William Feales (fl. 1731–1740)
William Feales, bookseller and publisher, 1731–40; at Rowe's Head over against Clement's Inn Gate / in St. Clement's Churchyard / at the corner of Essex Street in the Strand.
A Dictionary of the Printers and Booksellers who were at work in England, Scotland and Ireland from 1726 to 1775, by Henry Plomer et al. (1932)
FEALES (W.), bookseller and publisher in London, (1) Rowe's Head, over against Clement's Inn Gate; (2) the corner of Essex Street, Strand, 1731–40. Publisher of a collected edition of plays called The English Theatre, and also of numerous single plays, including Otway's The Orphan, in conjunction with other publishers. The addresses given above may refer to the same shop.
Notes & Queries "London Booksellers Series" (1931–2)
FEALES, W. His name should be included in this list, particularly as he has escaped previous record by Timperley. He seems to have specialised in dramatic works. I have notes of eight of Shakespeare's plays, as well as plays by Otway and Nathaniel Lee, that he published. He also produced a collected edition of the works of Mrs. Aphra Benn. His activities seem to have been confined to the years between 1732 and 1736, and all his publications were issued from Rowe's Head at the corner of Essex Street in the Strand, sometimes described as "over against St. Clement's Inn Gate in the Strand." His sign was an unusual one, the only instance I have met with commemorating the Poet Laureate, Nicholas Rowe (1678–1718).
—Ambrose Heal, 3 October 1931