 Nor in thy Medicean shop thou wert, But in some lap uxorious didst thou lie, Unconscious of thy Cracherode’s ills.14

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All the cast – Mr [Charles] Towneley [the collector], Mr [George] Steevens [scholar and collector], Mr [Henry George] Quin [collector], Roger Payne [bookbinder], Thomas Payne [bookseller], Sir Richard Sullivan [author], and Cracherode [collector] – had probably been at 77 Pall Mall before it closed its doors six years before the theft of Cracherode’s prints by the painter Robert Dighton (1752–1814). The Keeper of Printed Books (including Prints and Drawings) at the time (1803–6) was William Beloe, who was forced from office by the scandal – and who later wrote a sympathetic account of Edwards in his Sexagenarian (1817). Edwards is likely to have been specially pleased by the reference to his “Medicean shop.” In his Manor House at Harrow, Edwards was safely separated from many of the troubles of the world. Here were ranged his books, his Etruscan vases, and his pictures. Among his printed books, his vellum Livy (1469) was the most coveted work in his collection. Dibdin wrote of it, “Perhaps a more enviable treasure, in the form of an ancient classical volume, does not exist.”15 And he described a bibliophilic neighbour of Edwards’s who “sees and adores, with the rapture-speaking eyes of a classical bibliomaniac, the tall, wide, thick, clean, brilliant, and illuminated copy of the first LIVY UPON VELLUM ... There he often witnesses the adoration paid to this glorious object by some bookish pilgrim, who, as the evening sun reposes softly upon the hill, pushes onward, through copse, wood, moor, heath, bramble, and thicket, to feast his eyes upon the mellow lustre of its leaves, and upon the nice execution of its typography.” Even the pictures in the Harrow Manor House concerned books. The library opened into the drawing room, in which “was a chaste and elegant painting, by Fuseli, of ... Erasmus ... in the act of calmly correcting the press, while Frobens [the printer] is urging with vehemence some emendations which he conceives to be of consequence, but to which his master seems to pay no attention! A more bibliographical painting was the portrait of Aldus Manutius by Giovanni Bellino.”16 Here he entertained his friends such as T.F. Dibdin, Joseph Johnson, and Henry Fuseli, and he wrote to Roscoe on 27 December 1810: “I do not like to admit the thought of retiring beyond the reach of those friends I have highly esteem.d Therefore tho’ this place is considerd. out of the London world I beg leave to assure you it is little more than an hour’s ride or drive on the best and most rural road in the neighbourhood of the Metropolis– ... When you visit London pray come and see us.”

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During these peaceful years of retirement, Edwards must have received repeated offers for his treasures. One of these, for the Bedford Missal and his Livy, came from T.F. Dibdin, probably on behalf of Earl Spenser, but on 26 February 1813 Edwards politely declined: for a book which marks the most splendid era of English history, and the grandest effort of art in the age; and what the proprietor of the Museum Harleianum reserved to his family as the most brilliant jewel of his research – the temptation now offered will not prevail; having refused in times when such objects were not appreciated at half the value they nowbear. … But as you will raise the Plutus within me, and Bibliomania is the last failing I can surrender, suppose I might be tempted to give up the noblest ornament to a library in this or any other country – my grand Vase of the Capo di Monti!? What do you imagine that might produce, as provision for the Youngest of my living bijoux aged 5 weeks?

But the Capo di Monti vase did not tempt Dibdin or his patron sufficiently. It was not gold but health that prompted Edwards to sell his treasures. On 3 November 1797 he had confessed that “My health has suffer.d much from the Strict attention I have given to my business,” and while he had his books his friends were afraid he would continue to jeopardize his health by an overstrict attention to them: “His health, however, having become precarious, and his constitution undermined by symptoms of paralysis; he was advised, by some medical friends, to forbear for the future any close application to study. He followed their advice; and adopted the heroic resolution of selling his valuable Library; which he actually accomplished in 1815.”17 This attempt to remove materials for “any close application to study” of course required very arduous bibliographical labour. In his long account of the “Sale of Mr. Edwards’s Library” through his successor R.H. Evans on 5–11 April 1815, Dibdin says that Edwards took a house in town for the season “and day after day the owner and the vendor of the library communicated, consult, and proceed to work, in the formation of the catalogue for sale ... [The Catalogue] was left exclusively, as to the description of the volumes, to the efficient pen of Mr. Evans.”18 Since Edwards helped Evans with the catalogue, he may have had a hand with the title page, which speaks of the “Splendid Assemblage of Early Printed Books, Chiefly Upon Vellum, of Important Manuscripts,

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Many of Them Executed for Sovereign Princes, of Magnificent Books of Prints, and of Fine Greek Vases.” There were 830 lots of manuscripts and books plus nine of Greek vases (£2.2.0 to £700). They include many of Edwards’s own publications in remarkable states, coloured, Large Paper, etc., and there were extraordinary works of wider interest, such as No. 211, Opera di Piranesi, “very first impressions of the plates, selected by Mr. E.” (£315); No. 278, Livy (1469), “the only copy ... known to exist upon vellum” (£903); No. 804, Biblia Pauperum (1440–50) (£210); No. 821, Evangeli Quatuor Graece (tenth century) (£210); and No. 830, the famous Bedford Missal (£687.15.0 – bought in 1786 for £213.3.0). As a note on No. 809 remarked, “Mr. Edwards ... from his valuable and extensive correspondence on the continent, obtained more early printed books than were ever imported by any one individnal [sic].” The total was £9,795.18.0, and the average was almost £10 per book, which Dibdin calls “a result, unprecedented in the annals of book-sales.”19 The sale made some noise in the literary world, and three notes [?by Dibdin] about the Bibliotheca Edwardsiana appeared in the Gentleman’s Magazine, 85 (Feb., March, April 1815): 135, 254–5, 349: “The magic hammer of Mr. EVANS will in a few weeks be raised amidst a throng of Bibliomaniacs” when the library of James Edwards, “(the hospitable Rinaldo of the ‘Bibliomania,’)” will be sold “by the advice of ... [his] Medical friends.” This sale roused Dibdin to a frenzy of admiration, and in his Bibliographical Decameron (1817) he saluted RINALDO: the wealthy, the fortunate, the heroic. I say heroic, because, at a moment [April 1815] when the ports of France and Holland were shut against us – and possessing books which were marketable articles abroad – he [yet] chose to bring his precious library to the hammer of Mr Evans [in London]20 ... Never was there a braver spirit evinced in the acquisition of precious tomes ... it cannot be denied that in the art, craft, and mystery of BIBLIOPOLISM, no man ever did such wonderful things towards the acquisition of rare, beautiful, and truly classical [books as Edwards.]21

Of all book sales, Dibdin liked best “the last day of the sale of the library of RINALDO.”22 “This important event was a very great relief to himself and his friends, who fondly hoped that some years might still be added to his life.”23 When the produce of the sale was clear, Edwards made his will on 24 May 1815.

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After the great defeat at Waterloo on 18 June 1815, the Continent was once more open to touring Englishmen, and in his last letter to William Roscoe on 8 September 1815, James Edwards wrote most characteristically: a few weeks since one of my neighbours havg determin.d to go to Paris – his father (who is my Physician) Sir F Milman – said it wod. be very advantageous to my health to go there also – and so pressd. it upon Mr.s E. that I at length set off tho almost against my inclination –24 I spent nearly a fortnight there – seeing and enquiring as much as in my power what was likely to be the result of this immense convulsion – but that no human power can calculate more than if it belongd. to another planet. This however I saw – Wars and all the miseries concomitant will be the lot of Europe for this generation and when we shall be sufficiently purified to enjoy peace Heaven alone can determine[.] I went to take leave of an Old Virtuoso of my former acquaintance for the last time and he kindly offerd. me the choice of any one Object of the Ornaments which hung over his Chimney piece as a memento of an Octogenaire who had devoted his life to Study & taste– My Eye had long been fixd upon a Grand Medallion of Lorenzo of wh. there is an imperfect representn. in ye Headpiece of your [LIFE OF LOREZO DE’ MEDICI] Chapr. 6t.h – I brought it off in triumph and have now a high gratification in the thot. that it will find a place in your Study – and sometimes remind you of a friend who from his first acquaintance acknowledgd. that quickness of perception and variety of intelligence wc.h has since been universally allowd. A Small Box containing the medallion will be sent off this Evening by the Liverpool Coach from Golden Cross and your friendly reception of the Old Gentleman will be a further favor to Your sincere friend & hble Servt. Jas Edwards

But the respite in pleasure was a brief one for Edwards: his disorder had taken too firm a root; and, though he lived several months after in great apparent tranquillity, the thread of life was fatally cut on the 2d of January, 1816, at the age of 59. His firm mind was wholly unappalled at the prospect of death, which he knew was fast approaching. He gave the necessary directions for his funeral, desiring that his coffin might be made out of some of the strong shelves of his [empty] library; and breathed his last sigh with the true fortitude of a Christian, leaving a widow and five

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children, the eldest little more than six years old, to lament their irreparable loss. Three nights only before his death, he expressed a desire that his youngest boy (then only four years old) might be a Bookseller; and named Mr. Payne as the person and friend to whom he wished to confide him.25

In his will, Edwards gave his wife Catherine £500 per annum “as long as she remains my widow” (as she did until she married the Rev. Thomas Butt in November 1820) plus what “at the time of our marriage settlement of five hundred pounds per ann was secured to her for life” “in the public ffunds,” and she may divide £10,000 among [my children] when and how she chooses “in order better to secure the attention and respect from our children.” To “my dear brother Richard Edwards” he left £500; to “my dear brother Thomas Edwards” £500 plus property at High Elms; to “my dear Sister Sarah Macauley” and “to my dear Sister Mary Alexander” each a £25 annuity not subject to any “present or future husband” (but not to be paid in advance and to be cancelled if the annuity is sold); to the four children of his late sister[-in-law Mrs William Edwards?] of Halifax £200; to Thomas Payne of Pall Mall, Bookseller, £100; and to [John] Harris, Miniature Painter, £10. John Edwards of Halifax, Joshua Watson of London, and William Bridgman of London as executors were to sell the effects and invest the proceeds in the names of the trustees.26 Calculating annuities as to be paid from investments in the public funds at 3% per annum and not counting miscellaneous property or Mrs Edwards’s dowry, the named sums come to about £30,000. This is a remarkable fortune, accumulated in only fifteen years of independent business, even granting that his father set him up in business – £2,000 per year profit. He was buried in Harrow Church under reproductions of the BEDFORD MISSAL and another book, the CAPO DI MONTE vase and a smaller vase, and a medallion of James Edwards himself. The tombstone is inscribed thus: In Memory of James Edwards Esquire of London Well Known to the learned and ingenious of the age in which he lived, as one of the most eminent Collectors and Booksellers in Europe. To his skillful research and liberal spirit of enterprise, his Country is indebted for the rarest specimens, biblical and classical of the typographic art. By his zealous activity in his profession he exhausted the treasures of Foreign Cabinets to enrich the stores of the Scholar and the Man of taste in his native Land. He was a most affectionate Husband and Father; a kind,

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sincere, and useful Friend; and in all the transactions of life, a man of unblemished integrity. Happy in a temper always serene and cheerful, his manners were frank, courteous, and benevolent: His faith in the Gospel was firm; His piety ardent and uniform: His repentance perfect. His life was Praise and his death Peace. Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright; for the end of that man is peace. PSALM. XXXVII. VERSE. XXXVIII. He died on Tuesday the 2.nd of January Aged 59 in the Year of our Lord, 1816.27

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PART III Richard Edwards, Publisher of Church-and-King Pamphlets and of William Blake

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 Considering the contemporary fame of his father William Edwards and his brothers James and Thomas Edwards and the tardy fame of his extraordinary edition of Young’s Night Thoughts (1797) with William Blake’s designs, Richard Edwards remains a surprisingly shadowy figure. Except for his distinguished family and for his one act of publishing genius, surpassing that of any other member of his family and probably of any other commercial publisher of his time, Richard Edwards did very little that warrants the attention of posterity. The interest of his career focuses upon his brief and sensational patronage of William Blake – and upon the contrast of this act with the rest of his life. Artist, Bookseller, and Civil Servant Richard Edwards, the last of the eight children of William Edwards, was born in Halifax near four o’clock in the morning of 16 March 1768 and baptised by Mr Ralph at Northgate End Chapel, like the rest of his siblings, on 17 April.1 He doubtless grew up near and in his father’s bookshop, and by the time the name of the firm was expanded to William Edwards and Sons, Booksellers, early in 1780, when he was eleven, his career in the book trade was probably determined. Presumably he helped out in the shop, wrapping parcels and running errands, and he is likely to have worked in the Edwards of Halifax bindery as well. Certainly at least two of William Edwards’s sons were artists, and almost certainly Richard Edwards was one of them. The Rev. Thomas Twining wrote in August 1781 that William Edwards’s “sons are ingenious young men, and have got a method of binding books in vellum, with drawings in black and white on the sides,”2 suggesting that they were making the drawings themselves. A set of Walpole’s Anecdotes of Painting in England has painted vellum panels inscribed “Edward adelphi fecerunt” and “1790,”3 apparently indicating by the plural that at least two Edwardses in Halifax (adelphi) were painting the panels in that year, when Richard Edwards turned twelve. On 24 July 1784, when Richard was sixteen, James Edwards wrote that “My Brother has colord the [near 200] Ornaments of our Sett of Warren’s Memoirs” at the rate of about 6d each, indicating that the illuminator must have been Thomas, John, or Richard Edwards. Horace Walpole said that his Virgil, Opera

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(1766) “was bound by Edwards of Halifax and the covers were painted by his son, 1784.”4 The thirty-six designs of 1789 or later in the Edwards sample book5 may be by Richard, perhaps to show London customers what could be done at the Edwards of Halifax bindery, and the four separate “Original drawings of Edwards”6 may be his also. Probably at least one of the artists in the Edwards family was Richard, and numbers of the anonymous Edwards of Halifax painted fore-edges and vellum panels may be by him. In the late autumn of 1789, when he was just twenty-one, Richard Edwards came to London.7 It seems likely that the young man worked with his brother James at 102 Pall Mall for a time, to learn London ways and to meet London booksellers and bibliophiles. The imprint of EDWARDS & SONS, Pall Mall or Messrs. EDWARDS, 102 Pall Mall on six publications of 1790–1 may imply that the two brothers were acting together as publishers then. It is clear at least that before the end of 1791 Richard “was placed by his father as a Bookseller in [142 New] Bond Street,”8 then as now a very fashionable milieu. His imprint from this address appears on books published from January 1792 through 1798, and he is listed here in Kent’s Directory for 1795–7 and in Lowndes’s Directory for 1799 but not in that of Kent for 1800. No contemporary reference to the shop by customer or competitor is known. The best, indeed practically the only, indication of the stock that Richard Edwards offered in his shop is contained in the four-page list of “Books [that] may be had of “R. EDWARDS BOOKSELLER, No. 142, BOND-STREET,” which was printed integrally with the first edition of De Coetlogon’s Human Reason (1792). This offered in general “French Books of Reputation regularly imported. – Foreign Books of Prints, and Antiquities, and Books of History, Science, &c. in all Languages, may be had as above, of the best Editions, and in the most elegant Variety of Bindings.” The forty-some unpriced works are as follows: Adams, Ruins of Spalatro in Dalmatia, with 61 plates chiefly by Bartolozzi Albin, Natural History of English Insects, “best Edition, coloured by the Author,” with “Derham’s Notes on Albin,” “elegant” Aldrovandi, Opera Omnia, 13 vols., “the best Edition” “Antiquities of Pozzuoli, Palmyra, &c.” Bible (Polyglott), ed. Walton, with Castell’s Lexicon, 8 vols. Bryant, Ancient Mythology, 3 vols. “elegantly bound” Buffon, Comte de, “toutes ses Ouvres [sic] d’Histoire Naturelle,” 35 vols., “the Best Edition”

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Calvin, Erasmus, Luther, “&c,” “The best Editions” Catalogo de gli Antichi Monumenti de Ercolano “The Classics which have been printed at the Parma Press [by Bodoni]” (see pp. 60–72) Cook, Dixon, Forster, Hawkesworth, Portlock, Wilson, “Voyages to the South Seas, &c.,” 14 vols. “elegantly bound in Russia,” plus 2 atlas folio vols. of plates, and “Duplicate Proof Impressions to most of the Prints in Cook’s last Voyage – a matchless Set” D’Ohsson, Tableau de l’Empire Othoman, 2 large folio vols. with “superbes” plates Edwards, Natural History of Birds, “the original Edition, coloured by the Author,” 7 vols. elegant, in Morocco” [published by James Edwards] Graevius & Gronovius, Greek, Roman, and Sicilian Antiquities Hamilton, Sir William, Account of the Volcanoes of the Two Sicilies, 3 vols., with 63 plates “coloured from the original Drawings” – Etruscan, Greek, and Roman Antiquities [published by James Edwards] “coloured from the Originals” Hawkesworth, Telemachus Henry “on the Bible,” 5 vols., “the best Edition” Horsley, Britannia Romana Houbraken, Heads of Illustrious Persons, with their lives by Birch, “the first Impression, on large Paper, splendidly bound in Morocco” Lavater, Essai sur la Physiognomie, 3 vols. “(the best Edition) elegantly bound in Morocco” Mortier, “Cuts to the Bible,” 2 vols., “very fine Impressions” Pennant, British Zoology, 2 vols., 284 plates “beautifully coloured, and elegantly bound in Morocco” Perrault, The Illustrious Persons of France, with their Portraits and Lives, 2 vols. Philosophical Transactions at large, 74 vols. (“a complete Set”), “bound in Morocco” [Pinkerton] The Medallic History of England from the Revolution, “on 40 Copper-plates” [published by James Edwards] Piranesi, Roman Antiquities and Ruins, 4 vols. with 136 plates Poli Synopsis Criticorum, 5 vols. Russell, Lady Rachel, Letters, “handsomely bound” Sheutzer, Physique Sacrée, being a Natural History of the Bible, 8 vols., with 750 plates by Pfeiffel, “very fine Impressions” Tableau Topographiques, Pittoresques & Historiques de la Suisse,

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12 vols. “elegantly bound in Morocco” “Views of Gentlemens Seats in England and Wales” Vitringa, Commentary of Isaiah, 2 vols. Voyages Pittoresque de Naples & Sicile (5 large folio vols.), de la Suisse (5 large folio vols.), de la France (4 large folio vols.) [Walpole] The Castle of Otranto, “Edwards’s Edition ... beautifully printed by Bodoni, at Parma [1790]” Wilkes, History of Moths and Butterflies, with the Plants on Which They Feed, “the original Edition,” “beautifully coloured,” “elegant, in Morocco” Wood, Essay on the Genius and Writings of Homer, “boards, uncut” Worlidge, Select Collection of Drawings, from Antique Gems, 183 plates “with his Portrait; the Medusa, &c. large Paper, elegantly bound in 2 Volumes, Morocco” [published by James Edwards] There is no date in the list, but most of the publications seem to be modern. Very few appear to be antiquarian, though this may depend upon what are considered “The best Editions of Calvin, Luther, Erasmus, &c.” Certainly such descriptions are inadequate to satisfy buyers of antiquarian books. Most of the works in the list are concerned with antiquities and classics, with views and voyages, with natural history, and with the Bible. Richard Edwards listed none of his own publications, perhaps because he had issued very few at this time, but he did include a number published by his brother James: Edwards, Natural History of Uncommon Birds (1743–64), published by James Edwards from at least 1796 Hamilton, Etruscan, Greek and Roman Antiquities (Naples, 1766–7), published by James Edwards from at least 1794 Pinkerton, Medallic History of England (Edwards & Sons, 1790) Walpole, Castle of Otranto (James Edwards, 1791) Worlidge, Antique Gems ([James Edwards], ?1788) “The Classics which have been printed at the Parma Press” also probably came through James Edwards, who commissioned Bodoni to print the works of twelve Greek, Latin, and Italian poets for him. Perhaps the most striking feature of Richard Edwards’s shop list is “the most elegant Variety of Bindings” in which the works are offered. Presumably many were bound for Richard Edwards, some of them perhaps in Edwards of Halifax style. Certainly he arranged to have books bound in the Edwards of Halifax style occasionally, for a set of the ten-volume Description of England and Wales (1770–5) and William

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Shenstone, The Works in Verse and Prose London: J. Dodlsey, 1791) and Young’s Night Thoughts (Rivington, Longman, Dilly, Dodsley, T. Caddell, Otridge, 1787) were bound in Etruscan calf with orange-grey tickets indicating that they were “Sold by | R. EDWARDS | –N.o 142– | NEW BOND STR.T.”9 This is an ambitious list for a young bookseller in his first year of independent business, but it is not at all in the same class as James Edwards’s first catalogue when he was opening his shop in 1785. And it appears to be the only catalogue of his shop that Richard Edwards ever issued. On 22 January 1793, when he was twenty-four, “Mr. Edwards, of New Bond-street, [was married] to Miss Chapman, of Exton, co. Rutland.”10 The fact that the ceremony was recorded among Marriages of Considerable Persons suggests that Richard Edwards was known then at least to the book world and to John Nichols, the editor of the Gentleman’s Magazine, if not to the beau monde. No child from the marriage is known, and it seems likely that his wife died young, perhaps in late 1797 or early 1798. Whatever the cause, Richard Edwards gave up publishing and bookselling some time after June 1798, the latest date in his imprints, when he was thirty. He became instead a civil servant, through the good offices of Earl Spencer, the First Lord of the Admiralty and perhaps the greatest book collector of his day. Richard Edwards may well have had book dealings with Earl Spencer at 142 New Bond Street; it would be pleasant to think that he showed his gratitude to Earl Spencer by giving him a splendid coloured copy of Young’s Night Thoughts (1797) (see plate 6) in gratitude for the appointment. It is more likely, however, that the appointment came through James Edwards, who had been crucially important in the formation of Earl Spencer’s collection.11 Richard Edwards “relinquished business about 1799, on being presented by Earl Spencer to the appointment of Head Registrar of [the Vice Admiralty Court of] Minorca.”12 The island had been captured from Spain in November 1798; the order to the Judge of the High Court of Admiralty to prepare the necessary patent for Richard Edwards is dated 1 April 1799; and he sailed for the Mediterranean in June.13 According to this patent, he was constituted “Registrar and Scribe of the Acts, Causes, and Businesses whatsoever ... in the Vice Admiralty Court within the Island of Minorca ... together with all and every the Fees, Salaries, Incomes, Regards, Rights, Profits [,] Commodities, Emoluments, [and] appurtenances”14 – probably his income was derived largely or entirely from fees rather than from salaries.

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He may not have stayed very long or profitably in the island, for he produced the following document dated 1 August 1799, presumably at Mahon, Minorca: I Richard Edwards Esq.r do hereby ... appoint D.r Peter Ramis, to be my Deputy as aforesaid, during my pleasure herein only ... and to Act, transact, and do all manner of things & businesses unto the said office appurtaining and belonging; and to receive all Fees, Emoluments, Salaries, benefits, rights and regards whatsoever unto me belonging, as fully and entirely as if I myself were present and acting in the said Office, or Offices, within the Island of Minorca, as above mentioned, for the which Fees, Emoluments, &c the said D.r Peter Ramis is and shall be accountable unto me weekly, reserving unto himself out of the Sums received, or to be received, arising from any of the said Fees, Salaries, and Profits as above mentioned, one fourth of the whole such Fees, Salaries, and Profits, and diligently justly and truly performing the Same.15

Thus the office of registrar seems to have been farmed to Richard Edwards, who in turn entered into a sharecropping agreement with Don Pedro. The dates suggest that Edwards entered into the agreement almost as soon as he reached the island, and he may have left it within weeks of his landing. At any rate, he can have profited from the avails of his office for scarcely as long as three years, “till the surrender of that Settlement [on 14 June 1802 under the Peace of Amiens]. Unfortunately his residence in a tropical country brought on a liver complaint, from the effects of which he never recovered.”16 If, as the document above suggests, he was in Minorca only a few weeks, he must have contracted his tropical liver complaint very quickly indeed. When he returned to England, at least by mid-1802, he may well have been broken in health, though he lived another quarter century. Shortly after his return, on 8 September 1803, “Mr. Richard Edwards, of High Elms, Herts, [was married] to Miss Howard, of Kensington.”17 Miss Howard had been to a fashionable school, for Miss Caroline Walker of Walterclough Hall, near Halifax, wrote in her diary: “Miss Howard went to Miss Ogilby’s [School]. They used to sit in the gallery at Kensington Church opposite to us, we often saw them at the parties and walking in the Park and Gardens. It was an inferior place to Miss Murray’s[.]” The adolescent snobbishness of the last remark suggests the social pretensions of such establishments. The union

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of Mr Edwards and Miss Howard was a fruitful one, for Richard Edwards was survived by “five sons”18 and two daughters. High Elms, from which Richard Edwards was married and in which he lived for several years, was off the St Albans Road, just north of London, at Watford.19 The house was near St Albans, the Roman Verulam – Francis Bacon was Baron Verulam, Viscount St Albans – and it was probably there that his brother James about 1800 “began to enjoy the calm retirement of the country, in the neighbourhood of Old Verulam.”20 It must have been about this time that he inscribed “Richard Edwards High Elms” on the first drawing of each of the great folio volumes of Blake’s watercolours to Young’s Night Thoughts. And on 12 August 1806 Mary Harryman in Halifax wrote that Mr Edwards Sr (age eighty-three) had just returned from High Elms (near London).21 One may hope that he had seen one of his grandsons. Richard Edwards had retired twice by the time he was thirty-five. He may have had a pension when he retired from government service in ill health, but he must have lived chiefly on his considerable personal fortune. He resided for a number of years at High Elms, perhaps until 1816 when James Edwards apparently bequeathed it to his brother Thomas, but in his will of 12 August 1822 he described himself as “Richard Edwards late of High Elms in the county of Hertford but now residing in the City of Bath Esquire.” His persistent liver complaint may have induced him to leave cool, damp England for “Saint Omers in ffrance,” where he added codicils to his will on 16 July 1822 and 28 March 1825 and where he died on 10 October 1827 “of chronic inflammation, in his 59th year ... He has left a widow and five sons, to lament the loss of a most affectionate husband and father.”22 In his will he left most of his (unspecified) property to his “dearly beloved wife Mary,” including the “furniture pictures ... vases trinkets Jewels China ... wines books carriage ... [and] the use of all my Silver plate” plus the use of the house in du Poiroir Street, St Omer. He directed that £3,000 should go to each of his daughters and his father’s gold watch to his eldest son. The rest of the property, evidently controlled by his marriage settlement, was to go to his sons, the interest thereof to “be paid to my said dear wife so long as she shall continue my Widow.”23 Church-and-King Publishing 1792–6 Richard Edwards of New Bond Street had a hand – or at least an imprint on the title page24 – of at least thirty-five publications from 1792 through 1798 (see Appendix 3). For a few of these works, Richard Edwards was

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merely the co-publisher of a book probably initiated by his prosperous elder brother James,25 and in later years he joined a few congeries independent of his brother.26 However, for most of them Richard Edwards acted a remarkably independent role: for seven of them he is the only publisher,27 for fourteen more the title page says the work was printed for R. Edwards,28 and in three more29 Richard Edwards’s name is listed first in a congeries, in defiance of the apparent convention that booksellers were named in chronological order of their membership in the City companies. For most of these works, the chief commercial initiative and risk was probably that of Richard Edwards. This is not to say, of course, that most of these works are of independent or significant importance. An unusually high proportion (fourteen of thirty-five) were printed anonymously, by authors who were unknown to the public or who did not care to be known to the public, such as Francis Wrangham, who apparently lost a College fellowship because of the College satire in his Reform (1792), and Clarke’s Tour (1793), which the author regretted publishing and suppressed – a reviewer remarked succinctly, “Before he reveals his name, ... we advise him to make himself master of the small sword and pistol shooting.” Seven of Richard Edwards’s publications are so obscure that no copy appears to have survived.30 At first, in 1792–3, the works he initiated were very modest in size (only five are over one hundred pages) and in price (averaging 2s 3d), and, though later they are larger, rising to fifteen volumes for £5.5.0 in a congeries of 1798, the highest price of a work for which Richard Edwards bore the prime responsibility was £1.5.0, or £1.1.0 for the first part (the only part printed) of Young’s Night Thoughts (1797), one of the last works he issued. Perhaps his first act in the publishing business was to establish his own journal, the Magazin des Savans: or Literary Miscellany, in part to puff his own publications. A proposal was evidently issued in the late autumn of 1791, to which a correspondent replied on Christmas day in a letter published in the January 1792 number. This first number was probably accompanied by the engraved title page indicating that it was “Printed for R. Edwards N. 142. New Bond Str.t & Halifax Yorksh.e & J. Parsons Paternoster-Row.”31 The editor gave his name as James Merlin, but this may be a pseudonym, perhaps for Richard Edwards. The editor of the Magazin des Savans had a strong biographical bent and sponsored, if he did not write, the accounts of Dr John Brown, the Duchess of York, the Duke of Argyll, the Earl of Bute, and the

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King of Sweden. The author of biographical anecdotes of the Duke of Argyll was so “violently indisposed” [in April 1792] that he could not continue the biography in the May number, and this indisposition may have given the restive co-publishers an opportunity to reorganize their somewhat infirm journal. In the June issue there was an abrupt change of publisher and, apparently, of editor. A letter to Literary Correspondents in the June issue announced great improvements in the manner of arrangement and variety of matter, several series were abruptly discontinued, the title was altered on the typeset title page (probably issued with the June number) to Monthly Register of Literature, or Magazin des Savans, and in vols. 2–3 (July 1792–Feb. 1793) the Magazin des Savans title was dropped entirely. Coincident with these changes, Richard Edwards, whose name appeared on the engraved title page and in the imprint for May 1792, disappeared from the imprint for June 1792 and thereafter, being replaced by J. Owen as publisher in Piccadilly opposite to Bond Street. The coincidence of change of style (?and editor) and change of publisher suggests that Richard Edwards was at least closely associated with the editor of the Magazin des Savans, if he was not himself the editor, as well as the publisher, and that the putsch which removed him (or his protégé) as editor drove him from among the publishers as well. The Magazin des Savans was neither very enterprising nor very interesting as a journal. From the dedication to Her Royal Highness the Princess Frederica-Charlotta-Ulrica-Carolina, Duchess of York and Albany, Princess Royal of Prussia, &c. &c. &c. to its anecdotal biographies of monarchs and noblemen, it had decidedly aristocratic tendencies. It clearly proposed to teach and inform through its monthly moral essays (“on Moral Honesty,” “on Gaming,” “on Natural and Political Liberty,” “on Pride”), its sections on Antiquities and on Arts and Sciences, and in its historical extracts from foreign and domestic publications, and to delight with anecdotes, engravings, and poetry. One of its poetical correspondents was “W.B.,” whom one would like to think was William Blake, then working for Richard’s brother James on engravings for Stedman’s Surinam, though no verse by him was printed in the Magazin des Savans. The journal’s sentiments were benevolent rather than political, as in the constitution proposed for the African colony of Bulam, later published in Wadstrom’s generous Essay on Colonization, part 2 ([?J. Edwards], 1795). The closest approaches to politics in these first four numbers are in the account of the trial of a Gordon rioter (1780) and a speech by Fox (two pages) balanced by Burke’s reply (nine pages).

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The works seem derivative even by the standards of magazines, with sections in the first four numbers copied from Barrett’s History of Bristol, Coxe’s Travels, Col. Humphry’s life of Putnam, speeches of Burke and Fox, the New York Daily Advertiser, The Times, and the Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy (to name only those which are identified explicitly). Despite the French title, which might have alarmed anti-Jacobins, the only explicitly Gallic subject is the two-page list of “New Books just Imported” from France that appears in the last number bearing Richard Edwards’s imprint. It was probably not a very profitable journal, as its brief life and departing publishers may suggest, and today it is very uncommon, no complete run of it having been located. One advantage of a periodical was that it guaranteed access to a reading public who might be interested in other publications, and it was common at the time for publishers not only to puff their own publications in reviews in their journals but also to print advertisements for them on the covers and to insert prospectuses, book lists, and advertisements loose in separate issues.32 Another method of profiting from their captive audience was to issue, as part of the subscription price or with an addendum to it, books in parts on related subjects. This seems to have been the way the first part (twenty-four pages) of the anonymous History of the Reign of George the Third was published by Richard Edwards and John Parsons with the April number of their Magazin des Savans. The same violent indisposition that struck down the author of the Anecdotes of the Duke of Argyll and disrupted the conduct of the Magazin des Savans struck down the author of History ... of George the Third – or at least of an otherwise unknown History of England. If Richard Edwards was the editor of the Magazin des Savans, he was probably also the author of the History ... of George the Third, and the publication of the book ceased in April 1792, after twenty-four pages, when Edwards lost control of its vehicle of publication. Almost all Richard Edwards’s publications advertise their Church and King fervour, many of them using history to support the status quo – one quotes the “Roman Moralist” as saying that “the present day should be a disciple of the past” (Anon., Review of ... the Parliament of 1784 [1792]). In his most prolific years, 1792 and 1793, when he published nineteen works, Richard Edwards gave no author on the title pages of eleven of them, and eight were by the vocal royalist Charles Edwards De Coetlogon. It seems at least possible that one or more of the anonymous works are by Richard Edwards. Their consistently conservative bias may be seen in the following summary:

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Anon., A Review of ... the Parliament of 1784 (Jan. 1792) asserts that “The Aristocracy of Great Britain ... is as much an aristocracy of talents as of rank,” unlike that of the rest of Europe, and that “the Administration will ordinarily be ... right [at least] in its intentions.” [William Cooke] Hildebrand Freeman (May 1792) includes a caricature of the liberal Joseph Priestley. [Francis Wrangham] A Farce Modernized from Aristophanes (May 1792) is an undergraduate joke which admits that its learned notes may “owe their Novelty to their Insignificance”; it is also a satire on College individuals and on Tom Paine. Anon., Ten Minutes Caution (June 1792) asserts that if Tom Paine’s system were put in practice, “the next day all the rich would be ruined ... and in a little time all the poor would be starved.” C.E. De Coetlogon, Peculiar Advantages of the English Nation (Nov. 1792) is a sermon on the birthday of William III, instigator of the Glorious Revolution of 1688. [C.E. De Coetlogon] Hints to the People of England (1792) states that we have “the best of Kings, and the best Constitution in the World.” [C.E. De Coetlogon] Human Reason (Dec. 1792) attacks “reasoning Pride” with the aid of “the obvious principles of divine Revelation.” Anon., Opinions ... for the Support of Government in the Present Alarming Crisis (Jan. 1793), perhaps by De Coetlogon, attacks the atheistic “ravings” heard at the French National Convention. Mrs Head, The Pious Mother, or, Evidence for Heaven (Jan. 1793) was first printed in De Coetlogon’s Theological Miscellany, vol. 2 (1785), and this 1793 publication was probably inspired by De Coetlogon. L.C. Bigot de Saint Croix, Histoire de la Conspiration du 10 Aout 1792 (Feb. 1793) includes authentic details of the last moments of His Most Christian Majesty Louis XVI. [C.E. De Coetlogon] Reflections ... on the Murder of Louis the Sixteenth (March 1793) is a sermon with an appendix of Louis XVI’s will and an emotional engraving; the work was dismissed in the Analytical Review as “a confused and unmethodical harangue, more calculated to inflame than to instruct.” [E.D. Clarke] Tour (May 1793) was “publish[ed] ... so hastily” that Clarke (then 22) was ashamed of it and never spoke “of it to any one.” Anon., A Brief Review of Parliamentary Reformation (1793) tries to calm fears by arguing that “The Parliament of 1784 met all these difficulties, but met them with confidence.” C.E. De Coetlogon, Patriot King (1793) was published “for the Benefit of the French Emigrant Clergy” and dedicated

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“To the General Association in England for Suppressing Sedition.” De Coetlogon, Life of Moses (?1793) and Essay on ... True Virtue (?1793) are about pious subjects, though no copy has been traced to allow one to verify such an assumption. [Archibald Cochrane] Earl of Dundonald, Treatise ... [on] Agriculture and Chemistry (March 1795) was intended to promote “Happiness and Peace ... throughout our Borders.” Anon., Lodowick (1795) is a children’s book in French and English. Tracts ... from the Somers-Collections (1795), perhaps edited by Richard Edwards, asks only a “humble Kind of Praise” for collecting “old Materials” in a “convenient” form “at a moderate Expense.” Anon., An Address to both Houses of Parliament ... [and] to the Bench of Bishops, 2nd edition (1796) was said in a review to be “the well-meant effusion of a religious zealot.” [Charles Symmons] Inez, A Tragedy (April 1796) is dedicated to the Secretary at War. William Cooke, Conversation: A Didactic Poem (June 1796). John Vancouver, Enquiry into ... Poverty (Aug. 1796). Biographical Dictionary, 15 volumes (April 1798) is a neutral compilation for the booksellers of London. Among the works he initiated or in which he was a prime mover, only Merigot’s Views and Ruins in Rome (1796–8) and Young’s Night Thoughts (1797) are works worthy of much remark. A few details about Richard Edwards may be gleaned from these works. He was probably a private friend of his chief author, Charles Edwards De Coetlogon, and he seems to have been one (“R.E.”) of the “small circle of [five] friends” who signed the dedication of De Coetlogon’s Human Reason (1792), along with Charles De Coetlogon himself (“C.D.”). He was evidently the editor or author of several of his own publications, such as the Magazin des Savans (Jan–May 1792), History of the Reign of George the Third (1792), Tracts ... from the Sommers-Collection (1795), Merigot’s Rome (1796–8), and Young’s Night Thoughts (1797), and he probably entered into his own publications in this respect more extensively than any other member of his family. He was evidently on friendly terms with others of his authors besides De Coetlogon, and Vancouver wrote the Advertisement to his Enquiry into ... Poverty (1796) in his shop. Young E.D. Clarke was in such a hurry to publish his Tour (1793) that he did not read the proofs for it – presumably Richard Edwards did so for him.

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The publication of Clarke’s Tour (1793), with seventy-seven and a half sheets and eleven aquatints, cost £140 for a thousand copies, according to Clarke. If we allow a minimum of £22 for making the eleven aquatints, this leaves £118 for all other publication costs. This is very close to the cost (£113.4.6, not counting advertising or warehousing) for one thousand copies (thirty sheets each) of B.H. Malkin’s Father’s Memoirs of His Child (1806), in which the paper was £75, the printing £30.16.0, and the payment to the author nothing.33 Probably Edwards’s production costs were the usual ones in the profession, including scarcely anything for the author, save when the author was himself. Richard Edwards doubtless had his share of difficulties with his authors and books. De Coetlogon “hoped the Booksellers will wa[i]ve their usual profits” in sales of his Patriot King (1793) for the benefit of the exiled French clergy, and most copies of Clarke’s Tour (1793) were “destroyed or lost,” evidently at the instigation of their embarrassed author. Most of these works are, of course, remarkably ephemeral. Doubtless they were of sufficient interest to contemporaries to return the publisher’s investment on most of them but scarcely justifying another edition or the attention of posterity. A few of Richard Edwards’s publications were in the public domain, such as Mrs Head, The Pious Mother (1650, 1793), Tracts ... from the Sommers-Collection (1795), Strutt, Dress ... of England, vol. 1 (1796), and Young’s Night Thoughts (1742, 1797), but most originated with Richards Edwards. Only three achieved popularity sufficiently rapidly to justify a second edition by Richard Edwards – Alexander, Croup (2 editions, 1794), [De Coetlogon] Human Reason (2 editions, 1792), and Anon., Address to both Houses of Parliament (2nd edition, 1796) – but several were later reprinted by other publishers: Anon., Ten Minutes Caution (1792), Bigot de Saint Croix, Histoire de la Conspiration (1793), Cooke, Conversation (1796), Strutt, Dress ... of England, vol. 1 (1796), [Symmons] Inez (1796), [Merigot] Views and Ruins in Rome (1796–8), Vancouver, Voyage (1798), and Young’s Night Thoughts (1797).34 In the last list, the works of importance are Strutt’s Dress ... of England, Merigot’s Rome, Vancouver’s Voyage, and Young’s Night Thoughts, and of these Richard played an important role only in Merigot and Young. It is a small list, rather narrowly focused on politics, history, and religion, but there are a few publications of a more liberal or practical interest: DRAMA: POETRY:

Symmons, Inez; Wrangham, Reform Magazin des Savans, 1; Cooke, Conversation; Young, Night Thoughts

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PICTURESQUE: MEDICINE: HUSBANDRY: ANTIQUITIES: TRAVEL:

Clarke, Tour (1793); Merigot, Rome (1796–8) Alexander, Croup (1794) [Cochrane] Agriculture and Chemistry (1795) Magazin des Savans, 1 (1792); Merigot, Rome (1796–8); Strutt, Dress ... of England, 1 (1796) Vancouver, Voyage

In such a short list, it is remarkable that two of the books are in French (Bigot de Saint Croix, Histoire de la Conspiration [1793] and Anon., Lodowick [1795]) and that one more has a French title (Magazin des Savans, 1 [1792])35 and a list of imported French books, though the rest of the work is unremittingly English. This French taste is also characteristic of the publications of James Edwards. Richard Edwards’s commercial independence as a publisher is noteworthy. Ignoring a few works that he did not originate and in which he is merely a minor member of a publishing conger – omitting Alexander, Croup (1794), Anon., Lodowick (1795), Strutt, Dress ... of England, vol. 1 (1796) – we can see that he published fifteen works entirely by himself and that he called on the assistance of other publishers for only ten. Further, he never published with the same group twice. Richard Edwards’s Co-Publishers in Chronological Order Richard Edwards; J[ohn] Parsons; [Richard] Blamire; [Thomas] Durham; [William] Flexney; [Thomas] Axtell; Merill (Cambridge) Magazin des Savans (May 1792) R. Edwards; Edwards (Halifax); J[ohn] Parsons Anon., History of the Reign of George the Third (1792) R. Edwards; Rivingtons; Mathews [De Coetlogon] Hints to the People of England (1792) [John Lane] Minerva Press; Richard Edwards [Clarke] Tour (1793) R. Edwards; Rivington; Debrett; Knight; Matthews; Bell; Yates De Coetlogon, The Patriot King, and Patriot People (1793) R. Edwards; Vernor; Edwards & Son (Halifax); Binns (Leeds); Brooke (Huddersfield); Duncan (Glasgow); Brown (Leicester) Mrs Head, The Pious Mother (1793) R. Edwards; Rivingtons; Knight; Debrett [De Coetlogon] Reflections ... on the Murder of Louis the Sixteenth (1793) R. Edwards; Debrett; Egerton; Rivingtons Anon., A Brief Review of Parliamentary Reformation (1793)

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R. Edwards; J. Edwards; T. Egerton; B. & J. White;J. Sewell Cooke, Conversation (1796) R. Edwards; J. Edwards; B. & J. White; J. Johnson; E. & T., Williams [Charles Symmons] Inez (1796) John Vancouver, An Enquiry into ... Poverty (1796) R. Edwards; J. Edwards; White; Robinsons Merigot, Rome (1796–8)

In all, Richard Edwards had twenty-three co-publishers for the works he initiated, but with fifteen of these he was associated only once, and six of them (including Edwards of Halifax) were provincial booksellers. He appeared twice or more with only eight of them, but these were the most distinguished in the list, including Debrett (four times), James Edwards (four), Edwards of Halifax (two), Egerton (two), Rivington (four), Robinson (two), and White (three). It is striking that he only cooperated in publishing with his brother James in 1796–8, after he had finished his apprenticeship, as it were, in the second half of his publishing career, and that these are among the more respectable and non-political of his publications.36 Richard Edwards was not often in distinguished company among his co-publishers, but there is a steady improvement in their quality during the latter part of his career. Richard Edwards had comparatively slight interest in the appearance of his volumes during most of his career. In the majority of them the typography and presswork are, at best, indifferent, and in only six is the identity of the printer even recorded. Printers for Richard Edwards At the Minerva Press (John Lane) [E.D. Clarke] A Tour Through the South of England (1793) J. Brook (Huddersfield) D. Alexander, A Treatise on ... The Croup (1794, 2 editions) Sampson Low, Berwick Street Anon., Lodowick (1795), 6 vols. At the Philanthropic Reform, St George’s Fields John Vancouver, An Enquiry into ... Poverty (1796) J. Nicols J. Strutt, The Dress .. of England, Vol. 1 (1796) R. Noble E. Young, Night Thoughts [Part 1] (1797)

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Of these, Richard Edwards probably had little to do with the production of Alexander’s Croup, Anon., Lodowick, or Strutt’s Dress ... of England; Sampson Low is a distinctly humble practitioner of his art and mystery; and the Minerva Press was notorious for the intellectual and typographical slovenliness of its publications. Of the works for which Richard Edwards bore a prime responsibility, only Merigot’s Rome (1796–8) and Young’s Night Thoughts (1797) are ambitious or distinguished in appearance. Not only were Richard Edwards’s publications not elegant in appearance; most of them were not even illustrated. Only six works which he originated had plates, and most of these were negligible: Illustrated Books Published by Richard Edwards Magazin des Savans, Vol. 1 (1792): 11 plates, mostly technical – portraits and music – rather than beautiful Wrangham, Reform (1792): 1 plate, a learned joke De Coetlogon, Reflections ... on the Murder of Louis the Sixteenth (1793): a sentimental frontispiece Clarke, Tour (1793): 11 aquatints, mostly unsigned Merigot, Views and Ruins in Rome (1796–8): 62 handsome and ambitious aquatints Young, Night Thoughts (1797): 43 plates designed and engraved by William Blake Only in the last years of his publishing career was Richard Edwards much concerned with the elegance or beauty of his publications, and it is chiefly for these that he should be remembered. The Great Illustrated-Book Publisher 1796–8 MERIGOT’S ROME (1796–8) The first ambitious and illustrated work on which Richard Edwards’s name as publisher appeared was A Select Collection of Views and Ruins in Rome and Its Vicinity Executed from Drawings Made Upon the Spot in the Year 1791.37 The work was probably issued in fifteen parts each containing four plates and a sheet of letterpress. The drawings appear to be by Vien, but most of the commercial enterprise and labour were those of J. Merigot, who aquatinted and published the plates.

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The first twelve engravings, dated 1 March 1796, bear only Merigot’s name as publisher, but after this brave start, enough for three numbers, there was a seven-month pause. Probably Merigot, like other ambitious engravers such as William Blake, had discovered that his time, talent, and modest financial resources did not permit him to act effectively as publisher at the same time that he was actively producing his books for sale. To make the work commercially successful, he had to bring in someone with capital and publishing experience, and Richard Edwards, who apparently expected to publish the first part of Young’s Night Thoughts in June 1796 (the date on half the plates), may have been eager to participate in such an ambitious undertaking. The risk to himself must have been comparatively slight, since Merigot was providing designs and engravings, the raison d’être of the book, and the chief additional expenses for a single part were for setting a sheet of text and buying paper on which to print plates and text. Probably after the spring of 1796, Merigot provided the engraved copperplates for his Views and Ruins in Rome and Richard Edwards (and later others) paid for paper, setting the text, printing, paper covers, sewing, labels, warehousing, advertising, and selling the work in parts – a total probably considerably less than Merigot’s fair wages as an engraver. Six more numbers, bearing the imprint on the plates of J. Merigot & R. Edwards, were issued in October (No. 4–5), December 1796 (No. 6), and February 1797 (No. 7–9). Perhaps the title page to the first part of the work, dated 1797, appeared with No. 7.38 There was then a long hiatus of just over a year, during which Edwards must have been busy with the Night Thoughts again. His integral Advertisement to the Night Thoughts is dated 22 December 1796, and the rest of its plates with imprints are dated in January, March, and June 1797. It was only after the first part of the Night Thoughts was published in November 1797 that work seems to have begun again on Merigot’s Rome. There was a renewed burst of activity with Merigot’s book in the winter and spring of 1798; No. 8–10 were published in February, No. 11–13 in March, No. 14 in April, and No. 15, the last for part 1 and probably with its half-title, in June 1798. On the completion of part 1 of Merigot’s Rome, with its sixty-two large, handsome plates, Richard Edwards’s connection with the work apparently terminated. Indeed, it may have finished a little before then, for the undated engraved half-title, probably issued with No. 15, bears the imprint only of J. Hearne, who has no other known connection with part 1. By then Robinson and White, who with Richard and James

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Edwards had published the part 1 title page dated 1797, were probably in control, perhaps having bought Merigot’s share in the work (on condition that Merigot continue to make the aquatints at piece-rates). Richard Edwards may have divided his share with his brother James, who also appears on the 1797 part 1 title page. When James Edwards went out of business about 1799, his share of Merigot’s book went to his successor R.H. Evans of Pall Mall, and that of Richard went to James Edwards’s old friend Faulder.39 The part 2 title page of [?June] 1799 thus bears the imprint of Robinsons and White (as in the part 1 1797 title page) and of Faulder and Evans (in place of Richard and James Edwards). The new consortium obviously found the work profitable, for the book was repeatedly reprinted, on paper watermarked 1806, 1815, 1818, and 1821–4, with various misleading undated title pages, one of which carried the name of Richard Edwards long after he had gone out of business. Merigot’s Rome was regarded as a vendible asset also in the Edwards family, for Thomas Edwards offered three copies in his 1815 catalogue, four in that of 1818, and four (including “the Original Drawings”) in that of 1826. Richard Edwards’s recorded connection with Merigot’s book was entirely creditable, and it is likely to have been profitable as well – at least it must have been profitable to his successors, who reprinted it repeatedly. It seems likely, therefore, that Richard Edwards’s termination of his part in the enterprise came about simply because he was leaving business. His motives probably did not include dissatisfaction with his share in Merigot’s book. It may simply have been that Earl Spencer owed James Edwards a favour for his part in the acquisition for Lord Spencer of County Reviczki’s library, and Richard Edwards profited from it. YOUNG’S NIGHT THOUGHTS (1797) Richard Edwards was in 1794 a publisher of very modest ambition and accomplishment. He had published only one work costing more than 3s (Clarke’s Tour at 10s 6d) and only two works with more than two plates or 250 pages (Magazin des Savans and Clarke’s Tour, each with eleven plates). Most of his works were conservative political and religious pamphlets of little note except to their authors and publisher. However, great changes were in the air in 1794. The standards of British typography, book design, and binding had made enormous strides

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in the previous three decades and now rivalled those of France and Holland and Italy. In particular, book illustration had been radically transformed by Alderman Boydell’s great Shakspeare Gallery (1786– 1805) and by his chief rivals, Macklin’s Poets’ Gallery (1788 ff) and Bible (1791–1800), and Bowyer’s Historic Gallery (1792–1806) of illustrations to Hume’s History of England. These great undertakings, costing tens of thousands of pounds apiece, involved most of the great English painters of the day, with commissions of up to £1,000 for a single painting; all the great line engravers in England, who were paid up to £800 for a single folio plate; and the best printers such as Bensley and Bulmer. Type, ink, and printing houses were invented for the purpose. Each publisher had a fashionable gallery to which the public flocked to see the annual exhibitions of specially commissioned huge paintings, and each sustained public interest by issuing their works in parts over more than a decade, at a cost to the subscriber of up to £105 (for Boydell’s Shakspeare). There were a number of illustrious illustrated folio publications that grew up in the shadows of these giants, such as Boydell’s Milton (3 vols., 1794–7), his edition of Farington’s History of the River Thames (1794, 1796), and Thornton’s Flora (1797–1807), but they were only seriously rivalled by one other British illustrated literary work, and that was the edition of Young’s Night Thoughts undertaken by the twentysix-year-old publisher of cautious ephemera, Richard Edwards. There was a striking incongruity both between Richard Edwards’s previous publications and his public obscurity as compared to those of the titans whom he was challenging, and between the obscure craftsman of genius whom he commissioned to make all his designs and all his engravings, William Blake, as compared to the scores of famous Royal Academy painters and engravers employed to illustrate Bowyer’s Hume, Boydell’s Shakspeare, and Macklin’s Bible. William Blake was an extraordinary choice for such a Church-andKing publisher as Richard Edwards. For one thing, Blake made his living as a modest engraver of other men’s designs – he was not and could not be a Royal Academician. Before the Night Thoughts was published in 1797, he had signed his name to only twelve designs for four commercially published books,40 and of the most ambitious and recent of these, a translation of Bűrgher’s Leonora (1796) rivalling that published by James Edwards, a caustic reviewer remarked that the figures represented “distorted, absurd, and impossible monsters,” exemplifying “the depraved fancy of one man of genius, which substitutes deformity

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and extravagance for force and expression, and draws ... imaginary beings, which neither can nor ought to exist.”41 For another thing, Blake was a political and religious radical who wore the white cap of liberty openly in the streets of London, who deplored the unimaginative singularity of “One King, one God, one Law,”42 and who was in fact tried for sedition in 1804.43 It is difficult to believe that William Blake and Richard Edwards had much in common politically, religiously, morally, or socially. Finally, even as an engraver Blake was not widely admired or even known in 1794, though he was then thirty-seven and near the height of his power as a line-engraver. Before 1794, he had made engravings for about thirty commercial books issued by six different booksellers (eleven of them published by Joseph Johnson), but very few were in folio size, he had received no commission for an engraving, much less for a design, for the great galleries of Boydell,44 Macklin, and Bowyer, and he had never been named with honour as an engraver in a review. Indeed, though he had illustrated his own works profusely, he had never made a substantial series of designs for a major literary work.45 It is, therefore, not easy to see what drew William Blake and Richard Edwards together. They did, however, have a number of things in common. Both were artists and craftsmen who specialized in copying work by other men to decorate books. Blake’s chief commercial patron before 1795 was Joseph Johnson, who was a good friend and commercial colleague of James Edwards, and in 1792 and 1793 Blake was engraving sixteen or more plates for J.G. Stedman’s Expedition ... [to] Surinam, which was published by Joseph Johnson and James Edwards. Further, Blake was particularly intimate during these years with Henry Fuseli,46 who was a close friend of both Joseph Johnson and James Edwards, and whose ambitious edition of Milton with plates to be engraved by (inter alia) William Blake was announced by Johnson and Edwards in 1791. It would not be at all surprising if Blake were known to Richard Edwards through Henry Fuseli, with whom Richard Edwards must have been acquainted because of his brother, or through Joseph Johnson, with whom he published books in 1794 and later, or through James Edwards – or through all three. Whatever the origin of the connection of the two men, it resulted in the most ambitious commercial work either ever undertook, one which rivalled the very greatest illustrated literary works of that time, or almost any other, in England, those published by Boydell, Macklin, and Bowyer.

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We may be able to guess a little more confidently at the reasons why Young’s Night Thoughts was chosen as the vehicle of their collaboration. Beyond the motives given by Edwards in his integral Advertisement, we may remark that Charles Edwards De Coetlogon, for whom Edwards had published eight books in 1792–3, had also published an illustrated edition of Young’s Night Thoughts (London: Chapman, 1793). It seems extremely likely that Edwards was aware of this edition and was influenced by it and by De Coetlogon to commission illustrations to it himself. Another incentive for the project was probably Richard Edwards’s acquisition of a set of first and early editions of the nine parts of Night Thoughts (1742–5), “the Author’s own copy”47 with “the Author’s signature” on “the blank leaf.”48 The first intention may have been merely to make an elaborately extra-illustrated copy.49 If an engraved edition had originally been in contemplation, it is unlikely that they would have used the uniquely valuable author’s copy as their text, with all the necessary hazards to it which that entailed from an engraver’s inky fingers. Further, there would have been little point in making hundreds of extra designs, far more than could ever be published, or in colouring the ink outlines elaborately. But such colouring and such profusion would be perfectly appropriate for an extra-illustrated work. A little later James Edwards’s good customer Richard Bull added thousands of extra-illustrations to the Macklin Bible (1792–1800) for his daughter Elizabeth,50 and John Gray Bell added some ten thousand designs to another set of the same work.51 Blake himself made a series of 116 watercolours in 1797 in illustration of Gray’s Poems (1790) for his good friend John Flaxman – and the method of mounting the text leaves in larger leaves for the designs is just like that used by Edwards for Young’s Night Thoughts. It may not have been until the Night Thoughts watercolours were well under way that publication of them was thought of. The beginning of the project was probably in 1794. Thomas Edwards, who later offered the watercolours for sale, wrote that Blake “was employed for more than two years” on the drawings,52 presumably before the book was published in November 1797 and probably before the first plates were dated in June 1796. Each text leaf – over 260 of them – was laid in a window cut into 1794 | J WHATMAN paper, c. 12ʺ x 16ʺ, for Blake’s watercolours, and, probably after the watercolours were completed, these in turn were set into windows of yet larger Imperial53 folio leaves with an ornamental ruled border round the design-leaf.

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The pages were consecutively numbered in brown ink, lines to be illustrated were ticked (sometimes two per page) in the margin in pencil by Edwards (or Blake),54 and Blake set to work with extraordinary energy, making an average of five designs every week for over two years. When Blake had finished the 537 huge watercolours surrounding the text on each side of the leaf, two splendid separate designs were removed from their places in the sequence to form frontispieces (see plate 6), and the designs were sumptuously bound by Benedict in red morocco “extra,” with the leaves gilt. After Richard Edwards had returned from Minorca in 1802, he wrote in each volume “Richard Edwards High Elms,” the name of the house he seems to have shared with his brother James. Blake asked £105 but was paid £21 for his work, or about 9d for each design. This is indeed a “despicably low” price, as J.T. Smith called it55 – Blake was paid a guinea a design by his faithful patron Thomas Butts in 1799 – but it is at least possible that Blake exceeded his commission in the number of drawings he produced. It seems unlikely that Richard Edwards and Blake would have begun on such a heroic scale, and Blake, as the more impetuous of the two, may well have been carried away by his enthusiasm for Young while Richard Edwards stuck to his original bargain for payment. Blake may also have been looking forward to the commission for the engravings. That Blake did not regard himself as ill-used is indicated by the fact that he went on to make engravings for Richard Edwards – and he did not grumble about Edwards in his letters and Notebooks as he did about other patrons of the time such as Joseph Johnson, William Hayley, and R.H. Cromek. The drawings themselves are astonishing. As Thomas Edwards wrote enthusiastically in 1826: It would be difficult, if not impossible, to convey to those at a distance and who have not seen this magnificent Work, an adequate, or even a faint idea of the singular nature of these most extraordinary and sublime conceptions of our Artist ... To embody ... and give it [Young’s poem] a visible form and reality, required the skill of a great Artist, and the poetic feeling of the original author combined ... It may truly be averred, that a more extraordinary, original, and sublime production of art has seldom, if ever, been witnessed since the days of the celebrated Mich. Agnolo, whose grandeur and elevation of style it greatly resembles, and this alone, if he had left

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no other work of merit, would be sufficient to immortalise his name, and transmit it to posterity, as that of an Artist of the very highest order. This was the late Mr. Fuseli’s opinion.56

Young’s meditative poem was, of course, one of the most popular in an age fascinated by death, but it had not previously been illustrated in an important series of designs. Indeed, before Blake’s were published in 1797, the only significant illustrations of it were those by his friend Thomas Stothard, conceived after Blake had begun his series and was well through his engravings, and published in 1798. Blake’s series remains not only the greatest suite of designs for Young’s poem but the only important one ever undertaken. It is also one of the great series illustrating any author. The watercolours were enormously important for Blake in a number of ways. (1) They formed the largest commission in terms of number of drawings he had received – or for that matter was ever to receive. (2) He used in them ideas already mooted in his own works in Illuminated Printing and drew on them in many of his later works.57 (3) His most ambitious Prophecy, Vala or The Four Zoas, over four thousand lines long, was written at just this time (?1796–?1807), and its subtitle, “A Dream of Nine Nights,” indicates its structural relation to the nine Nights of Young’s poem. (Much of Vala was written on proofs for the Night Thoughts engravings.) (4) The Night Thoughts watercolours must have occupied his time to the exclusion of more profitable labour, and it is notable that his own publications in Illuminated Printing cease in 1795, not to be resumed until 1804 or later. His commissions from other booksellers had resulted in an average of seventeen plates a year for books dated 1790–3, but in 1794–6 they averaged just five. And the watercolours were probably the occasion for one of his most extraordinary experiences. As he told Thomas Phillips, who was painting his portrait in 1807: I was one day reading Young’s Night Thoughts, and when I came to that passage which asks “who can paint an angel,” I closed the book and cried, “Aye! Who can paint an angel?” A voice in the room answered, “Michael Angelo could.” “And how do you know?,” I said, looking round me, but I saw nothing save a greater light than usual.

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“I know,” said the voice, “for I sat to him; I am the arch-angel Gabriel.” “Oho!” I answered, “you are, are you: I must have better assurance than that of a wandering voice; you may be an evil spirit – there are such in the land.” “You shall have good assurance,” said the voice, “can an evil spirit do this?” I looked whence the voice came, and was then aware of a shining shape, with bright wings, who diffused much light. As I looked, the shape dilated more and more: he waved his hands; the roof of my study opened; he ascended into the heaven; he stood in the sun, and beckoning to me, moved the universe. An angel of evil could not have done that – it was the arch-angel Gabriel.58

We do not know when Edwards commissioned Blake to engrave his designs for the Night Thoughts nor what the terms of the agreement were. It seems likely that their agreement was a cooperative one, Blake to provide designs and engraved copperplates, Edwards to pay for setting the text in type, for paper, printing text and then designs (on the same leaves), labels, collation, putting the leaves in wrappers, stitching, warehousing, and advertising – though there was precious little advertising. Such agreements were not uncommon then or later. On 18 October 1795 Alderman Boydell “recommended to Northcote to join with some engraver and share profit & loss [of Northcote’s ten designs of “The Progress of Virtue and Vice”] with him as the only way of proceeding now.– Northcote talked of exhibiting them.” Joseph Farington, who reports this proposal, had a similar arrangement with Boydell for his History of the River Thames (1794 [i.e., 1796]), paying the mere author of the text (William Combe) on a daily basis – which, as it happens, ate up all the profits. Farington reported on 18 July 1800 that his friend the artist Robert Smirke was going to ask the engraver William Daniell to “execute the Aqua Tinta part of the Plates He proposes to do of subjects from Tom Jones. – I thought it wd. be a good plan & that He might offer William Daniell a fourth of the property for his trouble.” James Edwards’s collaborators E. & S. Harding were engravers who organized books of views or portraits and then persuaded publishers to share the expenses of publishing with them. William Hodges had such an arrangement for his Select Views in India (1794) and Travels in India (1793) published by James Edwards, which Richard Edwards is very

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likely to have known about, and Blake’s own engravings for Job (1826) and Dante (1824 ff.) were published on a cost-sharing arrangement with John Linnell – though Blake was paid first, and the profits did not materialize until long after his death. Indeed, Richard Edwards’s arrangement with the engraver Merigot for his Select Collection of Views and Ruins in Rome and Its Vicinity (1796–8) is very likely to have required Merigot to provide designs and engravings and Richard Edwards to pay the other expenses. Such an arrangement would explain a number of anomalies in the Night Thoughts (1797). For one thing, there is no reference at all on the title page to engravings, which to posterity seem the very raison d’être of the edition, and apparently there were fewer copies of the “Explanation of the Engravings” printed than of the rest of the work – or at any rate some copies lack it. This is what one would expect if the work were to be issued both with and without the engravings – and at least one copy has survived without engravings.59 Perhaps the arrangement was that Richard Edwards should sell the unillustrated state, for which he had paid all the expenses, and that either the profits or the copies of the illustrated state should be shared with Blake. As a sharer of the risk, Blake would thus have no more cause to repine at the lack of profit than Edwards. Both had, in any case, expected to be rewarded chiefly in fame – and neither lived to see this expectation realized. Yet another indication that responsibility for the text was peculiarly Richard Edwards’s may be seen in the fact that one copy was printed on vellum, as in a number of James Edwards’s publications, and that it lacks the illustrations.60 For another thing, Edwards says emphatically in his integral Advertisement that “he has shrunk from no expence in the preparing” of “the present edition.” If, as seems likely to me, this statement applies to the printed text but not to the cost of the engravings, it might not be much of an exaggeration – though in excluding the plates it is somewhat disingenuous. Lack of advertising and faulty register and collation aside, this is in most respects a sumptuously and expensively produced publication on the best folio paper, with generous margins, handsomely printed by Noble. If, on the other hand, the statement applies to engravings as well as to text, it leans on the far side of hyperbole to prevarication. Neither the £21 of which we know nor any other plausible payment to Blake is likely to have provided him with fair engraver’s wages for his extraordinarily extensive labour.

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Blake eventually made forty-three engravings and expected to make about 107 more. At a very modest £5.5.0 each for these outline folio plates,61 he should have expected £225.15.0 for those he engraved (plus the cost of the copper). It is exceedingly unlikely that Richard Edwards’s expenses for the rest of the work came to anything like this total. “All expenses” for seventy-seven and a half sheets of Clarke’s Tour (1793) cost Richard Edwards and his co-publisher £140, perhaps excluding the expenses of the eleven aquatints, while there were only twelve and a half sheets of text in Night Thoughts plus one of separate engravings. It is true that thirty-nine pages had to be printed twice, once with text and once with engravings, and that printing from engravings costs a good deal more than printing from type – but printing a short run, say 250 copies, was likely to be one of the smallest expenses of a book, much less than for paper, composing the text – or engravings. The speculator whose investment was heaviest in Young’s Night Thoughts (1797) was probably William Blake, and his risk and eventual loss in cash and fame were probably a good deal larger than those of Richard Edwards. When the decision was made to publish some of Blake’s Night Thoughts designs, the watercolours in the first four Nights (only) were examined to mark which should be “Engraved.”62 Since the box in which the text appeared in both the watercolours and the 1797 edition was slightly closer to the inner margin than to the outer, Blake had to know, before he began his engravings, whether a design appearing on (say) a recto in the watercolours would be on a recto or a verso in the new printed version; if it were to be on a verso, the design would have to be reversed in the engraving (as happened ten times). The text had to be very carefully estimated (cast off) to determine how many pages there would be and where each page of the text would end, and, probably then, the selected watercolours were inscribed “[To be] Engraved” or “[To be] Engraved reversed.”63 (This casting off was fallible, for the engraved designs on pp. 25, 40, and 63 illustrate text on the previous pages. It may have been such a defect in casting off that caused the omission in 1797 of the last fifty-eight lines of text for Night II, including the text for the engraving on p. 41.) Many but not all the designs published in 1797 are thus marked, and two (No. 63 and 107) so marked among the watercolours that were not engraved. There was similar confusion with the text printed in 1797, for pp. 20 and 61 there have asterisks identifying a line illustrated, but no engraving appeared for that line.

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There are a number of major differences between the folio engravings for Young’s Nine Thoughts and those for Boydell’s Shakspeare, Macklin’s Bible, and Bowyer’s Hume. (1) All the Night Thoughts plates were designed by the same artist, all were copied (and sometimes altered) by the same engraver, and the artist and engraver were the same man. (2) The designs were integral with the text, printed on the same pages, not scattered penuriously through the text on separate leaves. (3) A far higher proportion of text is illustrated in Young’s Night Thoughts (1797) than in any of its rivals. (4) Boydell’s, Macklin’s, and Bowyer’s plates were highly finished engravings – or at least they were advertised as such – whereas Blake’s were outline engravings only (though they were not advertised as such). A highly finished folio plate took months or even years to engrave – Blake’s for Hogarth was two years in progress – and it would have been quite impossible for Blake to give a high finish to the forty-three plates published in 1797, not to mention the 150–200 intended for all nine Nights, within the time that a bookseller could afford to wait. A special advantage of outline rather than highly finished engravings was that they could be more easily and effectively hand-coloured, and such colouring may have been part of the original intention.64 Certainly Blake did colour a number of copies of the published edition,65 though he very rarely did so for his other commercial book illustrations66 – most of which are more highly finished engravings. Perhaps the plan was always for Blake to be given copies of the Night Thoughts to colour, as part of his share of the profits of the work. The colouring of these engravings (see plate 6), creating a luminous beauty like that of the watercolours, adds an aesthetic dimension to the Night Thoughts never contemplated by Boydell, Macklin, and Bowyer and makes Blake’s coloured Night Thoughts plates rarer, more extraordinary, more valuable, and more beautiful than the works of his more expensive and famous rivals. Boydell and his great competitors had to coordinate the work of painter, engraver, and proof-printer. Blake worked far more efficiently and expeditiously by doing all this work himself; the artist never had to wait for the engraver to take the plate to a proof-printer, for he pulled the proofs himself. Seventy-one proofs for Night Thoughts have survived, including three or four of some plates, revealing extraordinary and important changes in the engravings, and almost certainly there were more proofs. The savings in time and money achieved

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by having the artist take his own proofs were probably important. And probably most important of all, they mean that the same hand and imagination were responsible for all the preliminary stages of the engravings. Indeed, it is even possible that Blake and his wife printed the finished engravings in commercial quantities himself, as they did the quarto plates for Hayley’s Life of ... William Cowper (1803–4). If so, his earnings thus may have been substantial. At the standard rate of 6s per hundred pulls, the cost of printing 250 copies each of forty-three plates would have been £32.5.0, a sum equal to perhaps six months income for the Blakes in some years. The best way to encourage patrons to subscribe to such an edition was to let them see specimens, and Boydell had his Shakspeare Gallery, Macklin his Poets’ Gallery, and Bowyer his Historic Gallery67 to display their designs to be engraved – though they never had so many as 537 unpublished designs to show at once. One of the Night Thoughts designs was copied on vellum,68 probably so that it could be exhibited at the shop of James Edwards in Pall Mall or of Robert Bowyer in Pall Mall, where “Specimens may be seen.” Presumably the original watercolours themselves were to be seen in the shop of Richard Edwards in Old Bond Street, and it would not be surprising if some of the watercolours were put on display at the Royal Academy Library, as Blake’s designs for Blair’s Grave apparently were in 1805.69 At any rate, they were seen by a surprising number of Royal Academicians. Evidently it was at first expected that the Night Thoughts would be published in June 1796, and 71% of the plates with imprints bear the date of 27 June 1796. The chief known advertisement for the work is a little flyer that probably appeared early in the year: EDWARDS’S MAGNIFICENT EDITION OF YOUNG’S NIGHT THOUGHTS. EARLY in JUNE will be published, by subscription, part the first of a splendid edition of this favourite work, elegantly printed, and illustrated with forty very spirited engravings from original drawings by BLAKE These engravings are in a perfectly new style of decoration, surrounding the text which they are designed to elucidate.

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The work is printed in atlas-sized quarto, and the subscription for the whole, making four parts, with one hundred and fifty engravings, is five guineas; – one to be paid at the time of subscribing, and one on the delivery of each part. – The price will be considerably advanced to non-subscribers. Specimens may be seen at [Richard] EDWARD’S, No. 142 New Bond Street; at Mr. [James] EDWARDS’S, Pall Mall; and at the HISTORIC GALLERY, Pall-Mall; where subscriptions are received.70

The Prospectus promised four parts with 150 engravings in all. While at first it may seem surprising that the first part should have contained four of the nine Nights, the text for these four Nights forms only a little more (28.7%) than 25% of the whole work anticipated in the Prospectus. In the 1797 text, eighty-eight pages of text have thirty-nine engravings (44% of the text pages have illustrations), plus eight pages of new preliminaries and four frontispieces. These eighty-eight pages represent 61% of the 144 pages of Nights I–IV in the 1740s editions that they were copying. It seems plausible to expect that these proportions would have been maintained in successive parts of the Edwards edition of Night Thoughts. By extrapolating from these proportions, we may calculate that the four parts of the Edwards edition of Night Thoughts would probably have been formed as follows: The Four Parts of Night Thoughts (1797) Part

Nights

One

I–IV

8

Two

V–VI

2

Three

VII–VIII

2

Four

IX

TOTALS

Preliminaries

Pages of Text

Percentage Plates of Pages

Frontispieces

88

28.7%

39

4

69

19%

30

2

85

28.3%

37

2

2

73

23.5%

32

1

14

315

99.5%

138

9

(Edwards omitted the two extra pages of preliminaries in the original Night I and presumably therefore would have omitted the two extra in Night VI, the four extra in Night VI, and the six extra in Night VII.) This would have given a total of 329 pages (including one blank page at the ends of parts 2 through 4) and 147 plates, totals which are in reasonable conformity to the Prospectus advertisement for “four

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parts, with one hundred fifty engravings.” Notice also that the Prospectus says that the engravings are “to elucidate” Young’s poem, not merely to embellish it; this is indeed an ambitious claim. Finally, notice the extraordinarily modest price of the undertaking: £5.5.0 for 150 large engravings and about thirty sheets of text. Boydell’s Shakspeare, Macklin’s Bible, and Bowyer’s edition of Hume’s History of England cost far more than this, up to £105 for Shakspeare, with far fewer plates, though they had much more text (eleven volumes for Shakspeare) and highly finished engravings rather than just outlines. The 1797 Night Thoughts was an extraordinary bargain for those with guineas to spare. However, few book lovers had guineas to spare just then. Blake’s acquaintance the engraver Abraham Raimbach lamented “the abject and almost expiring state to which the fine arts had been reduced” about 1796; “Everything connected with them was, of course, at the lowest ebb.”71 The English war with France had not only cut off the crucial export trade in illustrated books but had caused inflation and a general calling in of credit. The Night Thoughts was advertised and published at a time peculiarly difficult for the arts of luxury. The flyer for the Night Thoughts probably stimulated the first recorded responses among artists. Joseph Farington may have been thinking of Blake’s watercolours when he wrote on Friday 19 February 1796: “West, Cosway & Humphry72 spoke warmly in favour of the designs of Blake the Engraver, as works of extraordinary genius and imagination.– Smirke differed in opinion, from what He had seen, so do I.” Blake’s good friend Nancy Flaxman, the wife of the distinguished sculptor, certainly had good information about Blake’s project, if not about his poet, for she wrote on 16 March 1796: apropos of Young[,] Edwards has inserted the letter press close cut of Youngs Night Th into the large margins making a folio Size[;] this a friend of ours is ornamenting with most beautiful designs in water colours[.] The man who does it, is himself a Native Poet & an Artist & sings his wood notes73 unfettered by any rule whose genius soars above all rule[;] twill be a very lily of the valley a mountain daisy74 or the meadow queen, twill be in short the choicest wild flower in Linneas System. Tell me in your next the name of it– I never read the Bard in Question & have him not in my collection, but soon I will both read & possess. I have hopes it will be publishd e’er I am much older for from what little I have seen in his writings they seem like orient Pearls at random strung.75

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Her expectation that the Night Thoughts would be “publishd e’er I am much older” seems to confirm the presumption that it was to be published in June 1796. Another such confirmation comes in the diary of Joseph Farington, who wrote on 24 June 1796: Fuseli called on me last night & sat till 12 oClock. He mentioned Blake, the Engraver, whose genius & invention have been much spoken of.... Blake has undertaken to make designs to encircle the letter press of each page of “Youngs night thoughts.[”] Edwards the Bookseller, of Bond S.tr employs him, and has had the letter press of each age laid down on a large half sheet of paper. There are ab.t 900 pages.76 – Blake asked 100 guineas for the whole. Edwards said He could not afford to give more than 20 guineas for which Blake agreed.– Fuseli understands that Edwards proposes to select ab.t 200 from the whole and to have that number engraved as decorations for a new edition.–

Notice that the £21 seems to be for the drawings only; the proposal to publish the designs is subsequent – and probably separate. It would be pleasant to think that it was Blake’s inventions for Night Thoughts which “have been much spoken of.” Whatever Edwards’s expectations, only twenty-four of Blake’s plates were finished by June 1796, and publication could not take place then. Six months later, Edwards believed the first part was ready, he wrote an Advertisement that was published in the book, and he may even have had the text set in type, with the title page dated 1797. His Advertisement was a curiously muted affair: ADVERTISEMENT In an age like the present of literature and of taste, in which the arts, fostered by the general patronage, have attained to growth beyond the experience of former times, no apology can be necessary for offering to the publick an embellished edition of an english classick; or for giving to the great work of Young some of those advantages of dress and ornament which have lately distinguished the immortal productions of Shakspeare and of Milton. But it was not solely to increase the honours of the british press, or to add a splendid volume to the collections of the wealthy, that the editor was induced to adventure on the present undertaking. Not uninfluenced by professional, he acted also under the impulse of higher motives; and when

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he selected the Night Thoughts for the subject of his projected decoration, he wished to make the arts, in their most honourable agency, subservient to the purposes of religion; and by their allurements to solicit the attention of the great for an enforcement of religious and moral truth, which can be ineffectual only as it may not be read. From its first appearance in the world, this poem has united the suffrages of the criticks in the acknowledgment of its superior merit ... The principal charges which have been urged against this poem, and which in some degree may have affected its popularity, are the dark tints of its painting; and the obscurities which occasionally occur in it to retard the progress of the reader ... On the immediate subject of the present edition of this valuable work the editor has only to say that he has shrunk from no expence in the preparing of it; and that to make it as worthy in every respect as possible of the public favour has been the object of his particular and solicitous attention. It has been regarded by him, indeed, not as a speculation of advantage, but as an indulgence of inclination; – as an undertaking in which fondness and partiality would not permit him to be curiously accurate in adjusting the estimate of profit and loss. If this edition, therefore, of the Night Thoughts be found deficient in any essential requisite to its perfection, the circumstance must be imputed to some other cause, than to the oeconomy or negligence of the editor. Of the merit of Mr. Blake in those designs which form not only the ornament of the page, but, in many instances, the illustration of the poem, the editor conceives it to be unnecessary to speak. To the eye of the discerning it need not be pointed out; and while a taste for the arts of design shall continue to exist, the original conception, and the bold and masterly execution of this artist cannot be unnoticed or unadmired. Dec. 22d. 1796.

This is a curious piece of puffing, clearly aiming at the lofty judiciousness appropriate to a “National Edition.” Edwards seems to solicit comparison with the “dress” (?typography) and “ornament” (designs) of the Boydell Shakspeare and Milton, and he appeals, as they did, to national pride, as we might expect from his lex et rex publications. His interest in making the work “subservient to the purposes of religion” is also consonant with his religious pamphlets of 1792–3. He devotes several paragraphs to a discussion of the merits of the poem, oddly stressing its “dark tints” and “obscurities,” and he only reaches “the immediate subject of the present edition” in the penultimate paragraph

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and then chiefly to say that the editor (and publisher) cannot be accused of “oeconomy” or “negligence.”77 Blake’s engravings are mentioned only in the last paragraph because “the editor conceives it to be unnecessary to speak” of the designs, whose “original conception, and ... bold and masterly execution ... cannot be unnoticed or unadmired.” The discrete double negative yet makes a bold challenge to contemporary taste. As Blake wrote about 1810, “from all Quarters” he had heard the accusation, “‘he can conceive but he cannot Execute’,”78 and it was common to allege that what Lamb called his “wild designs” show “less of art than genius.” Edwards’s claim that Blake’s “execution” was “bold and masterly” echoed Blake’s opinion but not the public’s. Such an unconventional conclusion by a publisher striving for conventionality suggests that he had been advised in this point by some friend of Blake, such as Fuseli. But, believing that Blake’s designs “cannot be ... unadmired,” Edwards was surely negligent not to give some indication of what is admirable in the most expensive and important feature of this edition. Their spiritual daring, their artistic originality, their brilliant commentary upon Young’s poem, upon man and God surely deserve at least passing remark. The explanation for such silence may lie in an English reluctance to speak about art – great art should speak for itself – and the greatest illustrated books of the day rarely devoted much space to praising their engravings. The difference was that Boydell, Macklin, Bowyer, and others had previously focused attention exclusively upon the designs of their famous painters through exhibitions and through catalogues and reviews of those exhibitions. The Night Thoughts designs by the obscure William Blake were known to the general public only through two very brief advertisements – and through the engravings themselves. About the time Edwards wrote his account of the Night Thoughts, he placed an advertisement or notice of it in the first volume of the Monthly Epitome and Catalogue of New Publications, vol. 1 (Jan. 1797), 79: “Young’s Night Thoughts, with Etchings and Engravings, in Four Parts, Atlas sized 4to. to Subscribers 51.5s. to Non-subscribers 61.6s. (Part I. in a few days.) Edwards, Bond-street.” The reference to “Etchings and Engravings” may mean that Edwards wished to press forward to publication even with plates that had been etched with the needle and acid but not yet engraved with the burin (his separate flyer of June speaks only of “engravings”), but if so he was disappointed, for the plates bear dates of January, March, and June 1797, and the work was not published,

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apparently, until November. The only information in the Monthly Epitome not in the June flyer is that the price to non-subscribers was £6.6.0 – previously the sum was not specified. Once again a Night Thoughts advertisement seems to have stimulated gossip about it in the artistic world. On 12 January 1797 Farington, Hoppner, Stothard, Rigaud, and Opie met on Royal Academy business at Wright’s Coffee House, and Farington recorded in his diary: We supped together and had laughable conversation. Blakes eccentric designs were mentioned. Stothard supported his claims to Genius, but allowed He had been misled to extravagance in his art, & He knew by whom [Fuseli]79 – Hoppner ridiculed the absurdity of his designs, and said nothing could be more easy than to produce such. –They were like the conceits of a drunken fellow or a madman. “Represent a man sitting on the moon, and pissing the Sun out – that would be a whim of as much merit.”– Stothard was angry mistaking the laughter caused by Hoppners description.–

The work was apparently published in the autumn of 1797, when James Edwards sold a copy to William Roscoe, as he indicated in his bill of 2 January 1798: “Nov 6 ... Young’s N. Tho.ts No £1.1. & Sub. 1/1. [£]2.2–.” Nancy Flaxman may have been referring to the publication of the book when she wrote in early November 1797 to “My Good Friend” “Signora B–” that her previous epistle, which never arrived, probably “contain’d to the best of my Remembrance an Account of Some designs made by a friend of ours for your favorite Bard – Young[.] Blake is the artists name, ‘Native Poet he[’] &c one who had sung his wood notes wild – of a Strong & Singular Imagination[;] – he has treated his Poet most Poetically – Flaxman has employ’d him to Illuminate the work of of Grey for my library–”.80 There was no review of any kind, and the work may scarcely have been published. Perhaps Richard Edwards was distracted in the winter and spring of 1798 in publishing the parts of Merigot’s Rome, which had been suspended (January 1797–January 1798) while Night Thoughts Part I was published. At any rate, no sale of or immediate reaction to it is known, and thirteen years later Crabb Robinson reported that it “is no longer to be bought, so excessively rare has it become.”81 (By this he presumably meant that it was no longer available from the dealers with whom he enquired at first.) Within a few months of the publication of the Night Thoughts, Richard Edwards probably knew that he was going out of business. In 1796

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he had been involved in the publication of four very ambitious illustrated works – Strutt’s Dress ... of England Vol. I ([?July] 1796–[?Feb.] 1797), Merigot’s Rom (Oct. 1796–Jan. 1797), Young’s Night Thoughts (announced for June [?1796]), and Vancouver’s Voyage (announced May 1797, published August 1798) – but this was apparently too much for him to manage. He suspended publication of Merigot’s Rome (January 1797–January 1798) and abandoned Strutt’s Dress ... of England (by March[?] 1797) while the Night Thoughts was being completed (Jan.–Nov. 1797), and Night Thoughts may have been suspended in its turn when Merigot’s Rome was resumed (Feb.–June 1798). He evidently withdrew from Vancouver’s Voyage in May 1798. By mid-1798 Richard withdrew from publishing Merigot’s Rome and probably from bookselling entirely. By the winter of 1797–8 Richard Edwards was no longer involved in the sale of Young’s Night Thoughts, though it bore his name on the title page. The following advertisement appeared in The True Briton, No. 1644 (31 March 1798): SPLENDID EDITION OF YOUNG’S NIGHT THOUGHTS. With 150 Engravings from original Designs. This Day is published, Price One Guinea to Subscribers. PART I. containing FOUR BOOKS of YOUNG’S NIGHT THOUGHTS, illustrated with 43 very spirited Etchings, from the Designs of Mr. BLAKE. The novelty of the style in which these Engravings are introduced, surrounding the Text they illustrate, and the masterly hand with which they are executed, must, it is presumed, command the attention of the Literati, the Amateur of the Fine Arts, and of the Artist. The Paper and Type will be found correspondent with the elegance of such an Undertaking, and it is hoped that, from the extremely low price which the Editor has fixed upon the Work to Subscribers, it will meet with that liberal encouragement which its intrinsic merit, as well as its novelty, may justly claim from this enlightened and literary Age. The Subscription for the whole Work is Five Guineas: one to be paid at the time of subscribing, and one on the delivery of each Part. The Book will be completed in Four Parts, with all the expedition consistent with the nature of a Work of such magnitude. The Price will be considerably advanced to Non-Subscribers, on the publication of the Second Part, which is in forwardness.

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London: Sold by Mr. Edwards, Pall-Mall; Mr. Robson and Mr. Faulder, New Bond-street; Mr. Payne, Mews Gate; Mr. White, Fleet-street; Messrs. Robinsons, Paternoster-row; Mr. Clarke, Bond-street; Mr. Bell, Oxfordstreet; and Mr. Harding, Pall-Mall.82

Substantially the same advertisement appeared in the Times for 9 and 11 July 1798: YOUNG’S NIGHT THOUGHTS, ʃplendid Edition, with 150 Engravings from original Deʃigns.–This Day is publiʃhed, price One Guinea to Subʃcribers, Part the Firʃt, containing Four Books, of YOUNG’S NIGHT THOUGHTS; illuʃtrated …83

Essentially, sales of the Night Thoughts had been taken over by a congeries headed by James Edwards, who himself withdrew from bookselling within a little more than a year. It is not clear who was responsible thereafter for sales of the Night Thoughts. The most intriguing feature of the advertisements is the claim that “the Second Part ... is in forwardness” (True Briton) or “great forwardness” (Times). One of the booksellers in the 1798 congeries advertised that part 2 was actually published.84 No other evidence is known that part 2 ever proceded further than a proof of one engraving for Night V. 85 When Richard Edwards was going out of business, he needed to dispose of his stock. The obvious buyer was his brother James, but already, by 3 November 1797, James had determined “to reduce my Stock to a very complete private Library.” Richard may have chosen to sell his stock of Night Thoughts to R.H. Evans, James Edwards’s successor in 1799, who became the publisher with Blake of Hayley’s Designs to A Series of Ballads (1802) or to Faulder, to whom he evidently sold his share of Merigot’s Rome. Certainly the Night Thoughts (1797) did not turn up in the sales of his brothers James and Thomas in 1799, 1804, 1815, 1818, 1826, and 1818. When Richard Edwards was disposing of his stock, he is likely to have given some copies of Night Thoughts to Blake in payment for his engraving work, and Blake in turn coloured and sold several of them. Copies with elaborate and sometimes wonderfully beautiful colouring were sold to Blake’s contemporaries Thomas Butts (his chief patron in 1794–1810), Mrs Bliss (sold in 1826 for £4.4.0), Sir John Soane, Thomas Gaisford, Samuel Boddington, George John Spencer (Earl Spencer), “W.E.” (?William Ensom or William Edwards), and John S. Harford Jr.86 Coloured

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copy Q is inscribed “This Copy was coloured for me by Mr Blake | W.E.” and Copy R (Harford’s): “This copy colrd by W. Blake.” The colouring in some examples may have been repeated from Blake’s master copy by Mrs Blake or others, for Copy C is signed “W. Blake” and identified “as pattern,” presumably as the model for colouring other copies, and there are at least two patterns of colouring in copies of Young’s Night Thoughts, one of c. 1797 and one of c. 1805. If a number of copies of Night Thoughts did pass into Blake’s possession, he would have had little difficulty accommodating them when he had a whole house to himself to range in Lambeth in 1790–1800. However, he would have had considerable difficulty transporting them to and from Felpham, where he lived 1800–3 and storing them in his small flats in London on his return (1803–27). One reason for the difficulty contemporaries experienced in purchasing Blake’s Night Thoughts may have been the fact that Blake had no appropriate London shop or house from which to sell them; if he did receive a number of copies at once, he probably had to keep them in a warehouse. Probably one of the most important copies he coloured was that for Earl Spencer (see plate 6), the greatest English collector of his day and a special customer and friend of James Edwards, who was responsible for Richard Edwards’s appointment in Minorca. James and Richard Edwards both had special reason to be grateful to Earl Spencer, and his copy was made extra special not only in its colouring but in its binding and in having duplicate, uncoloured engraved title pages to compare with the coloured ones.87 Blake had hoped for fame from his Night Thoughts engravings, but, though he must have been paid significant sums for colouring the engraved outlines, he was disappointed in the public response to the book – or rather in the lack of response. On 26 August 1799 he wrote to his friend George Cumberland: “I live by Miracle ... For as to Engraving in which art I cannot reproach myself with any neglect yet I am laid by in a corner as if I did not Exist & Since my Youngs Night Thoughts have been publishd Even Johnson & Fuseli have discarded my Graver.” The work to which he had devoted years of his time and the best of his genius was a failure in the marketplace and with the critics. There were so few accounts of it during the lifetimes of its publisher and illustrator that they may be recorded in detail. On Sunday 10 March 1811 Crabb Robinson “shewed W[illiam]. H[azlitt]. Blake’s Young. He saw no merit in them as designs.”88 Crabb Robinson himself found Blake so remarkable that he wrote an article

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about him for the first issue of the German periodical called Vaterländisches Museum, in which he said that the engravings are of very unequal merit; sometimes the inventions of the artist rival those of the poet, but often they are only preposterous translations of them, by reason of the unfortunate idea peculiar to Blake, that whatsoever the fancy of the spiritual eye may discern must also be as clearly penetrable to the bodily eye. So Young is literally translated, and his thought turned into a picture. Thus for example the artist represents in a drawing Death treading crowns under foot, the sun reaching down his hand, and the like. Yet these drawings are frequently exquisite. We hear that the publisher has not yet issued a quarter of the drawings delivered to him by the artist and has refused to sell the drawings, although a handsome sum was offered him for them.89

The “handsome sum” refused for the drawings may be estimated by the £300 asked for them in the 1821 catalogue of Richard Edwards’s brother Thomas, though this was reduced to £52.10.0 in his auctions of 1826 and 1828 – and still found no buyer. One of the few enthusiasts for the book was Thomas Frognall Dibdin, who wrote: “there are few books of which I love to turn over the leaves, more assiduously and carefully, than ‘Young’s Night Thoughts,’ emblazoned by his [Blake’s] truly original pencil.”90 And there is evidence that the book did not escape contemporary public attention entirely. In a schoolboy text of Virgil, the editor R.J. Thornton said that “The Illustrations of this English Pastoral are by the famous BLAKE, the illustrator of Young’s Night Thoughts, and Blair’s Grave,”91 and Charles Lamb identified Blake in a letter of 15 May 1824 as “a most extraordinary man ... whose wild designs accompany a splendid folio edition of the Night Thoughts.”92 Two final comments of 1830, three years after the deaths of the illustrator and publisher, indicate the ambivalence towards the designs still felt by men of taste a third of a century after they were issued. The first is by Allan Cunningham: “Some of those designs were in keeping with the poems, but there were others which alarmed fastidious people; the serious and the pious were not prepared to admire shapes trembling in nudity round the verses of a grave divine. In the exuberance of Young there are many fine figures; but they are figures of speech only, on which art should waste none of its skill.”93 Whatever faults modern eyes may discover among the beauties of Blake’s designs for Young, we are not now normally so reluctant to

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tolerate shapes trembling in nudity in illustration of exuberant figures of speech. Such ambivalence is expressed at greater length in Edward Bulwer Lytton’s anonymous “Conversation with an Ambitious Student in Ill Health” published in the New Monthly Magazine 29 (Dec. 1830): 518–19: L. ... I saw a few days ago, a copy of the “Night Thoughts,” which he [Blake] had illustrated in a manner at once so grotesque, so sublime – now by so literal an interpretation, now by so vague and disconnected a train of invention, that the whole makes one of the most astonishing and curious productions which ever balanced between the conception of genius and the ravings of positive insanity. I remember two or three [of his illustrations], but they are not the most remarkable. To these two fine lines – “Tis greatly wise to talk with our past hours, And ask them what report they bore to heaven”; he has given the illustration of one sitting and with an earnest countenance conversing with a small shadowy shape at his knee, while other shapes, of a similar form and aspect, are seen gliding heavenward, each with a scroll in its hands. The effect is very solemn. Again, the line– “Till death, that mighty hunter, earths them all,” is bodied forth by a grim savage with a huge spear, cheering on fiendish and ghastly hounds, one of which has just torn down, and is griping by the throat, an unfortunate fugitive: the face of the hound is unutterably death-like. The verse – “We censure Nature for a span too short,” obtains an illustration literal to ridicule. – A bearded man of gigantic statu[r]e is spanning an infant with his finger and thumb. Scarcely less literal, but more impressive, is the engraving of the following:– “When Sense runs savage, broke from Reason’s chain, And sings false peace till smother’d by the pall!” You perceive a young female savage, with long locks, wandering alone, and exulting – while above, two bodiless hands extend a mighty pall, that appears about to fall upon the unconscious rejoicer. A. Young was fortunate. He seems almost the only poet who has had his mere metaphors illustrated and made corporeal.94

No great number of copies of Young’s Night Thoughts (1797) was ever in circulation,95 and Richard Edwards seems scarcely to have attempted to advertise or sell it vigorously. His lassitude about it may have been

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connected with his personal situation, leaving off business within the year. Few buyers sought for the work, and some of those who did, like Crabb Robinson, had great difficulty finding it. Commercially, the book must have been a failure. As the sparse comments quoted above suggest, it was scarcely a critical success either. Hazlitt the art critic “saw no merit in them as designs,” though Dibdin the bibliographer loved looking at the engravings. Most who looked at the designs with care probably thought, as Crabb Robinson, Allan Cunningham, and Bulwer Lytton did, that they were both “preposterous” and “exquisite,” at once “grotesque” and “sublime.” Almost a century passed before there was an extended and appreciative commentary on the designs, by F.J. Shields in Gilchrist’s Life of William Blake (1880), and another century passed after that before all the watercolours were published in a book together, many for the first time (1980), though in reduced size and mostly in monochrome. It has been left for the present generation to conclude that Blake’s designs for Young’s Night Thoughts are among the greatest imaginative feats of that or any age – and that the career of the publisher who called them forth is worth recording in detail. Richard Edwards is a minor member of an important family of booksellers, bookbinders, and publishers. What we know of his shop, his pamphlets, and his career indicates a man not remarkable for ambition, taste, energy, or accomplishment. We do not know when he encountered Blake or why he patronized him – but we do know that his patronage elicited from one of the most astonishing geniuses of the age almost a quarter of his surviving watercolours and by far the most ambitious of his commercial undertakings. The paradox of Richard Edwards’s deserved obscurity before 1795 and his apparently unwitting brilliance in commissioning Blake’s Night Thoughts designs is as wonderful in its way as the paradox of Blake’s grotesque and sublime engravings themselves.

PART IV Thomas Edwards, an Important Provincial Bookseller

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 For many years, Thomas Edwards worked in the Halifax shop with his father. From about 1789, when his father was sixty-seven, he was the only son there, and he must have been more and more fully in charge. He was in sole charge when his father went to look after James Edwards’s shop in Pall Mall in 1796 and when he visited his other son Richard in High Elms in 1806. “After his father’s death in 1808, [he] continued as a bookseller in Halifax with high reputation, for many years.”1 On 5 January 1808, the year when he was forty-five and just a few days before his father died, Thomas married Caroline Matilda Lister (1776–1860), and within nine years his wife had borne him six children. Thomas seems to have been the chief producer of Edwards of Halifax bindings, in Etruscan calf, in transparent vellum, and with painted fore-edges, and he certainly carried on the family bindery vigorously. It is surprising that he was able to find sufficient customers for such luxurious articles, but not only did buyers come from far to seek his bindings and other booksellers (such as his brothers James and Richard in London) sent him commissions for them, but he had very substantial orders from nearby. Stephen Tempest Jr of Broughton Hall in Craven paid £151.5.6 for binding nearly four hundred books in russia, morocco, and calf at about 9s a volume in just twelve months from November 1818 to October 1819.2 Only a few such customers would have been needed to support the Edwards bindery nicely. Sale Catalogues 1812–34 The Edwards establishment in Halifax was clearly a major provincial bookshop, where travellers and Yorkshiremen could find new and antiquarian books in beautiful bindings. We know little of the shop in the eighteenth century, because William Edwards published only a few auction catalogues (1749–60), and none of them seems to have survived. In the nineteenth century, on the other hand, Thomas Edwards published a dozen or so catalogues (1812–34), and these give a good deal of information about the nature of the Halifax business in the first quarter of the century. Of his first two shop catalogues, one of Books in April 1812 and one of Prints, Drawings, and Pictures in May 1812, we know only from a

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manuscript letter. His third shop catalogue, of August 1815, specialized in Law and Jurisprudence (516 lots) and Medicine (918 lots). Much more ambitious was his general catalogue of Books, in Most Languages, and Every Branch of Literature, Part 1 (1815). The reference to Unique and Splendid Articles, collected from various Parts of Europe, many in elegant Bindings, makes it sound like the stock of his brother James; certainly it describes many publications by James and Richard Edwards and books superbly bound [by Edwards of Halifax] in Etruscan calf (e.g., No. 1,285). Part 2, the Appendix and Supplement, appeared in 1816 Containing all the rarest Articles from the cabinet of an Eminent Collector, unfortunately unnamed. The title page stressed French books, emblem books, incunabula, and illuminated missals, as well as works in Mathematics, Law, Medicine, Arts and Sciences, perhaps from his general stock. Probably it was not easy to sell bibliophilic treasures in Halifax, and most of the rest of Thomas Edwards’s catalogues were of auctions in London and Manchester. The first of these was the anonymous sale by Saunders in London on 30 March–16 April 1818 of some of the remarkable books in his stock – 2,232 lots over sixteen days. The title page described it as “one of the most rich and splendid Collections ever submitted to the Public,” singling out particularly the bindings of unusual Taste and Splendour. Some of these were in the Edwards of Halifax Etruscan style. Thomas Edwards’s last shop catalogue was issued in 1821, when he was fifty-nine years old and trying to wind up his business. This catalogue is so fugitive that only three copies have been traced. It listed over three thousand works, including hundreds “elegantly,” “splendidly,” and “sumptuously” bound and the 537 drawings (£300) Blake had made for the edition of Young’s Night Thoughts that Thomas’s brother Richard had published in 1797. But the Blakes were unsalable at £300 or anything like it, and this and doubtless some of Thomas Edwards’s best works proved to be too good for the market. Five years later, Thomas Edwards had determined on Retiring from Business, and he printed in Halifax two catalogues of selections from his stock in trade that were sold at auction by Thomas Winstanley & Co in Manchester, the first of books on 1–12 May 1826 and the second of artworks on 15–16 May. The first covered the standard antiquarian bookseller’s range of The Best Works in Divinity, Poetry, Belles Lettres, History, Biography, Topography, Antiquities, Voyages and Travels, Natural History and Botany, Encyclopedias, Books of Prints, and Illuminated Missals, plus the best

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recent works, especially those Richly Illustrated with Plates. These modern works included many publications by James, Richard, and Thomas Edwards. The text drew attention particularly to the “splendid, costly” bindings in which “the greater part” of the collection of 1,465 lots were bound – an extraordinary claim: In the superintendance of this department [Etruscan bindings ... with matchless and unique Drawings on the Leaves], the utmost care and expence has [sic] been lavished on the part of Mr. Edwards. ... it is seldom that a collection is seen altogether, displaying, in its bindings, ... such general excellence and perfection of the Art. [p. iv]

Among the rest was the set of Blake’s Night Thoughts drawings (No. 1,076), which had not sold at £300 in 1821 and which did not meet its reserve of £50 in 1826. Apparently the sale was a failure, and most of the items were withdrawn and placed in private sale.3 The art sale of 15–16 May 1826 consisted of Engravings, Drawings, oil Paintings, Painted Glass, and Carvings on Ivory; the extensive title page drew attention particularly to works of the Modern English School of engravers and to the modern English drawings, and one suspects that at least some of these had passed to Thomas Edwards in Halifax from his brothers James and Richard in London as Blake’s Night Thoughts drawings had. By 1828 Thomas Edwards had left Halifax, and what appears to be the last of his shop stock was sold in London by Stewart, Wheatley, & Adlard on 15–24 May 1828.4 It was described as “One of the most magnificent assemblages of Missals, Illuminated Manuscripts, and Illustrated Books, ever offered for public Sale,” being especially strong in English and classical literature and fine bindings, including Etruscan bindings. It realized £4,640.6.6, but Blake’s Night Thoughts Drawings (lot 1,130) were bought in at £52.10.0 – and stayed in the family until long after the death of Thomas Edwards. Publishing 1788–1826 Thomas Edwards was apparently a partner in the publications of the family firm in Halifax beginning about 1784, when the imprint of his father changed from W. Edwards (1779) to W. Edwards & Sons (1784–91). When the other sons in the firm (James, John and Richard) went to

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London, the Halifax style was curtailed to [William] Edwards & Son [Thomas] in imprints of 1791–1812. However, the last years are anachronisms, for William Edwards died in 1808. The “Edwards” and “Eduardium” that appear in imprints of 1809–10 must represent Thomas Edwards, and so presumably do the “J. Edwards” and “W. Edwards and Son, Halifax” on those of 1812 and 1818. In all, William Edwards had a hand in at least forty-two publications. In twenty-six of these (1785–1808) he was associated with his father, and most of these were derivative – eight were publications of James Edwards and two of Richard Edwards. Of the sixteen publications in which he is the only Edwards named, eight are his own catalogues, two are ephemeral catalogues of others, two (Whitaker’s Craven and Whalley) were simply new editions of works he had published with his father, and one is merely a Wanted poster. The only substantial first editions that Thomas Edwards published with his imprint, aside from his own catalogues, were Whitaker, De Motu (1809) and The Life of ... Sir George Radcliffe (1810), and Hargrove, History ... of York (1818), and in each Edwards is merely the Halifax agent. Aside from his catalogues, Thomas Edwards’s five substantial publications include four by T.D. Whitaker, three of whose works he had published with his father in 1805–7. He was clearly the principal publisher of the third edition of T.D. Whitaker’s Whalley (1818), for he and his father had published the second edition in 1806, he offered shares of the new edition to John Murray in 1814, and he arranged the printing in London with J.B. Nichols. The second edition of Whitaker’s Craven (1812) was also published “for W. Edwards and Son” (i.e., Thomas Edwards), as the first edition had been for “Edwards, Halifax” in 1805, and it is possible that Whitaker’s Life ... of Sir George Radcliffe (1810) was also published principally by Thomas Edwards. These are all works of antiquarian and parochial interest, though they were published in association with other booksellers of York, Harrowgate, Edinburgh, Manchester, and London. He also published catalogues of his book stock (April 1812), of his prints (May 1812), of Law, Jurisprudence, and Medicine (August 1815), and of his general stock (Part 1, 1815; Part 2, 1816; 1821). He probably also sold the auction catalogues of his books by Saunders (30 March 1818 ff.) and Stewart, Wheatley, & Adlard (15 May 1828 ff.); and Winstanley’s auction catalogue of Thomas Edwards’s Stock in Trade (1 May 1826 ff.) and of his Engravings and miscellanea (15–16 May 1826) were printed for Thomas Edwards, Halifax, inter alia. So far as this evidence

Thomas Edwards, an Important Provincial Bookseller

199

indicates, Thomas Edwards was a modest provincial publisher carrying on his family tradition in Halifax unpretentiously. Style of Life Something of the status of Thomas Edwards in Halifax may be seen in his relationship with Walter Ramsden Fawkes, who was Member of Parliament for Yorkshire in 1806–7, a leader of the advanced Whigs – and a patron of J.M.W. Turner. Thomas Edwards and Walter Fawkes had long been intimate friends, for Fawkes sent from Farnley an extraordinary copy of Thomson’s Seasons (London: Tomkins, 1797) to Thomas Edwards with a note of January 1805: “I beg your acceptance of this work, as a memorial of my friendship, & a trifling acknowledgement for many kind attentions I have received from you.”5 In response, Thomas Edwards sent to Fawkes an eleventh-century French missal bound in red velvet tooled with a Greek Key pattern with the Fawkes crest on the upper and lower covers and blue-green watered silk endpapers. Fawkes inscribed it: The gift of Mr Thomas Edwards June 10th 1805 Mr Fawkes particularly requests that this missal may never be disposed of but that it may remain in his family as a memorial of the kindness he received upon all occasions from his [word illegible], and much respected friend Farnley June 10th 1805.6

Walter Fawkes was the sponsor of Thomas Edwards’s son Walter Fawkes Edwards when the child was christened on 9 July 1816.7 When Walter’s friend Francis Hawkesworth campaigned for the office of Registrar of Leeds for the West Riding of Yorkshire in 1817, Thomas Edwards supported him actively. Anne Lister wrote disapprovingly on Saturday May 17th: The town was very busy – quite a crowd about Mr. Edwards, the booksellers. He had given to the mob three 36 gallon barrels of strong ale. Was met by a band of 12 or 14 musicians last night at 1 o’clock as he came from Wakefield. Has had this band parading all over the town both today and yesterday, and his wife pastes on all the little boys’ hats orange papers, with the inscription “Hawkesworth for ever.” In short these two electioneers seem so transported at their success that the people think them out of

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their heads about [it]. There have been papers posted up, beginning with “Glorious News,” as if some signal blessing had been dispensed to the whole Kingdom. I rejoice – H[awksworth] has come in – but such folly as all this is a downright disgrace to all common sense. H[awksworth] has a majority of 192.8

By 1820, when he was fifty-eight, Thomas Edwards had probably made a comfortable fortune and was thinking of retiring. Miss Lister wrote on 17 May 1820: “Edward[s] wishes to give up his shop – sell his premises (for which he asks £5,000), to go to live in the south. He has made an offer of agreement with Whitley [a bookseller of Halifax], who could manage the stock-in-trade, but cannot give so large a sum, so much more than their value, for the premises[.]”9 It was probably with retirement in mind that he prepared his catalogue of 1821. He stayed in business five more years, but on 9 January 1826 Miss Lister wrote again: “Mr. Edwards is going to sell all his stock-in-trade at Manchester. The sale is to begin on the 1st of May, and will last about a fortnight.” These sales on 1–12 and 15–16 May of his stock-in-trade seem to have been failures, and the works withdrawn from this sale were sold two years later in London on 15–24 May 1828, where a comfortable £4,640.6.6 was realized. By this time, Thomas Edwards had moved to Southport,10 where he died six years later, on 26 May 1834.11 His obituary in the Gentleman’s Magazine devoted admiring paragraphs to William, James, and Richard Edwards, but of the subject himself it scarcely said more than that he was formerly a considerable bookseller at Halifax, in Yorkshire. He was the youngest son of Mr. William Edwards ... after his father’s death in 1808, [he] continued as a bookseller at Halifax with high reputation, for many years, but he later retired from business to Southport. He has left a widow and family to lament the loss of a very worthy man. He was buried on the 2d of June at Trinity Church, Halifax.12

His grave cover in Holy Trinity Church serves as a memorial to Thomas Edwards (1762–1834), his wife Caroline Matilda [Lister] Edwards (1776–10 June 1860), their daughter Jane Edwards (11 November 1808–6 March 1809), their son Walter Fawkes Edwards (1816–10 August 1836), and his wife’s sister Jane Lister (1778–5 November 1860).13 With the death of Thomas Edwards, the dynasty of Edwards of Halifax as makers and sellers of beautiful books came to an end.

Notes

Preface 1 C.J. Weber, Fore-Edge Paintings (1966), 41. 2 The Publishing Firm of Cadell & Davies: Select Correspondence and Accounts 1793–1836, ed. Theodore Besterman (London, 1938). 3 Gerald P. Tyson, Joseph Johnson: A Liberal Publisher (Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 1979). 4 Harold Cox & John E. Chandler, The House of Longman, With a Record of the Bicentenary Celebrations 1724–1924 (London: Longman, 1925). The Longman archive is very rich; see, for example, the detailed records of the publication of Flaxman’s Hesiod (1817) and The Iliad (1805) in BB, 557–62. 5 Dorothy Blakey, The Minerva Press 1790–1820 (London: Printed for the Bibliographical Society at the University Press, Oxford, 1939). 6 William Zachs, The First John Murray and the Late Eighteenth-Century London Book Trade. With a Checklist of his Publications (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998). The Murray archive is now in the National Library of Scotland. 7 George Smith & Frank Benger, The Oldest London Bookshop (1928). 8 G.E. Bentley, Jr, “Copyright Documents in the George Robinson Archive: William Godwin and Others 1713–1820.” Studies in Bibliography 35 (1982): 67–110; G.E.Bentley, Jr, “Robinson family (per. 1764–1830), booksellers ...,” Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004), 47:303–4; William West, Fifty Years Recollections (1835). 9 T.S.R. Boas, “Macklin and Bowyer,” Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institute, 36 (1963), 148–77. 10 Sven H.A. Bruntjen, John Boydell, 1719–1804: A Study of Art Patronage and Publishing in Georgian London (New York & London: Garland Publishing, 1985), Garland Series: Outstanding Dissertations in the Fine Arts.

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Notes to pages xxiii–3

11 D.H. Weinglass, “F.J. Du Roveray, Illustrated-Book Publisher 1798–1806: I: The Life of a Huguenot Publisher and Connoisseur in London [G.E. Bentley, Jr, Part II: The Amateur and the Trade] [Part 3: Du Roveray’s Artists and Engravers and the Engravers’ Strike] [Part 4: A Bibliography of His Publications],” Bibliographical Society of Australia and New Zealand Bulletin, 12 (1988 [1990]): 1–19, 63–83, 97–146, 166–86. 12 See Boas above under Bowyer and G.E. Bentley, Jr, “Macklin, Thomas (1752/3–1800), printseller and picture dealer ...,” Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004), 36:692–3; G.E. Bentley, Jr, Thomas Macklin Picture Publisher and Patron 1780–1800 (in MS). 13 Joseph Viscomi, Blake and the Idea of the Book (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1993) (chiefly about Blake’s method of printing). See also G.E. Bentley, Jr, Blake Books (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1977), Blake Books Supplement (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1995), and “William Blake and His Circle” 1992 ff. (Blake: An Illustrated Quarterly [1994 ff.]). 14 See G.E. Bentley, Jr, William Blake in the Desolate Market (Montreal & Kingston, London, Ithaca: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2014). Introduction 1 For Edwards of Halifax bindings, see part 1, “William Edwards, Paterfamilias.” Edwards of Halifax bindings are dealt with very professionally and satisfactorily in P.J.M. Marks, “The Edwards of Halifax Binder,” British Library Journal 24, no. 2 (Autumn 1998): 184–218. 2 See (1) G.E. Bentley, Jr, “Richard Edwards, Publisher of Church-and-King Pamphlets and of William Blake,” Studies in Bibliography 41 (1988): 283–315; (2) G.E. Bentley, Jr, “The Edwardses of Halifax and Bibliomania,” Bibliographical Society of Australia and New Zealand Bulletin 11 (1989): 141–56; (3) G.E. Bentley, Jr, “The ‘Edwardses of Halifax’ as Booksellers by Catalogue 1749–1835,” Studies in Bibliography 65 (1992): 187–222; (4) T.W. Hanson, “Edwards of Halifax: Book Sellers, Collectors and Book-Binders,” Halifax Guardian, Dec. 1912, Jan. 1913, reprinted as “‘Edwards of Halifax.’ A Family of Book-Sellers, Collectors and Book-Binders,” Papers, Reports, &c. Read before the Halifax Antiquarian Society, 1912 (Halifax [1913]), 142–200; (5) T.W. Hanson, “Edwards of Halifax,” holograph manuscript (c. 1965) (Bodley); (6) Richard Landon, “The Two Jameses: Edwards and Lackington and the Development of Antiquarian Bookselling in Great Britain,” Descant 26, no. 4 (Winter 1995): 55–74; and (7) Arthur Rau, “Bibliotheca Parisina,” Book Collector 18 (1969): 307–17. 3 Richard Edwards’s Advertisement in Night Thoughts (1797), iii. The work was planned to appear in four volumes, but only the first was published.

Notes to pages 3–10

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4 Works with some copies both on vellum and coloured (a few printed in colours) included Anon., Dutch School (1793), Beaumont, Views … in the South of France (1794), De Lille, The Gardens (1798), Hamilton, Grammont (1794), Holbein, Dance of Death (1790) and Le Triomphe de la Mort (?1790), Leonardo, Original Designs (1796), and Walpole, Il Castello di Otranto (1795). 5 Analytical Review 27 (Jan. 1798): 6. 6 It included Poesie del Magnifico Lorenzo de’ Medici in vol. 2, 7 [William Beloe], The Sexagenarian, 2nd ed. (1818). 8 Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility, ed. R.W. Chapman (1953), vol. 2, chapter 8, p. 199. 9 The geographical information here derives from Horwood’s great map called A Plan of the Cities of London & Westminster, Borough of Southwark including their adjacent Suburbs In which every Dwelling House is described & Numbered. Surveyed and first published by Richard Horwood, 1799, 3rd ed. (1807), reproduced on a reduced scale in The A to Z of Regency London, introduction by Paul Laxton (Lympne Castle, Kent: Harry Margary in association with Guildhall Library, London, 1985). See also Ian Maxted, The London Book Trades 1775–1800: A Topographical Guide (Exeter: The Author, 1980), microfiches. For a learned overview, see James Raven, “London and the Central Sites of the English Book Trade,” chapter 13 (pp. 293–308) of The Cambridge History of the Book, vol. 5: 1655–1830, ed. Michael Suarez & Michael Turner (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009). 10 These details of William Edwards’s Halifax shop are given at greater length in part 1, “William Edwards, Paterfamilias.” 11 Auction of the stock of Thomas Edwards by Thomas Winstanley & Co. (Manchester), 10 May 1826, lot 1076, withdrawn because the reserve price of £50 was not met. 12 Joseph Farington, diary for 24 June 1796 (quoted in BR (2), 71). Farington is apparently quoting Blake’s friend Henry Fuseli. Thomas Butts later paid Blake a guinea each for finished watercolours (BR (2) 764–5). 13 Richard Edwards may have had a similar cost-sharing agreement to publish Merigot’s Views and Ruins in Rome (1796–8), and such arrangements were proposed or made for Northcote’s “Progress of Virtue and Vice” (1795), Farington’s History of the River Thames (1796), and Robert Smike’s Tom Jones designs (1800) – see below (pp. 168–90). 14 The only known copies of the Prospectus (?Spring 1797) for Richard Edwards’s edition of Young’s Night Thoughts are in the John Johnson Collection in Bodley and the Yale Center for British Art (with a coloured Night Thoughts). The figure of 150 engravings was repeated in the True Briton, 31 March 1798, and the Times, 9 and 11 July 1798.

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Notes to pages 10–18

15 For a tabular summary of his engravings, see BR (2), 813–19. 16 Owen became Blake’s apprentice in June 1788 for a seven-year term, but he was probably not sufficiently trained to do much worthwhile engraving until about 1790. 17 Edwards also provided a ream of paper worth perhaps £5 for the watercolours, according to Fuseli (Farington, op. cit.). 18 These figures derive from William Blake in the Desolate Market (2014), 18–28. 19 BR (2) 600. Part I. William Edwards, Paterfamilias 1 John Thomas Stanley, MS, “Remarks and Observations on different Places which I have pass’d through,” pp. 12–13, 16–17, dated 1787 (Osborn Collection of Yale University Library), quoted from a reproduction. 2 Stanley, op. cit. 3 Ibid. 4 Ibid. 5 Recreations and Studies of A Country Clergyman of the Eighteenth Century: Being Selections from the Correspondence of the Rev. Thomas Twining [ed. Richard Twining] (1882). 6 Stanley, op. cit. 7 He is described as Stationer in the Halifax Church Register of his burial on 19 April 1767 and Bookseller in the lapidary inscription (T.W. Hanson, “Edwards of Halifax” MS in Bodley [hereafter cited merely as “Hanson”], pp. 1–2). 8 Among the Hanson Papers in Bodley. 9 Hanson, pp. 277–9. The other details of the shop here are from Hanson (pp. 278–80), chiefly derived from “A Valuation of the Town in 1826.” 10 Hanson p. 282; the view is by John Horner. 11 Quoted from a premature obituary of Mr Edwards of Halifax, age sixtyone, in Gentleman’s Magazine 54 (March 1784): 238; I know no evidence that by 1784 the Edwards bindery was “noted the world round” – indeed its distinctive products can be dated only a little before this period. The obituary was corrected in the next issue (April 1784), 315: “Mr. Edwards, bookseller of Leeds [sic], is not dead, as mentioned in our last, p. 238. – We shall use more caution in inserting articles from country news-papers, where they are not unfrequently inserted to serve a particular purpose, without regard to truth.” 12 Gentleman’s Magazine 86 (1816): 180 (obituary of James Edwards). His catalogues were apparently well known, for a notice of Thomas Miller of Bungay asserted that his catalogue of books, engraved portraits, and

Notes to pages 19–25

13

14 15 16 17 18

19

20

21 22 23 24

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coins (1782) “for interest and value exceeded at that time any other country collection, except, perhaps, that of Mr. Edwards of Halifax” (C.H. Timperley, A Dictionary of Printers and Printing [1839], 1818). Ibid. His catalogues were apparently well known, for a notice of Thomas Miller of Bungay asserted that his catalogue of books, engraved portraits, and coins (1782) “for interest and value exceeded at that time any other country collection, except, perhaps, that of Mr. Edwards of Halifax” (C.H. Timperley, A Dictionary of Printers and Printing [1839], 1818). For fuller details of his publications, see the Bibliography of William Edwards, Appendix 1. Ibid. For fuller details of his publications, see the Bibliography of William Edwards, Appendix 1. Hanson, pp. 12b–13. The eldest son, William, had already been set up in business for himself by 1777 – see pp. 36–7. The account ledger of John Howarth (attorney at Ripenden, near Halifax) lists indebtedness “To Messrs. Wm. Edwards & Sons of Halifax, Booksellers” for 10 Feb–19 Aug 1780 (Hanson, p. 11). The Howarth accounts with Edwards cover thirty years, from at least 1754, and include payments for neighbourly favours (“what she [Mrs Edwards] paid for white herrings, 8d,” 1760), for parchment (“1 June 1754. 2 Skins of tan’d parchment, one 13d. & other 15d. One untan’d 12d”), and changing London bills of exchange for coins (Hanson, pp. 10, 11). James Edwards’s Catalogue (1785), Bolton, History of ... Fungusses, vol. 2 (1788), Bible prospectus (Edwards & Sons, Pall Mall and Halifax, 12 April 1790). The imprint on The Book of Common Prayer (Edwards & Sons, Halifax, 1791) may be anachronistic, for it was printed in Paris, and James Edwards may have given the copy for it to Didot as early as the summer of 1789 or 1790 when he was in France on business – it would of course have been hard to adjust the details of a work printed so far away. Hutchinson, Cumberland, prospectuses (Nov. 1791; 3 Jan. 1792). Note that after John Edwards disappeared in Paris in 1789, the plural Edwards & Sons, Pall Mall, in the imprint should not indicate him. Bible prospectuses (Edwards & Sons of Pall Mall & Halifax, 12 April 1790), Pinkerton, Medallic History (1790). M.D., Sacred Poetry (1790), Carr, Poems (1791), Bibliotheca Parisiana ([early] 1791), Dutens, Table ([?1790]). Hanson, p. 19, citing one of Christie’s unpublished letters (prepared for the press) describing his tour. The Letters of William and Dorothy Wordsworth, ed. R. De Selincourt, 2nd ed., rev. C.L. Shaver (1967), 1:151.

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25

26

27

28

29 30

Notes to pages 25–9 The shop was also important in the arts, for Hanson (p. 26) quotes a notice for “7 November 1807. The Whole Length Portrait of Lord Milton, by J.R. Smith is placed this day (only) at Messrs. Edwards and Son’s for inspection of His Lordship’s Friends. Subscriptions for the print will be received.” T.H. Horne, An Introduction to the Study of Bibliography (1814), 1:309. Cf. [William Beloe], The Sexagenerian; or, The Recollections of a Literary Life, 2nd ed. (1818 – 1st ed. 1817), II, 278: William Edwards “deservedly obtained great reputation from the elegance and neatness of his bindings ... He was the inventor of the art of painting landscapes on the edges of the external leaves of a book, which only became visible when unfolded to a certain distance.” Edwards bindings were rarely signed, but a set of Vetus Testamentum Hebraicum, 2 vols., folio (Oxford, 1776) in green morocco from the Wentworth Woodhouse Library has “EDWARDS HALIFAX” gilt inside the front cover of vol. I (C.W. Traylen Catalogue 14 [1949], lot 14, cited by Hanson, p. 401). Note that Richard Edwards too had books bound; his ticket (as vendor? or binder?) with the address at 142 New Bond Street, appears in the Description of England and Wales, ten small octavo volumes in Etruscan calf [240 plates] (1770–5) (Quaritch Catalogue 668 (1949), lot 106, cited in Hanson, p. 263) and in Young’s Night Thoughts (1787) in contemporary speckled calf with an urn on each side (Ximines, Occasional List no. 59 (1981), lot 310). I do not know of a similar ticket for William or Thomas Edwards. Hanson (p. 344) says that many Edwards “calf bindings have marbled end-papers of a distinctive pattern peculiar to Edwards ... It has blobs of green, old rose and grey. American bibliographers have a word for it, Spanish marble.” Recreations and Studies of A Country Clergyman of the Eighteenth Century: Being Selections from the Correspondence of the Rev. Thomas Twining [ed. Richard Twining] (1882), 92, 99–100. MS in Bodley, quoted from a reproduction. “A.D. 1785 ........ No 1462. Embellishing Books. Edwards’ Specification” (London: Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1856). Note that though “Copper plates may also be impressed, so as to have a similar effect,” Hanson (p. 381) in a careful search had “not found any example of such an engraving” used to decorate transparent vellum bindings. It is surely likely that James Edwards, who patented the invention, commissioned at least a few such painted vellum bindings in London, though most examples are assumed to have been made in Halifax, where Thomas and William Edwards clearly

Notes to pages 29–31

31 32

33 34 35 36 37

38

39 40

207

continued to have them made after the patent lapsed and after James Edwards left business about 1799. Hanson MSS, Bodley. I do not know which Edwards was the artist. Sotheby Catalogue of the Library of J.T. Payne, 1 April 1878, lot 7; this information seems to derive from notes by Henry Foss, the partner of Thomas Payne (the publisher of the Account and owner of this copy), according to the Sotheby catalogue of Dyson Perrins, 9 June 1947, lot 41. This copy of Gough’s Account is in Lord Rothschild’s collection. Note that the separate vellum illuminations could have been made before 1794. In the Library of Viscount Emlyn, according to Hanson, pp. 351–4. The [Nathan] Rothschild Library (1954), No. 1293. A copy in similarly painted vellum also signed “Edwards fec” is in the Wormsley Library. Wentworth Woodhouse sale at Sotheby’s, 26 April 1948, lot 1009 (Hanson, pp. 378–9). Reproduced in Country Life, 12 Dec 1947, p. 1219 (Hanson, p. 379). C.H. Sawyer Catalogue 210 (1952), lot 138 (Hanson, p. 399B). Hanson gives a census of Edwards transparent vellum bindings on pp. 351A–399B. Another copy of Mason’s English Garden (1783) in painted vellum and with fore-edge painting and the original slipcase is in the Wormsley Library. English Bindings 1490–1940 in the Library of J.R. Abbey, ed. G.D. Hobson (1940), 138. Hobson (No. 102) points out a series of volumes bound in London in the late eighteenth century in the style called á répétition popular in France (where it is attributed to A.M. Padeloupe le jeune) until it was abandoned about 1740; the English bindings he mentions include Worlidge, Gems (1768 [i.e., Edwards, after 1786]), [Walpole, Castle of Otranto] (Parma: Edwards, 1790), Novelle Otto (London: J. Edwards, 1790), Walpole, Otranto (Parma: Edwards, 1791), Calidas, Sacontola, (1794) – 2 copies. The style, he says, has been wrongly attributed to Walther Staggmeier [fl. 1794–1817] & Welcher [fl. 1799–1822] signed one of the Hamilton, Grammont bindings and may have made them all: “It is extremely probable that some or all of these bindings were commissioned by James Edwards.” British Library; Cyril Davenport, Royal English Bookbindings (1896), 91, calls it “the prettiest royal binding done at this period.” T.F. Dibdin, Aedes Althorpianae (1822), 189–90, describes a Large Paper copy of Hasted’s History of the County of Kent (1778–99) [sold by James Edwards] in which “all the ARMS of the principal families, described in the notes or text, are EMBLAZONED by the pencil of an heraldic illuminator. There are several hundred decorations of this kind; which were charged at half a guinea each.”

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Notes to pages 33–4

41 John Harris (son of the subject), memoir of John Harris (13 July 1854) tipped into Reeves’ Bible (Houghton Library, Harvard University: Bi 64. 802F*), a transcript of which was generously sent me by Philip J. Weimerskirch. Harris may have worked on such books as Anacreon, Convialia Semiambia [ed. J. Spaletti] (Romae, 1781), a copy of which is annotated by James Edwards: “This Copy of the Roman Anacreon is unique as printed upon vellum, and the paintings executed ... at a very great expense. The publisher would never fix any price upon it during his lifetime, I bought it in Rome after his decease in 1796 and believe it to be the finest Book printed upon Vellum with miniatures that exists.” [Sotheby catalogue 1 Aug. 1935, lot 112.] 42 Hanson (p. 332) writes: “A London bookseller informed me, with the utmost frankness, that he bought Etruscan calf bindings by Edwards, with plain edges, and employed an artist to paint landscapes on their fore-edges. He gave me the name of the miniaturist, who had also specialised in cigarette cards. There was no deception about the business, he argued. In his catalogues, he was scrupulous to describe such volumes as ‘Etruscan calf, bound by Edwards of Halifax, with a fore-edge painting’: and never ‘Etruscan calf with a fore-edge painting by Edwards of Halifax’.” 43 Carl J. Weber, A Thousand and One Fore-Edge Paintings (1949), rewritten as Fore-Edge Paintings (1966), has a great deal of information somewhat credulously presented; the former lists 1001 books with fore-edge paintings, the latter omits this feature. Weber (1966, pp. 35, 116) mentions the following books with signed fore-edge paintings: BOOK

ARTIST

John Goodman, Winter-Evening Conference (1689)

“J.E. 1791”

Book of Common Prayer (1774)

“J.E. 1796”

Bishop Symon, Commentary on Samuel (1703)

“J.E. 1802”

Nathan Drake, Essays, 3 vols. (1805)

“J.E. 1805”

Isaak Walton, The Lives of John Donne ... (1805)

“J.E. 1805”

Book of Common Prayer (1820)

“J.E. 1820”

James Thomson, The Seasons (1821)

“I Herbert”

This “J.E.” is clearly not James Edwards (1756–1816), who was not in business after 1800 and who died before 1820; “J.E.” is probably a forgery.

Notes to pages 34–7

209

44 In the Doheny Library, St John’s Seminary, Camarillo, California (since sold). The fore-edge of The Last Supper is reproduced in Weber (1949), pl. 7. 45 A copy of The Book of Common Prayer (Oxford: T. Wright & T. Gill, 1772) in Edwards of Halifax contemporary vellum with a contemporary fore-edge is inscribed “Picture of Northowram Hall. J. EDWARDS D.L. J.P.” and the white satin doublures surround the initials “S.E.,” perhaps for Sarah Edwards, wife of Joseph Edwards, according to the Christie catalogue of the Doheny Library, 17–18 October 1988, lot 1314. 46 Howard M. Nixon, Five Centuries of English Bookbinding (London: Scolar Press, 1978), 174. 47 The History of Bookbinding 525–1950 A.D.: An Exhibition Held at the Baltimore Museum of Art, Nov. 12, 1957 to Jan. 12, 1958 (1957), No. 503. 48 Quoted from the copy of the Bedford Missal (1794) in the Wormsley Library by permission of the late Sir J. Paul Getty, founder of the Library. 49 Quoted in the Sotheby catalogue of 3–4 Feb 1919, lot 375, saying that it is from Mrs Piozzi to her daughter Miss Cecilia Thrale and dated Bath, 1812; the date must be rather 1784–95, for Mrs Thrale married Mr Piozzi on 25 July 1784 at Bath, and her daughter (b. 1777) married John Mostyn at Gretna Green in 1795 – at earlier or later dates either the author or the recipient would have had different married names. William Mason’s The English Garden often appeared in Edwards bindings; a copy of the edition of 1783 in white vellum has a design of Hebe on the cover (Doheny Library, St John’s Seminary, Camarillo, California – later sold), and one of the 1813 edition is in Etruscan calf (Halifax Public Library). Could the pattern book have been made for or given to Cecilia Thrale? The flyleaf is inscribed in old brown ink “Cecilia.” Bartholomew Frye, Nathan Whitley, J. Milner, and Roberts Leyland all worked for Edwardses in Halifax, and Hanson discusses the first three particularly (pp. 415–20). 50 Hanson MSS; see Hanson, p. 17. 51 Ibid. 52 Ibid. 53 Ibid. 54 A transcript of the letter among the Hanson MSS was supplied by Mrs Catherine Haigh, of Fair Oakes, Sammares, Jersey, Channel Islands, whom Hanson says is “descended from Thos Edwards.” Perhaps this John is the Lt Col John Edwards who died 6 Feb. 1817 at St Thomas Mount, Madras (Gentleman’s Magazine 87 [1817]: 638). The “Lieut. Edwards, R.N. grandson of the late W. Edwards, esq. of Halifax” who died 14 Feb. 1825, age

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55

56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66

Notes to pages 37–8 forty-six (Gentleman’s Magazine 95 [1825]: 285) must have been born in 1778 or 1779 and was probably the son of William [Jr]. W.B. Trigg, “Northowram Hall,” Halifax Antiquarian Society Transactions (1932), 143–50, basing his account on local records whose whereabouts he does not specify. One of his unacknowledged sources is “Social Life in Halifax Early in the Nineteenth-Century.–No. [1–120]. Some Extracts [1816–40] from the Diary of a Halifax Lady [Anne Lister],” Halifax Guardian, 8 May 1887–15 Oct. 1892 (which I have seen only in a reproduction of the undated clippings in the Central Library, Halifax); Miss Lister writes accurately of John Edwards’s will on 26 March 1819 (No. 19), and the anonymous editor adds information about him from elsewhere, including John Edwards’s “cash journal.” Trigg says (p. 148) that John Edwards [Jr]’s “offer of marriage was refused by a Lady [Catherine Bromhead] who afterwards married James Edwards, the most famous of the booksellers ... On the death of James Edwards, John purchased his house, Harrow Grove, and then gave it to James’s widow.” This account is difficult to accept in these terms, for John Edwards [Jr] did not return from Lisbon to England until 1807, two years after Catherine Bromhead married James Edwards, and he is therefore unlikely to have been in a position to offer marriage to her before 1805, though he may have done so between James Edwards’s death in 1816 and his own in 1819. Further, James Edwards bought Harrow Grove and did not bequeath it from his wife in his will, so it is hard to see how John Edwards [Jr] could have bought it. “Mrs. Edwards, relict of the late Jos. E. Esq.” died at Northowram Hall, near Halifax, on 21 May 1812, according to the Gentleman’s Magazine 83 (1812): 591. Ibid. Ibid. Ibid. Ibid. Ibid. Ibid. Ibid. Ibid. Ibid. Ibid. The arms of “Edwards of Halifax,” really those of the Edwardses of Northowram – a field of ermines divided by a bend sinister, with a lion

Notes to pages 38–40

67 68 69 70 71

72 73

74

75

76 77

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rampant in gold – is represented in the lancet window in Whalley Church, according to Whitaker, History of Whaley (1801), 14. Ibid. In the Doheny Library of St John’s Seminary, later sold. Trigg, op. cit. Ibid. A copy of the will was supplied me by the Borthwick Institute of Historical Research, York University; it is dated 3 Aug. 1813, ratified 3 Dec. 1814, has codicils of 22 and 30 March and 20 Oct. 1818, the two surviving trustees and executors Thomas Fournice Dyson and Thomas Edwards were sworn on 19 April, and the will was passed on 1 May 1819. John Edwards also left benefactions to Nanny, Maria, John [who died between 1813 and 1818], and Thomas Fournice Dyson [children of his sister Sarah], to his niece Harried Moore (wife of William Moore [and daughter of Sarah Dyson], to his cousins Robert, Grace, Mary, Amelia, Sarah, Eliza Mountney Hoggart and Susanna Box (wife of George Mod Box), to Miss Catherine Dove and her grandmother Elizabeth Dove, and to the following Edwardses of unspecified relationship to the testator: Ruth and her brother Joseph; Elizabeth, Ann, and Sarah (daughters of Robert, deceased). See chapter 2, “Buying on the Continent and Selling at Auction 1786–1799,” pp. 73–86. In a letter to Miss Edwards of 12 Aug. 1806, Mary Harryman said that Miss Edwards’s father, Mr Edwards Sr, had just returned from High Elms (near London) (according to a transcript in the Hanson papers sent by Mrs Catherine Haigh). The account is by the nineteen–year-old Anne Lister (the sister-in-law of Thomas Edwards), 26 June 1810, two years after William Edwards’s death (Hanson, pp. 434–6). Public Record Office Prob 11 / 1473; the trustees and executors of the will were Joseph Edwards of Northowram and William’s sons James and Thomas, who were sworn to administer it on 19 Feb. 1808, Joseph and Thomas “by Commission,” James Edwards evidently in person “at London.” The money gifts derive from £8,000 in the “three per Centum Consolidated Bank Annuities now standing in my name in the Books of the Bank of England.” The capital in 3% stocks to provide Mary’s annuity of £150 was £5,000. Hanson, p. 282. Hanson, p. 28; “faculties” is spelled “facilities” in Hanson. Very similar phraseology appears in the Gentleman’s Magazine obituary (68 [Feb. 1808], 92), with an additional sentence: “He brought up several sons to his own profession, all of whom have acquired very high celebrity.”

212

Notes to pages 43–4

1. The Medicean Bookshop and James Edwards’s Shop Catalogues 1784–1800 1 T.F. Dibdin, The Bibliographical Decameron (1817), 3:16: he “had always a nice feeling and accurate perception of what was tasteful and classical without being well versed in the principles of taste and of classical knowledge.” 2 T.F. Dibdin, The Bibliomania; or, Book-Madness, containing some account of the History, Symptoms, and Cure of this Fatal Disease (1809), 58. 3 Hanson, p. 18, argues that James Edwards “left for London [to open his shop] very soon after he had written about his brother [William]’s affairs [in July 1783]; for on the 13th Aug 1783 he had a pass to visit Strawberry Hill. The invitation card in question reads ‘Mr Walpole will be glad to see Mr. Edwards and Mr. Humphrie on Friday (the 22nd.).’” I do not know the source of Hanson’s information. Walpole’s Book of Visitors at Strawberry Hill begins in 1784, and the invitation card does not seem to be in The Yale Edition of Horace Walpole’s Correspondence. It does, however, list a number of visits by Edwards (vol. 12: Horace Walpole’s Correspondence with Mary and Agnes Berry, ed. W.S. Lewis et al. [1944], 223–4, 227, 238, 244–5, 247–8), for details of which see p. 57. However, even allowing (as I should be reluctant to do) that the “Mr. Edwards” here must be the bookseller, still it proves no more than that Walpole expected him to be at Strawberry Hill then, not that he had moved to London permanently. The evidence points to late 1784 for the opening of the shop. The Gentleman’s Magazine obituary of James Edwards says that “In 1784 ... [William Edwards] settled his son James, with a younger brother (John), in Pall Mall,” and James Edwards’s binding patent of 28 Jan. 1785 and his specification of 19 Feb. 1785 describe him as “late of Halifax ... but now of Pall Mall.” 4 Ian Maxted, The London Book Trades 1775–1800 (1977), 73, 101. 5 EDWARDS, London, on a title page seems to imply that this was the only Edwards doing business as a bookseller in the metropolis, but James Edwards used this identification even in 1792–8, when Richard Edwards was also in business there. 6 Maxted, London Book Trades, 73, 101. 7 Hamilton, Grammont (?1794), Catalogue (1794), Wadstrom, Essay (1794), Hodges, Select Views (1794). None of the Edwards publications of 1792–3 gives a number in Pall Mall. 8 Harris, Aurelian (?1794), Catalogue (1794), Freeman, Horse’s Hoof (1796), Dryden, Fables (1797).

Notes to pages 44–7

213

9 London County Council Survey of London, Vol. 29: The Parishes of St. James Westminster Part One: South of Piccadilly (1960), 380; it is there numbered 70 (the numbering has changed over the years), and a plan of 1751 is given. 10 The likelihood that EDWARDS or J. EDWARDS in imprints of 1786–9 refers to John Edwards seems extremely remote. 11 Quoted from the account of the coloured imitations of three Bedford Missal Illuminations in the copy of Richard Gough, Account of a Rich Illuminated Missal (1794) in an anonymous collection quoted above. The manuscript exists in two forms, a rough draft apparently of 21 July 1789 in which the account of John’s death is squeezed in using a different ink, and a fair copy of the whole. 12 Macklin Bible proposal (Edwards & Sons of Pall Mall & Halifax, 12 April 1790), Pinkerton, Medallic History (1790), M.D., Sacred Poetry (1790), Carr, Poems (1791), Bibliotheca Parsiana (1791), l, and Dutens, Table (?1790). In the same years (1790–1), James Edwards also published books with imprints such as EDWARDS or JAMES EDWARDS, indicating that there was only one Edwards responsible for the publication. Perhaps the plural Edwards London imprint in 1790–1 indicates that Richard Edwards had made a separate investment in the book. 13 Note that the advertisement of the catalogue (which is all we know of the title) mentions neither Edwards and Sons of London nor John Edwards. 14 Gentleman’s Magazine 86 (1816): 180 (obituary of James Edwards), repeated in John Nichols, Illustrations, 4 (1822), 881. 15 Richard Gough (1735–1809), the principal antiquary of his time, was probably consulted about the books in the catalogue, for it contained just the kinds of works that most interested him. Later James Edwards helped Gough with his Account of the Bedford Missal (1794). 16 John Bradshaw (1602–59), President of the Parliamentary Commission that tried Charles I and others, left his property to his nephew Henry Bradshaw (d. 1698), but it was confiscated by the Crown after the Restoration. Henry Bradshaw’s property had apparently descended to H. Bradshaw of Marple Hall, Cheshire, mentioned in the Gentleman’s Magazine. Hanson (p. 43) remarks that “A huge proportion” of President Bradshaw’s papers went to Lewis Montolieu, who sold anonymously at Christie’s on 13 Dec. 1809 for £74.11.0 a collection of two thousand Commonwealth and Restoration pamphlets in 65 volumes “formed ... by the President Bradshaw, and ... his Heirs.” 17 Of course, this emphasis upon Northern cities may be due entirely to the fact that the 1785 title page is known only from advertisements in Leeds and Manchester newspapers. However, as they name two London booksellers besides Edwards, they probably did not omit other booksellers

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18 19

20 21

22 23

24

Notes to pages 47–50 in cities more fashionable than Leeds and Manchester; such names would in any case have given the catalogue cachet. Hanson, p. 47, no source indicated. Written by Dawson Turner in his own Large Paper copy of James Edwards’s 1815 sale catalogue (which Hanson owned) and quoted by Hanson, p. 48 (I have added the paragraphing). Turner continued: “This anecdote, which is little known was told me, Sep. 1. 1819 by Andrew Fountaine Esq. who had it from Mr. Edwards himself.” The same story, largely in identical terms, is repeated in the Gentleman’s Magazine, 93 (Sept. 1823): 259, probably by its editor John Nichols, who is the King’s bookseller in question. In Walpole’s copy of Gough’s Account of the Bedford Missal (1794) now in the Lewis Collection at Farmington (Yale), Thomas Kirgate reported an unlikely version that was printed in the Gentleman’s Magazine, N.S. 37 (April 1852): 322: “George the Third meant to purchase this Missal at the auction of the Duchess of Portland, and to make a present of it to the College of Eton, as having belonged to the founder of the seminary, Henry the Sixth, and gave an unlimited commission to the learned Jacob Bryant to bid for it; but Mr. Bryant, hearing above 200£ bidden for it, thought that price too extravagant, and let it go to Mr. Edwards the bookseller, of whom the King would have repurchased it, but Mr. Edwards chose to keep it for himself.” Jacob Bryant’s participation seems improbable; for the more likely version attributing the timidity or discretion to the Queen, see Gentleman’s Magazine, N.S., 37 (March 1852): 273. A further reference is in James Dallaway, Anecdotes of the Arts in England (1800), 425. Gentleman’s Magazine 86 (1816): 180 (obituary of James Edwards). Hanson (p. 49) says that “Edwards made these notes”: “Mr. T. Payne offered me for the library of Eton, 500 guineas for it at the Sub-hasta dinner, but I refused. Bp. of Rochester (afterwards of Ely) in Oct 1806, desired me to give him the offer, if I parted with it at 500 guineas as he wished to leave it to Eton College[.]” In one copy of Gough’s book (Hanson Collection, Bodley) an anonymous hand wrote: “Mr Edwards Bookseller in Pall Mall ... has refused 900 guineas for it [The Bedford Missal]–.” [William Beloe], The Sexagenarian, 2nd ed. (1818), 2:277–9, 282. Thomas Payne [Jr] (1752–1831), Robert Faulder (fl. 1779–1811), and Thomas Egerton (fl. 1784–1830) were about his age. White, Payne, and Edwards went to Strawberry Hill together on 29 Aug. 1794. A note made by Edwards in his own copy of the catalogue, according to Hanson (p. 103). White is probably Benjamin [II] or perhaps Thomas, the sons of Benjamin White (1725–94).

Notes to pages 51–7

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25 T.F. Dibdin, Specimen Bibliothecæ Britannicæ (1808), 3 fn. 26 British Library Add. MSS 36,497, f. 19. 27 Thraliana: The Diary of Mrs. Hester Lynch Thrale (Later Mrs. Piozzi) 1776–1809, ed. Catherine C. Balderston (1942), 940–1. There is gossip at Edwards’s shop about William Henry Ireland’s MSS and publications purporting to be Shakespeare documents reported in Joseph Farington’s diary for 29 Dec. 1795 and 8 Jan. 1796 (“neither Payne, or Edwards, have [sic] sold one copy”) and in Lord Glenbervie’s Diaries, ed. Francis Bickley (1928), 1:109, for 23 Dec. 1796 (“Edwards, the bookseller, told me ... that he believed Ste[e]vens was at the bottom of it”). 28 Dr Johnson’s Mrs Thrale, ed. A. Hayward & J.H. Lobban (1910), 283–4. 29 MS in John Rylands Library (University of Manchester), quoted from a reproduction, information generously pointed out to me by Professor Edward Bloom. 30 Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility, ed. R.W. Chapman (1953), [vol. 2], chapter 8, p. 199. 31 For Charles Townley (1735–[1805), the great collector of Greek marbles, see “Contemporary Manuscripts 1774–1828,” Appendix 9. 32 Public Record Office MS K 1/30 Michaelmas 39 Geo. III, item 29, transcribed for me by my friend Dr Gerald P. Tyson, who notes that the same statement, word for word, was sworn to and signed by Isaac Thompson (merchant in Cross Lane) and Richard Welles (stationer, then living in Hackney). 33 Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge University. 34 T.F. Dibdin, Bibliomania (1842), 233. 35 See “William Edwards, Paterfamilias,” above, p. 30. 36 Ibid. 37 Ibid. 38 According to James Robson’s diary, he and Edwards visited Bodoni on 17 Aug. 1787 (G. Smith & F. Benger, The Oldest London Bookshop [1928], 45), and Edwards may have arranged then the printing of The Castle of Otranto. 39 R.H. Evans catalogue of James Edwards’s Library, 5–11 April 1815, lot 165. 40 Extracts from the Journal and Correspondence of Miss [Mary] Berry, ed. Lady [Mary] Theresa Lewis (1866), 1:242. 41 Horace Walpole’s Correspondence with Mary and Agnes Berry and Barbara Cecilia Seton, ed. Wilmarth Lewis et al. (1944) (The Yale Edition of Horace Walpole’s Correspondence, vol. 11).

216

Notes to pages 59–75

42 Walpole, p. 170. Hazen speculates that this may be the copy with a 1790 title page and a gift inscription of 9 May 1792 in the Sotheby sale of 9 April 1935, lot 350. 43 Walpole’s copy is now in Yale. 44 The letter is translated here from Bodoni’s Italian. 2. Buying on the Continent and Selling at Auction 1786–1799 1 Dibdin, Bibliomania (1811), 700. 2 [William Beloe], The Sexagenarian, 2nd ed. (1818), 278–9. The omitted passage reads: “and above all, choosing the most auspicious moment for his purpose, when by following the rear of the French armies, he might on easy terms obtain his choice of what he wanted.” In 1786, when Edwards first went looking for books on the Continent, the French armies were not yet on the march, and in general he operated in front of the French Revolutionary armies, not behind them. 3 Arthur Rau, “Portrait of a Bibliophile XIII: Henry George Quinn, 1760– 1805,” Book Collector 13 (1964): 458, quoting from Quinn’s MS Travelling Diary, vol. 2 (MS in Quinn’s family). Quinn spoke from experience about the riches of Paris as a bibliographical centre, for he had just returned from Italy and Spain. 4 Ibid. 5 Ibid., p. 459. On his return to Dublin, Quinn bought books from Edwards and had books bound by him, but his chief agent was Payne, who acted for him at the Pinelli (1789) and Parisiana sales (1791), inter alia. 6 George Smith & Frank Benger, The Oldest London Bookshop (1928), 43–7. 7 Smith & Benger, Oldest London Bookshop, 43–7. I take “1400” to mean Quatro Cento, i.e., fifteenth-century printed books or incunabula, of which there were about 1,150 in the Pinelli Library. 8 Gentleman’s Magazine 59 (Jan 1789): 69–70 (a review of the Pinelli catalogue), erroneously specifying that the final offer was made “immediately.” The phrase is repeated in the Gentleman’s Magazine obituary of James Robson (76 [Sept. 1806]: 871–2) and in John Nichols, Illustrations of the Literary History of the Eighteenth Century, vol. 4 (1822), 881, but the date is given wrongly in each as “1788.” The Gentleman’s Magazine reviewer in 1789 remarked: “The importation of such a collection of books into this country reflects honour on the booksellers who have engaged in it, who, we understand, are Messieurs Robson and Edwards, who undertook a journey to Venice on purpose to examine it.” (This information is not in the catalogue.)

Notes to pages 75–7

217

9 Analytical Review 3 (1789): 255. An advertisement for the sale of ?Jan ?1789 from the Morning Herald is in the Victoria & Albert Museum scrapbook of Presscuttings, vol. 1, p. 345. The Gentleman’s Magazine 59 (Sept. 1789): 837–8, review of the Appendix said the first sale began on 6 April, and it finished on 20 May. 10 William Blades, The Enemies of Books (1896), 20, gives no source. 11 This is the same address as the Turf Gallery where Robson sold the Library of Aubrey Beauclerk, 5th Duke of St Albans, on 18 June 1796 (according to G. Smith & F. Benger, The Oldest London Bookshop [1928]) and the Bibliotheca Woottoniana on 24 Feb. –2 March 1795 (q.v.). 12 P. [vii]; according to The Dictionary of National Biography, the catalogue maker was Dr Johnson’s friend Samuel Paterson (1728–1802), the auctioneer and bookseller. However, Hanson (p. 71) says that Paterson wrote to say that if he had been given time he could make a creditable catalogue, “But as so many difficulties and objections are started which it is out of the power of man to answer, I beg to decline a task where there is no possibility of satisfying my employers.” 13 C.H. Timperley, A Dictionary of Printers and Printing (1839), 825; this sum “barely repaid the expenses of purchase; including duties, carriage, and sale,” according to T.F. Dibdin, Bibliomania (1811), 122. Among the numerous buyers were the Bodleian Library, Dr Charles Burney, Richard Heber, and William Roscoe. 14 According to the advertisements in the Victoria & Albert Museum volume of Presscuttings, vol. 1, pp. 512, 590; see also pp. 343, 347, 513. 15 The Diaries of Sylvester Douglas (Lord Glenvervie), ed. Francis Bickley (1928), 1:264, 265. 16 Gentleman’s Magazine 86 (1816): 180 (obituary of James Edwards). 17 [Anne Lister], “Social Life in Halifax Early in the Nineteenth Century No. LXIII. Some Extracts from the Diary of a Halifax Lady,” Halifax Guardian (8 May 1887–15 Oct. 1892) (which I have seen only in a reproduction of the undated clippings in the Central Library, Halifax). Hanson (p. 46) has a macabre theory that John Edwards died while trying to obtain human skins (for binding books) from the products of the guillotine. Far-fetched though this may seem, there is some evidence that James Edwards was concerned with such bindings. “Miss Edwards” told Hanson (p. 171): “In 1885, my sister and I were at Sothebys, and a very old librarian there hearing our name, asked if it were possible we ‘were descendants of the great Mr. [James] Edwards.’ On hearing our affirmatives, he pulled off an ancient skull-cap and bowed to the ground, saying, ‘Then you are the granddaughters of one of the only three men known to have possessed a book bound in human skin[.]’”

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18 19

20

21

22 23

24

25

Notes to pages 77–84 Hanson cites as analogy a rumour (reported by W. Salt Brassington, History of the Art of Bookbinding [1894], 252) that “A London bookseller, having on order a fantastic binding in this style for Holbein’s Dance of Death [an edition of which James Edwards published], despatched a commissioner to Paris, with a view to securing the skin of one of the citizens shot during the bloody week of the Commune. The agent himself only escaped by the skin of his teeth from sharing the fate of the object of his search.” Arthur Rau, “Bibliotheca Parisina,” Book Collector 18 (1969): 307–17. The Diaries of Sylvester Douglas (Lord Glenbervie), ed. Francis Bickley (1928), 1:264. Apparently Edwards is the vendor of “the remainder ... at Paris.” On 16 Feb. 1794, Edwards wrote to Roscoe about “my Hortus Romanus” which “I had” from “the Archbishop of Sens.” Rau, “Bibliotheca Parisina”; Hanson (p. 87) cites (without locating) a copy of the French catalogue in which one hundred lots are identified as “Not Arriv’d,” “N.A.,” “missing,” or simply not priced. Arthur Rau, “Bibliotheca Parisina,” Book Collector 18 (1969): 308; when this copy was sold by Evans with the Library of an Eminent Bibliographer on 26–28 June 1817, lot 261, it was described as “formerly Mr. Edwards’s copy, who has marked the condition of each article in pencil in the margin.” Lots 118, 171, 206 (“This edition is so scarce as to have escaped the observation of all Bibliographers”), 223, 528. T.F. Dibdin, Bibliomania (1811), 121; Dibdin lists some notable books and prices (pp. 543–8fn). His mention of throngs of carriages in Pall Mall of enthusiasts eager for an “examination of the truly matchless volumes” may imply that the books were on view in Edwards’s shop in Pall Mall, though they were sold in Conduit Street. The English Bibliotheca Parisiana was reviewed with praise for Edwards in The Analytical Review 8 (Nov. 1790): 341–3. “A collection of Sonnets written by W. Ha[y]ley (1 Jan 1797), vol: 1,” no. 26 (p. 54), in Cornell University Library (l. 10 reads “Englands”), quoted from a microfilm. In a letter of about 1794 to Samuel Rose (in Princeton), Hayley spoke of “Edwards the new really magnificent & very civil Bookseller of Pall Mall,” to whom he wished to sell his biography of Milton. Edwards sold Roscoe’s Lorenzo on this trip to Italy. In his diary for 2 Aug. 1796, Joseph Farington wrote that “Edwards, the Bookseller, is gone to Italy to purchase books. He is son to a bookseller at Halifax in Yorkshire, who has made a good deal of money. He is a master of his business.” T.F. Dibdin, A Bibliographical, Antiquarian and Picturesque Tour in France and Germany, 2nd ed. (1829), 2:833, 332; the Turrecremata I, de Meditationis (Ulric

Notes to pages 85–7

26 27

28

29

219

Han, 1467), which is “justly shown among the ‘great guns’ of the Imperial Library ... was deposited there by the late Mr. Edwards ... the French ... carried [it] off to” Paris, but by 1818 it had returned to its former home in Vienna (3:320). The library must have been sadly depleted later, for Seymour de Ricci, A Census of Caxtons (1909), 1344, lists only six Caxtons there. Another indication of James Edwards’s connection with Earl Spencer may be seen in an account in a private notebook of the great collector Francis Douce: “I shewed these [2 ... very curious slips of Caxton’s book advertisement] to Edwards who told Lord S. of them & he delegated the artful Yorkshireman to negotiate an exchange ... I [felt overreached in the exchange and] was almost tempted to remonstrate on the imperfection of his Virgil, but was not certain he was aware of it, though his Yorkshire agent must have been” (Bodley MS a 75, f. 15, quoted in A.N.L. Munby, Connoisseurs and Medieval Miniatures 1750–1850 [1972], 49). Seymour de Ricci, English Collectors of Books & Manuscripts (1530–1930) (1930), 90, offers no evidence for this statement, and I can supply none. Catalogue of a Valuable Collection of [128] Books printed in the Fifteenth Century, Consigned from abroad; Containing Rare Specimens of the Early German Printers; In the finest Preservation, and in the original Monastic Bindings. Edwards himself bought lots 4, 7, 41, 53, 96, 98, 119, and 125. Gentleman’s Magazine 86 (1816): 181 (obituary of James Edwards). [William Beloe] The Sexagenarian (1818), 2:279, says that his “speculations ... elevated ... [Edwards] to considerable distinction and [great] opulence.” See chapter 4, “The Bookseller as Diplomat.”

3. James Edwards as a Publisher 1785–1800 1 E.g., Nugent’s Pocket-Dictionary (1795), 9.0 x 12.5 cm (3½ʺ x 5ʺ) and Lyson’s Roman Antiquities (1797), 42.5 x 58.6 cm (16 ¾ʺ x 23ʺ). 2 Twenty guineas was an enormous sum for a book, six month’s income for a journeyman printer or Goldsmith’s country vicar who was “passing rich with forty pounds a year” (The Deserted Village, l. 135) and a good deal more than most authors earned from a single book. 3 In Harris, Exposition (1786), Worlidge, Antique Gems (?1788, 1794), Holbein, Triomphe de la Mort (?1790) and Dance of Death (?1794), Walpole, Castle of Otranto (1791) and Castello di Otranto (1795), Butler, Hudibras (1793), Hamilton, Grammont (?1794), Harris, Aurelian (1794), Hodges, Views in India (1794), Burgmair, Maximilian I (1796), New Copper Plate Magazine (1796), Strutt, Dress (1796; 1799) and Tableau, I (1797), Walpole, Works (1798), and Burgmaier, Weis Kunig (1799).

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Notes to pages 88–9

4 Counting reprints and new editions. + indicates books not seen. Books published in parts are assigned to the year(s) on the title page(s). The list includes text and plates but omits prospectuses. 5 Assigning all plates in a book to the year of the book’s publication, not counting reprints (except under another title, as in Holbein). 6 Edwards also advertised Cicero, De Officiis (1793), De Lille’s Gardens (1798), Harris’s Colours (1795), Hasted’s Kent (1799), and Works of the British Poets (1792–5) as his publications, though his name does not appear in them. Perhaps in one or more of these publications, Edwards purchased a share or remainder after the title page was printed. In several cases, such as Holbein and De Lille, no publisher’s name at all appears on the title page. 7 1786: Harris, Exposition; 1788: Worlidge, Antique Gems; 1790: Holbein, Triomphe de la Mort; 1791: Smith, Spicilegium, I; 1792: Beaufort, Map of Ireland and Smith, Spicilegium, 2; 1794: Albanis Beaumont, South of France, Hamilton, Grammont, Harris,. Aurelian, Hodges, Views in India, Holbein, Dance of Death; 1795: Bűrgher, Leonora, Officer of the Guards, Narrative (two editions), Strutt, Dress, I, Stedman, Surinam, Williams, Monmouthshire; 1797: Dryden, Fables, Lysons, Roman Antiquities, Merigot, Rome, 1, Penhouet, Tour, Smith, Insects of Georgia; 1798: De Lille, Gardens; 1799: Hasted, Kent, IV, and Strutt, Dress, 2. 8 1788?: Worlidge, Antique Gems; 1790: Walpole, Castle of Otranto (corrected proofs as it were); 1796: Bűrgher, Leonora, Leonardo, Designs; and 1797: Dryden, Fables. 9 1786: Harris, Exposition; 1788: Worlidge, Antique Gems; 1790: Holbein, Triomphe de la Mort; 1791: Smith, Spicilegium, I; 1792: Beaufort, Map of Ireland and Smith, Spicilegium, II; 1794: Albanis Beaumont, South of France, Hamilton, Grammont, Harris, Aurelian, Hodges, Views in India, Holbein, Dance of Death; 1795: Albanis Beaumont, Maritime Alps, Harris, Colours, Walpole, Castello di Otranto; 1796: Bűrgher, Leonora, Officer of the Guards, Narrative (two editions), Strutt, Dress, 2, Stedman, Surinam, Williams, Monmouthshire; 1797: Dryden, Fables, Lysons, Roman Antiquities, Merigot, Rome, 1, Penhouet, Tour, Smith, Insects of Georgia; 1798: De Lille, Gardens; 1799: Hasted, Kent, 4, and Strutt, Dress, 2. 10 1788: Cardonnel, Picturesque Antiquities, I-II; 1790: Ellis, English Poets, Holbein, Triomphe de la Mort, Novelle Otto, Walpole, Castle of Otranto; 1793: Cardonnel, Picturesque Antiquities, 3–4, Claudian, Carmina; 1794: Hamilton, Grammont, Harris, Aurelian, Holbein, Dance of Death; 1795: Walpole, Castello di Otranto; 1796: Burgmaier, Maximilien I, Leonardo, Designs; 1798: De Lille, Gardens.

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11 Historical Manuscripts Commission Thirteenth Report, Appendix, Part VIII: The Manuscripts and Correspondence of James [Caulfield], First Earl of Charlemont, 2 (1894), 262. 12 1786: *Harris, Exposition des Insectes: Exposition of English Insects; 1790: *Bibliotheca Elegantissima Parisina: Catalogue de Livres Choisis, Dutens, Table Généologiques, Holbein, Triomphe de la Mort; 1791: Library of Signor Santorio (Paris), *Lenoir, La Campagne de la Jeunesse; 1794: Hamilton, Mémoires du Comte de Grammont, *Harris, The Aurelian: L’Aurelien, *Hodges, Choix de Vues de l’Inde: Select Views in India; 1795: Lally-Tolendal, La Vie de ... Comte de Strafford and Comte de Strafford, Nugent, French and English PocketDictionary: Dictionnaire-Portatif; 1796: Burgmair, Le Triomphe de l’Empereur Maximilien 1, *Smith, Views in Italy, 2, *Lysons, Roman Antiquities: Antiquités Romaines, *Nugent, Dictionary: Dictionnaire, *Smith, Leipidoptères ... de Georgie: Lepidopterous Insects of Georgia, Strutt, Vêtements des Anglois, 1 (also a separate edition in English); 1799: Burgmair, Weis Kunig: Tableau des Principaux Evenemens de ... Maximilien 1 – * indicates bilingual. 13 1796: *Burgher, Leonora, *Burgmair, Maximilien 1. 14 1790: Novelle Otto; 1795: Roscoe, Lorenzo (part of vol. 2), Walpole, Il Castello di Otranto. 15 1789: Bibliotheca Pinelliana; 1790: Bibliotheca Pinelliana Appendix; 1791: Cicero, De Officiis, *Smith, Spicilegium Botanicum: Gleanings of Botany; 1792: Horace, Opera, 1, Smith, Spicilegium Botanicum: Gleanings of Botany, 2; 1793: Horace, Opera, 2, Claudian, Carmina, Virgil, Opera. 16 1790: Calidas, Sacontola; 1794: Holbein, Dance of Death; 1795: Walpole, Il Castello di Otranto (from English); 1796: Bűrgher, Leonora, Kotzebue, The Negro Slaves; 1797: Dryden, Fables, Strutt, Tableau, 1 (from English); 1798: De Lille, The Gardens, Wieland, Oberon; 1799: La Perouse, Voyage Round the World. 17 Edwards seems to have played a larger role with Cicero, De Officiis (1791) and Virgil, Opera (1793). This list, of course, omits original translations. 18 The exception is Boydell’s Shakspeare, proposed in 1786 and finished in 1805. The only booksellers named in its many prospectuses are John and Josiah Boydell. 19 Works of the British Poets (1792–5) may have been published by Edwards only in its collected form, and Smith’s Insects of Georgia (1794–7) may not have been issued in parts. This does not count whole volumes issued a year or more apart, as in Caracci, Original Designs (1797), Cardonnel, Picturesque Antiquities (1788, 1793), Horace, Opera (1792, 1793), Leonardo, Original Designs (1796), Smith, Spicilegium Botanicum (1791, 1792), and Wadstrom, Colonization (1794, 1795). The Cowper-Fuseli Milton was

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Notes to pages 94–8 announced in 1791 as to be published in Parts by Johnson and Edwards but never appeared. A subscription list implies responses to a printed prospectus, but these rarely survive, and I know of none for most of the works with subscription lists published by James Edwards. Similarly, some works known from prospectuses to have been published by subscription, such as Young’s Night Thought (1797), have no List of Subscribers with them, and there may thus be books issued by subscription that, in the absence of a prospectus and List of Subscribers, we cannot identify as such. Note that the printer of the plates was normally different from the printer of the text and that the plate printer is never named in Edwards’s publications, though in some works, such as The New Copper Plate Magazine, there is little except the plates. Alexander, Croup, 1st and 2nd eds. (J. Brook, Huddersfield, 1794); Peart, Animal Heat (H. Mozley, Gainsborough, 1788), and Peart, Principles of Nature (H. Mozley, Gainsborough, 1789); Hasted, Kent, 4, prospectus (Symmons, Kirkby & Jones, Canterbury, 1794); Drummond, Sermon (G. Peacock, York, 1794); Taylor, Our Saviour’s Commission (Thomas Wright, Leeds, 1785); Roscoe, Lorenzo (J. M’Creery, Liverpool, 1795), and Daulby, Rembrandt (J. M’Creery, Liverpool, 1795). Bayliss, Bensley, Bulmer, Gillett, Schmidt, Spilsbury, and Strahan. Of them, only Spilsbury et Fils seems to have specialized in French books. Smith, Lepidoptères ... de Georgie (1797), Bűrgher, Leonora (1796), and Walpole, Il Castello di Otranto (1795). These figures are of course misleading, for, before 1799, when the law required them to do so, only the most prestigious printers frequently put their names on the books in which they had a hand. I assume that the first bookseller named in an imprint had primary responsibility for the book, but for Kotzebue’s Negro Slaves (Cadell & Davies and Edwards, 1796) the translator seems to have dealt primarily with Edwards, not Cadell & Davies whose names precede his. See Gerald P. Tyson, Joseph Johnson: A Liberal Publisher (1979). See George Smith & Frank Benger, The Oldest London Bookshop (1928). See The Publishing Firm of Cadell & Davies: Select Correspondence and Accounts 1793–1836, ed. Theodore Besterman (1938). The only exceptions were the prospectuses for Harding’s Shakspeare Illustrated (1789) and Macklin’s Bible (1790), whose sponsors apparently wished to reach a northern clientele through Edwards of Halifax. Cowper’s translation of the Latin and Italian poems appeared only separately in 1808 without Fuseli’s designs.

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32 See p. 214 n. 24. 33 Landseer, Isle of Wight prospectus (?1792), Bromley, Catalogue (1793), Shakspeare, Plays (1790, 1793, 1797), Hasted, Kent, 4, prospectus (1794), Bibliotheca Woottoniana (1795), and Lysons, Roman Antiquities (1797). 34 Smith, Spicilegium Botanicum (1791, 1792), Shakspeare, Plays (1793; 1797), Virgil, Opera (1793), Hasted, Kent, 4 prospectus (1794), Bibliotheca Woottoniana (1795), Hearne & Byrne, Antiquities of Great Britain, 2, prospectus (1796), Leonardo and the Caracci, Original Designs (1796, 1797), Strutt, Dress (1796, 1799), Williams, Monmouthshire (1796), Lysons, Roman Antiquities (1797), and Salmon, Rome, 1 (1797). R. White of Piccadilly, who published Lally Tolendal’s Vie de ... Strafford (1795) and Conte de Strafford (1795) plus Officer, Narrative of the War, 2nd and 3rd eds. (1796) in congeries with James Edwards, is probably no relation of the Whites of Fleet Street. 35 Shakspeare, Plays (1793), Hasted, Kent, 4, prospectus (1794), Leonardo and the Caracci, Original Designs (1796, 1797), Lysons, Roman Antiquities (1797), and Salmon, Rome, 1 (1798). 36 Robson also seems to have sold Edwards his shares of The Holy Bible, 3 vols. (Bath, 1786), and George Edwards, Natural History of Uncommon Birds (1743–51) and Gleanings of Natural History (1758–64), 7 vols. with splendid plates – see Books Imported, etc., pp. 120–2 and Appendix 2. 37 Landseer, Isle of Wight prospectus (1792), Shakspeare, Plays (1793, 1797), Hasted, Kent, 4, prospectus (1794), Wadstrom, Essay on Colonization (1794), Officer, Narrative of the War (1796), and Williams, Monmouthshire (1796). 38 Bromley, Catalogue (1793), Shakspeare, Plays (1793, 1797), Virgil, Opera (1793), Hasted, Kent, 4, prospectus (1794), Officer, Narrative of the War, 2nd and 3rd eds. (1796), Strutt, Dress, parts 1–9 (1796), Salmon, Rome, I (1798); he was one of four publishers, including James Edwards, of Wieland’s Oberon (1798). 39 Cadell & Davies were also associated with James Edwards in congeries probably initiated by others in Shakspeare, Plays (1797) and Salmon’s Rome, 1 (1798). 40 Ian Maxted, The London Book Trades 1775–1800 (1977), 73, 101. 41 Ibid. 42 James Edwards and the Hardings had a somewhat mysterious connection in De Lille’s The Gardens (1798), which has no bookseller named on the title page, though a new edition of it in 1802 (after James Edwards had gone out of business) is advertised as published by James Edwards and

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49 50 51

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Notes to pages 106–16 the Hardings. They also acquired several of his publications when he left business, such as Holbein’s Dance of Death (?1794). He also published Berkeley’s Poems (1797), Boothby’s Sorrows (1796), Carr’s Poems (1791), Cooke’s Conversation (1796), M.D., Sacred Poetry (1790), Officer of the Guards, Narrative of the War (1796), and Symmons’s Inez (1796), all but the Narrative first editions, but all are negligible as literature, though Boothby has fine plates. James Edwards also proposed the Cowper-Fuseli Milton (1791) and the Blake-illustrated Young’s Night Thoughts (1796). He was also appealing to his antiquarian customers with Bromley’s Catalogue of Engraved British Portraits (1793) and Daulby’s Catalogue of the Works of Rembrandt (1796), which describe but do not reproduce antique engravings, and with Anon., Beauties of the Dutch School (1793), which gives reproductions and prices. J.B. Nichols, Illustrations of the Literary History of the Eighteenth Century, 8 (1858), 284. Ibid, vol. 8, pp. 303–4. Johnes appears to have supplied Edwards with catalogues of the Romances in his library (8:303–4). When Stanley’s translation appeared that same year, it was illustrated with a design by William Blake for Night Thoughts, though not one of those made for Richard Edwards’s edition of Night Thoughts (1797). Note also George Edwards’s Natural History of Uncommon Birds (1743–51) and Gleanings of Natural History (1758–64) with beautifully coloured folio plates, a stock of which Edwards apparently acquired from James Robson – see Books Imported, etc., Appendix 2. R. [Fuseli], Analytical Review 27 (Jan. 1798): 1–6. Very little of Roscoe’s side of the correspondence survives. All the quotations from Edwards letters are identified by date in the “Correspondence of James Edwards,” Appendix 9; this letter is in Liverpool Public Library. This statement seems a little odd, for he had already published Edward Stanley, Observations on the City of Tunis (Printed for the Author, and Sold by Edwards’s, 1786) and Adam de Cardonnel, Picturesque Antiquities of Scotland, parts 1–2 (Printed for the Author, and Sold by Edwards, 1788). The letter is in Liverpool Public Library. The two Miss Berry’s “& M.rs Damer may be said to take ye lead as clever women & scholars[;] they are great friends of L.d Orford & reechoed his praises of your work ... Their praise will establish the currency of your work when it appears” (15 April 1795). Walpole’s copy was, according to Kirgate

Notes to pages 117–25

54 55

56 57 58

59 60

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his printer, “Bound under the direction of Mr. Edwards Pallmall” in Etruscan calf (T. Hazen, A Catalogue of Horace Walpole’s Library [1969], No. 3703). The anonymous frontispiece is probably by Moses Haughton. There were apparently twelve sets of the 1795 edition on fine paper, according to the presentation note by Roscoe in a copy of one of them sold at Hodgson’s 26 May 1966, lot 486 (Hanson Papers, Bodley). The first edition consisted of 500 copies; the 600 impressions of the frontispiece probably included “a few proof Impressions” for Roscoe to sell separately. The title page must have been reset, for the word “Bookseller” does not appear on it (see figure 5). This complaint is recorded repeatedly. In the 15 April 1796 letter and the 1796 Memorandum, Cadell & Davies were given “full Power to print such Sheets as may be required for perfecting the first Edition of 500 Copies” “already printed and published on M.r Roscoe’s own Account.” See Appendix 2. I have listed under his publications a number of works that do not have his name on the title page: De Lille, The Gardens (1798), Holbein, Triomphe de la Mort (?1790) and Dance of Death (?1794), and Worlidge, Antique Gems (?1788, ?1794). Messrs Edwards & Sons (London) were among three hundred some subscribers to James Thomson, The Seasons, Illustrated with Engravings by F. Bartolozzi, R.A. and P.W. Tomkins, Historical Engraver to Their Majesties from Original Pictures Painted for the Work by W. Hamilton, R.A. (London: Printed for P.W. Tomkins, New Bond-Street; The Letter-Press by T. Bensley; The Types by V. Figgins, 1797). Claudian, Carmina (?1793–6, 1836) was never published, and Edwards may have had no more to do with it than obtaining a vellum copy, as he did with the edition of the poems of Goldsmith and Parnell (1795) – one of three copies on vellum at £12.12.0 (T.F. Dibdin, Bibliographical Decameron [1817], 2:385), which he sold in his anonymous 1804 auction (£14.14.0, Sir Mark Masterman Sykes). It was printed by J. McCreary in Liverpool for Cadell & Davies in London (1798) and reviewed enthusiastically in the Gentleman’s Magazine 69 (Feb. 1799): 142–3: It should be part of “the toilet of every new-married lady.” By 1804 there had been at least six editions. I ignore here works such as Shakspeare’s Plays (1793, 1797) and Nugent’s Dictionary (1795, 1797) in which James Edwards was merely a minor member of a large congeries.

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Notes to pages 128–33

4. The Bookseller as Diplomat 1 Edwards almost certainly called on M. Vanpraet, the great Librarian of the Bibliothèque Royale (later Nationale). On 28 March 1802, when the (brief) Peace of Amiens had been signed, Edwards wrote to Vanpraet “pour vous introduire Messrs. Hoares” who wish to see “l’immense tresor ou vous presidez si dignement.” 2 Napoleon’s great victory at Marengo, Italy, on 14 June 1800. 3 Joseph Fouché (1763–1820), ruthless Minister of Police (1799–1802 and later), spymaster, man of extraordinary power; Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord (1754–1838), ally of Napoleon, Minister of Foreign Affairs (1799–1807), active in the peace overtures in London of 1800. 4 General Lazare Nicolas Marguerite Carnot (1753–1823), Minister of War, organizer of victory; François Barthélemy (d. 1830), in 1800 a senator. 5 Abbé Emmanuel-Joseph Sieyès (1748–1836), theorist and diplomat of the Revolution and of Napoleon. 6 Charles François Lebrun (1739–1824), statesman and littérateur, made Third Consul in 1799, ally of René Nicolas Charles Augustin Maupeou (1714–92), Chancellor of France, legal reformer by autocratic means. 7 Perhaps the reference is to Jacques Du Roveray, a British agent from Geneva who was in the international corn trade, who was condemned to death in absentia in Geneva for his anti-French activities, and who was rewarded by a £300 pension on the Irish Civil Service for his services to the British Government. Edwards probably knew his nephew F.J. Du Roveray, who was a book-publisher and print-and-picture dealer – see G.E. Bentley, Jr, “F.J. Du Roveray, Illustrated-Book Publisher 1798–1806,” Bibliographical Society of Australia and New Zealand Bulletin 12 (1988 [i.e., 1990]): 1–19, 63–83, 97–146, 166–86. 8 The coup d’état of 18 Brumaire VIII (9 Nov. 1799), which brought Napoleon to power. 9 Antoine-Bernard Gaillard (1737–1807), garde des archives des relations extérieures, had a magnificent library of which he published a catalogue (1805) in twenty-five copies. 10 Charles-Pierre Clairet (1738–1810), comte de Fleurieu, hydrographer, sometime Ministre de la Marine, published the magnificent Atlas de la Baltique et du Cattégat (1809) in thirty copies. 11 Historical Manuscripts Commission Report on the Manuscripts of J.B. Fortescco, Esq. Preserved at Dropmore, 6 (1908), 288–93. The distinguished diplomats to whom M. Caillard sent compliments were Alleyn Fitzherbert (1753–1839), Baron St Helena, and James Harris (1746–1820), Baron Malmesbury, created Earl of Malmesbury late in 1800.

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12 About this time Edwards was certainly helping her to acquire books in a friendly, non-commercial way, for on 28 March 1801 she sent him the sum “for the books you are so good as to let me have.” William Beloe, The Sexagenarian (1818), 2:281, says that after Edwards retired, “He continued now and then, at intervals, by way of amusement, and at the desire of friends, to dabble a little in the way of his former occupation, and was said, on some critical occasion, to have made a trip to the Continent, partly on the account of declining health [?in 1814], and partly to avail himself of a tempting opportunity to pick and choose, from a very select collection of rare things in his way.” 13 Historical Manuscripts Commission Report on the Manuscripts of J.B. Fortescue, Esq. Preserved at Dropmore, VI (1908), 316. 14 Lord Spencer doubtless knew that James Edwards was already a collector of miniatures such as that by Cooper engraved in Hamilton’s Grammont (Edwards, ?1794). 15 The Great Historic Galleries of England, ed. Lord Ronald Gower, II (1881) [no pp. ; beginning of the chapter on “Trentham Vicarage,” the residence of E.J. Edwards]. Note that Edward J. Edwards was a boy of four when his father the bookseller died and that therefore he must have had this story second-hand. These twelve miniatures of the Stuart family in a case were sold as the property of J. Edwards at Christie’s on 15 July 1820, lot 61 [£262.10.0]; they were sold again on 3 Feb. 1827 (according to the catalogue below) to the Rev. Thomas Butt, who had married the widow of James Edwards a few months after the first sale. The miniatures then stayed in the family until they were sold for the late Capt. J.E. Edwards-Heathcote (James Edwards’s great-grandson) at Christie’s on 13 June 1928, lots 45–57. There appears to be no reference to Edwards in the Admiralty Intelligence and Secret Correspondence (ADM 1/3974–5, 6034–5), where one would expect it if the affair was an Admiralty matter, or in the Correspondence of the Foreign Office (FO 37/56), according to T.R. Padfield, Assistant Keeper, Search Department, Public Record Office, who kindly looked at the indices for me. 16 T.F. Dibdin, Bibliotheca Spenceriana (1814), 1:vi, paraphrasing Renouard, Annales de l’Imprimerie des Aldes: “Bibliothèque probablement la plus belle et la plus riches ...” Edwards is referred to sporadically in Bibliotheca Spenceriana (e.g., 1 [1814], vi, 2n, 16, 59n, 121n; 2 [1814], 130; 3, 130; 4 [1815], 165). Seymour de Ricci, English Collectors of Books & Manuscripts (1530–1930) (1930), 72–3, is even more emphatic: “Earl Spencer ... was one of the greatest book-collectors, not only in English history, but even in the history of the world.” Lavinia Countess Spencer designed the plate for Marchant, Antique Gems (J. Edwards, 1792) and commissioned the four Large Paper copies of Bacon’s Essays (Edwards, 1798).

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Notes to pages 135–6 Earl Spencer is to be distinguished from George Spencer (1766–1840), Baron Spencer, who became fifth Duke of Marlborough in 1800 and who bought the famous Bedford Missal at James Edwards’s sale in April 1815. Dibdin, Bibliotheca Spenceriana, I (1814), i–ii, said that “the foundation” of Spencer’s collection of incunabula particularly “may be said to have been laid by the purchase of the Collection of the late COUNT REVICZKY.” Count Revizcky was the Ambassador to the English Court of the Emperor Joseph, and his collection was described in Periergus Deltophilus, Bibliotheca graeca et latina (Berlin, 1784, 1786, 1788) (Seymour de Ricci, English Collectors of Books & Manuscripts (1530–1930) [1930], 73). The Diaries of Sylvester Douglas (Lord Glenbervie), ed. Francis Bickling (1928), 1264–5. Baron Glenbervie (1743–1823) was a politician, in 1796 M.P. for Midhurst. The Halifax Journal for 26 Dec. 1801 reported (probably from a London journal) that “Lord Spencer lately gave Mr. Edwards, the Bookseller of Pall Mall, the sum of one hundred & twenty guineas for an original [sic] copy of Dante, printed in 1472, notwithstanding he possessed several other copies of different dates and impressions” (Hanson, p. 245). The “lately” is probably anachronistic, for Edwards was apparently not a “Bookseller of Pall Mall” as late as Dec. 1801. Edwards continued to serve Earl Spencer, and in 1811 he arranged for the transfer to his library of three Caxtons (Jacobus de Cessolis, The Game and Play of Chesse [c. 1483], Raoul Le Fevre, Jason [before 1477], and The History of Reynard the Fox, tr. Caxton [1481]) from the Chapter Library of Lincoln Cathedral (Seymour de Ricci, A Census of Caxtons [1909], 136); the Dean of Lincoln then was the Rev. George Gordon who had married Edwards in 1805 and to whom Edwards had then presented a set of Piranesi etchings (Hanson, p. 233). Dibdin, Bibliotheca Spenceriana (1815), 4:172, says the Spencer collection of Caxtons “HAS NEVER BEEN EQUALLED,” echoed by Seymour de Ricci, A Census of Caxtons (1909), 140–1, who says fifty-nine Caxtons went with the Spencer Collection to the Rylands Library (now in the University of Manchester). In May 1985 the British Library received with the Spencer papers three volumes (temporarily catalogued as G316–318), labelled “George John 2nd Earl Spencer K.G. Book Bills 1784–96, ... 1797–1805,” “1806–1819,” organized by payee. These include Edwards publications Grammont, No. 7–12, Large Paper proofs, £4.10.0 (9 June 1794), Beaumont, Maritime Alps, £6.6.0 (16 June 1795), Beaumont, Rhaet Alps, £2.12.6 (9 July 1795), Harris, Spiders [i.e., Aurelian], £6.6.0 (23 Jan. 1796), Roscoe, Lorenzo de Medici, Large Paper, £2.2.0 (4 March 1796), and Freeman, Horse’s Foot, coloured, £2.2.0 (10 March 1796).

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21 The 12 Jan. 1800 receipt includes Edwards, Birds, 4 vols., £63 (21 Jan 1799), Smith, Views in Italy, 2 vols., proofs (20 Aug. 1799), Strutt, Dress, 2 vols., “Cold,” £10.10.0 (21 Dec. 1799). 22 The 6 Dec. 1798 bill includes [Burgher], Leonora, Large Paper, proof, £2.2.0 (3 June 1796), Bacon, Essays, Large Paper, 9s (6 Aug. 1796); Vancouver on the poor, 2s (6 Aug. 1796), Strutt, Dress, Vol. I, “Col.d,” £5.5.0 (10 Sept. 1796), Chamberlayne, Leonardo da Vinci, No. 1, Large Paper, £2.2.0 (12 Oct. 1796), Smith, American Insects [Lepidopterous Insects of Georgia], 2 vols., coloured, £21 (15 June 1797), Harris, Aurelian, Large Paper, coloured, £12 (10 June 1797), Triomph de Maxim.e, “only 5 copies on this paper,” £15.15.0 (21 July 1797), Dryden, Fables, Large Paper, “cd,” £5.5.0 (6 Nov. 1798), Lord Orford, Works, 5 vols., £10.10.0 (13 May 1799), Vancouver, Voyage, proofs, £6.6.0 (18 Aug. 1799). 5. Last Years 1 I am informed by Miss Constance-Anne Parker, Librarian of the Royal Academy, that there is no record at all of the 1802 Catalogue in the Royal Academy Minutes. The Royal Academy Librarian of the time (1794–1812) was Edward Burch, R.A. 2 William Blake’s Writings, ed. G.E. Bentley, Jr (Oxford, 1979), 1583; all other Blake quotations derive from this edition. 3 Hanson, p. 232; see the description of Spring Head above, p. 39. It is unlikely that James Edwards lived at Spring Head very much, for William Blake and others report seeing him in London in 1803 and 1804. Still another purchase of the time is recorded by Lord Glenbervie on 27 July 1801: “Today Edwards the bookseller dines with us. He has bought my house in Bruton Street for a friend of his at £3342” (The Diaries of Sylvester Douglas (Lord Glenbervie), ed. Francis Bickley [1928], 1:241). 4 Thomas Edwards and Mr Fawkes were clearly good friends. 5 The Letter-Bag of Lady Elizabeth Spencer-Stanhope, ed. A.M.W. Stirling (1913), 1:36–8; the letter is addressed to her husband John. 6 Gentleman’s Magazine, 86 (1816): 181 (obituary of James Edwards). 7 In his will (see below), James Edwards left £500 and property at High Elms to “my dear brother Thomas Edwards.” If this High Elms in the will is the house Richard Edwards lived in, the implications are that (a) James Edwards had not sold it in 1805 and (b) Richard Edwards sold it to him between 1808 and 1815 when the will was made. 8 The quotation is from a letter of 4 June 1912 from F.W. Ragg to Hanson (now in Bodley) about “some letters [which] were read to us written by

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14 15 16 17 18 19

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Notes to pages 143–6 James Edwards.” Ragg’s letter continues: “Since this house was given to her after his death by his cousin [John Edwards] the only conclusion one can come to is that after he had bought it, he mortgaged it to his cousin of Northowram and that it was as possessor of the mortgage that the cousin gave it to her.” But James Edwards’s will says nothing of either Harrow mortgage or house, so John Edwards may have owned it by 1815. On the other hand, John Edwards was executor of the will, and there may be some confusion as to whose property he was transferring to Mrs James Edwards. Alternatively, James Edwards may not have bought the Manor House at all – or he may have bought it in 1805 but not moved his “Books vases &c” there from his Pall Mall house until 1810, when we know from other evidence that he sold 77 Pall Mall. His father’s will of 13 Feb. 1807 describes him as “my Son James Edwards of Pall Mall.” Gentleman’s Magazine 75 (Sept. 1805): 874, describing the groom as “of Pall Mall and Verulam, Herts.” Hanson, p. 233. Gentleman’s Magazine 86 (1816): 181 (obituary of James Edwards). In 1781–4, R.B. Sheridan lived at The Grove, Harrow, where he entertained Fox, Burke, and his other Whig friends (Walter Sichel, Sheridan [1909], 1:260, 2:536). T.F. Dibdin, Bibliotheca Spenceriana, 3:130. The only copy traced, in Bodley, is inscribed by Francis Douce “From the author St. Weston. 1806. Aug.” The “house of Montague” is apparently that of the bookbinder Richard Montague, who is said to have bound many volumes for Edwards and Cracherode. T.F. Dibdin, Bibliotheca Spenceriana, 3:130. T.F. Dibdin, Bibliotheca Spenceriana, 3:130. T.F. Dibdin, Bibliomania (1811), 294. Gentleman’s Magazine 86 (1816): 181 (obituary of James Edwards). T.F. Dibdin, Bibliographical Decameron (1817), 3:113; the whole account of the library is on 3:111–26fn. Ibid., 3:112. On the other hand, Alfred Wallis, Examples of The Book-Binders’ Art of the XVI. and XVII. Centuries (1890), fifth-sixth unnumbered pages of the “Introduction,” says: “This sale may be considered to indicate the lowest pecuniary point to which historic and beautiful bindings sank in the present century, but they remained at a low-water mark, or thereabouts, for a long time afterwards.” While the catalogue was being prepared, Napoleon astonished Europe by returning from Elba, and the sale took place in the midst of Napoleon’s Hundred Days.

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21 T.F. Dibdin, Bibliographical Decameron (1817), 3:14–15, 15 fn. A footnote (3:14 fn) says: “The Bibliomania was scarcely published when the aptitude of the character of Rinaldo to that of the late Mr. JAMES EDWARDS was promptly and generally acknowledged.” 22 Ibid., 3:17. According to the Gentleman’s Magazine 85 (April 1815): 349, “The beautiful vases were not sold.” In a letter to Fuseli of 24 Aug. 1803 (in the Royal Academy, London), Sir G.H. Englefield wondered whether the handles on Edwards’s “magnificent vase ... are entirely ancient.” In some of the hundred copies of [James Christie], A Dissertation upon Etruscan Vases (1806) is a folding plate of a vase owned by Mr. Edwards. 23 Gentleman’s Magazine 86 (1816): 181 (obituary of James Edwards). 24 Ibid., (James Edwards obituary) erroneously places the trip to Paris “In the summer of 1814.” T.F. Dibdin, Bibliographical Decameron (1817), 1:16fn, says that about 1813 he saw a wagonload of books from Paris arriving at the Harrow house for Edwards, the last to do so. 25 John Nichols, Illustrations of the Literary History of the Eighteenth Century (1822), 4:884 (up to the last sentence derives originally from the obituary of James Edwards in Gentleman’s Magazine 76 [1816]: 181). His will says nothing of his coffin. 26 Public Record Office 11–1578, No. 133. It was dated 24 May 1815 and proved 7 March[?] and 26 April 1816. 27 Quoted from a photograph among the Hanson MSS, Bodley; it is quoted with minor omissions in John Nichols, Illustrations (1822), 4:884. According to W. Carew Hazlitt, Offspring of Thought in Solitude (1884), 95, there is a monument to Edwards of Halifax, with the Bedford Missal under his arm, in Cowes, Isle of Wight, but the Rev. Canon John Beam of Cowes very kindly tells me that an assiduous search has revealed no monument to James Edwards in Cowes or elsewhere in the Isle of Wight; doubtless W.C. Hazlitt merely mistook his own notes, perhaps of Harrow Church. Part III: Richard Edwards, Publisher of Church-and-King Pamphlets and of William Blake 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Hanson, p. 15, who seems to be citing the Parish Register. See above, “William Edwards, Paterfamilias,” p. 27. Ibid. Ibid. Ibid. Ibid. Ibid.

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Notes to pages 154–9

8 Gentleman’s Magazine 97 (Nov. 1827): 478, obituary of Richard Edwards. 9 Description of England and Wales (Quaritch Catalogue 668 [1949], lot 106 [Hanson, p. 263]); Shenstone (Wormsley Library, in Edwards of Halifax decorated vellum), and Young, Night Thoughts (1787) (Victoria University in the University of Toronto), Plate 7b. 10 Gentleman’s Magazine 63 (Feb. 1793), 184. 11 See “The Bookseller as Diplomat,” chapter 3 above. Note that The Spencer Papers [ed. J.S. Roberts & Richmond], Publications of the Navy Records Society vols. 46, 48, 63–9 [1913–14, 1923–4] omit “all documents relating to promotions and patronage” and Richard Edwards (1:viii). For the capture of Minorca, see 2:490, 493. 12 Gentleman’s Magazine 97 (Nov. 1827): 478, obituary of Richard Edwards. 13 Public Record Office ADM 2/1067, p. 231, and ADM 1/1035, A458, generously cited to me by N.A.M. Rodgers, Assistant Keeper, Search Department, Public Record Office. There are a number of documents for the period of the final British occupation in Minorca in the Archivo Histórico de Mahón, but they were inaccessible while a calendar of them was being prepared and the MSS were being merged with another collection (as the Directora, Sra. J. Gonzalez, told Mr Robert Latona of Mallorca for me). Consequently I could not discover more information about Richard Edwards in Minorca. 14 The holograph MS is a folded legal-size folio of English paper (watermarked T. HOOKE & SON | 1798) written with the transfer of patent rights on two and a quarter pages to which Richard Edwards “Set my hand, and Seal,” on 1 Aug. 1799, witnessed by Peter Rodriges & Prats and Peter Sitges. The document was seen by my friend Robert Latona by pure serendipity in a bookshop in Palma de Mallorca, where it had been brought by its owner for an opinion as to its vendibility; Mr Latona pursued it vigorously when the document went to earth and secured it for me. It is now in Victoria University in the University of Toronto. 15 Ibid. 16 Gentleman’s Magazine 97 (Nov. 1827): 478, obituary of Richard Edwards. 17 Hanson, p. 275; the account, dated 20 Oct. 1827, copied by W.B. Trigg in July 1941 for Hanson, begins: “Edwards who married Miss Howard is dead at St. Omer.” 18 Gentleman’s Magazine 97 (Nov. 1827): 478, obituary of Richard Edwards. 19 High Elms is clearly shown on the surveyor’s sketch map (c. 1790–1800, in the British Library) made for the first edition of the one-inch-to-the-mile Ordnance Survey Map of the South West of Hertfordshire (c) 12806), on the Tithe Map (1842), and on the six-inches-to-the-mile Ordnance Survey

Notes to pages 159–60

20 21 22 23

24

25 26 27

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Map surveyed in 1872–6, but it was apparently destroyed and replaced by Garston Manor by the time of the 1896 Ordnance Survey Map. In the Land Tax assessments for Watford (in the Hertfordshire County archives), Richard Edwards is shown as the owner of a property (clearly High Elms) in Leavesden Hamlet from 1804 to 1808 (but not in the previous surviving survey assessment of 1802), but he does not appear in the next of 1812 (this may indicate merely that he had paid a capital tax and cleared the land of all further liability to the tax, for no one else paid tax for the land either), and it is not known when he sold it – it is not mentioned in his 1827 will. John Riley is shown as the owner of High Elms in A Copy of the Register of the Electors for the County of Hertford (1833), p. 77, and in the Tithe Apportionment (1844) – a freehold “house, outbuildings, garden, yard shrubberies and rick yard.” (For all this information, I am deeply indebted to Miss Marshall of Watford Central Library and to P.P. Walne, Hertfordshire County Archivist.) Gentleman’s Magazine 86 (1816): 180 (obituary of James Edwards). See above, “William Edwards, Paterfamilias,” p. 38. Gentleman’s Magazine 97 (Nov. 1827): 478, obituary of Richard Edwards. Public Record Office Prob 11/11741; the Revd Isaac Gossett (1782–1855) and John Howard of Ripon (Richard’s brother-in-law) were trustees. The French codicils were translated 31 March 1818 and the will proved on 2 June 1828. I cannot easily account for his address given in the obituary in the Leeds Intelligencer, 25 Oct. 1827: “after only a few days’ illness, Richard Esq of Weybridge, Surrey, youngest son of the late William Edwards of Halifax” (Hanson, p. 275B). Perhaps the information had come from George Payne of Weybridge, who identified Richard Edwards’s handwriting in the codicil of his will. See also James Edwards’s Catalogue (1785), Bolton, History of ... Fungusses, II (1788), Bible prospectus (Edwards & Sons, Pall Mall and Halifax, 1790), and The Book of Common Prayer (1791) published by Edwards & Sons [Thomas and Richard], and M.D. Sacred Poetry (1790), Pinkerton, Medallic History (1790), Carr, Poems (1791), Bibliotheca Parisiana (1791), and Dutens, Table ([?1790]) published by Edwards & Sons [James and Richard], Pall Mall, or by Messrs. [James and Richard] Edwards, Pall Mall. Alexander, Croup (1794), Strutt, Dress of England (1796), and Vancouver, Voyage ... to the North Pacific Ocean (1798). Anon., Lodowick (1795) and New ... Biographical Dictionary (1798). ?Anon., Ten Minutes Caution (1792), ?Cooke, Hildebrand Freeman (1792), [De Coetlogon] Human Reason, 1st and 2nd eds. (1792), Bigot, Histoire de la Conspiration (1793), [Cochrane] Treatise ... [on] Agriculture and

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28

29 30

31

32

33 34

35

36

37

Notes to pages 160–8 Chemistry (1795), and ?Anon., Address to both Houses of Parliament, 2nd ed. (1796). Anon., A Review ... of the Parliament of 1784 (1792), [De Coetlogon] Hints to the People of England (1792), De Coetlogon, The Peculiar Advantages of the English Nation (1792), Magazin des Savans, 1 (Jan.–May 1792), Wrangham, Reform (1792), Anon., A Brief Review of Parliamentary Reformation (1793), Anon., Opinions ... for the Support of Government (1793), [Clarke] Tour (1793), [De Coetlogon] Reflections ... on the Murder of Louis the Sixteenth (1793), Anon., A Collection of ... Tracts ... from the Sommers-Collections (1795), Cooke, Conversation (1796), [Symmons] Inez (1796), Vancouver, An Enquiry into ... Poverty (1796), and Young, Night Thoughts (1797). De Coetlogon, Patriot King (1793), Head, The Pious Mother (1793), [Merigot] Views and Ruins in Rome (1796–8). Anon., Address to both Houses of Parliament, 2nd ed. (1796), Anon., History of ... George the Third (1792), Anon., Ten Minutes Caution (1792), [Cooke], Memoirs of Hildebrand Freeman (1792), De Coetlogon, Moses (1793), De Coetlogon, Essays on ... True Virtue (1793), and De Coetlogon, Ten Sermons (1793). By May 1792 they had been joined by five others. In all, eighteen publishers were listed in the magazine (seven of them in the provinces), though never more than eleven at once. Naturally these covers and insertions usually disappeared in succeeding decades; the largest collection of them known to me is in the John Johnson Collection of Ephemeral Printing in Bodley. BB, 595. A new title page (c. 1799) was issued with the old setting of text of [Archibald Cochrane] Earl of Dundonald, Treatises ... on Agriculture and Chemistry (1795). Note that the French title of Magazin des Savans was changed to an English one (The Monthly Register of Literature) when Richard Edwards ceased to publish it. James Edwards published repeatedly with all the booksellers with whom Richard Edwards appeared more than once, particularly with Robinson and with White. It is noteworthy, however, that Richard Edwards never or only once cooperated in publishing with four distinguished booksellers who shared their imprints with James Edwards more than a dozen times: Cadell & Davies, Joseph Johnson, Thomas Payne, and James Robson. He was one of four publishers of Joseph Strutt’s Dress and Habits of the People of England, vol. 1, Parts 1–?8 ([?July] 1796–[?Feb 1797]), but the chief publisher of Strutt was probably his brother James. Richard

Notes to pages 169–73

38

39

40

41

42 43 44

45

46

47 48

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Edwards’s name does not appear on the prospectus for Strutt Part 9 (?March 1797) or on the title page of vol. 2 ([?Oct.] 1799). This part 1 1797 title page is something of an enigma, for it bears (in addition to those of R. Edwards) the names of two publishers ([James] Edwards of Pall Mall and Robinsons of Paternoster Row) who are never recorded on its plates and omits all reference to Merigot, whose name is on all the plates with dated imprints. My only other record of Richard Edwards’s disposition of his copyrights when he left business concerns Cochrane’s Agriculture (1795), which was remaindered to Murray & Highly, who struck a new title page for it about 1799. Not counting, of course, his own works in Illuminated Printing, such as Songs of Innocence (1789), The Marriage of Heaven and Hell ([?1790]), and The Book of Urizen (1794), which he coloured and sold in such small numbers that no more than a dozen copies of most have survived. British Critic 8 (Sept. 1796): 277 – see BR (2), 74. The design reprobated illustrates Night Thoughts but is not from Blake’s suite of designs for Richard Edwards. Book of Urizen (1794), pl. 4 – see William Blake’s Writings (1978): 243. See BR (2), 178–88. Blake did engrave one small folio duplicate plate for the Boydell Shakspeare in 1799, and he had made a splendid folio engraving for Boydell after Hogarth’s Beggar’s Opera painting in 1788. His great series of illustrations for the works of other men were all in the future: Young (1794–7), Gray (1797), the Bible (1799 ff.), Milton (1800 ff.), Job (1805–6), Bunyan (?1824), and Dante (1824–7). He had engraved six of his own rather tame designs for Mary Wollstonecraft’s Original Stories published by Joseph Johnson in 1791. “When Flaxman was taken to Italy [1787–94], Fuseli was giv’n to me for a season,” Blake letter of 12 Sept. 1800 (William Blake’s Writings [1978], 1537). The anonymous “Explanation of the Engravings” in the 1797 Night Thoughts has been tentatively attributed to Fuseli (e.g., in BB, 638). 1826 and 1828 Thomas Edwards catalogues; the 1821 catalogue refers to “the Author’s original Copy,” singular. 1821 Thomas Edwards catalogue (not repeated in those of 1826 and 1828): “The Bookbinder from inattention lost the blank leaf with the Author’s signature.” Since there was only one “Author’s signature” in the nine parts, presumably in Night I, we may wonder whether Nights II–IX had belonged to Edward Young, particularly since some are not first editions.

236

Notes to pages 173–7

49 As Hanson suggests (p. 266). See also Fuseli’s comment of 24 June 1796, below. 50 Seen in Traylen’s bookshop (Guildford) in 1978. 51 See E.B. Bentley & G.E. Bentley, Jr, “Bishop Phillpotts Library, The Franke Parker Bequest and its Extra-Illustrated Macklin Bible 1800,” Book Collector 29 (1980): 378. 52 10 May 1826 Winstanley sale lot 1076. The 1821 catalogue says “they occupied nearly two years of the time” of Blake, and the unreliable Allan Cunningham says vaguely, “The name of Blake now [1794] began to be known a little, and Edwards, the bookseller, employed him to illustrate Young’s Night Thoughts” (Lives of the Most Eminent British Painters, Sculptors, and Architects [1830], vol. 2, paragraph 19 – see BR (2), 638). Note that Richard Edwards apparently published nothing in 1794 save Alexander’s Croup, probably initiated by James Edwards. 53 1826 and 1828 catalogues; the 1821 catalogue calls it “Atlas Folio.” 54 Occasionally the line asterisked in the 1797 text as engraved is not the same as the line ticked for the same design in the watercolour. In the watercoloured text, some lines are underlined, corrected, or annotated in crayon. 55 J.T. Smith, Nollekens and His Times (1828) – see BR (2), 610. For the £21 price, see Fuseli’s comment on 24 June 1796 below. 56 10 May 1826 Thomas Edwards sale, lot 1076; the opinion of “the late Mr. Fuseli” (d. 1825) is not recorded elsewhere. Thomas Edwards’s 1828 catalogue, lot 1130, said: “It is scarcely possible to present the collector with an adequate, or even faint idea of the singular nature of these most extraordinary and sublime conceptions of the artist ... In point of composition and design, the present production is certainly superior [to his designs for ‘Blair’s Grave’], and is alone sufficient to immortalize the name of Blake as an artist of the highest order.” The designs were first made publicly visible when they were exhibited at The Grolier Club (1920) and then given in 1929 to the ‘British Museum Print Room, but they were not reproduced all together until 1980, when scores were reproduced for the first time. 57 For designs in Blake’s own writings similar to those in Night Thoughts, see William Blake’s Writings (1978), 5, 8, 13, 40, 96, 230, 633, 1072, 1075, 1100, 1119, 1138, 1157, 1234, 1241, 1292, 1728. 58 Allan Cunningham, The Cabinet Gallery of Pictures (1833), 1:11–13 – see BR (2), 233–4. 59 See “Young’s Night Thoughts (London: R. Edwards, 1797): A New Unillustrated State,” Blake: An Illustrated Quarterly (1980), 14:34–5, describing a copy with the initials J E, which may have belonged to James Edwards.

Notes to pages 177–80

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60 Sotheby, 27–30 June 1906, lot 685 [12s to Rewin]. 61 Blake was paid £5.5.0 apiece for his much smaller outlines for Flaxman’s Iliad (1805) and Hesiod (1817), and on 19 Aug. 1814 Flaxman wrote to T.H. Whitaker that “outline ... engraving including the Copper plate will cost 6 Guineas if done by M.r Blake the best engraver of outlines” (BR (2), 194, 772–3, 318). For his twelve highly finished, slightly smaller plates for Blair’s Grave, Schiavonetti was paid perhaps £540 (BR (2) 246); he asked £63 for the Last Judgment (BR (2), 245). 62 A single print for Night V was offered in the William Blake catalogue ([?1930]) of Francis Edwards (no relation to Edwards of Halifax), but it has not since been traced. 63 We may be confident that Blake had not seen the 1797 printed text before he began his engravings, for had he done so he would surely have filled the blank spaces on the short pages at the end of each Night. In the engravings for these pages, the boxes left for the text are much larger than the text in them, leaving ugly, irrelevant blank windows. 64 As E.J. Ellis, The Real Blake (1907), 83, suggests. 65 See Appendix 3, “Richard Edwards’s Publications.” 66 Blake coloured one set each of Hayley’s Ballads (1805), Virgil, Pastorals (1821), and his own Job (1826), but he did not do so for his other series of engraved designs in commercial books: Mary Wollstonecraft, Original Stories (1791), Bűrgher, Leonora (1796), Hayley, Designs to A Series of Ballads (1802). Numerous copies of Stedman’s Surinam (1796, 1806, 1813) including Blake’s engravings after Stedman have been commercially coloured (not by Blake), and an advertisement claimed that the plates in The Wit’s Magazine (1784), including those by Blake, were available in colour, but none has been recorded, and in any case Blake is unlikely to have done the colouring. Blake’s designs engraved in Blair’s Grave (1813) with “hand coloured” prints is recorded by Robert N. Essick, “New Information on Blake’s Illuminated Books,” Blake: An Illustrated Quarterly 15 (1981): 13, without identification of the hand which coloured the plates. 67 D.V. Erdman et al seem to think that The Historic Gallery belonged to James Edwards (William Blake’s designs for Edward Young’s NIGHT THOUGHTS, I [1980], 87). 68 See R.R. Wark, “A Minor Blake Conundrum,” Huntington Library Quarterly 21 (1957): 83–7; the fine copy was probably not made by Blake, for the walking staff has been unaccountably omitted from the naked pilgrim’s upraised hand. 69 BR (2), 210, 219–20, 255. It is notable that they were not exhibited at the Royal Academy annual exhibitions, perhaps because the Royal Academy then excluded watercolours as they did later.

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Notes to pages 181–6

70 Quoted from the original in the John Johnson Collection of Printed Ephemera in Bodley; see Illus. 9 and BR (2), 78–9. 71 Memoirs and Recollections of the late Abraham Raimbach, Esq. Engraver, ed. M.T.S. Raimbach (1843), 22. 72 Ozias Humphry was an important collector of Blake’s works – he may have just acquired a number of them (see G.E. Bentley, Jr, “Ozias Humphry, William Upcott, and William Blake,” Humanities Association Review 26 [1975]: 116–22) – and Richard Cosway was a friend of Blake, but there is no known direct connection between Benjamin West or Robert Smirke and Blake. 73 Cf. Milton, L’Allegro, ll. 133–4: “Sweetest Shakspeare fancies childe, |Warble[s] his native Wood-notes wild ...” 74 In his dedicatory poem “To M.rs Ann Flaxman” with his 116 designs to Thomas Gray’s poems, Blake wrote of “A little Flower ... in a lonely Vale” transplanted by “One standing in the Porches of the Sun” to “a Mountain brow,” in metaphors curiously reminiscent of this letter. 75 British Library Add. MSS 29,780, f. 212; the letter is a draft, and the recipient is unidentified. 76 Richard Edwards seems to have provided 900 pages (450 half-sheets) of 1794 J WHATMAN paper, but, as there were only 537 drawings requiring 269 half-sheets, there should have been some 362 pages or 181 half-sheets left over. This surplus Blake used for proofs of the engravings of Night Thoughts (47 leaves in Vala, 24 now in Harvard) and, presumably after 1797 when it was clear that no more engravings or proofs would be needed, for the fair copy of his Vala (19 leaves), for his Gray designs about 1797 (58 leaves), and perhaps for printing his own illuminated works (over 100 leaves in Visions of the Daughters of Albion [copies F, G], America [A–B], Europe [A, C], and Urizen [B, D]). This presumes the accuracy of what Fuseli said and Farington’s report of it, and this is somewhat suspect, since the flyer mentions 150 engravings and Fuseli 200. 77 He must, however, be responsible for the unexplained omission of a block of fifty-eight lines of Young’s poem. 78 “Public Address” in Blake’s Notebook, p. 25 – see William Blake’s Writings (1978), 1052. Thomas Edwards’s 1821 catalogue repeated Richard Edwards’s claim: “This work is, perhaps, unequalled for the boldness of conception, and spirit of execution exhibited in the masterly designs of Mr. Blake.” 79 “Many People are So foolish [as] to think they can wound Mr Fuseli over my Shoulder[;] they will find themselves mistaken” (“Public Address” in Blake’s Notebook p. 53 – see William Blake’s Writings [1978], 1033).

Notes to pages 186–8

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80 British Library Add. MSS 29,790, ff. 3–4, undated (watermark: 1795) and unaddressed; in the letter she says she has seen the Hares on their return from France and Germany – and the Hares reached London by 1 Nov and stayed there until 4 Nov. 1797 (J.C.A. Hare, Memorials of a Quiet Life [1872], 127–9). 81 [Crabb Robinson] “William Blake Künstler, Dichter, und Religiöser Schwärmer,” Vaterländisches Museum 1 (1811): “gar nicht mehr in Buchladen zu haben, so wie überhaupt äusserst selten geworden ist” (see BR (2), 584, 600), echoed by F.A. Ebert, Allgemeines Bibliographisches Lexikon 2 (1830): “nicht mehr im Handel zu habend und äusserst selten ist” (tr. A. Brown [1837]: “no longer to be met with in the market and is extremely scarce” – see BR (2), 501). Crabb Robinson did buy a copy of Blake’s Night Thoughts on 27 Dec. 1810 for £1.11.6 (Bl BR (2), 771), slightly more than the £1.5.0 per part advertised. 82 Wayne C. Ripley, “‘In Great Forwardness’?: 1798 Advertisements for Volume Two of William Blake’s Night Thoughts,” Notes and Queries, 256 [N.S. 58], no. 1 (March 2011): 57–8. The booksellers are James Edwards, 77 Pall-Mall; James Robson: 27 New Bond Street; Robert Faulder, 42 New Bond-street; Thomas Payne, Mews Gate; John White, 63 Fleet-street; George, George, and John Robinson, 25 Paternoster-row; William Clarke, 38 Bond-street; Joseph Bell, 148 Oxford-street; and Edward Harding, 98 Pall-Mall; notice the absence of Richard Edwards of 142 New Bond Street, the original publisher of Night Thoughts. 83 Ripley, op. cit. 84 Thomas Payne, Catalogue of Valuable Books, in Various Languages, and in Every Class of Literature: Which Are to Be Sold, at the Prices Affixed to Each Article ... (London, 1799): “Young’s Night Thoughts, with engravings round each page from the designs of Blake, 2 numbers, boards, – 1797 & 98.” 85 William Blake: Original Drawings, Engraved Work, Poetical Works, Books about Blake, Etc. Mainly from the Collection of Dr. Greville Macdonald (London: Francis Edwards [?1930]) (Princeton, NJ), lot 44, “the only extant leaf of Night 5,” whose present location is not known. 86 See BB, 642–6, 956–67, and Blake Books Supplement (1995), 271–3, recording the provenance of twenty-six coloured copies; one more is in Harvard, and another was acquired in 1999 by Professor Robert Newman Essick. Uncoloured copies were owned by Blake’s contemporaries William Godwin, Joseph Thomas, Robert Scott, Louis or Nicolas Schiavonetti (96 loose plates), William Thane (a copy of Blair’s Grave extra-illustrated with plates from Young), and Caroline Bowles (later Southey) (BR (2), 56 fn., 207, 256, 302 fn., 530 fn.

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Notes to pages 189–97

87 Blake etched a private portrait of Earl Spencer about 1813. 88 BR (2), 309. 89 BR (2), 600; Ebert (op. cit.), echoing Crabb Robinson again, says that Blake’s designs for Young, “although very unequal, are yet often of superior merit, but express the unfortunate idea of wishing to interpret Young literally” (BR (2), 501). Far from issuing a quarter of Blake’s designs, Edwards published only about a twelfth of them. 90 T.F. Dibdin, Reminiscences of a Literary Life (1836), 784–9 – see BR (2), 327–8. In his Library Companion (1824), 734, Dibdin wrote: “I love to open that portion of the poem, published in folio form, with the bizarre but original and impressive ornaments by BLAKE” (BR (2), 399). 91 BR (2), 376. 92 BR (2), 393. The obituary of Blake in the Gentleman’s Magazine 98 (Oct. 1827): 337–8 (BR (2), 473–4) was the only one to take note of his designs for Night Thoughts. 93 Allan Cunningham, life of Blake in his Lives of the Most Eminent British Painters, Sculptors, and Architects (1830), vol. 2, paragraph 19 – see BR (2), 638–9. Cunningham speaks of “poems,” plural, because the Night Thoughts were originally issued as nine self-contained poems. 94 BR (2), 535–6. 95 In a search on five continents, I have located over 150 copies in public collections, and perhaps there are no more than this total in private hands. It is by no means a rare book, but it is not common – and today it is very dear. Part IV: Thomas Edwards, an Important Provincial Bookseller 1 Gentleman’s Magazine, N.S. 2 (1834): 108 (Thomas Edwards obituary). His marriage was noticed in Gentleman’s Magazine 68 (Jan. 1808): 85. 2 Hanson, pp. 300–1, 421–3, quotes this bill, a letter from Thomas Edwards (of Aug. 1819) about binding the books, and the Tempest Sale at Sotheby’s, 14 June 1926; sometimes the Tempest binding bills were paid for in “Old Books.” Hanson remarks (p. 302) that Stephen Tempest Senr paid £20 for the plate of Broughton Hall in Whitaker’s Craven which the Edwardses published. According to a contemporary summary of indentures (No. 147, in Calderdale Central Library, Halifax), Tempest Cooke, age ten, orphan son of William and Mary, was bound to Thomas Edwards, Bookbinder & Stationer of Halifax, on 11 Aug. 1810. 3 According to contemporary notes in the Glasgow University Library copy. Thomas Edwards also acted occasionally as the vendor of auction

Notes to pages 197–200

4

5

6 7

8

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catalogues in whose contents he had no financial interest. For example, Mr Edwards, Halifax, was one of seventeen vendors in as many cites for Winstanley & Taylor’s catalogues of the Library of John Leigh Philips, Esq., Deceased, 17–27 Oct. 1814, and of his Paintings & Drawings, Prints & Etchings, Cabinet of Insects, &c., 31 Oct. –11 Nov. 1814. This catalogue contains an advertisement for the sale of Thomas Edwards’s Paintings, Drawings, and Engravings, but I do not know of a catalogue for it. The original, now in the Yale Center for British Art, is cited in Life in England in Aquatint and Lithography 1770–1860 ... from the Library of J.R. Abbey: A Bibliographical Catalogue (1953), 217; a pencil note of Thomas Edwards’s son John says “There were only 3 Coloured Copies of Thomsons Seasons published,” the other two for George III’s daughter and Queen. For a copy of The Book of Common Prayer (1791) in Etruscan calf with a fore-edge of Eton inscribed Aug 1816 to Maria Sophia Fawkes, see Appendix 1. Transcribed in 1979 by my friend Rosa Edwards, who allowed me to make a copy. Hanson, p. 286, records that “Miss Walker made this entry on 24 July 1816[:] Mr. Fawkes came to the christening of Edwards’ son and was a sponsor. The child was christened Walter Fawkes Edwards ... A pompous account of the christening has been inserted in the Wakefield paper.” The family record is “Walter Fawkes Edwards, born 7 February 1815, ½ past 6 o’clock in the morning; named by the Rev. Mr. Hudson 20 June 1815; christened on Tuesday 9 July 1816 by the Rev. Dr. Coulthurst. Sponsor’s; Walter Fawkes, Esq., Farnley Hall, John Edwards Esq. [of Northowram, Hall] and Mrs. Broome[.]” [Anne Lister] “Social Life in Halifax Early in the Nineteenth Century–No. V. Some Extracts from the Diary of a Halifax Lady,” Halifax Guardian – see chapter 1, footnote 42. The status of a bookseller in provincial society is indicated by an anecdote from the diary of Miss Walker of about 1794: It happened there was a musical festival and a ball at Halifax. We were to attend the ball, and Lord E[velyn Stuart, son of the Marquis of Bute, who was stationed in the neighbourhood as a recruiting officer, was to be there]. Lord E. at that time was very much amused with Edwards, the bookseller; he talked of bringing Edwards to the ball to dance with a Miss [Sarah] Edwards [age 20], of Northowram. We got to the ball before Lord E. and my brother ... In talking to Lord E. I was silly enough to ask him why Edwards was not come. Then he said he would go for him with my brother. They immediately went and

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Notes to pages 200 returned with Edwards, who entered bowing and highly pleased. The Halifax people thought the introduction of Edwards an insult upon them, and they revenged themselves upon my brother, who happened to come in boots. Captain Collington, an officer recruiting, came up to my brother, and attempted to throw him out of the window. My mother intreated him to forbear; Lord E. interfered; Collington did not execute his threat.

9

10

11 12 13

Next day Lord Evelyn challenged Captain Collington to a duel, but Captain Collington apologised. (John Lister, “Walterclouth in Southowram,” Halifax Antiquarian Society Transactions [1908], 214–15.) [Anne Lister] “Social Life in Halifax Early in the Nineteenth Century No. XXXVII. Some Extracts from the Diary of a Halifax Lady,” Halifax Guardian. An anonymous typescript of “The Life of Anne Lister of Halifax 1791–1840” based on letters (1803–40) is in Halifax Central Library. The Gentleman’s Magazine obituary of Richard Edwards (97 [Nov. 1827]: 478) says that Thomas Edwards “has recently retired to Southport, to enjoy the comforts of a well-earned fortune acquired in business at Halifax.” He had at least visited there earlier, for he presented a copy (now in Victoria University in the University of Toronto) of Lady Russell’s Letters (1801) in Etruscan calf with a fore-edge painting to Mrs John Leigh Phillips from “South Port – August 29. 1820.” His library was sold with that of the late John Bowden at Southgate & Son, 9–16 March 1835. Gentleman’s Magazine, N.S. 2 (July 1834): 107–8. Hanson, p. 314.

Index

This index contains references both to The Edwardses of Halifax and to additional material found in The Edwardses of Halifax online appendices at http://www.utppublishing.com/ pdf/Bentley_EdwardsesofHalifaxVol2.pdf. References to the pages of the online appendices are indicated with an A. If references to an entry are found both in the book and in the appendices, the book page references come first, followed by those for the online material. Aaron, artist, 56 Abbey, J.R., library, 207, 241 Abbot, John, lepidopterist, 113 Abbot, John. See Smith, James Edward Academy of Natural Sciences, A: 140, 145, 227, 231, 239 Academy of the New Church (Bryn Athin, Pennsylvania), A: 255 Acadia University, A: 186, 281 Achenbach Foundation, A: 347 Ackroyd, married Jane Edwards, daughter of William (III), 12 Adams, bookseller, A: 177 Adams, Ruins of Spaletto, 154 Adelaide, University of, A: 239 Adlard. See Stewart, Wheatley, & Adlard, auctions Ainsley, Scarborough bookseller, A: 10 Akron, University of, A: 115, 347 Alberti, Veuve, Vienna printer, A: 68fn Alberti, Ignatius, Vienna printer, A: 42, 44, 58, 284, 288 Albertini. See Schmidt & Albertini Albin, Natural History of British Moths, 154 Aldus, printer, A: 97, 215, 380

Alexander, Disney, Croup (1794), 36, 92, 97–8, 165–8, 222, 231 Alexander, Disney, M.D. (b. 1764), married Mary Edwards (b. 1755), 12 Aldrovandi, Opera Omnia, 154 All Souls College (Oxford), A: 239 Alleghany University, A: 123 Allen & Escher, London booksellers, A: 180 Allen, London bookseller, A: 180 Allen, William, Dublin book- and printseller, A: 53 & fn, 54 & fn, 218 American Antiquarian Society, A: 114, 131, 271 American Philosophical Society, A: 114, 126, 168 Amiens, Peace of (1802), 158, 226; A: 7 Amsterdam, University of, A: 100 Anacreon, A: 280, 283 Anacreon, Convialia Semiambia (1791), 208 Analytical Review: (1788), 76; A: 84, 89 126; (1789), 217; A: 125, 152, 201, 204, 280–3, 286, 290, 296; (1790), A: 75, 127–8, 206, 282, 293; (1791), A: 109, 181, 324; (1792), A: 85, 150, 310, 312, 326, 344; (1793), A: 47–8, 157, 280, 284, 304, 309,

244

Index

317, 325–7; (1794), A: 47, 317, 322; (1795), A: 44, 198, 318; (1796), 218; A: 55, 59–60, 62, 64–5, 111, 120, 130, 174, 214, 241–2, 271, 303, 319, 341–2; (1797), A: 55, 303; (1798), 218; A: 180, 231, 268, 340; (1799), A: 251 Annapolis, A: 250 Anderson, J., London bookseller, A: 173, 223, 339 Anderson, James, Peat Moss (1794), A: 301–2 Anderson, Dr Robert, A: 297–9 & fn Anderson Galleries auction (1913), A: 140fn Andrews, Worcester bookseller, A: 134 Angelo, Michael, artist. See Michaelangelo Angus, W., engraver, A: 156 Anker, Jean, A: 290fn Annual Register: (1791), A: 75; (1795), A: 305 Annual Review (1795), A: 305 Anon., Address to both Houses of Parliament (1796), 164–5, 234; A: 30, 303 Anon., Beauties of the Dutch School (1793), 5, 101, 224; A: 31, 34, 45–6 Anon., Brief Review of Parliamentary Reformation (1793), 163, 166, 234; A: 300, 303–4, 311 Anon., Collection ... from the SomersCollections (1795), A: 301, 304 Anon., Discourse (1791), A: 31, 40, 46–8 Anon., Funeral Oration for Louis XVI (1794), 98; A: 30, 40–1, 47 Anon., History of the Reign of George the Third (1792), 162; A: 300, 305–6 Anon., Impartial Examination of Nathaniel Fletcher’s Pamphlet (1749), 2, 4; A: 1 Anon., Lodowick (1795), xxi, 164, 166, 168, 233; A: 301, 306 Anon., Marlborough Garland (1795), A: 301, 308 Anon., Massacre of the French King (1793), A: 31, 40, 48 Anon., Opinions ... for the Support of Government (1793), 163, 234; A: 300, 308

Anon., Review of ... the Parliament of 1784 (1792), 162; A: 300, 309–10 Anon., Sins of Government (1793), A: 31, 40, 48 & fn Anon, Stowe (1797), A: 33, 35, 48–9 Anon., Tableaux de la Revolution Française (1792), A: 311 Anon., Ten Minutes Caution (1792), 163, 231, 234; A: 300, 311 Anon., Wanton Mischief (1810), A: 351–2 Apollo, statue in Paris, 128 Apostool, C., engraver, A: 42–3, 46 Arch, John & Arthur, London booksellers, A: 130–1, 282, 296 Arch & Co, London booksellers, A: 382 Archdeacon, Cambridge printer, A: 49 Archer, J., Dublin bookseller, A: 9, 330, 333 Argyll, Duke of, 160 Ariosto, Lodovico, to be printed by Bodoni, 66, 73 Ariosto, Lodovico, Orlando Furioso (1789), 106; A: 38, 49 Ariosto, Ludovico, A: 29fn Arizona State University, A: 53 Arizona, University of, A: 116 Art Institute (Chicago), A: 347 Ashburner, J., Kendall bookseller, A: 13 Ashby, engraver, A: 115, 233 Ashmolean Museum, A: 66–7, 114, 347 Asperne, J., London bookseller, A: 9 Aston, Manchester printer, A: 354–5 Astori, Mr, friend of James Edwards, 60 Atkinson, Fenton R., A: 354 Audailuel, Henry-Alexandre, Dénunciation (1791), 30, 40, 50 Auld, London printer, A: 199 Austen, Jane, novelist, 7, 52, 203, 215 Azara, Signor, 68 B., R.S., A: 388, 390 Backhuysen, L., artist, A: 46 Bacon, Sheffield bookseller, A: 9 Bacon, Anthony, brother of Francis, A: 51 Bacon, Francis, A: 33, 39, 43, 51–2 Bacon, Francis, Essays (1798), 90, 96, 100, 106, 139, 227, 229; A: 33, 39, 50–1

Index 245 Bagster, S., London bookseller, A: 18, 173 Bagstrom, London bookseller, A: 18, 173 Baker, bookseller, A: 177 Baker, B., engraver, A: 250 Baker, Lt Joseph, A: 250 Balderston, K.C., A: 386 Baldwin, Craddock, & Co, London booksellers, A: 361 Baldwin, H., London printer, A : 169, 227 Baldwin, R., London printer, A: 169, 172–3, 218–19, 223, 270 Baldwin-Wallace University, A: 347 Ballantyne, John, Edinburgh bookseller, A: 353–4 Baltimore Museum of Art, 209 Bamberg Monastery, 85 Bamford, A: Rochdale bookseller, 25 Bandineli, A: artist, 185 Banks, Joseph, A: 131, 186, 217 Banks, T., Warrington bookseller, A: 22 Banks, Sir Thomas (1735–1805), sculptor, A: 59 Bannerman, engraver, A: 266 Barbauld, Mrs A.L., A: 48fn, 229–30 Barbauld, L., Pleasures of Imagination, 25 Barde, Swiss bookseller, 74 Barker, J., London bookseller and printer, A: 190, 192, 219, 222 Barker, Nicholas, A: 396 Barlow, artist, A: 198, 266 Barlow, engraver, A: 85, 159, 205, 238, 260, 326–7, 400 Barrett. See Herbert & Barrett Barrett, History of Bristol, 162 Barrett, London bookseller, A: 293 Barrois, bookshop assistant to James Edwards, 137; A: 378fn Barron, Charles, shop manager for James Edwards, 83–5; A: 378 Barrow, I.G., artist, A: 332 Barrow, J.C., engraver, A: 56, 178 Barthélemy, François (d. 1830), French senator (1800), 130, 132 Bartolozzi, Francesco, engraver, 31, 100, 107, 112, 117, 139, 154, 225; A: 55, 62, 76, 104–5, 112–13, 118–19 & fn, 136, 163, 182–4, 189, 217–18, 239, 241, 359

Bartsch, A: 60 Basan, A.L., French bookseller, 132–3 Basan, P.F., French bookseller, 132–3 Basel, University of, A: 97, 321 Baskerville, William (1706–75), type designer, 4 Bassville, Hugou de, A: 114 Bates, Benjamin, A: 183 Bath, residence of Richard Edwards, 159 Baurois, James Edwards’s shop assistant, A: 378 Bayerische Statsbibliothek, A: 98, 327 Bayliss,T., London printer, A: 181, 202, 247, 329 Baylor University, A: 12 Beam, Rev. Canon John, of Cowes, Isle of Wight, 231 Beauclerc, Diana, artist, A: 33, 62–5, 118–19 & fn Beauclerk, Diana, artist, A: 63, 64fn, 118–19, 346 Beaufort, Daniel Augustus, Memoir of a Map of Ireland (1792), 94, 220; A: 31, 41, 52–4 Beaumont, François Albanis de, engraver and print-seller, A: 42–3 Beaumont, François Albanis de, Select Views ... in the South of France, (1794), 5, 96, 203, 220, 228; A: 31, 34, 41–2, 44 Beaumont, François Albanis, Travels through the Maritime Alps (1795), 89, 220, 228; A: 32, 35, 40–1, 43–4 Beckett, artist, A: 136 Beckford, William (1759–1844), author, 55–6; A: 209, 335fn, 359 Bedford Missal, 6, 29–30, 35, 47–8, 110, 126, 145–6, 148, 209, 213–14, 228, 231; A: 369, 372, 376–7, 385 Beet, Thomas, London bookseller, A: 73 Beloe, William, 48, 126, 144, 203, 206, 214, 216, 219, 226 Bell, J., London bookseller, A: 104, 178, 306, 324 Bell & Bradfute, Edinburgh booksellers, A: 282, 296 Bellino, Giovanni, portrait of Aldus Minutius in James Edwards’s house in Harrow, 144

246

Index

Below, William, A: 340, 382 Benaven, J.E., A: 280 Benaven, Jean Michel, A: 282 Benaven, Le Caissier (1781), 124 Benedetti, engraver, A: 239, 241 Benedict, London bookbinder (fl. 1807–30), 174 Bensley, Thomas (c. 1760–1835), London printer, 4, 8, 10, 95–6, 104, 110, 171, 222, 225; A: 42–3, 50, 62, 112 & fn, 113–14, 229–30, 264, 349 Bent, J., Barnsley bookseller, A: 12–13, 27 Bent, W., London bookseller, A: 170, 173, 223 Bentham, Jeremy (1748–1832), A: author, 342 Bentley, London bookseller, A: 361, 363 Bentley, E.B., A: 236 Bentley, G.E., Jr, xvii, 201–4, 226, 229, 235–40; A: 383, 388, 391 Bentley, Phyllis, A: 388 Bentley, Richard (1708–82), artist, 4; A: 87 Berkeley, Elizabeth (1734–1800), A: 54–5 Berkeley, George (1685–1753), bishop, A: 55 Berkeley, George (1763–93), A: 54–5 Berkeley, George-Monck, Poems (1797), A: 33, 35, 54–5 Berne, University of, A: 98, 321 Bernizet, artist, A: 179 Berry, the two Miss, A: 268, 277 Berry, Mary, friend of Walpole, 57, 59, 116, 212, 215, 224; A: 262fn, 265, 268, 383, 386 Berry, Mr, A: 268–9 Besterman, Theodor, A: 174fn, 388 Bethune, John, 116 Bew, J., London bookseller, A: 170, 219 Bible, A: 24–5, 365, 391; (Reeves), 370 Bible, Blake’s illustrations for, 235 Bible, ed. Walton, polyglot, 152; Reeves’s 208; (Gutenberg, 1450), 51; A: 100; (Mayence, 1462), 71–2, 76; (Mainz, 1472), A: 379; (1775), 26; (1785), 34, 121; (Bath, 1785), 223; A: 280, 283; prospectus (Macklin, 1790), 92; A: 30, 34, 40, 55–6; (Macklin, 1791–1800), 3–4, 93, 98, 171, 173, 179, 182, 223, 236;

A: 350. See also Vetus Testamentum Hebraicum (1776) Biblia Pauperum (1440–50), 146 Bibliotheca Bodmeriana (ColognyGeneva, Switzerland), A: 347 Bibliotheca Elegantissima, Parisiana (1790), 80–1, 218, 221 Bibliotheca Paitoniana (1790), 78, 101 Bibliotheca Parisiana (1790), 22, 45, 76, 79–81, 111, 202, 205, 213, 218, 233 Bibliotheca Pinelliana (1789), 78, 92, 101, 221 Bibliotheca Pinelliana Appendix (1791), 221 Bibliotheca Wootoniana (1795), 101, 217, 223 Bibliothèque de l’Arsenal, A: 7 Bibliothèque Nationale (Paris), xviii, 128, 135, 226; A: 42, 44, 88, 90, 95, 100, 159, 176–7, 193, 210, 255, 261–2, 264, 313, 315, 347, 374, 380 Bibliothèque Royale. See Bibliothèque Nationale Bickersteth, London bookseller, A: 174 Biggs, Nottingham bookseller, A: 15–16 Bigot de Saint Croix, L.C., Histoire de la Conspiration ... (1793), 163, 165–6, 233; A: 301, 312 Binns, J., Leeds bookseller, A: 5, 12–14, 16–22, 24, 27, 45, 165, 248–9, 328 Binns, Nathaniel, Halifax bookseller and auctioneer, 20, 166; A: 10, 12–13, 25, 27 Binns & Brown, Leeds booksellers, A: 20 Binns & Langdon, Leeds booksellers, A: 13 Biographical Dictionary (1798), 164, 233 Biographical Mirrour (1795), 104–5 Biographie Universelle (1812), A: 69 Birch, William, artist, engraver, A: 56–7 Birch, William, Delices de la Grande Bretagne (1791), A: 56–7 Birch, William, London bookseller, A: 57–8 Birch, William, prospectus (1791) for British Views, 92; A: 34, 56–7 Birmingham (England), A: 31, 46, 48, 353–4, 364, 390 Birmingham Museum of Art, A: 347, 390 Birmingham Public (or Central or Reference) Library, A: 5, 9, 223, 225, 239

Index 247 Birmingham University, A: 261 Birrell, A., engraver, A: 63, 136, 207, 260, 264 Black, Parry, & Kingsbury, London booksellers, A: 9 Blackberd, engraver, A: 206–7 Blackett, Mary Dawes, Suicide, a Poem (1788), A: 38, 58 Blades, William, 217 Blair, Robert, Grave (1808, 1813), 180, 190, 236–7, 239 Blake, Catherine Sophia Boucher (1762–1831), the poet’s wife, 10, 180, 189, 196 Blake, William (1757–1827), artist, poet, engraver, xxii–xxiii, 3, 5–10, 11, 51, 55, 100, 102, 104, 107, 112, 139–41, 151, 153, 159, 161, 168–9, 171–92, 196–7, 202–4, 224, 229, 231, 235–40; A: 52, 64 & fn, 104–5, 239–42, 256, 335fn, 345, 347, 349–50, 356, 358, 383, 388, 390–6, 399–400 Blake, William, Archive, A: 239 Blake, William, Vala or The Four Zoas (1796?–1807?), 175, 238 Blakey, Dorothy, 201, A: 316fn Blamire, Richard, London bookseller, A: 320, 333 Blanchard, William, York printer, A: 18 Blanchon, Mr, friend of James Edwards, 60, 65 Bliss, P., of St John’s College (Oxford), A: 381 Bliss, Rebekah (d. 1819), bibliophile, 188 Blondela, artist, A: 179 Bloom, Harold, 215 Blundell, John, married Elizabeth Caroline Edwards (b. 1818), 12 Blyth, R., London printer, A: 169 Boas, T.S.R., 201 Boccaccio, Giovanni, 79, 112 Bodleian Library, xvii, xix–xx, 203–4, 206–7, 214, 217, 219, 225, 229–31, 234, 238; A: 4, 6–7, 8fn, 9, 15, 17–19, 21–2, 25–8, 42, 44, 47, 49, 51, 53, 55, 57–9, 61–3, 70, 72, 74, 76fn, 79–80, 82, 84–5, 88, 90, 92–3, 95, 98, 100–1, 103–4, 107, 112 & fn, 114, 116–20, 122–7, 129–34,

136fn, 137, 146fn, 147 & fn, 148–52, 157–60 & fn, 161–2 & fn, 163–6 & fn, 167, 169, 174, 176–8 & fn, 185, 188–9, 197, 202, 204–5, 208–9, 216, 218–19, 225–7 & fn, 229–31, 232, 234fn, 236–7, 239, 244–5 & fn, 249–50, 251fn, 258, 261, 264, 267, 269–73 & fn, 274–5 & fn, 278fn, 290fn, 295, 306fn, 310–12, 316, 318 & fn, 319 & fn, 323, 329, 332, 340–3, 345, 347, 352, 355–63, 369–70, 372, 377, 380, 382 & fn, 383, 385, 387 Bodoni, Giambatista, Parma printer, xxi, 4, 43, 51, 53, 57–63, 65–6, 68–9, 71–2, 77, 82, 95, 106, 120, 155–6, 215–16; A: 8, 259, 260 & fn, 262fn, 263, 282, 294, 373–9, 382, 388 Bol, artist, A: 109 Bolton, Fungusses (1787), A: 2, 4–5 Bolton, History of ... Funguses (1788), 22, 205, 233 Bolton, James, Halifax fruit and flower painter, 30; A: 173 Bolton, John, artist, 20 Bonaparte, Josephine, 133 Bonaparte, Napoleon, 37, 126, 128–31, 137, 226, 230 Book of Common Prayer (1760), 31; (1772), 209; (1774), 30, 208; (1775), 30–1; (1779), 31; (1783), A: 38; (1788), A: 36, 77–82; (1791), 22–3, 36, 80, 95, 205, 233, 241; A: 2, 5, 8; (1820), 208 bookbinding, 24–38 Boosey, T., London bookseller, A: 174, 196, 321 Booth, Sermon (1799), A: 3, 8 Boothby, Brooke, Sorrows Sacred to the Memory of Penelope (1796), 56, 98–9, 103, 104, 224; A: 32, 39, 58 Boothby, George (1743–1824), A: 59 Boothby, Penelope (1785–91), A: 59 Borgia, Cardinal, A: 284 Born, Carl Ignaz von, A: 280, 283–4 Born, I.A., A: 280, 284 Boston Athenaeum, xx; A: 58, 62, 108, 117, 131, 167, 182, 239, 250, 255, 314, 318 Boston Public Library, xx; A: 3, 60, 74, 79, 101, 106, 110, 116, 131, 186, 207,

248

Index

233–4, 239, 304–5, 312, 319, 336, 338, 347, 354 Bottomley, Samuel. See Cocklin, Introductory Discourse Bouillé, Marquis de, 52 Bovi, engraver, A: 163 Bowdoin College, A: 204, 209, 314 Bowen, John E., A: 390 Bowers, Fredson, xix Bowles, Caroline, later Mrs Robert Southey, 239 Bowyer, Robert, bookseller, xxiii, 5, 7–8, 92–4, 102, 171–2, 179–80, 182, 185–6, 202 Box, George Mod, 211 Box, Susanna, wife of George Mod, cousin of Thomas Edwards, 211 Boyd, London bookseller, A: 175 Boydell, John and Josiah, book- and print sellers, xxiii, 3–4, 7, 55, 98, 110, 171–2, 176, 179–80, 182, 184–5, 201, 221, 235 Boys & Sheerdown, Doncaster, booksellers and printers, A: 117 Bradfute. See Bell & Bradfute Bradley, J., Chesterfield bookseller, A: 12 Bradshaw, H., of Maple Hall, Cheshire, 46, 213 Bradshaw, Henry (d. 1698), nephew of John, 213 Bradshaw, John (1602–59), 213 Bramer, artist, A: 109 Brandeis University, A: 99 Brandon, Col., in Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility, 7, 52 Brassington, W. Salt, 218 Breitkopf, Jean Gottlob Immanuel, Leipzig printer, A: 292 Bretherton, Chas, engraver, A: 266 Bridgman, John, executor of the will of James Edwards, 148 British Critic (1796), 235; A: 242; (1799), A: 113; (n.d.), A: 103–4 British Library, xvii, xviii, xx, 91, 202, 208, 215, 229, 232, 238–9; A: 5–10, 12–15, 17–18, 19, 20–5, 27, 29fn, 42, 44, 48–9, 51–2 & fn, 55, 57–8, 61–3, 65fn, 67fn, 70, 72, 74, 79–80, 84–5, 88, 90–3, 95, 98–100, 102–3, 107–8, 110, 112, 114–16,

118, 120, 122, 124–7, 129–31, 133–4, 137, 142, 148, 150–2, 157, 159, 161–2, 164–5, 167–9, 172, 174–5 & fn. 178, 181–2 & fn, 186, 188, 190, 193, 195, 197, 199–205, 207–8 & fn, 209–10, 216–17, 223, 226–7 & fn, 228, 231, 233–6, 238–9, 244, 247–8, 252, 254–5, 258–9, 261, 264–5 & fn, 267, 269–73 & fn, 274–5, 276fn, 284fn, 290fn, 295, 303, 308–9, 313, 315, 319 & fn, 321–2, 325, 326, 329, 336–7, 341–3, 347, 357, 360, 381 British Library Journal, A: 389 British Library MSS, A: 67fn, 120fn, 130fn, 140fn, 182fn, 234fn, 246fn, 251fn, 369, 381–2 British Miscellany (1759), A: 3 British Museum, Department of Antiquities, A: 383 British Museum, Department of Prints and Drawings, xx; A: 154, 183fn, 184fn, 238, 337fn, 347, 384, 390 British Museum of Natural History, A: 142–3, 145, 231 Broadbent, Benjamin Rushforth, married Catherine Edwards (1813–98), 12 Bromhead, Catherine, married James Edwards (1756–1816), 12 Bromley, Henry, Catalogue of ... Portraits (1793), A: 31, 34, 60–1 Bromley, William, A: 335fn Brook, J., Huddersfield printer and bookseller, A: 5, 12–14, 16, 19, 27, 45 Brooke, J., Huddersfield bookseller, A: 12, 238 Brooklyn Museum, A: 110 Brooklyn Public Library, A: 184fn Brooklyn University, A: 239 Brooks, H.C., A: 260fn Broster, Chester bookseller, A: 343–4 Broughton Hall, A: 373, 387 Brown. See Binns & Brown Brown, Hull bookseller, A: 20–1 Brown, Agriculture of ... Yorkshire (1759), A: 3, 9 Brown, artist, A: 163 Brown, H.B., A: 128 Brown, John, M.D., 160; A: 330 Brown, John Carter, A: 168, 239, 310

Index 249 Brown, Leeds printer, A: 14 Brown, Leicester bookseller, A: 328 Brown, London bookseller, A: 163 Brown, poet, A: 298 Brown & Ireland, Leicester booksellers and printers, A: 16 Brown University, A: 122, 127, 145, 164, 186, 200, 231, 315, 347 Browne, Wogan, bibliophile, 90 Bruntjen, 201 Bruton Street house purchased by James Edwards, 229 Bryant, C., A: 242 Bryant, Jacob, collection sold, 214 Bryant, Jacob, Ancient Mythology, 154 Bryn Mawr College, A: 340, 347 Buckland, J., London printer, A: 169 Buffalo & Erie County Public Library, A: 151, 231, 239 Buffon, Comte de, natural history works, 154; A: 86–7 Buisson, Paris bookseller, A: 294 Bulam, African colony, 161; A: 255, 256fn, 330 Bull, Miss, daughter of Richard Bull, 32 Bull, John, A: 344 Bull, Richard, book collector, 31–2, 44, 46, 53, 173; A: 137–8 & fn, 260, 374 Bulmer, W., & Co., London printers, A: 58, 76, 129, 134, 182, 184, 207, 233, 234fn, 286 Bulmer, William (1757–1830), London printer, 4, 8, 10, 46, 96, 104, 142, 171, 222 Bunyan, John, Sighs and Groans, 18 Bunyan, John, Pilgrim’s Progress, illustrated by William Blake (1824), 234 Burgess, J., Cambridge printer, A: 14 Bürgher, Gottfried Augustus, Leonora (1796), 5, 96, 105–6, 108–9, 111–12, 125, 171, 220–2, 229; A: 32, 39, 62–4, 120–1 Burg[k]maier, Hans, Triomphe de l’Empereur Maximilian I (1796), 5, 84, 90, 95, 110, 220–1; A: 32, 35, 66–7, 68fn Burgmair, Hans, artist, A: 68 Burgmair, Hans, Weis Kunig (1799), 95, 110, 125, 221; A: 34–5, 67–8

Burke, Edmund (1729–97), politician, 161–2, 230; A: 314, 331 Burke, Edmund, Réflexions sur la Revolution de France (1790), A: 68–71 Burmester, James, catalogue (2004), A: 182fn Burney, Rev. Dr, 73 Burney, Charles, 217 Burney, E.F., 139 Burrell, William, library, A: 32, 36, 99 Burt, Joseph, London printer, A: 349fn Burton & Co., London printers, A: 133 Busfeild [i.e., Busfield], J.A., Sermon (1800), A: 3, 10 Busfield, Christian’s Guide (1791), A: 2, 9–10 Bute, Earl of, 160 Bute, Marquis of, 241 Butti, Camillo, artist, A: 159, 359 Butler, Lady Eleanor, A: 193, 383 Butler, Samuel, Hudibras (1793), A: 31, 38, 71–3 Butler, Samuel, poet, A: 172, 298 Butt, Rev. Thomas, married James Edwards’s widow Catherine, 148, 227 Butterworth, Adeline M., A: 394 Buttons, London bookseller, A: 15–16 Byres, James, of Rome, A: 374 Byrne, P., Dublin bookseller, A: 206 Byrne, W., engraver, A: 147 Byrne, William. See Thomas Hearne & William Byrne, Antiquities of Great Britain (1796) Byrne, William, London bookseller, A: 232–4 & fn Byrne, William (d. 1805), engraver, A: 59, 147–8, 156, 216, 233, 359 Byron, George Gordon, Lord (1788–1824), poet, A: 191, 365 Cadell, T., Bristol bookseller, A: 21–2 Cadell, T., Jr, & W. Davies, London booksellers, xxiii, 6, 8, 97–8, 101–3, 104, 106, 119, 201, 222–3, 225–7, 234; A: 14, 58–9, 109–11 & fn, 148–9, 172–4 & fn, 175fn, 187, 196–7, 204, 209–11 & fn, 212–13, 216, 223, 229–30, 269, 307, 339, 361, 369–70, 378

250

Index

Cadell, T., London bookseller, A: 112fn, 134, 162, 169, 172, 174, 198, 209, 218–19, 325 Cadell & Davis [i.e., Davies], A: 187 Caillard, French Gardes d’Archives, 132 Calcutta Chronicle (1789), A: 74fn Calderdale Archives, 13 Calderdale Public Library, xx, 13, 19, 240 Calidas, Sacontola (1790, 1792), 90, 106, 207, 221; A: 30–1, 36, 73–5 California, University of (Berkeley), A: 59, 62–3, 114, 125–6, 131, 149, 157, 164, 235, 258, 347 California, University of (Davis), A: 271 California, University of (Irvine), A: 120, 137 California, University of (Los Angeles), A: 72, 95, 99, 131, 154, 165, 168, 209, 308, 315, 336, 341, 347 California, University of (San Diego), A: 62, 131, 250, 347 California, University of (Santa Barbara), A: 167–8 California Legion of Honor Museum, A: 347 California State Library, A: 239 Calvert, James, London printer, A: 349fn Calvert, William, London printer, A: 349fn Cambridge (England), 95, 166 Cambridge History of the Book (2009), 203 Cambridge University, xx; A: 6, 14, 49, 59, 62, 87, 95, 98, 100, 105, 107, 114, 130–2, 152, 165, 167, 239, 244fn, 261, 264, 321–3, 326–7, 330, 336, 344, 348–9, 355–6 Camus de Limae (An VIII), A: 85 Canelotti, artist, A: 185 Cannon, Garland, A: 75 Canterbury, Archbishops of, residence at Manor House, Harrow, 142 Caracci, Annibale, Agostino, & Ludovico, Original Designs (1797), 5, 96, 111, 125, 221, 223; A: 33, 35, 75–6, 184 & fn, 185 Cardonnel, Adam, A: 374 Cardonnel, Picturesque Antiquities of Scotland (1787), A: 29–30, 34; (1793), 34, 37, 74, 82–4

Carli, Don G.R. Conte, A: 280, 284 Carnegie-Mellon University, A: 239 Carnot, Lazare Nicolas Marguerite (1753–1823), French war minister, 130, 226 Carpenter. See Hook & Carpenter, London booksellers Carr, William Windle, artist, A: 85 Carr, William Windle, Poems (1791), A: 30, 38, 85, 124 Carroll (John) University, A: 173, 340 Cary, F., engraver, A: 331 Cary, J., engraver, A: 157 Cary, J., London bookseller, A: 178, 271 Casaletti, Rome bookseller, A: 294 Case-Western Reserve University, A: 63, 114, 204, 340 Caslon, William (1692–1760), type designer, 4 Caslon, William (1720–78), type designer, 4 Castell, Lexicon, 154 Cataloge degli Antichi Monumenti de Erculano, 155 Cater, C., London bookseller, A: 7 Caulfield, James, first Earl of Charlemont, 89, 221; A: 140fn Caxton, Game of Chesse, A: 86 Caxton, printer, 46, 49, 84, 137, 219, 228; A: 86 Chamberlaine, John, London bookseller, A: 76, 182–5 Champagne, Philip, artist, A: 136 Chapman, Miss, married Richard Edwards (1768–1827), 12 Chappelow, Rev., 52 Chard, Leslie, A: 126fn Chardin, Catalogue (1823), A: 85 Charlemont, Earl of, A: 140 & fn, 331. See also Caulfield, James Charlotte, Queen, wife of George III, 31, 47 Chatsworth house, fore-edge, 31, 35; A: 262 Chatterton, Thomas (1752–7), poet, 29fn; A: 298–9, 331 Chatterton, Thomas, Poems (1794), 106; A: 38, 100–1 Chayes, Irene, A: 391 Cheevers, engraver, A: 116

Index 251 Chesterfield, Earl of, his wife Anne, A: 6 Chesterfield, Lord, A: 344 Chetham, Book of Psalmody (1752), 21; A: 1, 12; (1767), 21; A: 1, 12; (1779), 21; A: 2, 12 Chetham’s Library (Manchester), A: 95 Cheyne, Rules ... for ... Health and Life (1777), A: 1, 13 Chicago, University of, xx; A: 53, 98, 103, 122, 132, 137, 152, 157, 164, 174, 200, 209, 341–3, 348 Chicago Public Library, A: 188 Chiswell, Richard Muilman Trinch (1735?–97), bibliophile, A: 138 & fn Christie, London auctioneer, 56, 205 Christie, James, Dissertation upon Etruscan Vases (1806), 231 Christie, Thomas, of Montrose, 24 Christie auction (1795): A: 99; (1800), A: 111; (1804), 142; A: 65, 67, 73, 113, 120, 140, 158, 161, 215–16, 247, 263, 265, 279, 341; (1809), 213; (1820), 227; (1928), 227; (1950), A: 125; (1988), 209; A: 181, 284; (1989), A: 6, 208 Chronique de Paris (1790), A: 69 Cicero, De Officiis (1791), 36, 100, 120–1, 220–1 Cicero, M.T., A: 280, 285 Cincinnati, University of, A: 154, 164, 186, 233, 316, 338 Cincinnati Art Museum, A: 8, 347 Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library, A: 63, 66, 131, 231 City Museum of Graphic Art (Machida, Japan), A: 348 Claessen, L.L., engraver, A: 136 Clamp, R., engraver, A: 136, 258 Clanbrissil, Lord, bibliophile, 90 Claremont, Castle, book decoration, A: 8 Claremont Colleges, A: 321 Clark. See Flackton, Marrable, & Clark Clark, Ruth, A: 141 Clark Library. See California, University of (Los Angeles) Clarke, London bookseller, A: 88, 199 Clarke, Manchester bookseller, A: 45 Clarke, professor, A: 175 Clarke, son of Liverpool banker, 119 Clarke, Adam, A: 384 Clarke, Anne Millicent [or Melicent], artist, A: 260, 264

Clarke, Charles, A: 264 Clarke, Clarence H., library, A: 138fn Clarke, E.D., Tour (1793), 36, 160, 163–8, 170, 178, 234; A: 300, 315–16 & fn, 317 Clarke, W., London bookseller, A: 19, 202, 223, 233 Clarke, William, A: 208 Clarke, William, bookseller, 188, 239 Clarke & Son, London booksellers, A: 172 Clarkson, John, A: 256 Clarkson, Thomas, abolitionist, A: 256 Claude Lorraine, artist, A: 87, 184–5 Claudian, C., A: 280, 285 Claudian, Carmina (1794), 120, 220–1, 225 Clements, H.J.S., A: 388 Clerke, Thoughts upon Health (1790), 98 Cleveland Museum, A: 348 Cleveland Public Library, A: 72, 74, 116, 122, 126, 131, 157, 184fn, 186, 239 Clovio, miniature painter, 71–2 Cochrane. See White, Cochrane & Co Cochrane, Archibald, Earl of MacDonald, Treatise ... on Agriculture (1795), 164, 166, 233–5; A: 304, 317–18 Cockin, Joseph, Introductory Discourse (1797), A: 13 Cocklin, H.W., Edward Parsons, Samuel Bottomley, Introductory Discourse (1797), A: 3 Cockshaw, J., Barnsley bookseller, A: 13, 27 coins, gold, sold, 78; A: 29, 36, 39, 91 Coleridge, Samuel Taylor (1772–1834), poet, 55; A: 165 College of Physicians (Philadelphia), A: 201 Collier, engraver, A: 110 Collington, Captain, 242 Collyer, Joseph (1748–1829), engraver, A: 110 Colnaghi & Co, London printshop, A: 183, 350 coloured prints, A: 42, 44, 46, 53, 65, 86–7, 89, 94, 96, 111, 120, 130, 137, 138fn, 140–6, 160, 162, 185, 188, 197, 199, 203, 226–32 & fn, 236–7, 239–41, 243–7, 256, 261, 264–5, 271–2, 278–9, 281, 285, 289, 291, 317, 330, 335fn, 336,

252

Index

337fn, 338, 345, 348–9, 358–9, 361–2, 391, 393, 395 Columbia University, A: 101, 164, 199, 239, 337fn Comb, Charles, A: 164, 206 Combe, William, Statement of Facts (1794), 100, 176; A: 31, 36, 103–4 & fn Conant, N., London bookseller, A: 170 Condé, engraver, A: 176 Conder, Bucklesbury bookseller, A: 18 Conder, T., engraver, A: 239 Conder, T., London bookseller, A: 25 Connecticut, University of, A: 116 Constable, Sir John, A: 151 Constable & Co., Edinburgh booksellers, A: 9, 359 Cook, C., London bookseller, A: 333 Cook, H.P., A: 348 Cooke, J., Oxford bookseller, A: 49, 59, 102 Cooke, London bookseller, 236, 262 Cooke, Tempest (b. 1800), apprentice (1810) to Thomas Edwards, 240 Cooke, William, Conversation (1796), 125, 164–5, 167, 224, 234; A 39, 301, 319 & fn Cooke, William, Hildebrand Freeman (1794), 163, 233 Cooke, William, Memoirs of Hildebrand Freeman (1792), A: 300, 319 & fn Cooke’s Hesiod, A: 298 Cooper, artist, A: 136 Cooper, miniaturist, 126, 227 Cooper, Joseph, Calcutta printer, A: 74 Cooper, Joseph, London printer, A: 73, 95, 127, 154fn Cooper, Joseph (c. 1749–1808), ink inventor, 4 Cooper, R., artist, A: 56 Cooper, William, poet, A: 298 Cooper & Graham, London printers, A: 133 Cooper & Wilson, London printers, A: 131 Copperthwaite, Geo, Leeds bookseller, A: 12 copyright, xxiii, 4, 101–2, 113, 207, 235 Corbould, R., artist, A: 56 Cornell University, 218; A: 59, 63, 99, 101, 114, 116, 123, 125, 131, 152, 157, 164–5,

173, 188, 200, 228, 231, 239, 255, 313–14, 321–2, 326, 340, 348, 370 Corner, engraver, A: 332 Cosway, Richard (1740–1821), artist, 183, 238; A: 56–8 Couchman, Stephen, London printer, A: 251 Coulthurst, Evils of Disobedience ... (1796), A: 3, 14 Coulthurst, Rev. Dr, 40, 241 Courtauld Institute (London), xx Cowper, William, Fuseli Milton prospectus (1791), A: 30, 34, 38, 104 Cowper, William (1731–1800), poet, 53–4, 92, 98, 140, 180, 221–2, 214; A: 104, 105fn, 106, 233, 315, 365 Cowper & Graham, London booksellers, A: 133 Coxe, Travels, 162 Coxhead, J., London bookseller, A: 160–1 Coyte, William Beeston, Hortus Botanicus (1796), A: 32, 107 Cracherode, Rev. C.M. (d. 1799), A: 51, 371, 386 Crerar (John) Library, A: 116, 145, 157, 204, 227, 231, 250, 318, 342 Crevenna, Pierre-Antoine, bibliophile, 77 Critical Review (1789), A: 128; (1791), 75; (1796), 60, 65, 214; (1797), 55, 242; (1798), 113, 268 Croft, Herbert, Letter ... English and German Languages (1797), A: 35, 37–8, 107–8 Crosse, Reply to ... “Why are You a Dissenter?” (1798), A: 3, 6, 14 Crowder, S., London bookseller, A: 12 Cruden, Concordance, A: 25 Crutwell, Rev. Clement, A: 280, 283 Crutwell, R., Bath printer, A: 283 Cumberland, George (1754–1848), polymath, 51–2, 189 Cumberland, Richard, brother of George, 52 Cunningham, Allen, Cabinet Gallery of Pictures (1833), 236 Cunningham, Allen, Lives (1830), 190, 192, 236, 240 Curtis, Digby, artist, A: 190 Cuthell, J., London bookseller, A: 172, 219, 223

Index 253 Cuthell, S., London bookseller, A: 173 Cuyp, A., artist, A: 46 D., M, Sacred Poetry (1790), A: 30, 38, 41, 47fn, 108–9, 124 da Costa, Samuel Mendes (1717–91), A: 142fn Dal Costa, M. See da Costa, Samuel Mendes d’Alembert, J. le R., A: 280, 286 Dallas Public Library, A: 348 Damer, Ann (1749–1828), friend of Walpole, 116, 133, 224 Danby, P., Halifax printer and bookseller, A: 25 Daniell, William, engraver, 176 Dante, Blake’s engravings for (1824 ff.), 177, 255 Dante, to be printed by Bodoni, 66–7, 72 Dante (1472), 228 Darnton, London bookseller, A: 226–9 Darnton & Co, London booksellers, A: 226, 228 Darnton & Harvey, London booksellers, A: 94–5, 255 Darwin, Erasmus (1731–1802), poet, 55 Daulby, Daniel (d. 1798), brother-in-law of William Roscoe, A: 110–11 Daulby, Daniel, Catalogue of ... Rembrandt (1796), 95, 102, 104, 114, 222, 224; A: 32, 35, 109–10 Davenport, B. See Johnson, J., & B. Davenport Davenport, Cyril, 207 Davis, London bookseller, A: 218 Davis, London printer, A: 169 Davis, J., London printer, A: 226, 227fn, 228 Dayes, E., artist, A: 267 De Boeffe, London bookseller, A: 235 de Cessolis, Jacobus, Game and Play of Chesse (c. 1483), 137, 228 De Coetlogon, C.E., Essays on ... True Virtue (1793), 234 De Coetlogon, C.E., Hints to the People of England (1792), 163, 166, 234 De Coetlogon, C.E., Human Reason (1792), 154, 163–5, 233 De Coetlogon, C.E., Life of Moses (1793?), 164, 234

De Coetlogon, C.E., Patriot King and Patriot People (1793), 163, 166, 234 De Coetlogon, C.E., Peculiar Advantages of the English Nation (1792), 163, 234 De Coetlogon, C.E., Reflections ... on the Murder of Louis the Sixteenth (1793), 163, 166, 168, 234 De Coetlogon, C.E., Ten Sermons (1793), 234 De Coetlogon, C.E., Theological Miscellany 1785), 163 De Lille, Gardens (1798), 33, 96, 106, 125, 203, 220–1, 223, 225 De Pauw, Cornelius, Philosophical Dissertations on ... Egyptians and Chinese (1795), A: 40, 113 de Ricci, Seymour, 219, 227–8 De Rome, bookbinder, 81 De Selincourt, E., A: 386 de Staël, Mme, A: 167 & fn Debrett, John, London bookseller, A: 8, 53–4, 58, 101, 130–1, 165, 166–9, 178, 186, 199, 217, 235, 255, 260, 303, 305, 324, 326–7, 342, 401 Defoe, Memoirs of a Cavalier (1751), 22 Defoe, Robinson Crusoe, 121; A: (1749), 2, 4; A: (1795), 285 Deighton, Cambridge bookseller, A: 14, 16, 20, 165, 353–4 Deighton, London bookseller, A: 49, 101, 219, 223, 339 Dekken, C., artist, A: 46 Delaware, University of, A: 99, 131, 239, 315, 321–2, 326, 348 Delmé, E.J., A: 264 Degen, Joseph Vincent, A: 284, 288 Delolme, 32 Deltophilus, Periergus, 228 des Graz, C.J., Etoniana collection, A: 7 & fn Description of England and Wales (1770–5), 156 Detroit Institute of Arts, A: 348 Detroit Public Library, A: 61, 239, 250 Devonshire, Duchess of, 31 Devonshire, Duke of, A: 263fn Dibdin, Thomas Frognall, A: 51 & fn, 60, 66, 67fn, 113, 194, 262, 263fn, 285fn, 381, 384

254

Index

Dickinson, Lenore, A: 228fn Didot, P., sen., Paris printer, 4, 22–3, 51, 61–2, 66, 95, 205; A: 5–8, 87, 204, 374 Dilly, C., London bookseller, A: 24, 56–7, 147, 169, 172–3, 177, 194–6, 206, 217–19, 223, 226–7, 229, 255, 283 Disney, Alexander, Treatise on ... the Croup (1794), A: 31, 44–5, 301 District Probate Registry (York), A: 369 Dobson, artist, A: 72 Dodd, engraver, A: 130 Dodsley, bookseller, 111 Dodsley, poet, A: 298 Dodsley, Chronicle of the Kings of England (1800), A: 3, 16 Dodsley, J., London bookseller, A: 169, 204, 219, 261, 263fn Dodsley, Robert, Œconomy of Human Life (1795), A: 139fn, 296 Doheny Library, xviii, xx, 209, 211; A: 6, 181, 208, 284; A 8, 127 D’Ohsson, Tableau de l’Empire Othoman, 155 Doigg. See Mundell & Doigg, Edinburgh booksellers Dörrbecker, Detlef W., A: 391 Douce, Francis, A: 66, 80, 124 & fn, 126–7 & fn, 130–2, 158–9 & fn, 160–1, 162fn, 202, 371 Douglas, Sylvester. See Glenbervie, Lord Dove, Catherine, 37, 211 Dove, Elizabeth, grandmother of Catherine, 27, 211 Dowson. See Holden & Dowson Dowson, Warren R., A: 232fn Drake, Nathan, Essays (1805), 208 Drewry, Derby bookseller, A: 353–4 Drexel Institute, A: 110 Drummond, A: 372 Drummond, professor, A: 297 Drummond, George Hay, Preservation of Christianity (1793), A: 41 Drummond, George Haye, Sermon (1794), A: 32, 41, 178 Drummond, George Haye, Teachers and Rulers in the Church (1790), A: 117

Dryden, John, tr., Fables (1797), 4–5, 33, 90, 96, 105–8, 111–12, 125, 212, 220–1, 229; A : 33, 35, 39, 65, 98, 118–21, 397 Du Jardin, K., artist, A: 46 Duché de Vancy, artist, A: 179 Dugdale, Sir William, A: 86 Duke, poet, A: 172, 298 Duke University, A: 101, 127, 157, 164–5, 204, 231, 235, 270, 310, 316, 327, 340 Dulaw catalogue (1931), A: 119 Duncannon, Hon. H., Lord, A: 238 Dunn, Nottingham bookseller, A: 15–16 Dunning, Alfred, A: 388 Dupont, Pierre-Gaëton, A: 69–71 Durham, Thomas, London bookseller, A: 330, 333 Durham University, A: 239 d’Urfé, Claude, bibliophile, 79, 81; A: 95 Dutch Boys Landing (Michigan), xx Dutens, Louis, Héros des Romans (1790?, 1792, 1796?), A: 38 Dutens, Louis, Oeuvres Mêlée (1797), A: 37, 121 Dutens, Louis, Origines des Decouvertes ... Modernes (1796), A: 37, 122 Dutens, Louis, Table ... des Héros Romans (1790, 1792), A: 30–2, 123 Dyer, Exeter bookseller, A: 165 Dyer, poet, A: 298 Dyer, Charles George, A: 277 & fn, 278 Dyson, Daniel, of Willowfield, son of Jeremiah, 14 Dyson, Jeremiah (1737–91), Lisbon merchant, 14 Dyson, John, married Harriet Edwards, daughter of John Edwards of Pye Nest, 14 Dyson, Sarah, 211 Dyson, Thomas Fournis, son of Daniel, grandson of Jeremiah (1737–91), Lisbon merchant, 14, 211 Easson, Roger R., A: 391 Eastgate, J., engraver, A: 207

Index 255 Eaton, D., A: 18 Ebert, F.A., 239–40 Eccardt, artist, A: 266 Eckel, Doctrina Numorum, 124 Eckhel, Joseph, A: 280, 286–7 Edinburgh, University of, A: 62, 100, 114, 131, 302, 321, 326 Edwards, Allan (b. 1716), son of Richard (1697–1767), 12 Edwards, Caroline (1809–40), daughter of Thomas (1762–1834), 12 Edwards, Catherine (b. 1810), daughter of James (1756–1816), 12 Edwards, Catherine (1813–8), daughter of Thomas (1762–1834), 12 Edwards, Edith L., daughter of Edward James Justinian Edwards (1811–84), 12 Edwards, Elizabeth, daughter of William (II), 12 Edwards, Elizabeth Caroline (b. 1818), daughter of Thomas (1762–1834), 12 Edwards, Francis, Catalogue (1930?), 239 Edwards, Hannah (1716–49), wife of William Edwards, 12 Edwards, James (1756–1816), bookseller, son of William (1722–1808), 12 Edwards, James (1809–22), son of James (1756–1816), 12 Edwards, James John, son of James (1756–1816), 12 Edwards, James Justinian George (1811– 84), son of James (1756–1816), 12 Edwards, Jane, daughter of Richard (1768–1827), 12 Edwards, Jane, daughter of William (II), 12 Edwards, Jane (1806–9), daughter of Thomas (1762–1834), 12 Edwards, John, son of Richard (1697– 1767), 12 Edwards, John (1706–93), Lisbon merchant, 14 Edwards, John (1745–1819), son of John (1706–93), Lisbon merchant, 14 Edwards, John (1758–93), son of William (1722–1808), 12

Edwards, John (1816–64), son of Thomas (1762–1834), 12 Edwards, John (d. 1817), son of William (III), 12 Edwards, Joseph (1747–1808), son of John (1706–93), Lisbon merchant, 14 Edwards, Joseph (1765–71), son of William (1722–1808), 12 Edwards, Judith (1725?–1771?), daughter of Richard (1697–1867), 12 Edwards, Captain Justinian Edwards Heathcote, son of Edward James Justinian Edwards (1811–84), 12 Edwards, Martha (c. 1694–1773), wife of Richard (1697–1767), 12 Edwards, Mary (d. 1722), daughter of Richard (1697–1767), 12 Edwards, Mary (b. 1755), daughter of William (1722–1808), 12 Edwards, Mary, wife of William II (1753–86), 12 Edwards, Mary, daughter of Richard (1768–1827), 12 Edwards, Richard (1691–1767), schoolmaster, stationer, bookseller, 12, 14 Edwards, Richard (1768–1827), bookseller, 12 Edwards, Richard, son of Richard (1768–1827), 12 Edwards, Robert, brother of John (1706–93), Lisbon merchant, 14 Edwards, Robert (b. 1756), son of John (1706–93), Lisbon merchant, 14 Edwards, Rosa, wife of Walter M. Edwards, xx, 241 Edwards, Sarah (b. 1744), daughter of John (1706–93), Lisbon merchant, 14 Edwards, Sarah (1747–1812), married Joseph Edwards (1747–1808), 14 Edwards, Sarah (b. 1761), daughter of William (1722–1808), 12 Edwards, Thomas (1762–1824), bookseller, son of William (1722–1808), 12 Edwards, Walter Fawkes (1815–36), son of Thomas (1762–1834), 12

256

Index

Edwards, Walter M., great grandson of James Edwards, xx Edwards, William, brother of John (1706–93), Lisbon merchant, 14 Edwards, William (1722–1808), son of Richard (1691–1767), 12 Edwards, William, catalogue (1821), A: 8, 43–4, 61, 67fn, 70, 75, 84, 141, 149, 158, 215, 232, 279, 352, 357, 388 Edwards, William (II) (1753–86), shagmaker, son of William (1722–1808), 12 Edwards, William (III), son of William (II), 12 Egerton, John, bookseller, 9, 97, 101 Egerton, Thomas, bookseller, 9, 50, 97, 100–1, 166–7, 204 Eglin, bankrupt, A: 298 Elliott, C., Edinburgh bookseller, A: 200 & fn, 201 Ellis, E.J., 237 Ellis, George, History of the Late Revolution in the Dutch Republic (1789), 55; A: 30, 36, 124–5 Ellis, George, Specimens of the Early English Poets (1790), 36, 92, 106, 125, 220; A: 30, 126–9 Elmira College, A: 348 Elmsley, Peter, 76 Ely, Bishop of, 137, 214 Emes, John, London bookseller and engraver, A: 232–4 Emlyn, Viscount, 207 Emory University, A: 250 Engineering Societies Library (N.Y.), A: 318 Englesfield, Sir G.H., 231; A: 370 English Review (1792), A: 128 Ensome, William (1796–1832), engraver, 188; A: 349 Erasmus, portrait by Fuseli in James Edwards’s house in Harrow, 144 Erdman, D.V., 237; A: 396 Escher. See Allen & Escher Esdaile, William (1758–1837), A: 349 Essex Institute, A: 114 Essick, Robert N., 237, 239 Eton College, 23, 214, 241; A: 6–7 & fn, 8, 201–2, 264, 348; A: Eton, subject of foreedge painting, 6–7 & fn, 8, 259

Eton College Chapel, 39; A: subject of fore-edge painting, 7 Etruscan antiquities, A: 281, 290–1 Etruscan bindings, xxiii, 25–6, 32, 34, 49, 115, 157, 195–7, 206, 208–9, 224, 241–2; A: 5–8, 17, 55, 87, 119, 129, 141, 149, 159fn, 181, 205, 209–10, 225, 261, 264, 284, 291, 316, 328, 338–9, 349, 355–6, 358, 387 Etruscan vases, 25–6, 33, 48, 78, 126, 139, 144, 231; A: 87, 91, 371 Euclid, A: 281, 289–90 Euclid, Elements (1781), 120–1; A: 281, 289–90 European Magazine (1789), A: 151–2; (1804), 160 Euston, Earl of, 31 Evangeli Quatuor Graece (10th century), 146 Evangelical Magazine (1794), A: 329 Evans, R.H., catalogue (1804), A: 164, 292; (1814), 138fn; (1815), 42, 44, 61, 67, 121, 129, 140, 143, 145, 156, 158, 164, 223, 232, 247, 251, 262fn, 263, 279, 373fn, 382–3; (1816), 269 Evans, Robert Harding, successor to James Edwards, 124, 128, 137, 140, 145–6, 170, 188, 215, 218; A: 88, 112fn, 338 Evans, T., engraver, A: 267 Evans, T., London bookseller, A: 170, 336fn Everdingen, A., artist, A: 46 Exchange Herald (1815), A: 354 Eyres, Warrington bookseller, A: 22 Eyton, J. Walter, library, A: 360fn Fabian, author, A: 86 Facius, C.S., engraver, A: 76 Faden, W., London bookseller, 8, 10; A: 42–4, 50, 53–4, 149, 238, 259 Farington, Joseph (1747–1821), artist and diarist, xvii, 55, 119, 132–3, 139, 176, 182–3, 186, 203–4, 215, 218, 238; A: 56–7, 148–9, 155, 188, 213fn, 245, 268, 370, 384 Farington, Joseph, History of the River Thames (1794, 1796), 174, 176, 203

Index 257 Farnaby-Radcliffe, Sir Charles, A: 264 Farnese, Alex, 71–2 Farnley Hall (Yorkshire), A: 233 Farrer, Oliver (1742–1808), 35 Fauche, Hamburgh bookseller and printer, A: 107 Faulder, Ogilvy, & Speare, London booksellers, A: 169 Faulder, Robert, London bookseller, A : 14, 60–1, 146, 152, 170, 172, 181, 190, 216–19, 223, 244 & fn, 245, 251–4, 259, 264, 269–70, 329, 335fn, 337, 339, 386 Faulder & Son, London booksellers, A: 9 Fawcett, Christ Precious (1799), A: 3, 15 Fawcett, English Exercises (1802), 21–2; A: 4, 16 Fawcett, J., printer and bookseller of Ewood Hall near Halifax, A: 10, 15 Fawkes, Maria Sophia, 241; A: 8 Fawkes, Walter Ramsden of Farnley, M.P. (1806–7), 141, 199, 241; A: 8fn, 383 Feisinger, artist and engraver, A: 188 Fielding, Henry, Tom Jones, 176, 203 Finberg, A.J., A: 26fn Fiorillo, artist, A: 254 Firmian library, Milan, 74 Fittler, James, engraver, A: 156, 166, 250 Flackton, Marrable, & Clark, A: 54 Flaxman, Ann, called Nancy (1760?– 1820), wife of John, 182, 186, 235, 238 Flaxman, John, Hesiod (1817), 201, 237 Flaxman, John, Iliad (1805), 201, 237 Flaxman, John (1756–1826), sculptor, 4, 140, 173, 186, 237; A: 212 Fletcher, Oxford bookseller, A: 102, 186 Fletcher, G., poet, A: 296 Fletcher, P., poet, A: 294 Flicurieux, French naval minister, 132 Florida, University of, A: 63, 239, 244, 271, 348 Florida State University, A: 101, 227, 231 Flower, B., Cambridge bookseller, A: 29fn, 100–1, 165 Folger Library, A: 74, 100, 117, 127, 189, 223, 225, 244, 258, 315 Foote, T., engraver, A: 250 Ford, R., of the British police office, 133

fore-edge paintings, xxii, 4, 13, 23, 25, 27–8, 31, 33–8, 55, 154, 195, 201, 207–9, 241–2; A: 6–8, 127, 181, 208, 225, 261, 263, 284, 316, 357, 387–90 Fortescue, J.B., collection, A: 380 Fouché, Joseph (1763–1820), sometime minister of police in Paris, 129, 226 Fouchet. See Fouché Foulis, Robert (1707–76), type designer, 4 Fountaine, Andrew, 214 Fox, Charles James (1749–1806), Whig politician, 161, 230 Fox, W., London bookseller, A: 170 Franklin Institute, A: 129 Franks, Sacred Literature (1802), A: 4, 16 Free Library of Philadelphia, A: 110, 125, 184fn, 239, 340, 348 Freeman, Hildebrand, A: 300, 317, 319 Freeman, Strickland, Observations on ... the Horse’s Foot (1796), 92, 228; A: 32, 38, 129 Frick Collection, A: 348 Frobens, printer, 56, 144 Froissart, author, 111; A: 86 Frye, Edmund, Pantographia (1799), A: 37, 130–1 Frye, Edmund, prospectus (1798) for Pantographia, 92; A: 37 Frye, Northrop, A: 349 Fuessli, 56. See Fuseli, John Henry. Fuseli, John Henry, Milton prospectus (1791), A: 30, 34, 38, 104 Fuseli, John Henry (1741–1825), Swissborn artist, 5, 53, 55–6, 92–3, 98–9, 113, 115, 119, 122, 124, 134, 144, 172, 175, 183, 185–6, 189, 203–4, 221–2, 224, 231, 235–6, 238; A: 5, 7, 59–60, 105–6 & fn, 125, 152, 211fn, 212fn, 213 & fn, 214–15, 231–2 & fn, 270, 343–4, 346, 370, 376, 378 Gabriel, archangel, 176 Gainsborough, Thomas (1727–88), artist, A: 56 Gales, Miss, Sheffield booksellers, A: 353–4 Galignani, Giovanni Antoine, London bookseller, A: 133

258

Index

Galignani, Giovanni Antonio, TwentyFour Lectures on the Italian Language (1796), A: 35, 38, 132–3 Galitzen, Prince, A: 121 Gamidge, Worcester bookseller, A: 134 Gandy, W., A: 380 Garbet, Samuel (d. 1768), A: 135 Gardiner, artist, A: 137, 138fn Gardiner, W.N., engraver, A: 119, 137, 218, 257 Gardner, artist, A: 218fn Gardner, H.L., London bookseller, A: 169, 218–19, 223, 226, 339 Gardner, William N., A: 119fn Gardnor, Rev. T., artist and engraver, A: 270 Garston Manor, 233 Garvey, E., artist, A: 56 Gatezin, Prince Michael Petrovich, catalogue (1816), A: 140fn; (1825), 140fn Gazette National (for 1792) (1797), A: 37, 133–4 Gee, H.L., A: 388 General Evening Post (1795), A: 111 Gentleman’s Magazine (1784), 204; A: 384; (1788), A: 151; (1789), 75–6, 216–17; A: 89–90, 151, 204; (1790), A: 75; (1793), 232; A: 155, 158, 329, 384; (1796), A: 214; (1797), A: 55, 189; (1798), A: 281fn; (1799), 225; (1803), A: 384; (1805), 230; A: 384; (1806), 216; (1808), 211, 240; A: 362, 365fn, 384; (1812), 210; A: 353; (1815), 146, 231; A: 384; (1816), 204, 213–14, 217, 219, 229–31, 233; A: 385; (1817), 209; A: 240fn; (1823), 214; (1825), 210; (1827), 232–3, 240, 242; A: 385; (1834), 240, 242; A: 385; (1852), 214 Geoffrey, artist, A: 267 Geological Survey (U.S.), A: 189 George III, King, 6, 30, 47, 69–70, 90, 162, 214; A: 14, 135, 182, 213, 250, 275, 300, 305 Georgia Historical Society, A: 238 Georgii, Augustini Anatonii, A: 280, 284 Getty, Sir J. Paul, 209 Geylen, engraver, A: 254 Gilbert & George, collection, A: 348

Gilchrist, Alexander, 192 Gill, Wakefield bookseller, A: 8–9, 15 Gill, John, Doctrine of Predestination (1752), A: 1, 17 Gillett, T., London printer, A: 196 Gilpin, artist, A: 56 Gilpin, William, artist, 34 Girtin, artist and engraver, A: 222 Glasgow University, xx, 240 Glenbervie, Lord (Douglas Sylvester), 76, 79, 134, 215, 218, 228–9; A: 385 Glover, artist, A: 59 Glover, poet, A: 298 Godfrey, artist, A: 267 Godfrey of Boulogne, 84 Godwin, William (1756–1836), radical author, 54, 201, 239 gold, especially on print borders, A: 63, 162, 241, 264, 278–9 Goldney, H., London printer, A: 169 Goldsmith, Oliver, poems, A: 172, 298 Goldsmith, W., London bookseller, A: 170, 219 Goldsmith and Parnell, Poems (1795), 142, 225 Gomersall, Citizen, a Novel (1790), A: 2, 17 Gonzago University, A: 186 Gonzalez, J., 232 Gooch, F., surveyor, A: 250 Goodman, John, Winter Evening Conference (1689), 208 Gordon, George, dean, Lincoln Cathedral, 228 Gordon riot, 161 Gore, J., Liverpool bookseller, A: 21–2 Gosnell, S., London printer, A: 216fn Gossett, Rev. Isaac (1782–1855), witness of Richard Edward’s will, 233 Gottingen, University of, A: 44, 72, 88–9, 92–3, 97, 100, 107, 122, 131, 154, 157, 218fn, 236, 239, 269 Gough, Richard, Account of ... Bedford [Missal] (1794), 29–30, 48, 207, 213–14, 225 Gough, Richard (1735–1809), antiquary, 46, 48, 213; A: 19, 53, 80, 87fn, 107, 146fn, 178, 234fn, 374, 376–7, 385 Gourlay, Alexander S., A: 392

Index 259 Gower, Lord Ronald, 227 Grace, Sheffield, collection, A: 278 Grafton, author, A: 86 Graham. See Cowper & Graham, booksellers Graham, Defence of Scripture Doctrines (1809), A: 3, 17 Grant, John E., A: 392 Gray, Thomas, poems to be printed by Bodoni, 65, 69–70, 72 Gray, Thomas, illustrations to, 173, 235, 238; A: 87 Gray, Thomas (1716–71), poet, A: 172, 298 Green, Jane, married William Edwards (1722–1808), 12 Green, Valentine, History ... of Worcester (1796), 88 Green, Valentine (1739–1813), mezzotint engraver, A: 135 Greene, Eleanor, 30 Grenville, Thomas (1755–1846), bibliophile, 127, 133 Grenville, William Wyndam (1759–1834), Baron Grenville, foreign secretary, 126–7, 132–3 Grenville-Nugent-temple, Marquis of Buckingham, A: 49 Grey. See Gray, Thomas Grigg, J., Exeter bookseller, A: 21 Grinnell College, A: 348 Grives, James, London bookseller, A: 154–5 Grolier binding, A: 380 Grolier Club (New York), A: 95–6, 98, 131, 396 Guaillard, Antoine-Bernard (1738–1807), French bibliophile, 226 Guelph, University of, A: 115 Guldenstaedt, A: 126 Guthrie, J., Edinburgh bookseller, 20 Hadford, Sir George, collection, A: 162–3 Haigh, Mrs Catherine, 209, 211 Haigh, Frank, A: 388, 389 Halifax Journal (1801), 228; A: 385; (1808), 40; A: 385 Halifax parish church, 13 Halifax Public Library, A: 6, 10, 15–18, 21–2, 355

Hall, author, A: 86 Hall, C., engraver, A: 205 Hall, R., artist, A: 190 Hamerton, P.G., A: 26fn Hamilton, copyright owner, A: 198 Hamilton, poet, A: 298 Hamilton, A., London printer, A: 169, 178 Hamilton, Antoine, Mémoires du Conte de Grammont (1794?), 36, 89–90, 105, 110, 125–6, 203, 207, 212, 220–1, 227; A: 32, 35, 37, 136–8, 140–1 Hamilton, Caroline, A: 193, 384 Hamilton, Lady Emma, Romney’s model, 140 Hamilton, Captain John, A: 198 Hamilton, Sir William, 43, 121, 140; A: 44, 106, 181, 290–1, 372–3 Hamilton, Sir William, Account of the Volcanoes of the Two Sicilies, 155; A: 87 Hamilton, Sir William, Etruscan, Greek, and Roman Antiquities (1766–7), 33, 156 Hamlyn, Robin, A: 395 Hampstead Institute, A: 239 Hansard, printer, A: 241 Hanson, Carola, daughter-in-law of T.W. Hanson, xix Hanson, T.W., 202, 214, 225, 236, 233; A: 389 Hanson, T.W., collection, 214; A: 79–80, 82, 84, 127, 136fn, 316, 332, 380, 382 & fn, 383, 387 Hanson, T.W., copies, A: 79–80, 82, 84, 127, 136fn, 316, 382 Hanson, T.W., MS (c. 1965), xvii, xix, xxii, 13, 30, 204–9, 211–14, 217–18, 228–33, 236, 240–2; A: 5, 8fn, 10, 86fn, 119, 128fn, 138, 180, 208, 251fn, 270, 290fn, 306, 340, 369–70, 372–4, 380, 382 & fn, 383, 387 Hanson, T.W., papers, A: 8fn, 251, 306 & fn, 332, 340, 380, 387 Hanwell, Oxford bookseller, A: 102 Harding, engraver, A: 63, 120, 258 Harding, London booksellers, A: 120, 138, 202, 244 & fn, 245, 258 Harding, printseller, A: 293 Harding, E., engraver, A: 137, 258 Harding, E., Jr, A: 137, 258, 261

260

Index

Harding, E. & S., London booksellers, A: 62–3, 65, 137–8, 139fn, 223, 259, 260, 296 Harding, Edward, engraver and publisher, 9, 44, 97, 101, 104–10, 112, 125, 176, 188, 206, 222–3, 239; A: 65, 68, 118–20, 139, 206, 259, 282, 296, 323 Harding, G.P., artist, A: 261 Harding, J., London bookseller, A: 9 Harding, John, London bookseller, A: 160, 318 Harding, S., engraver, A: 257 Harding, S.E., London bookseller, A: 139, 217–18 Harding, S. & E., London booksellers, A: 139–40 Harding, Shakspeare Illustrated prospectus (1789), A: 30 Harding, Silvester or Sylvester, engraver and publisher, 9, 44, 97, 101, 104–6, 110, 112, 125, 176, 223; A: 36, 137, 257–8 Harding, Silvestre, artist, A: 138fn, 217, 261 Harding, West & Hughes, London booksellers, A: 120, 139 Harford, John S., 188–9 Hargreaves, Mary (1712–49), of Craven, married John Edwards (1706–93), Lisbon merchant, 14 Hargrove, Knaresborough bookseller, A: 9, 12–13 Hargrove, William, History of York (1818), A: 351, 360 Hargrove & Son, Harrowgate bookseller, A: 361 Harley, Mrs M., artist, A: 56 Harlow, E., London bookseller, A: 48 Harrap, J., Manchester bookseller, A: 12–13, 22 Harris, John (son of John Harris), MS memoir of John Harris, 208 Harris, Moses, Aurelian (1794), 5, 89, 112–13, 212, 220; A: 32, 40, 141–5 Harris, Moses, Exposition of English Insects (1786), 87, 92, 101, 110, 113, 219–20; A: 29, 144–5, 291

Harris, Moses, Natural System of Colours (1781), 120–1, 125, 220; A: 290–1 Harrow Church, 13; A: 370 Harryman, Mary, of Halifax, 159; A: 370 Harwood, Cheltenham bookseller, A: 330 Harvard University, xvii, xx, 30, 208, 238–9; A: 44, 49, 53, 55, 59, 63, 66, 72, 74, 85, 92, 95, 99, 101–2, 104, 114–16, 127, 131, 133, 137, 142, 149, 152, 157–8, 165, 167, 168, 176–7, 182–4, 188, 197, 200, 205, 208, 210, 219, 228 & fn, 231, 239, 250, 255, 258, 261, 267, 270, 303, 313, 315–16, 321–2, 325, 326–7, 329, 336, 341–3, 348, 354 & fn, 355, 358, 370, 381, 400 Harvard University Arboretum Library, A: 227 Harvard University Business Library, A: 168, 204 Harvard University Dumbarton Oaks Library, A: 237 Harvey. See Darnton & Harvey Hasted, Edward, History ... of Kent (1778–99), A: 37, 281, 290 Hasted, Edward, prospectus (1794, 1796) for History ... of Kent, A: 32, 37, 145–7 Hasted, History of Kent (1778–99), 92, 121, 220, 222–3 Hasted, prospectus (1794) for History of Kent, 98, 222–3 Haughton, Moses, engraver, A: 207fn, 208, 210, 213, 215 Hawkesworth, Francis, 199–200 Hawkesworth, Telemachus, 155 Hawkins, Commentary on ... St John (1808), A: 4, 18 Hayes, Rutherford B., Library, A: 186 Hayes, S., London bookseller, A: 170, 218–19 Hayley, William (1745–1820), poet and patron, 9, 52, 54–5, 63, 140, 174, 218; A: 106 & fn, 107, 189, 370, 384 Hayley, William, Ballads (1805), 237 Hayley, William, Designs to a Series of Ballads (1802), 140, 188, 237 Hayley, William, Life of ... William Cowper (1803–4), 180

Index 261 Hayley, William, Triumphs of Temper, 122 Hazen, A.T., 216, 225; A: 260 & fn, 261–2, 263, 264–5 & fn, 266fn, 267, 268 Hazlitt, W. Carew, 231 Hazlitt, William (1778–1830), critic, 192 Head, Mrs, Pious Mother (1650, 1793), 163, 165–6, 234 Head, Mrs Thomasen, Pious Mother (1793), A: 301, 328–9 Hearne, J., London bookseller, A: 330 Hearne, T., artist, A: 147 Hearne, Thomas, A: 149 Hearne, Thomas, & William Byrne, Antiquities of Great Britain (1796), 92–3, 223; A: 32, 35, 37, 147–8 Hearne, Thomas, & William Byrne, prospectus (1796) for Antiquities of Great Britain, A: 147 Heathcote, Elizabeth Anne, married Edwards James Justinian George Edwards (1811–84), 12 Heber, Richard, 217 Heber, Richard (1773–1833), A: 285 & fn Hebrew University, A: 114 Heddington, T., artist, A: 250 Heinecken, Carl Heinrich von, A: 281 Heish, M., London bookseller, A: 175 Helmstadter, Thomas H., A: 392 Henley, Samuel, A: 374 Hennepin County Library (Minnetonka, Minnesota), A: 348 Heppner, Christopher, A: 392 Heptinstall, London bookseller, A: 132 Herald (1796), A: 111 Herbert, I., fore-edge painter, 208 Herbert, J., London bookseller, A: 293 Herbert & Barrett, London booksellers, A: 282 Herculaneum, 155 Hering, bookbinder, A: 119, 256 Heriot, John, Historical Sketch of Gibraltar (1792), 101; A: 31, 37, 149–50 Herne, T., artist, A: 56 Herrings, Mr, A: 371 Herzog August Bibliotheca (Wolfenbüttel, Germany), A: 348 Hewlett, John, Answers to Some Critical Strictures (1789), A: 30, 36, 150–2

Hewlett, John, Vindication of the ... Parian Chronicle (1789), 30, 36, 150–1 Hey, Richard, Captive Monarch (1794), A: 39, 152 Hibbart, W., artist, A: 267 Higden, author, A: 86 High Elms, residence of James Edwards, 38, 142, 148, 158–9, 174, 195, 211, 229, 232–3 Highley, Samuel. See Murray (John) & Highley (Samuel) Hill, Gillian MacMahon, A: 392 Hill, J., engraver, A: 270 Hilton, engraver, A: 332 Hindmarsh, R., London printer, A: 52 Hinds, London bookseller, A: 22 Hispanic Society of America (N.Y.), A: 239 Historic Gallery (1792–1806) of Robert Bowyer, 176, 180–1, 237; A: 166, 345 Historical Manuscripts Commission report, 220, 227; A: 140fn, 380 Historical Society of Pennsylvania, A: 62, 128 Hoare, A: 380 Hoare, Sir Richard, artist, A: 233 Hockhem, London bookseller, A: 178 Hodges, W., artist, A: 56, 157 Hodges, W., engraver, A: 154 Hodges, William, bookseller, A: 154 & fn, 155 Hodges, William, Choix de Vues de l’Inde (1794), 221; A: 152–6 Hodges, William, Select Views in India (1794), 5, 110, 176, 212, 220; A: 32, 35, 152–6, 157 Hodges, William, Travels in India (1794), 92, 110, 176, 220; A: 31–2, 34–5, 41, 155–6 Hodgson, London bookseller, A: 20 Hodgson, Newcastle upon Tyne bookseller, A: 58 Hodgson auction (1966), A: 208 Hoe, Robert, catalogue (1909), A: 140fn; (1913), A: 140fn Hogarth, William (1691–1764), artist and engraver, 4, 101, 110, 179, 235; A: 72–3 Holbein, Hans, artist, 4, 219–20; A: 257

262

Index

Holbein, Hans, Dance of Death (1794?), 88, 90, 110, 125, 203, 218–21, 224, 225; A: 32, 35, 158–60 Holbein, Hans, Mortalivm Nobilitas (1800?), 101, 163; A: 161 Holbein, Hans, Triomphe de la Mort (1790?), 88, 90, 110, 125, 203, 219–21, 225; A: 30, 34, 101, 161–2, 264 Holden of the British Museum, 43 Holden, Halifax bookseller, A: 15–16 Holden, P.K.I., Halifax printer, A: 195, 356 Holden & Dowson, Halifax printers and booksellers, A: 10, 16, 18 Holl, Worcester bookseller, A: 134 Hollar, Wenceslaus, engraver, A: 84, 158–62 Hollinshed, author, A: 86 Holloway, T., engraver, A: 104, 239, 241, 359 Holroyd, Maria Josepha, A: 63, 64fn Holy Trinity Church, Halifax, 21 Homer, Greek poet, 66, 72, 92, 121, 156 Homer, Henry (d. 1791), A: 103, 164, 285 Homer (1488), 48 Homer, Ilias (1788), A: 281, 292 Homer, manuscript, A: 37 Homer, portrait-bust, prospectus (1787), A: 34, 103 Hood. See Vernor & Hood Hookham, T., London bookseller, A: 194–5 Hookham & Carpenter, London booksellers, A: 61, 132, 134, 196–7, 217, 339 Hooper, London bookseller, A: 178 Hoppner, John (1758–1810), artist, 186 Horace, Opera (1792, 1793), 92, 106, 124, 221; A: 31, 36, 163–4 Horace, to be printed by Bodoni, 66–9 Horne, T.H., A: 385 Horne, T.H., Introduction to ... Bibliography (1814), 25, 29, 206 Horner, John, Buildings in ... Halifax (1835), 19, 204 Horsley, A: 380 Horsley, Britannia Romana, 155 Houbraken, A: 87 Houbraken, Heads of Illustrious Persons, 155

Howard, Miss, married Richard Edwards (1768–1827), 12, 158 Howard, John, witness of Richard Edward’s will, 233 Howarth, John, attorney at Ripenden, 205 Howgate, Leeds bookseller, A: 12 Hucks, J., Pedestrian Tour through North Wales (1795), A: 41 Hudson, Rev, 241 Hughes. See Harding, West, & Hughes Hughes, H., poet, A: 169, 172, 298 Hughes & Walsh, London booksellers, A: 367–8 Hugues, Pierre François, called D’Hancarville, A: 291 Hume, David, prospectuses (1791–5) for his History of England, xxiii, 4, 92–3, 139, 171–2, 179, 182; A: 31, 34, 37, 165–6 Humphrie, Mr, friend of James Edwards, 212 Humphries, H., artist, A: 250 Humphry, Life of Putnam, 162 Humphry, Ozias (1742–1810), artist, 182, 238 Hunter, John, surgeon, A: 183 Hunter, John, Historical Journal (1793), 88 Hunter, John, Travels through France ... (1803), 142 Hunter, Dr William, A: 182 Huntington Library, xvii, xx, 21, 23, 237; A: 7–8, 49, 53, 59, 61–3, 72–4, 79–80, 82–3, 88, 90 & fn, 93, 95 & fn, 98, 100–1, 103, 109–10, 112, 120, 125, 127, 129, 131, 133, 135, 137, 142–3, 152, 154, 164, 168, 174, 186, 200, 208, 223, 225, 239 & fn, 244, 250, 252–4 & fn, 260–3, 267, 270–1, 274, 299fn, 315–16, 322, 327, 338, 341, 343, 348, 381 Hurst. See Lee & Hurst; Longman, Hurst, Rees, & Orme; Megitt & Hurst Hurst, London bookseller, A: 9, 15, 174, 223, 339 Hurst, J., Wakefield bookseller, A: 14, 16, 20–1, 27 Hurst, T., London bookseller, A: 174

Index 263 Hutchinson, William, prospectus (1791) for Cumberland, 205; A: 2–3, 18–19 Ibbetson, J., artist, A: 177 Ibero-American Collection (Washington, DC), A: 239 Illinois, University of, A: 53, 58, 61, 84, 127, 131, 145, 152, 164, 171, 173, 204, 210, 250, 258, 267–70, 271, 313, 319, 337fn, 348 Illinois State Historical Library, A: 186 Illinois State Historical Society, A: 188 Imperial College, A: 239 India paper, printed on, A: 77, 162, 233–4, 295, 336, 338 Indiana, University of, A: 59, 63, 74, 85, 101, 102, 112, 125, 168, 250, 270, 271, 314, 322, 348 Institute of Commonwealth Studies, A: 239 Invalides, église des, Paris, 128 Iowa, University of, A: 63, 131, 315, 337fn, 348 Iowa State University, A: 145 Ireland. See Brown and Ireland Ireland, Samel, Picturesque Views on the River Thames (1802), 34; A: 7 Ireland, William Henry, forger of Shakespeare, 215 Iremonger, Miss Elizabeth, translator, A: 32, 173–4, 378 Isola, Agostino, A: 49 Iver, Pierre, A: 109 Ivernois, François or Francis, Reflections on the War (1795), A: 40, 167 Ivernois, François or Francis, Réflexion sur la Guerre (1795), A: 40, 167–8 Ivernois, François or Francis, Révolution Française à Genève (1795), A: 168 Ivernois, François or Francis, Revolution in Geneva (1795), A: 37, 169 Jackson, J.R. de J., xviii Jacobs, E., Halifax printer, A: 22, 352 James, Mr, A: 51 James II miniatures, 134 Jarry, Francis, A: 134 Jermyn, G., Ipswich bookseller and printer, A: 107

Jesus College (Cambridge), A: 131 Johnes, Miss (Hafod), A: 230 Johnes, Thomas (1748–1816), bibliophile, 57, 111, 224; A: 372 Johns Hopkins University, A: 74, 348 Johnson, B., A: 155 Johnson, E., London bookseller, A: 12–13 Johnson, J., & B. Davenport, London booksellers, A: 21, 25. See also Johnson, Joseph Johnson, John, Collection of Ephemeral Printing (Bodley), 234, 238; A: 57, 98, 106, 108–9, 128, 160fn, 166 & fn, 218, 318fn, 345 Johnson, Johnny (d. 1838), clergyman, 9 Johnson, Joseph (1738–1809), bookseller, xxi, xxiii, 6–7, 32, 49, 53–7, 76, 92–5, 97–100, 102, 104, 106, 120, 124, 139, 144, 167, 172, 174, 189; A: 10, 15–16, 20–2, 25, 45, 48fn, 49, 58–9, 64, 86–7, 89, 92, 98, 102, 104, 106, 115, 126 & fn, 146, 169, 172–3, 180 & fn, 194–6, 200fn, 203–4, 217–19, 223, 226–9, 236–8, 240–1, 255, 339, 341, 369, 373, 379 Johnson, Dr Samuel (1709–84), lexicographer, 35, 52, 215, 217; A: 38, 169, 172, 200, 219, 298–9, 386 Johnson, Samuel, ed., Works of the English Poets (1790), 90; A: 38 Johnstone, Richard, A: 155 Joino, artist, A: 264 Jollie, Carlisle printer, A: 19 Jones, Liverpool bookseller, A: 15–16 Jones, J., engraver, A: 164, 223, 340 Jones, T., artist, A: 233 Jones, W., Dublin bookseller, A: 176–7 Jones, Sir William, translator, A: 30–1, 73–5 Josephine, wife of Napoleon, 133 Journal de la Cour et de la Ville (1790), A: 69 Journal Historique et Litterature (1791), A: 70 Journal de Paris (1790), A: 70 Joy, Fred M., A: 25–6, 27fn Justin, W., London printer, A: 58 Kahan collection, Vaxholme (Sweden), A: 306fn

264

Index

Kalidas. See Calidas Kanagawa Kindei Bijutsikan (Kanagawa, Japan), A: 348 Kansas, University of, A: 50, 60, 115, 117, 167, 168, 239, 306, 348 Kansas State University, A: 51, 157 Kearsley, C. & G., London booksellers, A: 173, 305 Keith, London printer and bookseller, A: 17 Kennion, artist, A: 332 Kent State University, A: 231, 348 Kentucky, University of, A: 131, 239, 348 Keppel, Augustus, admiral, 30 Kerby, London bookseller, A: 112fn Keynes, Geoffrey, A: 392, 395 King & Lochee, booksellers, 73 King’s College (London), A: 96, 100, 321 Kingsbury. See Black, Parry, & Kingsbury Kirgate, Thomas, Walpole’s private printer, 57, 214, 224; A: 110, 209–10, 261, 264 Kirk, James, engraver, A: 205 Kirk, T., engraver, A: 59 Kirkby. See Simmons, Kirkby, & Jones Kirlees Hall (Yorkshire), subject of foreedge painting, A: 184 Kirtland, artist, A: 129 Kissner, collector, A: 337fn Kneller, artist, A: 136, 332 Knight, Balm of Gilead (1775), A: 1, 19 Knight, London bookseller, A: 324, 326–7, 399–400 Knorr, author, A: 87 Knott, London bookseller, A: 353–4 Knott & Lloyd, Birmingham booksellers, A: 353–4 Knowles, John, A: 106fn Knox, Vicesimus, Elegant Extracts (1796), A: 39, 172–3 Knox, Vicesimus, Family Lectures (1796), A: 41, 173 Koniglige Bibliothek (Copenhagen), A: 348 Koninklijk Bibliotheek (The Hague), A: 239 Koran, 51 Kotzebue, August Friedrich Ferdinand von, Negro Slaves (1796), 103, 104, 106, 125, 221–2; A: 32, 39, 173–4, 378

Kraus, Joannis Pauli, A: 283, 292 Kurzbek, Joseph Noble de, Vienna printer, A: 288 La Belle, Jenijoy, A: 395 La Perouse, Jean François Galaup, Comte de, A: 179–80 La Perouse, Jean François Galaup, Comte de, Voyage Round the World (1799), 100, 221; A: 34, 41, 178 Lackington, J. & Co, London booksellers, A: 223 Lackington, London bookseller, A: 219 Lackington catalogue (1815), A: 67, 156; (1821), A: 279, 389 Laidler’s Office, London printer, A: 291 Lally-Tolendal, Comte de, Essai sur ... Strafford (1795), A: 32, 176–7 Lally-Tolendal, Comte de, prospectus (1795) for Comte de Strafford, A: 39, 175 Lally-Tolendal, Comte de, Vie de Comte de Strafford, tragédie (1795), 92–4, 106, 221, 223; A: 32, 37, 39, 175–6 Lamb, Charles (1775–1834), essayist, 185, 190 Landon, Richard, A: 389 Landseer, John (1769–1852), engraver, A: 233, 250 Landseer, John, prospectus (1792?) for Views of the Isle of Wight, 92–3, 223; A: 31, 34, 41, 177–8 Lane, John, bookseller, 7, 166–7; A: 178 Langdon. See Binns & Langdon Langdon, Leeds bookseller, A: 14, 16 Lange, Thomas V., A: 392 Lanki, owner of the Pinelli library, 74 Laocoon, statue in Paris, 128 Laporte, J., artist, A: 177 large paper copies, A: 51, 60–3, 65, 67, 72, 87–9, 98–9, 109–11, 113, 120, 125, 136–40, 158, 163–4, 166, 182, 193, 203, 205, 207–8, 218, 220, 223, 238–41, 253–4, 261, 263, 265, 268, 270–1, 279–80, 284, 286, 294, 296, 317, 335–6, 338 & fn “Last Supper,” fore-edge, 34, 209 Latham, Dr John (1740–1827), A: 67fn Latona, Robert, 232

Index 265 Laurent, Paris bookseller, 74, 79–81 Laurent et fils, Paris booksellers, A: 68–9, 71, 93–4, 96 Laurie & Symington, Edinburgh booksellers, A: 206 Lavater, Essai sur la Physiognomie, 155 Law, B., London bookseller, A: 169, 172–3, 194–6, 218, 223 Law, B., & Son, London booksellers, A: 19, 219 Law, C., London bookseller, A: 307 Law, W., London bookseller, A: 7 Lawrance, T., A: 57. See also Lawrence, Sir Thomas Lawrence, Sir Soulder, A: 118 Lawrence, Sir Thomas (1769–1830), artist, 5, 139; A: 57, 266–7 Le Blond, 130–1 Le Brun. See Lebrun, Charles François Le Fevre, Raoul, History of Reynard the Fox (1481), 137, 228 Le Fevre, Raoul, Jason (before 1471), 137, 228 Le Gout, engraver, A: 137 Lebrun, Charles François (1739–1824), French third consul (1799), 130, 226 Lee, engraver, A: 130 Lee, J., London bookseller, A: 173 Lee, London bookseller, A: 173 Lee & Hurst, London booksellers, A: 223 Leeds City Library, A: 12–13 Leeds Intelligencer (1754), A: 11; (1755), 10–11; (1756), 11; (1757), 10fn, 11; (1785), 86; (1794), 45; (1827), 233; A: 385 Leeds Mercury (1749), A: 11; (1785), 86 Leeds University, xx Legende Doree (1476), 138 Legout, engraver, A: 137 Leicester City Library, A: 191 Leigh & Sotheby, London booksellers, 86; A: 54, 134, 146 & fn, 169, 187, 254, 379 Lely, Peter, artist, A: 72, 136 Lenoir, Alexandre, Compagne de la Jeunesse (1791), 36, 106, 221; A: 30, 32, 38–9, 180–1, 308 Lenoir, Alexandre, L’Institutrice et son élêve (1798), 106; A: 302, 329

Leonardo da Vinci, Original Designs (1796), 5, 96, 111, 125, 203, 220–1, 223, 228; A: 32, 35, 76, 182–4 & fn, 185 Leone, Pompe, A: 183 Lescalier, 132 Lettsom, John Coakley, A: 20 Lewine, J., A: 159fn Lewis, bookbinder, A: 356 Lewis, Lady Mary Theresa, A: 383 Lewis, T., General Survey of ... Cardigan prospectus (1791), A: 30, 41, 185 Lewis, T., General Survey of ... Cardigan (1792?), 92–3 Lewis, Thomas, London bookseller, A: 330, 333 Lewis, W., London printer, A: 338 Lewis, W.S., A: 111fn, 212fn, 213fn, 375, 377, 386 Lewis, W.S., library, xx, 115, 214 A: 330 Lewis, W.S., Walpole collection, A: 63, 95, 110, 111fn, 137, 209, 261–2, 264–5, 268–9, 374–5 Leyland, Roberts, worked for Edwards of Halifax, 209 Liber Psalmarum (9th century), 137–8 Library Association (Portland, Oregon), A: 250 Library Company of Philadelphia, A: 13, 42, 44, 53, 59, 62–3, 72, 74, 79, 85, 101, 103, 108, 110, 112, 114–16, 120, 125–7, 129, 131–2, 145, 149, 152, 154, 157, 159, 162, 168, 173–4, 180, 184fn, 186, 191fn, 197, 199, 202, 205, 208–9, 231, 233, 238–9, 250, 255, 270, 271, 310, 312–16, 318, 323, 340–2, 348 Lincoln Cathedral library, 137, 228; A: 381 Lille, Jacques Montanier, Abbé de, Gardens (1798), 33, 39, 111–12 Lindley, J., Pontefract bookseller, A: 13 Linnean Society of London, A: 232fn Linnell, John (1792–1882), artist, 177 Lisney, Arthur A., A: 142fn Lister, Anne, sister-in-law of Thomas Edwards, 14; A: 370, 385 Lister, Caroline Matilda (1776–1860), married Thomas Edwards (1762–1834), 12 Lister, James, Leeds printer, A: 15 Literary Journal (1804), A: 160 Literary Magazine (1793), A: 157 Literary Review (1794), A: 45

266

Index

Livens, artist, A: 109 Liverpool Public Library, xvii, 224; A: 105fn, 106fn, 213fn, 239, 248, 250fn, 369–70, 373, 376–7 Livy (1469), 89, 126, 138, 144–6 Lloyd. See Knott & Loyd Lloyd, poet, A: 172, 298 Lochhead, T., Halifax bookseller, A: 22 Lock, William, A: 213fn Logographic Press, London printer, A: 114 Loménie, Cardinal, bibliophile, 79–80 London, University of (Senate House), A: 327 London Chronicle (1788), A: 126fn; (1790), 103, 200fn; (1796), 111fn, 212 & fn, 213fn; (n.d.), 111 London Review (1797), A: 242 London School of Economics, A: 167 Long, John, Voyages and Travels (1791), A: 30, 41 Longman, Hurst, Rees, & Orme, London booksellers, A: 26, 204, 206, 354, 361–2 Longman, London bookseller, A: 133 Longman, Rees, & Orme, London booksellers, A: 362 Longman, T., London bookseller, A: 133, 169, 172–3, 194–5, 218–19, 223, 239 Longman, T.N., London bookseller, A: 196, 339 Longman & Co., London booksellers, A: 353–4 Lord, Joseph, Wakefield, Pontefract, and Barnsley bookseller, A: 12 Lord & Megett, Wakefield booksellers, A: 25 Lorenzo de’ Medici. See Roscoe, Life of Lorenzo de’ Medici Lorenzo de’ Medici, medallion given to Roscoe by James Edwards, 147; A: 382 Lorraine, Claude, artist, A: 87, 184–5 Los Angeles County Museum, A: 348 Louis XIV, King of France, 98, 134; A: 294 Louis XVI, King of France, 98, 130, 137, 163, 166, 168; A: 31, 40–1, 47–8, 60, 125, 175, 312, 321, 325–7 Louis XVIII, King of France, 137; A: 125

Louisiana, University of, A: 239 Louisiana State University, A: 177 Longman Archive, 201 Longman firm, booksellers, xxiii, 7, 97 157, 201 Loutherbourg, Phillip James de (1740–1812), artist, A: 56 Louvre, Paris, 128 Love, Weymouth bookseller, A: 330, 333 Low, Sampson, London printer, 167–8 Lowndes, J., London bookseller, A: 339 Lowndes, W., London bookseller, A: 170, 172, 218–19, 223 Lowndes, W.T., A: 73 Lowndes Directory (1799), A: 385 Lucan, Countess, illustrator, 90, 137 Lucan House, subject of fore-edge painting, A: 316 Luckman, T., Coventry bookseller, A: 21 Lucretius, to be printed by Bodoni, 66 Lunn, William Henry, Cambridge bookseller, A: 49, 100, 165, 254, 257 Lutheran Church in America, A: 348, 392 Lutheran Theological Seminary (Philadelphia), A: 340 Lydgate, John, poet, A: 158–9 & fn Lysons, Samuel, Account of ... Woodchester (1797), 33, 96, 104, 124–5, 220–1, 223; A: 33, 35–7, 187–9 Lytton, Edward Bulwer (1803–73), author, 191–2 Macarty, Mr County, A: 371 Macaulay, Anne, daughter of James Macaulay and Sarah (née Edwards), 12 Macaulay, James, married Sarah Edwards (b. 1761), 12 Macaulay, James John, son of James Macaulay and Sarah (née Edwards), 12 Macaulay, Mary Ann, daughter of James Macaulay and Sarah (née Edwards), 12 Macaulay, Richard, son of James Macaulay and Sarah (née Edwards), 12 Macaulay, Thomas, son of James Macaulay and Sarah (née Edwards), 12 Mac-Carthy, catalogue (1815), A: 128fn, 265; (1817), 84

Index 267 MacDonald, Earl of. See Cochrane, Archibald MacDonald, Dr Greville, 239 Mackenzie, married Caroline Edwards (1809–40), 12 Maclinia, author, A: 86 Macqueen, London bookseller, A: 339 Maddison, John, translator, A: 139, 377 Maddocks of Wentworth, A: 236–7 Maeda, Yoshihiko, A: 392–3 Magazins des Savans (1792–3), 160–2, 164–6, 168, 170, 234; A: 54, 75, 256fn, 306 & fn, 317, 324, 329–31, 344 Maggs Brothers, A: 137 Maggs catalogue (1911), A: 128fn; (1919), 120; (1981), 159fn Maine Historical Society Library, A: 212fn, 370 Mainwaring, J., library, A: 86 Mainwairing, Peter, A: 87fn Makent, Rev. Nathaniel, library, 21; A: 11 Malkin, B.H., Father’s Memoirs (1806), 164 Malmsbury, Earl of, A: 125–6 Malmsbury, Lady, A: 125 Malmesbury, Lord, 132 Malone, Edmond, A: 140, 219, 221, 223, 295 Manchester, University of, 214, 228 Manchester Mercury (1785), A: 86–7 Manchester Public Library, xx Mange, Swiss bookseller, 74 Manilius, first edition, 73 Mansfield, Earl, A: 164 Marchant, N., printseller, A: 187 Marchant, Nathaniel, A: 189 Marchant, Nathaniel, Catalogue of ... Gems (1792), A: 31, 34, 189 Marengo, Napoleon’s victory at (1800), 125, 226 Marks, P.J.M., 202; A: 389 Marlborough, Duke of, 128, 228 Marlin, Aylesbury bookseller, A: 22 Marlow, artist, A: 266 Marrable. See Flackton, Marrable, & Clark Marsden, Mr, A: 372 Marsh, E.J. (1750–1828), musician, 9

Marshall, Miss, of Watford Central Library, 233 Marshall, Jane, 25 Marshall, John, 31 Marshall, William, fictitious translator of Walpole’s Castle of Otranto, 58 Martin, London bookseller, A: 15 Martyn, Thomas, artist, 32–3; A: 87, 145, 291 Mason, William, English Garden (1783), 31, 35, 56, 207, 209 Massachusetts State Library, A: 239 Matthews, J., London bookseller, A: 18, 20, 321, 324 Maupeou, René Nicolas Charles Augustin (1714–92), French Chancellor, 130, 226 Mawman, Halifax bookseller, A: 16 Mawman. See Vernor, Hood, & Mawman; Wilson, Spence, & Mawman Maxted, Ian, 203, 212, 223; A: 276fn, 359 McCord, James, A: 393 McGill University, A: 99, 239, 321–2, 326, 348 McKenzie, D.K., A: 349fn McMaster University, A: 62, 131, 167, 348 M’Creery, Liverpool printer, 95, 114, 222; A: 109–10, 207–8 & fn Medland, T., artist and engraver, A: 49, 156, 207, 233, 264 Megett. See Lord & Megett Meggatt, Wakefield bookseller, A: 25 Meggitt, Wakefield bookseller, A: 12–14, 27 Megitt & Hurst, Wakefield booksellers, A: 27 Mengaud, commissary of police at Calais, 129 Mercer, James, Lyric Poems (1795), A: 39, 189–90 Merchant, Mr, A: 371 Mercure de France (1791), A: 70 Merian, author, A: 86–7 Merigot, J., Select Collection of Views ... in Rome (1796–8), 93, 102, 111, 125, 164–70, 177, 186–8, 203, 220, 234–5; A: 236, 335–8

268

Index

Merlin, James, editor of the Magazins des Savans, 160 Merrick, Mr, A: 22 Merrill, J., Cambridge bookseller, A: 21, 49, 101, 330, 335 Merrill, J. & J., Cambridge booksellers, A: 100 Merton College (Oxford), A: 261 Methodist Archives (London), A: 24 Methodists, A: 4, 365 Metropolitan Museum (N.Y.), A: 267 Meyler, Bath bookseller, A: 353–4 Miami University (Coral Gables, Florida), A: 239, 248 Miami University (Oxford, Ohio), A: 209 Michaelangelo, 128, 174–5 Michigan, State University of, A: 100, 117, 145 Michigan, University of, A: 59, 63, 66, 74, 82, 99, 125, 142, 145, 152, 157, 174, 180, 186, 231, 239, 321–2, 326–7, 338, 343, 358 Middleton, London bookseller, A: 163 Millan, B., London printer, A: 149 Millan, J., London bookseller, A: 145 Miller, Thomas, of Bungay, 204–5 Mills, George Galway, A: 262 Milman, Sir F., physician to James Edwards, 147 Milner, Halifax binder, A: 17 Milner, J., worked for Edwards of Halifax, 209; A: 5, 16, 18 Milner, Practical Sermons (1800), A: 4, 20 Milnes Bridge House (Yorkshire), foreedge, A: 6 Milton, Lord, portrait of, 206 Minerva Press, xxiii, 7, 166–8, 201 miniatures, 20, 33, 35, 47, 71–2, 80, 126, 134, 148, 208, 219, 227; A: 93–4, 96, 136, 356–7, 374, 384 Minnesota, University of, A: 63, 116, 149, 180, 186, 236, 239, 314–15 Minnesota Historical Society, A: 186 Minnesota Public Library, A: 348 Minorca, 157 Mississippi, University of, A: 108 Mississippi State University, A: 59 Missouri, University of (Columbia), A: 103, 108, 125, 168, 322, 327

Michell, Cardigan bookseller, A: 185 Mitchell Library (Glasgow), A: 12–13 M’Millan, B., London printer, A: 9 Molesworth, Louise, married John Edwards (1816–64), 12 Molini, Peter, bookseller, 63, 65, 74 Molyn, P., artist, A: 46 Montague, Richard, bookbinder, 143, 230 Montana, University of, A: 115 Montanier, Jacques, Abbé de Lille, Gardens (1798), A: 33, 39, 111–13 Monthly Epitome and Catalogue of New Publications (1789), A: 95; (1797), 185; A: 120, 189, 203, 233, 247, 251, 342, 350; (1798), A: 113, 232fn; (1799), A: 12, 335fn Monthly Magazine (1796), A: 60, 64, 111, 113, 214, 349–50; (1797), 111; (1798), 180, 350; (1804), 160; (1814), 119fn Monthly Mirror (1796), A: 60, 64, 174, 214, 342; (1798), 226; (1799), 113 Monthly Register (1792), A: 282, 292, 329, 344 Monthly Register of Literature, 161 Monthly Review (1790), A: 128; (1791), 75; (1793), 54, 157, 158fn, 317; (1794), 42, 97–8, 117; (1795), 42; (1796), 60, 65, 100, 198 Montolieu, Julia Fanny, daughter of Mrs M.H. Montolieu, A: 113 Montolieu, Mrs M.H., translator, A: 33, 112 Moore, Harriet, wife of William, 211 Moore, William, 211 Moreau, J.M., artist, A: 179 Morelli, Abbé, 74–5 Morelli, Françis, Naples printer, A: 88, 290 Morgan, Litchfield bookseller, A: 353–4 Morley, Chelsea carpet maker, A: 188 Morning Advertiser (1794), A: 316fn Morning Chronicle (1796), A: 111 Morris, T., engraver, A: 267 Mortier, “Cuts to the Bible,” 155 Moses, John (1767–1832), miniature painter, 32–3, 148 Mossman, Scrofula and Glandular Consumption (1800), A: 4, 20

Index 269 Mossy, Pere & Fils, Marseilles booksellers, A: 294 Mount Holyoke College, A: 348 Mozley, H., London printer, A: 200–1 Mudge, Z., artist, A: 250 Muhlenberg College, A: 348, 394 Mulhallen, Karen, scholar, xx; A: 394 Mundell & Co, Edinburgh printers, A: 282, 297 Mundell & Doigg, Edinburgh booksellers, A: 353 Mundell & Son, Edinburgh printers, A: 61, 297 Murray, London bookseller, A: 166, 318 Murray, Miss, school, 158 Murray, James, London bookseller, A: 382 & fn Murray, John, Archive, 201 Murray, John, London bookseller, xxiii, 7, 198, 201, 235; A: 160, 170, 218–19, 318 & fn, 363 Murray (John [1778–1843]) & (Samuel) Highley [fl. 1793–1830], London booksellers, A: 173, 223, 318 & fn, 339 Murray & Highly, booksellers, 235 Murray & Wheldon, London booksellers, A: 199, 223 Museus the Grammarian, A: 281 Nanteuil, artist, A: 136 Naples, Queen of, 137 Napoleon, 37, 126, 133 (his wife), 137, 226, 230 Nares, Archdeacon, A: 340 National Art Library (London), A: 348 National Gallery of Art (Washington, DC), A: 240, 348 National Gallery of Canada, A: 348 National Gallery of Scotland, A: 390 National Gallery of Victoria (Melbourne, Australia), A: 348 National Library of Australia, xvii, xx; A: 63, 79, 116, 120, 125, 135, 164, 172, 208–10, 219, 223, 267, 310, 313–15 National Library of Canada, A: 240 National Library of Medicine (U.S.), A: 45, 92, 103, 132, 201 National Library of Scotland, 201; A: 12, 87, 90, 95, 98, 100, 126, 240, 254, 306, 321–2, 326–7, 332, 348, 379

National Library of Wales, A: 348, 390 National Museum of Western Art (Tokyo), A: 348 National Observatory Library, A: 123 National Union Catalog, xvii–xviii; A: 127fn, 191fn, 318fn, 319fn, 340fn Naval Academy (U.S.), A: 252 Neele, S.J., engraver, 53, 114 Neon (Rob) & Sons, Edinburgh booksellers, A: 302 New Annual Register (1790), A: 75 New Brunswick Theological Seminary, A: 74 New College (Oxford), A: 131 New Concordance to the Holy Scriptures (1782), A: 2, 24 New Copper Plate Magazine (1796), 92, 110, 222; A: 33, 35, 190, 192 New Mexico, University of, A: 240 New Monthly Magazine (1814), A: 119 New South Wales State Library (Sydney, Australia), A: 240 New and Wonderful Magazine (1794), A: 261 New York Academy of Medicine, A: 102 New York Botanical Gardens, A: 227–8 New York Daily Advertiser (1791), A: 331 New York Historical Society, A: 327 New York Public Library, A: 42, 44, 55, 63, 66, 69, 95, 97, 102, 104, 108, 116, 125–6, 128–31, 149, 157, 173–4, 184fn, 186, 188–9, 210, 231, 233, 240, 255, 258, 270, 312, 322, 327, 336, 340, 348 New York State Library, A: 42, 44, 55, 63, 66, 69, 95–6, 103–4, 108, 116, 125–7, 130–2, 150, 157, 173–4, 186, 188–9, 210, 231, 233, 240, 256, 258, 270, 310, 312, 322, 327, 336, 340, 348 New York University, A: 186, 348 Newark Public Library, A: 244 Newbery, E., London bookseller, A: 170, 219, 223 Newbery, F., London bookseller, A: 12 Newbury Library, A: 167 Newcastle Literary and Philosophical Society, A: 240 Newport, Andrew, author, A: 15 Newton, G., Wakefield bookseller, A: 13 Newton, Jas, engraver, A: 267

270

Index

Newton, Memoirs of William Grimshaw (1799), 21; A: 3, 20 Newton, S., Manchester bookseller, A: 15 Newton, Sermons (1767), A: 1, 21 Nichols, Rev. George, A: 380 Nichols, J.B., 198 Nichols, John, London bookseller, A: 169, 218–19, 223–4, 226, 244 & fn, 245, 339, 374 Nichols, John, Illustrations of the Literary History of the Eighteenth Century (1822), 213, 216, 224, 231 Nichols, John, London printer, editor of the Gentleman’s Magazine, 48, 87fn, 95, 142, 157, 214; A: 54, 109, 242–3, 365fn, 370, 380, 383, 385 Nichols, John, & Son, London printers, A: 25–8, 361–2 Nichols, John Bowyer, A: 352, 355, 361, 363 Nichols, Mrs Mary, collection, A: 276–7 Nichols, Son, & Bentley, London printer, A: 361, 363 Nicholson, Bradford bookseller, A: 8, 10, 16, 27, 248 Nicholson, G., Bradford bookseller, A: 18 Nicholson, T., Kighley bookseller, A: 18 Nicholson, W., Shore (Yorkshire) bookseller, A: 18 Nissen, Claus, A: 142fn Nixon, Howard M., 209; A: 289–90 Noble, R., printer, 7, 10, 167, 177 Noble, Richard, London printer, A: 349 & fn Noble, Robert, London printer, A: 349fn Nollekens, A: 372 North, T.L., bibliophile, A: 138fn, 158 North Carolina, University of, A: 59, 63, 101, 103, 127, 131, 133, 164, 180, 186, 199, 208, 231, 240, 316, 343, 348 North Texas University, A: 348 Northgate End Chapel (Halifax) Register of Baptism, A: 370 Northgate End Church, Halifax, 13 Northowram Hall, Yorkshire, 14, 37–9, 209–10, 241; A: 390 Northwick, Lord, sold Harrow house to James Edwards, 142; A: 372 Nortons, Bristol booksellers, A: 353–4

Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris, 128 Notre Dame University, A: 62 Novelle Otto (1790), 36, 90–1, 106, 207, 220–1; A: 38, 192–4 Nugent, T., engraver, A: 137 Nugent, Thomas, New Pocket Dictionary (1795, 1797), 53, 90, 96, 98, 219, 221, 225; A: 32–3, 35, 38, 194–5 Oberlin College, A: 24, 137, 157, 210 Officer of the Guards, Narrative of the War (1796), 92, 102, 220, 224; A: 33, 37, 196–7 Ogbourne, engraver, A: 137 Ogilvey, D., & Son, London booksellers, A: 223 Ogilvey & Speare, London booksellers, A: 170, 172, 219 Ogle, J., Edinburgh bookseller, A: 16 Ogle, J., Leeds bookseller, A: 12 Ogle, Thomas, reviewer, A: 75 Ohio State University, A: 184fn, 240 Old Cock Inn, Halifax, 21 Oldfield, Jonathan, surgeon and apothecary, sold Spring Head house (Yorkshire) to James Edwards, 141 Opie, John (1761–1807), artist, 186 Orde, Craven, A: 381 Oregon, University of, A: 59, 173, 251, 316, 348 Oregon Historical Society, A: 180 Orme. See Longman, Hurst, Rees, & Orme Osborn, Mr, A: 371 Osborne Collection. See Toronto Public Library Ostade, J., artist, A: 46 Otridge, W., & Son, London booksellers, A: 60, 170, 339 Otter, William, A: 317fn Ouisseau, J., A: 194–6 Owen, J., bookseller, 161 Oxford, subject of painted fore-edge, A: 8 Ozanne, artist, A: 179 P., R.B., A: 389 Padeloupe, R.M., le jeune, binding style, 207

Index 271 Pain (i.e., Thomas Payne), A: 146 Paitoni, Giovanni Battista (1703–88), Venetian bibliophile, 78. See also Bibliotheca Paitoniana (1790–1) Paley, Morton D., A: 394 Pall Mall (no. 26), A: 383; (no. 74), 44; (no. 77), 52, 83, 104, 141, 144, 239; (no. 78), 44, 105; (no. 98), 104, 239; A: 296; (no. 102), 24, 44–6, 77–8, 104–5, 125, 154; A: 295; (no. 127), 104 Paoli, General Pascal (1752–1807), A: 380 Pâris, Jean Baptiste de Meyzieu, Marquis de Paris (d. 1778), 79–82; A: 93–6 Parker, engraver, A: 137 Parker, Constance-Anne, librarian of the Royal Academy, 229 Parker, Franke, Bequest, 236 Parker, James (1750–1805), engraver, Blake’s fellow apprentice and printshop partner, 8 Parma, Duke of, 71 Parr, Dr Samuel, A: 103–4, 164 Parry. See Black, Parry & Kingsbury Pars, artist, A: 266 Parson, catalogue (1899–1900), A: 128fn Parsons, Edward. See Cocklin, Introductory Discourse Pastorini, engraver, A: 184 Paterson, Samuel (1728–1802), cataloguer, 217 Payne, George, of Weybridge, 233 Payne, J.T., sale of his library, 207 Payne, Roger, bookbinder, 30, 144 Payne, Thomas, bookseller, A: 8, 49–50, 52, 57, 82, 97, 100, 124, 144, 148, 188, 207, 214–16, 234, 239 Payne, Thomas, Catalogue (1799), 239 Payne, W., artist, A: 56 Peabody Institute, A: 62, 115–16, 131, 145, 164, 185, 231, 250, 314–15 Peacock, Mrs, London bookseller, A: 307 Peacock, G. [or C.], York printer, A: 20, 118 Peacock, Lucy (fl. 1785–1815), author, A: 308 Peacock’s Juvenile Library, London bookseller, A: 306 Penelli. See Bibliotheca Penelliana (1789)

Penhouet, Louis Bon L., Comte de, artist, A: 202–3 Penhouet, Louis Bon L., Comte de, Tour through South Wales (1797), 94, 220; A: 33, 35, 41, 201–3 Pennant, British Zoology, 155 Pennant, Thomas, Journey ... to AlstonMoor (1800), A: 65, 68, 160 Pennant, Thomas, Journey ... to the Isle of Wight (1800), A: 65, 139fn Pennsylvania, University of, A: 12, 24, 101–2, 114, 116, 129, 131, 151–2, 189, 201, 240, 255, 266, 310, 327, 342 Pennsylvania Historical Society, A: 62, 118 Pennsylvania Hospital (Philadelphia), A: 45 Pennsylvania State Library, A: 350 Pennsylvania State University, A: 210, 240, 255, 348 Pepys, bankrupt, A: 298 Percy, Bishop, 110–11; A: 298 Percy, Reliques of Ancient English Poetry (1794), 111 Perger, Pierre, Naples printer, A: 293 Perrauld, author, A: 87 Perrault, Illustrious Persons of France, 155 Perrégaux, French official, 133 Perrins, Dyson, 207 Peters, William, artist, A: 55 Pether, A., artist, A: 56 Petrarch, to be printed by Bodoni, 66–7 Philanthropic Reform, London printer, A: 167 Phillips, A., poet, A: 172 Phillips, Caroline, 28 Phillips, J., poet, A: 172 Phillips, John Leigh, 28, 242; A: 351, 353–4 Phillips, Richard, London bookseller, A: 9, 273, 274fn, 278 Phillips, Thomas (1770–1815), artist, 175; A: 56, 154 Philo-Patriae, A: 300, 341 Philosophical Transactions, 155 Piece Hall, Halifax, 17, 24 Pindar, to be printed by Bodoni, 66 Pinkerton, John, A: 7, 83, 204, 374

272

Index

Pinkerton, John, Essay on Medals (1789), 57, 98, 124; A: 30, 37, 203, 268 Pinkerton, John, Iconographia Scotica (1797), 120–1; A: 281, 293 Pinkerton, John, Medallic History of England (1790), 125, 155–6, 205, 213, 233; A: 30, 37, 205 Pinson, printer, A: 86 Piozzi, Gabriel, 52 Piozzi, Mrs, wife of Gabriel, friend of Dr Johnson, 35–6, 209, 215 Piquenit, C.D., London bookseller, A: 194–6 Piranesi etchings, 142–3, 146, 228 Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, A: 240 Plautus, to be printed by Bodoni, 66 Pocock, N., artist, A: 56 Poggi, artist and printseller, A: 149 Poly Synopsis Criticorum, 155 Polygraphic Scheme, carpet makers, A: 188 Pontey, Profitable Planter (1800), A: 4, 21 Pope, Alexander, poems, A: 172, 221, 297 Pope, Alexander, prospectus (1787) for portrait bust, 92; A: 34, 162 Porson, Richard, A: 254 Portland, Duchess of, 47, 214 Porto del Popolo monastery, 136 Portoensis, F. Vivra, artist, A: 112 Potter, artist, A: 46 Pouncy, B.J., artist, A: 56 Pouncy, B.R., engraver, A: 250 Pouncy, B.T., artist, A: 156, 233 Poussin, Nicolas, artist, A: 184–5 Powle, George, engraver, A: 275 Pratt (Enoch) Free Library, A: 164 Presbyterian Historical Society, A: 132 Prevost, J.R., artist, A: 179 Priestley, Appeal to ... Professors of Christianity (1771), A: 1, 21 Priestley, London bookseller, A: 14, 22 Priestley, Joseph (1733–1804), radical minister, A: 40, 52, 320 Prince, Oxford bookseller, A: 330, 333 Prince, D., London bookseller, A: 49 Princeton University, xvii, xx, 218; A: 42, 44, 52, 58–9, 62–3, 74, 101, 106fn, 115–16, 124–5, 127, 129, 132, 142, 145, 162, 164–5, 180, 199, 210, 225, 240, 267,

270, 272–4, 276fn, 313, 314, 316, 336, 342, 348, 370 Principia College (Elsah, Illinois), A: 348 Probasco, Henry, catalogue (1783), A: 140fn Providence (Rhode Island) Public Library, A: 116 Provost, P., Paris printer, A: 313–14 Prussia, Prince Royal of, 161 Public Record Office, London, 211, 215, 227, 231–3; A: 369–70 Pye, Henry James, translator, A: 63–5, 113 Quaritch Catalogue (1949), 206, 232 Queen’s College (Cambridge), A: 103 Queen’s University (Ontario), A: 62, 131 Quincy University (Quincy, Illinois), A: 348 Quinn, Henry George (1760–85), Dublin bibliophile, 73–4, 216 Rabb, F.W., A: 380 Rabenhorst, Leipzig bookseller, A: 107 Radcliffe, Anne (not the novelist), A: 264 Radcliffe, Sir George, A: 351, 362 Raimbach, Abraham (1776–1843), engraver, 182, 238 Ramis, Peter, deputy of Richard Edwards in Minorca, 158 Ramsay, artist, A: 332 Ramsden, Richard, 31 Ramsden, Thomas, 31 Rankin, Aberystwith bookseller, A: 185 Raphael, artist, 34; A: 184 Rasch, Frederick Crane, married Catherine Edwards, daughter of James (1765–1816), 12 Rasch, Guy Elland (d. young), 12 Ratcliffe, Sir Charles, A: 264 Rau, Arthur, 202, 216, 218; A: 96fn, 389 Raven, James, 203 Rawson, James, Hull bookseller, A: 14–16 Reading, University of, A: 129 Recuils of Troy, 137 Red Hall, Halifax, Edwards of Halifax bookshop, 218 Reed, Isaac (1742–1807), scholar, A: 31, 219, 221

Index 273 Rees. See Longman, Hurst, Rees, & Orme Rees, Eiluned, A: 390 Reinagle, P., artist, A: 56 Remnant, bookseller of Hamburg, 76 Remnant, William, Monthly Catalogue (1789), A: 125; (1790), 75, 206 Renouard, Annales de l’Imprimerie des Aldes, 80, 227 Renouard, Catalogue de la Bibliothèque d’un Amateur (1819), 80 Retrospect of the Fine Arts (1804), A: 160 Revitzky, Count, book collection, 84, 135, 228 Reynell, J., printer, A: 309 Reynolds. See Shepherd & Reynolds and Shepperson & Reynolds Reynolds, London bookseller, A: 9, 252 Reynolds, married Edith L. Edwards, 12 Reynolds, Sir Joshua (1723–92), artist, 4, 139; A: 49, 56–7, 291 Rhodes, A., A: 381 Rhodes House (Oxford), A: 240 Richardson, London bookseller, A: 12–13, 48, 161, 199 Richardson, William, London bookseller, A: 114–15, 166, 170, 172–3, 191, 194–7, 223 Rickaby, Thomas, London bookseller, A: 175 Rickaby, Thomas, London printer, 96; A: 53, 71–2, 108, 127, 175, 204, 252–3 Riddell, artist, A: 359 Rider, John (1760–1837), London printer, A: 309 Rigaud, John Francis (1742–1810), artist, 186 Rijksmuseum (Amsterdam), A: 348 Riley, John, 233 Rime, A., translator, A: 156 Rinaldo, pseudonym of James Edwards in Dibdin, Bibliomania (1809), 143 Ripley, Wayne C., 239; A: 394 Ritson, Joseph, Select Collection of English Songs (1783), 111 Rivington, F. & C., booksellers, A: 7, 97, 111, 157, 166–7, 172–3, 194–5, 197, 219, 223, 339 Rivington, F.C. & J., London booksellers, A: 27

Rivington, J., London bookseller, A: 12, 14, 16, 52, 102, 117, 169, 196, 216 & fn, 283, 303, 321–2, 324, 326–7 Rivington, J., & Partners, A: 223 Rivington, J., & Sons, London booksellers, A: 169, 218 Rivington, J. & J., London booksellers, A: 107 Roberts, engraver, A: 116 Robertson, London bookseller, A: 361 Robertson, Joseph, A: 150–2 Robinson, Glasgow bookseller, A: 24 Robinson, G.G. & J., booksellers, xxiii, 17, 97, 99–100, 167–70, 188, 234–5 Robinson, Henry Crabb (1775–1867), lawyer and journalist, 11, 186, 189, 192, 202, 239–40 [Robinson, Henry Crabb], “William Blake Kunstler ...,” Vaterländisches Museum (1811), 239 Robinson, John, bookseller, A: 239 Robson, George (1737–1801), bookseller, 52 Robson, James (1733–1806), bookseller, A: 6, 8, 12, 49, 74–6, 79–83, 97, 101, 105, 113, 188, 216–18, 223–4, 234, 239 Rochester, Bishop of, 214 Rockingham, Lady, Marchioness, 27, 30–1 Rockingham, Marquis of (d. 1782), 36 Rodgers, N.A.M., 231 Roff, J., artist, A: 233 Rogers, Samuel, Pleasures of Memory, 25, 122 Romet, translator, A: 142fn Rooke, H., artist, A: 190 Roscoe, Mrs, wife of William, 85 Roscoe, Henry, A: 212fn Roscoe, Margaret, sister of William, A: 110 Roscoe, William, Life of Lorenzo de’ Medici (1795, 1796, 1797, 1800), 6, 55, 59, 79, 83–5, 92, 95–6, 102, 114–15, 118–20, 124–5, 221–2, 228; A: 32–4, 37, 110, 207–8, 211, 212fn, 214, 369 Roscoe, William (1753–1831), Liverpool merchant, xvii, xxi, 50–1, 53–7, 77, 79, 83, 89, 94–5, 113–14, 116, 118–19, 121–4, 142, 147, 186, 217–18, 224–5; A: 89–90, 98, 100, 105–6, 110–11 & fn, 128fn, 155, 207

274

Index

& fn, 208fn, 209, 211 & fn, 212 & fn, 213 & fn, 214–15, 231, 268 & fn, 350 & fn, 369–70, 373–9, 381–2, 387 Roscow. See Roscoe Rose, E.J., A: 396 Rose, Samuel (1767–1804), lawyer, A: 106, 370 Rosenbach Museum (now The Rosenbach of the Free Library of Philadelphia), A: 86–7, 348 Ross, James, artist, A: 134 Ross, James, engraver, A: 72, 134 Rossi, 67–8 Rothschild, Lord Nathaniel, library, 207 Rousseau, J.J., A: 87, 133, 181 Rouvroy, S. Simon, A: 281, 292 Rowlandson, T., artist, A: 56 Rowley. See Chatterton, Thomas Royal Academy, 4, 139, 171, 186, 231, 237; A: 185 Royal Academy Library, 139, 180, 229; A: 76, 185, 358 Royal College of Veterinarians, A: 252 Royal Irish Academy, Transactions, 162 Royal Ontario Museum, A: 180, 240 Royal Society of Antiquaries, A: 132 Rubens, artist, 130 Russel, J., artist, A: 56 Russell, A.G.B., A: 394 Russell, Norma, A: 105fn Russell, Lady Rachel, Letters (1801), 28, 155, 242 Ruysdael, S., artist, A: 46 Rylands Library (Manchester University), 215, 228; A: 62, 71, 103, 115, 132, 152, 193, 207, 239, 348 Rysbrack, sculptor, A: 63 Sadi, Nathan Ben, Persian poet, A: 15 Sadleir, Michael, A: 344 & fn Sagden, Halifax printer, A: 357 St Albans, Duke of, A: 137–8 St Albans, Viscount, A: 50 St David’s College (Lampeter, Wales), A: 348 St Helens, Lord, 132 St John’s College (Oxford), A: 381 St John’s Seminary (Camarillo, California), xviii, xx, 209, 211; A: 8, 127

St Omers, France, last residence of Richard Edwards, 159 Sale, Elizabeth, Leeds bookseller, A: 12 Salem College, A: 348 Salichetti of Rome, his library, 50; A: 92 Sallust (1790), 72 Salmon, J., Description of ... Rome (1798, 1800), 93, 111, 125, 223; A: 33, 35, 215–16 & fn Salmon, Nicholas, Stemmata Latinatus (1796), A: 217 Sammels, London printer, A: 216 Samuel, G., artist, A: 56 Sandby, Lt, artist, A: 116 Santorio, Venetian bibliophile, 80, 82, 86, 221; Bibliotheca Santoriana, 96 satin, printed on, A: 62, 65, 73, 119, 120 & fn, 137, 185, 260–1, 262–4, 272–4, 277 & fn, 279 Saunders, T., engraver, A: 207 Saunders auction (1818), A: 8, 44, 46, 65, 67–8, 84, 121, 125, 156, 158, 166, 180, 203, 215, 232, 263, 279, 338, 362 Savoie, Prince Eugêne, library, 85 Sawyer, catalogue, A: 128fn Sawyer, C.H., catalogue (1952), 207 Sayer, Robert, London bookseller, A: 72 Scatcherd, J., London bookseller, A: 173, 194–6, 223 Scatcherd & Whitaker, London booksellers, A: 17, 108, 170, 219 Scheneker, engraver, A: 137 Scheutzer, Physique Sacrée, 155 Schiavonetti, L., engraver, A: 76, 137, 184 Schiff, Mortimer L., bibliophile, A: 137, 140fn, 162 Schmidt, Mathias André, Vienna bookseller, A: 66 Schmidt & Albertini, printers of Vienna, 4, 95 Schuman, J., artist, A: 233 Scolefield, Scarbro’ bookseller, A: 14 Scolfield, John, Rochdale bookseller, A: 15 Scott, Grant F., A: 394 Scott, J., London bookseller, A: 206 Scott, J., & W. White, booksellers, A: 65 Scott, R.B., London bookseller, A: 101 Scott, Robert, 239

Index 275 Scott, Sir Walter, poet, A: 298 Scottish House of Lords library, A: 200 Scottish Rite Supreme Council, A: 180 Sedgwick, R., Bradford printer and bookseller, A: 14, 16, 20 Seeley, Buckingham bookseller, A: 22 Select Portions of Psalms (1798), A: 3 Sens, Archbishop of, 218 Seward, William, collection, A: 163 Shakespeare, William, four folios, 142 Shakespeare, William, forgeries by William Henry Ireland, 215 Shakespeare, William, Second Folio (1632), 51 Shakespeare, William, Hamlet (1611), 142 Shakespeare, William, King Lear (1608), 142 Shakespeare, William, Pericles (1611), 142 Shakespeare, William, Plays (1790, 1793, 1797), 53, 90–1, 106, 120, 223 Shakespeare, William, Romeo and Juliet (1609), 142 Shakspeare, William (Boydell, 1791–1805), 3–4, 36, 61, 171, 179–80, 182, 184, 221, 235; A: 349 Shakspeare, William, Plays (1790, 1793, 1794, 1797), 36, 53; A: 31, 33, 38–9, 218–25 Shakspeare, William, poems, A: 297, 299 Shakspeare, William, prospectus (Boydell, 1786), 98; (1789), 45 Shakspeare Gallery (Boydell, 1786–1805), 53, 171; A: 106 Shakspeare Illustrated (1789), prospectus, A: 30, 34, 38, 217–18 Shakspeare Illustrated (Hardings, 1789, 1790, 1793), 101, 104–5, 222–3; A: 218, 258, 281, 294–6 Shakspeare Press, A: 184 Sharp [or Sharpe], William (1749–1824), engraver, 4, 55, 104–5 Shaw, Graham, A: 74fn Sheardon. See Boys & Sheardon Sheardon, W., Doncaster bookseller, A: 9 Shenstone, William, Works (1791), 156 Shepherd, London bookseller, A: 48 Shepherd & Reynolds, London booksellers, A: 48

Shepperson & Reynolds, London booksellers, A: 134 Sheridan, Richard Brinsley (1751–1816), dramatist, 230 Shields, F.J., artist, 192 Shioe, Kozo, A: 394 Shirt, J., artist, A: 233 Sidney, London printer, A: 294 Siêyes, Abbé Emmanuel-Joseph (1748– 1836), diplomat, 130, 226 Sikes, Silveston, & Co, Huddersfield printers and booksellers, A: 8–9, 15, 21 Sikes & Smart, Huddersfield printers and booksellers, A: 9, 15, 21 silk, printed on, A: 162, 261fn Silvester, H., engraver, A: 137 Simeo, John, London book- and printseller, A: 159fn Simmons, Kirkby, & Jones, Canterbury printers and booksellers, A: 146 Simmons & Kirkby, printers, A: 147 Simon Fraser University, A: 240 Simonds, London bookseller, A: 48 Sirventi, financier, 66 Sitwell, Sacheverell, A: 290fn Sivrac, Giovanni or George, A: 264–5 Skelton, William, engraver, A: 55, 129, 156 Skidmore College, A: 348 Slater & Bacon, Sheffield booksellers, A: 9 Slater, William, Dublin printer and bookseller, A: 53fn, 54fn Smart. See Sikes & Smart Smart, Worcester bookseller, A: 134 Smart, Christopher, poet, A: 298–9 Smirke, Robert (1752–1845), artist, 176, 182, 238; A: 207 Smith, artist, A: 359 Smith, Leeds bookseller, A: 19 Smith, London bookseller, 18 Smith, poet, A: 172, 298 Smith, Sheffield bookseller, A: 14–16, 22, 233–4 Smith, A., engraver, A: 207, 239 Smith, A., Halifax bookseller, A: 12, 18 Smith, J., artist, A: 233 Smith, J., Bradford bookseller, A: 12–13, 24 Smith, J., London bookseller, A: 233, 234fn

276

Index

Smith, J., Sheffield bookseller, A: 16, 18 Smith, J.R., artist, 206 Smith, James Edward, Coloured Figures of Rare Plants (1790, 1792, 1793), 5, 96, 113; A: 40 Smith, James Edward, Icones Pictae Plantarum Rariorum (1790, 1792, 1793), A: 226–7, 229, 237 Smith, James Edward, Natural History of the ... Lepidopterous Insects of Georgia (1797), 5, 33, 55, 87, 89, 92, 96, 102, 104, 113, 220–1, 229; A: 40, 230–2 Smith, James Edward, Spicilegium Botanicum (1791–2), 97, 220–1, 223; A: 31, 40, 227 & fn, 228 Smith, James Edward, & John Abbot, Lepidoptêres ... de Georgia (1797), 221–2; A: 33, 229 Smith, John, London bookseller, A: 232–3 Smith, John, Select Views in Italy (1796–9), 93, 96, 111, 125, 221, 229; A: 33, 35, 232, 234 Smith, John Thomas, Nollekens and His Times (1828), 174, 236 Smith, T., artist, A: 190 Smith College, A: 240, 348, 391 Smith & Davey, London printers, A: 337 Smithsonian Institution, A: 145, 180, 231, 242, 244 Snelling, Thomas, A: 205 Soane Museum (London), A: 348, 393 Somers-Collection, A: 302 Somers, John (1651–1716), A: 305 Somervile, Chase (1796), 142 Sophocles, to be printed by Bodoni, 66 Sorbonne University, A: 327 Sotheby. See Leigh & Sotheby Sotheby, William, translator, A: 33, 269–70 Sotheby auctions (1798), A: 379; (1799), 85–6, 123; (1809), A: 256; (1827), A: 344; (1843), A: 344; (1848), A: 360fn; (1878), 207; (1902), A: 8fn; (1906), 237; (1908), A: 193fn; (1919), 209; A: 386; (1926), 240; (1927), A: 162; (1932), A: 113; (1935), 208, 216; (1938), A: 140fn, 161, 162; (1944), A: 8fn; (1946), A: 128fn; (1947), 207; (1948), 207; (1950), A: 8fn, 154; (1963), A: 138fn

Sotheran, York bookseller, A: 21 Sousa. Comtesse de Flahaut, Marqueza de, Adêle (1794), 106; A: 39, 235 South, Beauties (1795), A: 3, 22 South Australia State Library (Adelaide), A: 348 Southampton University, A: 240 Southern California, University of, A: 63, 132, 145, 231, 348 Southern Methodist University, A: 348 Southey, Robert (1774–1843), Poet Laureate, A: 127fn Southgate & Son, Catalogue (1835), 242 Southport, residence of Thomas Edwards, 200, 242 Sowerby, James, artist and engraver, A: 227, 229, 236 Sowerby, James, Easy Introduction to Drawing Flowers (1788), 98; A: 34, 235–6 Sowerby, James, Flora Luxurians (1789–91), A: 235–6 Sowerby, James, Florist’s Delight (1789–91), 92–3; A: 34, 236–7 Sowerby, James, London bookseller, A: 226–9, 236–7 Speare. See Ogilvey & Speare Spectateur National .... (1790), A: 69 Speechly, W., A Treatise on the Culture of the Pine Apple (1779), 30 Spence. See Wilson & Spence Spence, H.H., artist, A: 316 Spence, R., York bookseller, A: 24, 45 Spencer, Dowager Lady, 137 Spencer, Edmund, poet, A: 202 Spencer, George (1766–1840), Baron Spencer, Fifth Duke of Marlborough, 228; A: 276fn Spencer, George John, Third Earl Spencer, First Lord of the Admiralty, book collector, 5–6, 52, 69–70, 76, 89, 110, 117, 126, 134–8, 157, 170, 188–9, 219, 226–8, 240; A: 51, 65, 67, 120, 130, 140, 182, 194, 234, 251fn, 379, 381–2, 385 Spencer, J.T., A: 64fn Spencer, Lavinia, Countess, 110, 137, 227; A: 51, 189 Spencer, W.R., translator, 109, 112; A: 32, 62–4 & fn

Index 277 Spencer Papers (British Library), 228, 232 Spencer-Stanhope, Lady Elizabeth, 141, 229; A: 286 Spilsbury & Son, London printers, 96, 222 Spokane Public Library, A: 120, 250 Sprengel, translator, A: 213 Spretti, Countess, 109; A: 64 Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, A: 348 Staggmaeier, Walter (fl. 1794–1817), bookbinder, 207; A: 138fn Staggmaier & Welcher, bookbinders, A: 137, 139 Stalker, C., London bookseller, A: 170, 219, 333 Stanley, translator, 111–12, 224 Stanley, Mr & Miss, A: 371 Stanley, Edward, 224 Stanley, John Thomas, 9, 17, 25, 204; A: 370 Stanley, Thomas, 90 State Library of Victoria (Melbourne, Australia), A: 261, 348 State University of New York (Buffalo), A: 180 State University of New York (Stony Brook), A: 348 Stationer’s Hall, A: 18, 54, 58–9, 152, 197–9, 212, 221, 315 Stedman, John Gabriel (1744–97), soldier of fortune, A: 240 & fn, 241 & fn Stedman, John Gabriel, Narrative of ... Surinam (1796), 53, 89, 94, 98, 100, 125, 139, 161, 172, 220, 237; A: 33, 37, 40–1, 138–42, 256 Stephenoff, I., engraver, A: 76 Stephens, Henry, A: 61 Sterling, Rev. Joseph, 110 Steuart, David, bibliophile, A: 379 Stewart, Wheatley, & Adlard, London auction (1818), A: 351, 356–7; (1828), 197–8; A: 61, 67, 128, 166, 269, 279, 296, 341, 360 Stockdale, John, London bookseller, A: 134, 180, 255, 259, 281, 287, 298, 314 Stockl, Vienne bookseller, A: 68 Stone, Miss, A: 359 Stoner, R.M., A: 6

Stothard, Thomas (1755–1834), artist, 111, 175, 186; A: 57, 207, 218fn Stourhead House (Toronto), A: 250 Strahan, Andrew, London printer, 96, 222; A: 169, 187, 209–13 Straighton, Risborough bookseller, A: 22 Strawberry Hill, Horace Walpole’s residence, 31, 57, 133, 212, 214; A: 86, 261, 266, 386; subject of fore-edge painting, A: 261 Strawberry Hill press, 49, 142 Stringer, Wakefield bookseller, A: 12 Strutt, Joseph (1749–1802), artist and engraver, 139; A: 242, 244–7 Strutt, Joseph, Dress and Habits ... of England (1796–9), 33, 89, 92–4, 96, 102, 105, 110, 165–8, 187, 220, 223, 229, 233–4; A: 33–7, 242–7, 301, 369, 398 Strutt, Joseph, Dress prospectus (1796), 92, 235 Strutt, Joseph, Tableau Complet des Costumes et Vêtements des Anglois (1797), 221; A: 33, 35, 37, 246–8 Stuart, Lord Evelyn, 241 Sturt (i.e., Strutt), engraver, A: 244 Sun (1798), A: 251, 270, 340 Surinaams Museum (Parimaribo), A: 240 Survey of London, 213 Sutro Library (San Francisco), A: 240 Suzuki, Masashi, A: 395 Sveriges Nationalbibliothek, A: 240 Swaim, Elizabeth, xx; A: 1fn Swanevelt, artist, A: 185 Swarthmore College, A: 127 & fn, 132, 181 Sweden, King of, 160–1 Sydney, University of, A: 322 Sykes, J., artist, A: 250 Sykes, Sir Masterman, bibliophile, A: 67 Symington. See Laurie & Symington Symmons, Inez (1796), 125, 164–5, 167, 224, 234 Symon, Bishop, Commentary on Samuel (1703), 208 Tableau ... de la Suisse, 154 Talleyrand-Périgord, Charles Maurice (1754–1838), French foreign minister, 126, 129–30, 132, 226

278

Index

Tamego, Takako, A: 395 Tasso, to be printed by Bodoni, 66 Taylor, Berwick bookseller, A: 17 Taylor, Miss, translator, A: 64 Taylor, Adam, Memoirs of ... Dan Taylor (1820), A: 249 Taylor, Dan, Concordance (1792), A: 3; (1795), 34 Taylor, Dan, Consistent Christian (1784), A: 2, 22–3 Taylor, Dan, New Concordance (1782), A: 24 Taylor, Dan, Our Saviour’s Commission (1785), 87, 97, 222; A: 2, 23, 29, 40, 248–9 Taylor, Dan, sermon, 87 Taylor, Isaac, engraver, A: 207, 216 Taylor, J., London bookseller, A: 202, 216, 219, 223 Taylor, T., London bookseller, A: 19 Taylor, W., engraver, A: 207 Taylorian Library (Oxford), A: 132, 261, 264 Tempest, Stephen, Jr, bookbinder to Thomas Edwards, 195, 240 Temple University, A: 101, 340 Tennessee, University of, A: 101 Terry, London bookseller, A: 320 Tesseyman, York bookseller, A: 10, 18, 20–1 Texas, University of, A: 49, 62, 74, 101, 112, 114, 126, 132, 152, 172, 208, 233, 240, 244, 316, 337fn, 343, 347, 348 Texas Technical University, A: 240 Than, J., London bookseller, A: 242–4, 398 Thane, William, artist, 239 Theocritus, to be printed by Bodoni, 66 Thomas, Joseph, 239 Thompson, Manchester bookseller, A: 14 Thompson [i.e., James Thomson], poet, A: 298 Thompson, J., Birmingham printer, A: 364 Thompson, Stanbury, A: 241fn Thompson, William, poet, A: 298 Thomson, Captain J., translator, A: 113

Thomson, James (1700–48), poet, A: 171–3, 298, 383; A: 298, 383 Thomson, James, Seasons (1821), 208 Thomson, Dr William (1746–1817), A: 240 & fn, 241 Thornton, R.J., 190 Thornton, R.J., Flora (1797–1807), 171 Thornton, T., London bookseller, A: 57 Thrale, Cecilia, daughter of Hester Lynch Thrale, 209 Thrale, Hester Lynch, friend of Dr Johnson, 52, 89, 209, 215 Throsby, J., Leicester bookseller, A: 191–2 Throsby, John, A: 191–2 Throsby, T., Jr, artist, A: 190 Thuro, Francis, translator, A: 213 Timbs, Worcester bookseller, A: 134 Times (London) (1792), A: 330; (1796), A: 111; (1798), 188, 203 Timperley, C.H., 205, 217; A: 7, 269, 365fn, 385–6 Titian, artist, A: 371 Todd, York bookseller, A: 9, 20–1, 27, 54, 118, 353–4 Todd, Ruthven, A: 347 Todd, William B., A: 69, 349fn Tolley, M.J., A: 396 Tolson Museum (Huddersfield), A: 5 Tomkins, writing engraver, A: 207, 333 Tomkins, P.T., engraver, A: 134 Tomkins, P.W., engraver, A: 76, 157, 184, 206, 257 Tooke, William, A: 340 Tooley, Ronald Vere, A: 364 Toronto, University of, xx; A: 59 & fn, 60, 62–3, 103, 120, 132, 172, 180, 186, 200, 210, 240, 250, 269, 302, 393. See also Victoria University in the University of Toronto Toronto Public Library, xx, xxi; A: 186, 307, 348 Torre, London printseller, A: 163 Tournier, Italian Language (1794), A: 35, 38 Townley Abbey, Yorkshire, 26 Townley, Charles (1735–1825), collector of Greek marbles, 215; A: 371, 383 Townley, John, library, A: 138fn

Index 279 Townly, Charles, collection, A: 163. See also Townley Tracts ... from the Somers-Collection (1794), 164–5, 234 Traylen, C.W., Guildford, bookseller, 236; Catalogue (1949), 206 Treasure of Maxims (1759), A: 1, 25 Tresham, Mr, A: 371 Trewman, Exeter bookseller, A: 165 Trigg, W.B., A: 8fn, 372 Trigg, W.S., 14 Trinity College (Cambridge), A: 132, 348 Trinity College (Dublin), A: 56, 71, 95, 100, 193, 208, 240, 261–2, 321, 326 Trinity College (Glasgow), A: 12 Trinity College (Hartford, Connecticut), A: 240, 348 Trinity College (Oxford), A: 240 Trinity Hall (Cambridge), A: 241, 344 True Briton (1798), 187–8, 203 Tudor, Monmouth bookseller, A: 271 Tuilleries, Paris, 128 Tulane University, A: 62, 240, 310, 348 Tulsa, University of, A: 240, 349 Turnbull Library, A: 348 Turneisen, Basel bookseller, A: 213 Turner, Scarborough bookseller, A: 10 Turner, Dawson (1775–1858), 214; A: 376 Turner, J.H., A: 138fn Turner, J.M.W. (1775–1851), artist, 203; A: 26 & fn, 178, 371 Turner, Michael, 203 Twigg, W.B., A: 390 Twining, Richard, A: 386 Twining, Rev. Thomas, 27, 30, 153, 204, 206; A: 386 Tyson, Gerald P., 201, 215, 222; A: 200 Ukawsaw, Wondrous Grace Displayed (1790), A: 2, 18 Union Journal (1759), 18; A: 11, 386; (1766), A: 12 Union Theological Seminary (New York), A: 85 U.S. Military Academy, A: 116 U.S. National War College, A: 117 U.S. Naval Academy, A: 116–17

University Art Museum (Kyoto City University of Arts), A: 348 University of the Arts (Philadelphia), A: 348 Urquhart, London bookseller, A: 12–13 Utah, University of, A: 250 Valpy, R.J., A: 113 Van de Velde, W., artist, A: 46 Van Den Beurgher, engraver, A: 137 Van Diepenbeck, A., artist, A: 161 Van Goyen, artist, A: 46 Van Schaik, Pam, A: 395 Van Vliet, artist, A: 109 Vancouver, George (d. 1798), brother of John, A: 251 Vancouver, George, Voyages ... to the North Pacific Ocean (1798), A: 33, 249–50, 302 Vancouver, John, brother of George, A: 249, 251 Vancouver, John, Enquiry into ... Poverty (1796), A: 40–1, 301, 342 Vancouver Public Library, A: 132, 180, 186 Vander Neer, artist, A: 46 Vanderbilt University, A: 123 Vandyke, artist, A: 87 Vanpraet, librarian of the Bibliothèque Royale, Paris, 226; A: 380 Vassar College, A: 73 Vaterländisches Museum (1811), 190, 239 Vatican ceiling, 49 Vatican library, theft of books from, 138 Vaughan, Gerard, xx vellum text or binding, A: 6–8, 66, 73, 79–80, 84, 86, 88, 93–4, 96, 99, 112–13, 119, 127–8 & fn, 136–7, 140fn, 141fn, 143, 158–62, 172, 185, 190, 193–4, 260–5, 281, 285, 355–7, 373–4, 379, 382, 384, 387 Vendenburg, engraver, A: 137 Venlet, artist, A: 136 Vermont, University of, A: 325 Vernor, London bookseller, A: 218–19 Vernor, T., London bookseller, A: 170, 218–19, 328 Vernor & Hood, London booksellers, A: 16, 21, 61, 152, 167–70, 173, 223, 296, 339

280

Index

Vernor, Hood, & Mawman, London booksellers, A: 23 Vertue, artist, A: 266 Vetus Testamentum Hebraicum (1776), 206 Vial de Saint Bel, Charles, Proportions de l’Eclipse (1791), A: 38, 40, 251–2 Victoria & Albert Museum, xx, 217; A: 46, 63, 68, 90, 98, 104, 120, 137, 142–3, 157, 166fn, 176–7, 189–90, 204, 261, 272–4, 336, 348, 357, 386 Victoria (British Columbia) Provincial Archives, A: 250 Victoria University (British Columbia), A: 200, 240, 253, 259, 321, 348 Victoria University in the University of Toronto, xx, 28, 58, 81, 99, 107–9, 232, 242; A: 9, 46, 58–9 & fn, 63, 68, 74, 90, 95, 98, 104, 109–10, 112, 119–20, 127, 137, 140, 142–3, 157, 166fn, 176–7, 181, 189–91, 204–5, 239–40, 244, 261, 264, 272–4, 336, 340, 346, 348–9, 355, 357, 369, 388, 400 Vienna Imperial Library, A: 67, 281, 384 Villanova University, A: 53, 164 Virgil (1501), 80, 143 Virgil, Opera (1766), 35, 153–4 Virgil, Opera (1793), 36, 56, 96, 100, 106, 223; A: 36, 252–3 Virgil, Pastorals (1821), 190, 237 Virgil, Roman poet, 66, 69, 72, 90, 116, 219, 221 Virginia, University of, A: 44, 63, 101, 114, 116, 127, 132, 137, 186, 210, 231, 240, 250, 255, 336, 349 Virginia Commonwealth University, A: 321 Virginia State Library, A: 137, 240 Visconti (Giambatista) & Ennio Quirino, A: 282, 296 Vitringa, Commentary of Isaiah, 156 Voltaire, 128; A: 87 Voyages Pittoresques de la France, 156 Voyages Pittoresques de Naples & Sicile, 156 Voyages Pittoresques de la Suisse, 156 Waddesdon Manor, A: 63, 72, 120, 261, 272–4, 276 & fn, 278

Wadstrom, Carl Bernhard (1746–99), A: 256–7 Wadstrom, C.B., Essay on Colonization (1794), A: 32, 40–1, 139, 254–5, 330 Wadsworth, Miss, of Halifax, A: 8 Wake Forest University, A: 349 Wakefield, Gilbert, A: 371 Waldegrave, Maria, niece of Horace Walpole, 31, 56 Waldron, Francis Godolphin, Biographical Mirrour (1798), A: 33, 35, 257 Walker, Caroline, of Yorkshire, 158, 241 Walker, H., bookbinder, 90 Wallbach, William, Tales (1788), A: 38, 259 Wallis, Alfred, 230 Walne, P.P., 233 Walpole, Horace (1717–97), Lord Orford, dilettante, 5, 21, 35, 49, 53, 56–9, 84, 90, 104, 115 (crest), 116, 133, 142, 153, 212, 214–16, 224 (library); A: 65 (crest), 111fn, 203–5, 209–10 (crest), 212fn, 213fn, 260 & fn, 264, 268, 385–7 Walpole, Horace, Anecdotes of Painting in England (1762–71), 30, 56, 153 Walpole, Horace, Castello di Otranto (1795), 89, 106, 203, 220–2; A: 32, 39, 263–4, 375 Walpole, Horace, Castle of Otranto (1790, 1791), 36, 57–60, 65, 89, 92, 95, 106, 112, 156, 207, 219–20; A: 8, 30, 32, 38, 259–61, 263, 266, 267, 373, 375, 386, 388 Walpole, Horace, Works (1798), 92, 220; A: 33, 35, 37, 39, 261, 264, 269 Walsh. See Hughes & Walsh Walsh, poet, A: 172, 298 Walsh, Francis, London bookseller, A: 367, 369 Walter, London bookseller, A: 117 Walter, H., bookbinder, A: 193 Walter, J., London bookseller, A: 114, 118, 133, 152, 259 Walton, Isaac, Lives of John Donne (1806), 208 Walton, John, Halifax bookseller, A: 4 Ward, Sheffield bookseller, A: 13 Ward, A., York printer, A: 24 Wardle, Judith, A: 395

Index 281 Ware, Whitehaven bookseller, A: 18 Wark, R.R., 237 Warner, J., engraver, A: 250 Warren, Memoirs, 31, 153 Washington, University of, A: 101, 132, 152, 157, 165, 231, 238 Washington & Lee University, A: 164 Washington University (St Louis), A: 231, 349, 393 Waterfield, catalogue (1988), A: 113 Waterhouse, John, landlord of William Edwards (II), 37; A: 358 Watson, Joshua, executor of the will of James Edwards, 148 Watt, Bibliotheca Britannica (1824), A: 201, 319fn Weber, Carl J., xxiii, 13, 201, 208–9; A: 7, 390 Weber, Jeff, A: 300 Weddell, Mrs, A: 371 Weimerskirch, Philip J., 208; A: 390 Weinglass, D.H., 202 Welch, Dennis M., A: 395 Welcher (fl. 1799–1822), bookbinder, 207. See also Staggmaier & Welcher Welcome Institute, A: 240 Welcome Library, A: 95 Weldon, London bookseller, A: 199 Wellesley College, A: 127, 349 Wells, J., London bookseller, A: 154–5 Wentworth Woodhouse, 31 Wesley, London bookseller, A: 48 Wesley, John, A: 17, 24 Wesleyan University (Connecticut), A: 240, 349 West. See Harding, West, & Hughes West, Mrs, A: 190 West, Italian artist, A: 359 West, Benjamin (1738–1820), artist, 4, 182, 238; A 57, 291, 359 West, G., poet, A: 172, 298 West, R., poet, A: 298 West, Samuel B., artist, A: 56 West & Hughes, booksellers, A: 120, 139fn, 160 Western Australia State Library Service (Perth), A: 349 Western Ontario, University of, A: 240

Western Reserve Historical Society, A: 62, 130–2, 186 Western Reserve University, A: 186 Westminster School, A: 120 Westmont College (Santa Barbara, California), A: 349 Weston, Rev. Stephen, 143 Weybridge, Surrey, 233 Wheatley. See Stewart, Wheatley, & Adlard auctions Whitaker. See Scatcherd & Whitaker Whitaker, son of T.H. Whitaker, A: 26fn Whitaker, T.D., A: 371, 383 Whitaker, Thomas Dunham, Account of ... Cartmell (1818), A: 351, 361 Whitaker, Thomas Dunham, Craven (1812), 198, 240 Whitaker, Thomas Dunham, De Motu (1809), 198; A 351, 361 Whitaker, Thomas Dunham, History ... of Clitherow (1818), A: 351, 362–3 Whitaker, Thomas Dunham, History of Craven (1805), A: 4, 25; (1812), A: 351, 361, 383 Whitaker, Thomas Dunham, History of ... Whalley (1806), 21–2, 198, 211; A: 4, 26–7, 382–3 Whitaker, Thomas Dunham, Life of ... Sir George Radcliffe (1810), 198; A: 362 Whitaker, Thomas Dunham, Religion and Loyalty Connected (1794), A: 3, 27 Whitaker, Thomas Dunham, Sermon (1807), A: 4, 27–8 Whitaker, T.H., 237 Whitaker, William, Rochdale bookseller, A: 4 Whitchurch, engraver, A: 185 White, London bookseller, A: 236 White, B. & J., London booksellers, A: 132, 172, 187, 217, 219, 223, 226, 242–3, 252–3, 319, 341, 398 White, Benjamin, bookseller, A: 7, 50, 57, 62, 97, 100–1, 104, 167, 169–70, 188, 214, 234 White, Benjamin & Son, London booksellers, A: 5, 98–9, 134, 138, 144–7, 163, 169, 176–7, 182, 186, 216, 218, 226–7 & fn, 228–9, 236–7, 244, 271, 335, 336fn, 337

282

Index

White, John (son of Benjamin), London bookseller, 7, 97, 101, 104, 167; A: 26, 67, 73, 76, 84, 107, 112fn, 121fn, 130–1, 187, 216, 229–30, 339 White, L., Dublin bookseller, A: 226 White, R., London bookseller, A: 197, 206 White, R. & J., London booksellers, A: 107 White, Richard, A: 63 White, Richard, bookseller, 109, 223 White, W.A., Blake collector, A: 390, 396 White & Cochrane, London booksellers, A: 184, 362 White, Cochrane & Co, London booksellers, A: 84, 119, 120–1fn Whitley, Halifax bookseller, 200 Whitley, Nathan, 209 Wieland, Christoph Martin, Oberon (1798), 104, 106, 221, 223; A: 33, 39, 270–1 Wigan Public Library, A: 12 Wight, Isle of, 92–3, 223, 231 Wightman, Julia P., A: 4, 261 Wigly, artist, A: 190 Wilkes, History of Moths and Butterflies, 156 Wilkie, C. & T, London booksellers, A: 195 Wilkie, G., London bookseller, A: 196 Wilkie, G. & T., London booksellers, A: 172–3, 194, 218–19, 223 Wilkie, T., London bookseller, A: 170 Williamette College, A: 250 Williams, Lampeter bookseller, A: 185 Williams, London stationer, A: 185 Williams, Monmouthshire (1796), 94, 220, 223 Williams College, A: 101, 132, 187, 251 Williamson, James, A: 290 Wills, London bookseller, A: 12, 15–16 Wills, Mr, A: 371 Wilsey Rare Books catalogue (1990), A: 337fn, 338fn Wilson, N., of Pontefract, his library, 46 Wilson & Spence, A: 9 Wilson, Spence, & Mawman, York printers and booksellers, A: 14, 16, 24

Wilton Castle, subject of fore-edge painting, A: 181 Winchester College, A: 349 Winkyn de Word, London bookseller, A: 86 Winstanley, Thomas (also called Messrs Winstanley & Co and Messrs Winstanley & Sons), Manchester auction (1814), 241; A: 351, 353–5; (1826), 196–7, 203, 236; A: 43–4, 61, 75, 84, 121, 141, 143, 145, 158, 161, 166, 215, 232, 263, 279, 296, 329, 338, 357–9 Wisconsin, University of, A: 101–2, 112, 116, 145, 157, 250, 301, 309 Wisconsin State Historical Society, A: 187 Wises, the Miss, Newport (Isle of Wight) booksellers, A: 177 Wissing, artist, A: 136 Witwatersrand University (Johannesburg), A: 349 Woburn Abbey, 28 Wollstonecraft, Mary (1759–97), author, 55 Wollstonecraft, Mary, Original Stories (1791), 235, 237 Wolverhampton Art Gallery, A: 59 Wood, London bookseller, A: 52 Wood, Wakefield bookseller, A: 25 Wood, Anthony, A: 381 Wood, Essay on ... Moses, 156 Woodfall, H.S., London bookseller, A: 218 Woodmason, paper maker?, A: 204 Wooster University, A: 187 Wootton, Sir Henry, poem, A: 55 Wootton, William, book collection, 81, 217, 223; A: 32, 98–9 Wordsworth, Dorothy (1771–1855), the poet’s sister, 9, 25, 205 Wordsworth, William (1770–1850), poet, 55 Works of the British Poets (1792–5), A: 296–9 Works of the English Poets (1790), A: 38, 109–10, 282 Worlidge, Elizabeth, wife of Thomas, A: 275–6, 278fn Worlidge, T., engraver, A: 24, 275fn, 275–7 & fn, 278 & fn Worlidge, Thomas, Select Collection of Drawings from Antique Gems (1788?,

Index 283 1794?), 87–8, 92, 94, 126, 156, 207, 219–20, 225; A: 29, 32, 34–6, 271, 275–7 & fn, 273fn, 279 Wormsley Library, 31, 207, 209, 232; A: 49, 63, 127, 154, 159, 162, 244, 274, 290, 349, 355, 373–4, 377 Worsley, Sir Richard, A: 371 Wouwermann, Phil., artist, A: 46 Wright, G., & Son, Leeds printer, A: 13, 23 Wright, Griffith, Leeds printer, A: 6, 12 Wright, J., London bookseller, A: 296 Wright, John Massey (1777–1866), artist, A: 212 Wright, T., printer, A: 169 Wright, Thomas, of Halifax, 22, 24 Wright, Thomas, Leeds printer, A: 27 Wydown, Samuel, A: 13 Wynants, J., artist, A: 46 Wynne, E., London bookseller, A: 173 Ximenies Catalogue (1982), 206 Yale Center for British Art, 103, 203, 241; A: 240, 345, 349 Yale University, xvii, xx, 104, 115, 214, 216; A: 42, 46, 55, 58–9, 62–3, 67, 71, 72–4, 80, 92, 95, 98, 101–3, 108, 110,

111fn, 114, 119–20, 125–7, 132, 137, 151–2, 157, 165, 167, 168, 174, 180, 187–9, 191–2, 199–201, 204–5, 208–10, 227, 229, 239–40, 244, 250, 255, 258, 260–2, 264–5, 267–9, 271, 310, 313, 314, 316, 318–19, 330, 337fn, 338, 341–3, 349, 361–2, 370, 374–5, 381, 383 Yeshiva University, A: 322, 326 York, Duchess of, 160 York and Albany, Duchess of, 161 York Courant (1755), A: 10fn, 11 York Minster Library, 9–10, 24; A: 22, 24 York Public Library, A: 258, 321 York University (England), 211; A: 50, 62, 321, 326 Yorkshire Illustrated (1948), A: 389 Yorkshire Observer (1920), A: 387 Yorkshire Post (1936), A: 388 Young, Edward, Night Thoughts (1797), xxii, 3, 5, 9–12, 42, 93, 102–3, 107, 112, 140, 153, 157, 159–60, 164–71, 173, 175–92, 196–7, 202–3, 206, 224, 232, 234–40 Young (Brigham) University, A: 240, 348 Zaara, Africa, A: 18 Zachs, William, 201 Zanetti of Venice, his library, 50; A: 92