Publications of John Osborn (2)

Note: The following printer, bookseller, or publisher lists are works in progress. They are generated from title page imprints and may reproduce false and misleading attributions or contain errors.

What does "printed by" mean? How to read the roles ascribed to people in the imprints.

In terms of the book trades, the lists below are sorted into up to four groups where: the person is designated in the imprint as having a single role:

  1. "printed by x"; or
  2. "sold by x"; or
  3. "printed for x" or "published by x";

or as having multiple roles in combination (which suggests a likelihood that the person is a trade publisher):

  1. "printed and sold by x"; "printed for and sold by x"; or "printed by and for x" and so on.

Printers (owners of the type and printing presses, and possibly owners of the copyright) may be identified by the words printed by, but printed by does not universally designate a person who is a printer by trade. Booksellers may be identified by the words sold by, but sold by encompasses a number of roles. Booksellers or individuals who owned the copyright are generally identified by the words printed for, but nothing should be concluded in this regard without further evidence, especially since "printed for" could signify that the named person was a distributor rather than a copyright holder. Trade publishers, who distributed books and pamphlets but did not own the copyright or employ a printer—and were not printers themselves—might be identified by the words printed and sold by. Furthermore, works from this period often display false imprints, whether to evade copyright restrictions, to conceal the name of the copyright holders, or to dupe unwitting customers. Ultimately, one must proceed with caution in using the following lists: designations in the imprints may not reliably reflect the actual trades or roles of the people named, and the formulas used in imprints do not consistently mean the same thing.

David Foxon discussed the "meaning of the imprint" in his Lyell Lecture delivered at Oxford in March 1976, with particular attention to "publishers" in the eighteenth-century context:

The fullest form of an imprint is one which names three people, or groups of people:
     London: printed by X (the printer), for Y (the bookseller who owned the copyright), and sold by Z.
In the eighteenth century the printer's name is rarely given, at least in works printed in London, and the form is more commonly:
     London: printed for Y, and sold by Z.
Very often in this period, and particularly for pamphlets, it is further abbreviated to:
     London: printed and sold by Z.
It is this last form which is my present concern. Z is usually what the eighteenth century called 'a publisher', or one who distributes books and pamphlets without having any other responsibility—he does not own the copyright or employ a printer, or even know the author.

D. F. McKenzie coined the term "trade publisher" for these publishers in his Sandars Lectures, also in 1976, on the grounds that their principal role was to publish on behalf of other members of the book trade (Treadwell 100).

Michael Treadwell cautions that "In this period the imprint 'London: Printed and sold by A.B.' normally means 'Printed at London, and sold by A.B.' and must not be taken to mean that A.B. is a printer in the absence of other evidence." Further, "The imprint 'published by' occurs only rarely in Wing and is almost always associated with the name of a trade publisher" (104). While there are exceptions to the rule, it is "certain," he explains, "that anyone who made a speciality of distributing works for others will show a far higher proportion than normal of imprints in one of the 'sold by' forms" (116), which appear in the imprint as "sold by," "printed and sold by," or "published by" (104). Treadwell gives Walter Kettilby as an example of "a fairly typical copyright-owning bookseller" (106)—his role is almost always designated by the phrase "printed for" on imprints.

A final caution: publisher is a word that should be used with some deliberation. Samuel Johnson defines it simply as "One who puts out a book into the world," but "published by" rarely appears on the imprint until later in the eighteenth century, and then primarily associated with newspapers and pamphlets. Treadwell observes that John Dunton names only five publishers among the 200 binders and booksellers in his autobiographical Life and Errors (1705) wherein he undertakes "to draw the Character of the most Eminent [Stationers] in the Three Kingdoms" (100). Treadwell also remarks, however, that "in law, anyone who offered a work for sale 'published' it. In this sense every work had one or more 'publishers', and every bookseller, mercury, and hawker was a 'publisher'" (114).

See:

  • Terry Belanger, "From Bookseller to Publisher: Changes in the London Book Trade, 1750–1850," in Book Selling and Book Buying. Aspects of the Nineteenth-Century British and North American Book Trade, ed. Richard G. Landon (Chicago: American Library Association, 1978).
  • Bricker, Andrew Benjamin. "Who was 'A. Moore'? The Attribution of Eighteenth-Century Publications with False and Misleading Imprints," in The Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America 110.2 (2016).
  • John Dunton, The Life and Errors of John Dunton (London: Printed for S. Malthus, 1705).
  • John Feather, "The Commerce of Letters: The Study of the Eighteenth-Century Book Trade," Eighteenth-Century Studies 17 (1984).
  • David Foxon, Pope and the Early Eighteenth-Century Book Trade, ed. James McLaverty (Oxford University Press, 1991).
  • Samuel Johnson, Dictionary of the English Language, (printed for J. and P. Knapton; T. and T. Longman; C. Hitch and L. Hawes; A. Millar; and R. and J. Dodsley, 1755).
  • D.F. McKenzie, The London Book Trade in the Later Seventeenth Century (Sandars lectures in bibliography, 1977).
  • Michael Treadwell, "London Trade Publishers 1675–1750," The Library sixth series, vol. 4, no. 2 (1982).

Printed for John Osborn (2)

  • The syren. Containing a collection of four hundred and thirty two of the most celebrated English songs. None of which are contain'd in the collection of the same size, call'd, The nightingale. London: printed for John Osborn, at the Golden Ball in Pater-Noster Row, MDCCXXXIX. [1739]. ESTC No. N21187. Grub Street ID 10573.
  • Krusinśki, Judas Thaddaeus. The history of the late revolutions of Persia: taken from the memoirs of Father Krusinski, procurator of the Jesuits at Ispahan ; Who lived Twenty Years in that Country, was employed by the Bishop of Ispahan, in his Negotiations at the Persian Court, for the Emperor and King of France; and was familiarly conversant with the greatest Men of all Parties. Done into English, from the original, lately publish'd with the royal licence at Paris, by Father Du Cerceau, who has prefix'd a map of Persia, and a short history of the Sophies; with curious Remarks on the Accounts given by Tavernier, Sir John Chardin, and other Writers that have treated particularly of that Government and Country, &c. Vol. I. The Second Edition. To which is added, an Appendix, Giving an Authentic Account of the Dethroning of Sophi Thamas, by his General Thamas Kouli Kan; the Advancement of that General to the Imperial Dignity, and his many Victories over the Turks and Moguls, down to the present Year 1740. London: printed for J. Osborne, at the Golden-Ball in Pater-Noster-Row, MDCCXL. [1740]. ESTC No. N17888. Grub Street ID 7356.
  • Wilson, Thomas. A short and plain instruction for the better understanding of the Lord’s Supper. With the necessary preparation requir’d: for the benefit of young communicants, and of such as have not well consider’d this Holy Ordinance. To which is annex’d the office of the Holy Communion: with proper helps and directions, for joining in every part thereof with understanding and benefit. By the Right Reverend Father in God, Thomas, Lord Bishop of Sodor and Man. London: Printed for J. Osborn, at the Golden-Ball, in Pater-noster Row: and sold by him, and T. Longman, T. Shewel, and C. Hitch, in Pater-noster Row; S. Birt, B. Dod, in Ave-mary Lane; and J. Hodges, on London Bridge, 1746. ESTC No. N45996. Grub Street ID 30862.
  • The polite arts, Or, A Dissertation on Poetry, Painting, Musick, Architecture, and Eloquence. London: printed for J. Osborn, at the Golden Ball, Pater-Noster-Row; and T. Lownds, at the Bible and Crown in Exeter Change, MDCCXLIX. [1749]. ESTC No. N12396. Grub Street ID 2398.
  • Richardson, Samuel. Meditations collected from the sacred books; and adapted to the different stages of a deep distress; gloriously surmounted by patience, piety, and resignation. Being those mentioned in The history of Clarissa ... To each of which is prefixed, a short historical account, .. London: printed for J. Osborn; Andr. Millar; J. & J. Rivington; and James Leake, at Bath, 1750. ESTC No. N10754. Grub Street ID 760.
  • Smith, John. A review of the manufacturer's complaints against the wool grower. Part I. Wherein Of Pitch and Tar Marks, the Excess, the Injury, and their respective Remedies, are considered minutely. By the author of Memoirs of wool. London: printed for Mess. Osborne in Gray's-Inn; Dodsley in Pall-Mall; Millan at Charing-Cross; Millar in the Strand; Shuckburgh at Temple-Bar; Knapton in Ludgate-Street; Ward at the Royal Exchange; and M. Coope in Pater Noster Row, [1753]. ESTC No. T102858. Grub Street ID 156532.
  • Smith, John, LL.B.. A review of the manufacturer's complaints against the wool grower. Part III. and last. Concerning the advanced price of wool, ... By the author of Memoirs of wool. London: printed for Mess. Osborne; Dodsley; Millan; Millar; Shuckburgh; [and 3 others in London], 1753. ESTC No. T102859. Grub Street ID 156533.

Printed by and for, or by/for and sold by John Osborn (2)

  • The lives of the most remarkable criminals, who have been condemn'd and executed; for murder, highway, house-breakers, Street-Robberies, Coining, or other Offences; from the year 1720, to the present time: Containing Particularly, The Lives of Mrs. Griffin, for the Murder of her Maid; Kennedy the Pirate, Molony and Carrick, Highwaymen; Brinsden, who Murder'd his Wife; Lovee, and the rest of his Gang, Street-Robbers; Captain Massey for Piracy; Roch, for Piracy and Murder; Captain Stanley, for the Murder of Mrs. Maycock; a full Account of the Waltham Blacks; the famous Jack Shephard; his Companion Blueskin; and Towers, who was hang'd for setting up the new Mint. Collected from original papers and authentick memoirs. Vol. I. To which is Perfix'd A Preface, containing a General View of the Laws of England, with respect to Capital Offences. London: printed and sold by John Osborn, at the Golden-Ball in Pater-Noster-Row, MDCCXXXV. [1735]. ESTC No. T113783. Grub Street ID 165652.