John Knapton (1695–1770)
John Knapton, bookseller, publisher, and stationer; at the Crown in St. Paul's Churchyard; at the Crown in Ludgate Street; 12 Paternoster Row (1742–5).
Notes & Queries "London Booksellers Series" (1931–2)
KNAPTON, JOHN and PAUL. These were the two younger brothers of James Knapton, whom they succeeded in business on his death in 1736. By 1741 they had quitted their brother's old premises and had moved to Ludgate Street, where they continued to trade as J. and P. KNAPTON till 1755. On June 12 of this year Paul died. A few months later, on Sept. 24, Warburton wrote to Hurd:
Mr. Knapton, whom everybody, and I in particular, thought the richest bookseller in town, has failed. His debts are £20,000, and his stock is valued at £30,000, but this value is subject to many abating contingencies, and you never at first hear the whole debt. It is hoped that there will be enough to pay everyone, but I don't know what to say. It is all a business of years. ... I think him an honest man (though he has done extremely ill by me) and as such, love him. He falls with the pity and compassion of everybody. His fault was extreme indolence.
Nichols (ii. 277) supposes that it is Paul who is referred to here, but obviously it must have been John, who managed to save the business and to carry it on until his death in 1770, when it went to Robert Horsfield. John Knapton was three times Master of the Stationers' Company (1742, 1743 and 1744).
—Frederick T. Wood, 12 September 1931
KNAPTON, JOHN and PAUL. Their names appear in imprints before their brother James's death in 1736 as stated above. The house to which the business was moved from St. Paul's Churchyard was the Crown in Ludgate Street. Hilton Price says that James, John and Paul moved to Ludgate Street in 1732. Part of the stock of John Knapton was sold by auction 25 Sept., 1755.
—Ambrose Heal, 7 November 1931
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)
KNAPTON (JOHN), and (PAUL), booksellers and publishers in London, (1) The Crown, St. Paul's Churchyard; (2) Crown in Ludgate Street. 1735–1770(?). Brothers to James Knapton (1687–1736), and successors to his business. This eminent firm were connected with the chief publications of the day. George Vertue, the engraver, whose works they published, complained that after making large sums of money by him, they employed cheaper men and tried to jockey him out of the business. [Add. MSS. 23089, ff. 68, 69.] In the Daily Courant of January 3rd, 1735, is an advertisement of Monuents of Kings of England, printed for James, John, and Paul Knapton, the Crown in Ludgate Street. John Knapton died in 1770. [Nichols, III. 607.] On February 14th, 1740/1, Paul Knapton married a Miss Elizabeth Chalwell, of Coleman Street, at Stevenage in Herts. [Daily Press.] John Knapton was Master of the Stationers' Company in 1742, 1743, and 1745.