Publications of Thomas Cooper

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 by Thomas Cooper

  • Gentleman at Durham.. The principles and facts of the Lord Bishop of Chichester's sermon, and the defence of it, further examin'd and remark'd. In a letter to his Lordship from a gentleman at Durham. London: printed by T. Cooper, the Corner of Ivy-Lane, next Pater-Noster-Row, 1732. ESTC No. N11779. Grub Street ID 1780.
  • Whatley, Robert. Three letters. The first, to the Right Honourable Sir Robert Walpole, in December 1727. ... The second, to the Lord Chancellor King ... The third, to his Lordship, on the author's design of taking orders, in September 1728. Humbly inscribed to the minister. By Mr. Whatley. London: printed and sold by T. Cooper, 1739. ESTC No. T75474. Grub Street ID 298201.

Sold by Thomas Cooper

  • A collection of merry poems: consisting of facetious tales, epigrams, &c. from Oldham, Brown, Prior, Swift, And other Eminent Poets; with some from the weekly papers and miscellanies. Proposed as a pleasant Cure for the Hyp and Spleen. London: printed and sold by T. Cooper, at the Globe in Pater-Noster Row, 1736. ESTC No. N27710. Grub Street ID 16953.
  • Ellis, William. The timber-Tree improved; or, the best practical methods of improving different lands with proper timber, and Those Fruit-Trees whose Woods make the most profitable Returns to their Owners: According to the Newest Inventions, by the Plough, Harrow, and other Methods most approved of. By William Ellis, Of Little Gaddesden, near Hemstead in Hertfordshire. London: printed for the author, and sold by J. and J. Fox, at the Half-Moon and Seven-Stars, in Westminster-Hall; and at their shop at Tunbridge-Wells, during the summer season; sold also by E. Withers, in Fleet-Street, and T. Cooper in Pater-Noster-Row, 1738. ESTC No. T11287. Grub Street ID 164824.

Printed for Thomas Cooper

  • The man of integrity's character, with the Advantageousness of it. A sermon preach'd at the visitation held at Buckingham, May the 17th, 1734. By Edward Alanson, A. M. Rector of Clifton-Reyns and Hardmead, Bucks. Publish'd at the Request of some of the Clergy and Corporation. London: printed for Thomas Cooper, at the Globe in Ivy-Lane, 1734. ESTC No. T195965. Grub Street ID 229496.
  • Blyth, Francis. Advice to a friend on his marriage, a poem. London: printed for T. Cooper; Mrs. Nutt, Cooke, and Charlton; Mrs. Dodd; and at the pamphlet shops of London and Westminster, 1735. ESTC No. N1616. Grub Street ID 5842.
  • Pope, Alexander. Letters of Mr. Pope, And Several Eminent Persons, From the Year 1705 to 1735. Vol. I. London: printed for T. Cooper. and sold by the booksellers of London and Westminster, MDCCXXXV. [1735]. ESTC No. N10475. Grub Street ID 486.
  • The Daily gazetteer. London [England]: printed for T[homas]. Cooper, at the Globe in Pater-noster-Row, 1735-. ESTC No. P1763. Grub Street ID 55538.
  • Silvester, Tipping. A critical dissertation on Titus iii. 10,11. Wherein Mr Foster's notion of heresy, is consider'd and confuted. And the power of the Church to censure hereticks is vindicated. To which is added, a letter to Mr. Foster on the same Point, occasioned by his Second letter to Dr. Stebbing. By Tipping Silvester, M. A. Fellow of Pembroke College, Oxon, and Lecturer of St. Bartholomew the Great. London: printed by Thomas Gardner in Bartholomew-Close, for T. Cooper at the Globe in Pater-Noster Row, [1737?]. ESTC No. T34419. Grub Street ID 264725.
  • The projectors. A comedy. The second edition. The humours of the road, or, a ramble to Oxford. A comedy. The second edition. As they were both intended to be acted at one of the theatres. London: printed for T. Cooper at the Globe in Pater-Noster-Row, and sold by J. and J. Fox, at the Half-Moon and Seven-Stars in Westminster-Hall, [1739]. ESTC No. T179653. Grub Street ID 216370.
  • The Country correspondent. Being, a letter from a country gentleman to a friend in town. London [England]: printed for T[homas]. Cooper ..., 1739. ESTC No. P3384. Grub Street ID 56729.
  • The present state of the revenues and forces, by sea and land, of France and Spain. Compar'd with those of Great Britain. Being an essay to demonstrate the disadvantages under which France must enter into the present war, if the natural force of Britain is vigorously exerted. London: printed for Tho. Cooper, 1740. ESTC No. N62254. Grub Street ID 44626.
  • Dodsley, Robert. The first book of the chronicle of the Kings of England, from William the Conqueror to the reign of Queen Elizabeth. Written in the manner of the ancient Jewish historians. By Nathan ben Saddi, a priest of the Jews. London: printed for T. Cooper at the Globe in Pater-Noster-Row, [1741]. ESTC No. N1518. Grub Street ID 4915.
  • A review of the late election of Members to serve in Parliament for the City of Westminster; from Affidavits and other Authentic Evidences. London: printed for Thomas Cooper at the Globe in Pater-Noster-Row, 1741. ESTC No. T1982. Grub Street ID 230974.
  • Pope, Alexander. The new Dunciad: as it was found in the year 1741. With the illustrations of Scriblerus, and notes variorum. London: printed for T. Cooper, 1742. ESTC No. N10044. Grub Street ID 55.
  • Crébillon, Claude Prosper Jolyot de. The sopha: a moral tale. Translated from the French original of Monsieur Crebillon. Vol. I. London: printed for T. Cooper, at the Globe in Pater-Noster Row, MDCCXLII. [1742]. ESTC No. T115300. Grub Street ID 167066.
  • Crébillon, Claude Prosper Jolyot de. The sopha: a moral tale. Translated from the French of Monsieur Crebillon. Vol. I. London: printed for T. Cooper, No 27, Paternoster-Row, M.DCC.LXXXI. [1781]. ESTC No. T115299. Grub Street ID 167065.
  • Crébillon, Claude Prosper Jolyot de. The sopha: a moral tale, translated from the French original of Monsieur Crebillon. Two vols. in one. London: printed for T. Cooper, at the Globe in Pater-Noster Row, MDCCLXXXVII. [1787]. ESTC No. N23902. Grub Street ID 13264.

Printed by and for, or by/for and sold by Thomas Cooper

  • Mitchell. Gratulatory verses to Britannia. Upon occasion of the happy marriage of his Royal Highness Frederick, Prince of Wales, with her Illustrious Highness Augusta, Princess of Saxe-Gotha. By Mr. Mitchell. London: printed and sold by T. Cooper at the Globe, in Pater-Noster-Row, M.DCC.XXXVI. [1736]. ESTC No. T118531. Grub Street ID 170070.
  • Warne, Jonathan. The Church of England turn'd dissenter at last. Clearly proving, that the generality of those that profess themselves her clergy, have forsaken most of the important doctrines of her articles, homilies and collects, contained in the Common-Prayer. ... London: printed and sold by T. Cooper; and John Oswald, 1740. ESTC No. N44539. Grub Street ID 29944.