Publications of Mary King

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).

Sold by Mary King

  • Fawcett, J. Sermons on the following subjects. The truth of the Christian religion. The Nature of Saving Faith. The Scripture Doctrine of Justification. The Nature and Conditions of the Gospel-Covenant. The Nature of Christianity with regard to Practice. The serving God a reasonable Service. The Gain of the World no Amends for the Loss of the Soul. The peculiar Benefits of an early Piety. The Impossibility of serving two Masters. The religious Use of Astronomy. The Creation of Man in God's Image. The Incarnation and Sufferings of Christ. The great Benefit of Consideration. The Resurrection of Christ from the Dead. And, The intrinsic Excellence of the Moral Law. By J. Fawcett. London: printed for the Author: and sold by John Noon, at the White Hart in Cheapside; by Mrs. King, at the Bible and Crown in Fore street; and by E. Owen, in Hand-Court, Holborn, M.DCC.XLIX. [1749]. ESTC No. T73113. Grub Street ID 296451.
  • Hill, John. Sermons on several occasions. By the late Reverend Mr. John Hill, ... London: printed for and sold by George Hill, at Mr. Rybright's: sold also by J. Oswald; M. King, and A. Mason; J. Buckland; and J. Browne, 1749. ESTC No. N37112. Grub Street ID 25067.
  • Gibbons, Thomas. Juvenilia: poems on various subjects of devotion and virtue. By Thomas Gibbons. London: printed for J. Buckland, at the Buck in Pater-Noster-Row; and J. Ward, at the King's-Arms in Cornhill: sold also by Mr. Oswald, in the Poultry; Mr. Gardner, in Lombard-Street; and Mrs. King, in Fore-Street, MDCCL. [1750]. ESTC No. T94167. Grub Street ID 313774.
  • Thomas, Timothy. The hidden life of a Christian exemplified in the diary, meditations, and letters of a young minister. Published from authentic manuscripts. By Thomas Gibbons. London: printed for James Buckland, John Ward; sold also by M. King, [1752?]. ESTC No. N32866. Grub Street ID 21438.
  • Hale, Matthew. Sir Matthew Hale's three epistles to his children. With directions concerning their religious observation of the Lord's day. To which is prefixed an account of the author's life. London: sold by J. Dempster, R. Nelson, T. Prince, W. Draper, S. Tomlinson, M. King, P. Dixon, A. Bland, and C. Holland, [1775?]. ESTC No. T174558. Grub Street ID 211645.

Printed for Mary King

  • Bures, Thomas. A funeral sermon occasioned by the death of the Reverend Mr. Daniel Mayo, M. A. Who departed this Life June 13. Preached at Silver Street, June 24. 1733. By Thomas Bures. Published at the Desire of the Congregation. London: printed for Mary King, at the Bible and Crown in Forestreet, near Great Moregate, 1733. ESTC No. T115065. Grub Street ID 166844.
  • Gibbons, Thomas. The religious observance of the sabbath, Practically stated and inforced. By Thomas Gibbons. London: printed for J. Oswald and W. Dilly, in the Poultry; M. King, in Forestreet; James Buckland, in Pater-Noster-Row; J. Ward, in Little Britain; and E. Gardiner, in Lombard-Street, MDCCXLIX. [1749]. ESTC No. T168745. Grub Street ID 206619.
  • Gibbons, Thomas. An elegiac poem, to the memory of the Rev. Isaac Watts, D. D. Who departed this Life November 25, 1748, in the 75th Year of his Age. By Thomas Gibbons. London: printed for J. Oswald in the Poultry; J. Buckland in Paternoster-Row; M. King in Fore-Street; J. Ward in Little-Britain, and E. Gardner in Lombard-Street, [1749]. ESTC No. T54170. Grub Street ID 281035.
  • Guyse, John. The unchangeable duration of God's kindness and covenant. A sermon preached at Artillery-Lane, Feb. 25, 1749-50. on occasion of the death of the Reverend Mr. Mordecai Andrews, Who departed this Life February 16. In the 33d Year of his Age. By John Guyse, D.D. with an oration at the Interment by Thomas Towle. Both of them delivered and published at the unanimous Request of the Church. To which is added, An elegiac ode by Thomas Gibbons. London: printed for J. Oswald, at the Rose and Crown, near the Mansion-House; and M. King, at the Bible in Fore-Street, near Moor-Gate, [1750]. ESTC No. T16193. Grub Street ID 200882.
  • Guyse, John. The unchangeable duration of God's kindness and covenant. A sermon preached at Artillery-Lane, Feb.25, 1749-50. on occasion of the death of the Reverend Mr. Mordecai Andrews, Who departed this Life February 16. In the 33d Year of his Age. By John Guyse, D.D. With an oration at the Interment By Thomas Towle. Both of them delivered and published at the unanimous Request of the Church. To which is added, An elegiac ode by Thomas Gibbons. London: printed for J. Oswald, at the Rose and Crown, near the Mansion-House; and M. King, at the Bible in Fore-Street, near Moor-Gate, 1750. ESTC No. T4074. Grub Street ID 269780.
  • Gibbons, Thomas. Sympathy with our suffering brethren, and an improvement of their distresses shewn to be our duty, in two discourses; ... By Thomas Gibbons. London: printed for J. Buckland; J. Ward; T. Field; and M. King, 1755. ESTC No. T2343. Grub Street ID 257589.
  • Gibbons, Thomas. A sermon, preached at Haberdashers-Hall, November 30th, on occasion of the tremendous earthquake at Lisbon, November 1. 1755. By Thomas Gibbons. London: printed for J. Buckland; J. Ward; T. Field; and M. King, 1755. ESTC No. T173692. Grub Street ID 210927.
  • An address to the inhabitants of Great-Britain; occasioned by the late earthquake at Lisbon. ... London: printed for J. Buckland; T. Field; E. Dilly; M. King; and J. Robinson; and sold at the pamphlet-shops at the Royal-Exchange, 1756. ESTC No. T76026. Grub Street ID 298531.
  • Gibbons, Thomas. Our duty as patriots, protestants, and Christians, in a time of war, represented and inforced in a sermon preached at Haberdashers Hall, May 23. On occasion of the public declaration of war against the French king, May 18. 1756. By Thomas Gibbons. London: printed for J. Buckland; J. Ward; T. Field; and M. King, 1756. ESTC No. T4824. Grub Street ID 276168.
  • Gibbons, Thomas. A sermon preached at Haberdashers-Hall, November 30th, on occasion of the tremendous earthquake at Lisbon, November 1, 1755. By Thomas Gibbons. London: printed for J. Buckland, at the Buck in Pater-Noster-Row; J. Ward, at the King's Arms in Cornhill; T. Field, at the Corner of Pater-Noster-Row in Cheapside; and M. King, at the Bible and Crown in Fore-Street, near Moorfields, [1756]. ESTC No. T94254. Grub Street ID 313853.

Printed by and for, or by/for and sold by Mary King

  • A letter to the Reverend Mr. Castleman, ... on his turning Anabaptist. With some queries, shewing the inconsistency of rebaptization with the other parts of his conduct, ... London: printed and sold by James Waugh; and Mary King, 1751. ESTC No. T38356. Grub Street ID 267834.
  • A letter to the Reverend Mr. Castleman, ... on his turning Anabaptist. With some queries, shewing the inconsistency of rebaptization with the other parts of his conduct, ... London: printed and sold by James Waugh; and Mary King, 1751. ESTC No. T216479. Grub Street ID 242005.
  • Hayward, Samuel. An earnest and affectionate address to young persons, of various characters: in a sermon, delivered Jan.1, 1756. at Silver-Street. To which is added, A short Address to Parents and Heads of Families. By S. Hayward. London: printed for and sold by J. Buckland, at the Buck in Pater-Noster-Row; T. Field, at the Wheat-Sheaf, the upper End of Cheapside; E. Dilly, at the Rose and Crown in the Poultry; J. Robinson, at Dock-Head, Southwark; and M. King, at the Bible in Fore-Street, MDCCLVI. [1756]. ESTC No. T66234. Grub Street ID 290983.