Publications of James Fletcher senior

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:

"printed by x"; or
"sold by x"; or
"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):

"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 James Fletcher senior

Tovey, D'Blossiers. Anglia Judaica: or the history and antiquities of the Jews in England, collected from all our historians, both printed and manuscript, as also from the records in the Tower, and other publick repositories, by D'Blossiers Tovey ... Oxford: printed at the Theatre, and are to be sold by James Fletcher, 1738. ESTC No. T21895. Grub Street ID 243291.
Duke, Richard. Fifteen sermons preach'd on various occasions, chiefly on practical subjects. By the Reverend and learned Richard Duke, ... Oxford: printed at the Theatre, and sold by J. Fletcher: sold also by M. Cooper; and J. Duncan. London, 1743. ESTC No. N9740. Grub Street ID 54616.
An enquiry into the origin of the Cherokees, in a letter to a Member of Parliament. Oxford: printed at the Theatre for James Fletcher in the Turl: and sold by J. Fletcher in St. Paul's Church-Yard, London, MDCCLXII. [1762]. ESTC No. N9217. Grub Street ID 54093.
Randolph, Thomas. The use of reason in matters of religion stated and explain'd in a sermon Preached before the University of Oxford, at St. Peter's in the East on Sunday, Mar. 7. 1762. By Thomas Randolph, D. D. President of C. C. C. Oxford. Published at the Request of the Vice-Chancellor, and Heads of Houses. Oxford: printed at the Theatre; and sold by J. Fletcher, in the Turl, Oxford; and J. Fletcher in St. Paul's Church-Yard, London, [1762?]. ESTC No. T5118. Grub Street ID 278614.

Sold by James Fletcher senior

Sherlock, Thomas. A sermon preached at the cathedral church of Salisbury, October 6. 1745. on occasion of the rebellion in Scotland. By ... Thomas Lord Bishop of Salisbury. ... London: printed for Benjamin Collins, in Salisbury; and sold by J. Rivington [London], J. Fletcher at Oxford, and W. Frederick at Bath, 1745. ESTC No. T196872. Grub Street ID 230175.
Huntley, Thomas. A grammar of the Latin tongue: in which the four principal parts of grammar, orthography, analogy, syntax, and prosody, are distinctly treated of: ... The second edition. Compiled for the use of schools, by Thomas Huntley. [Cirencester]: Printed and sold by S. Rudder, Cirencester, 1794. Sold also by J. Phillips, London; J. Fletcher, Oxford; and T. Mills, Bristol, [1794]. ESTC No. N18004. Grub Street ID 7479.

Printed for James Fletcher senior

Tucker, Josiah. A brief history of the principles of Methodism, Wherein The Rise and Progress, together with the Causes of the several Variations, Divisions, and present Inconsistencies of this Sect are attempted to be traced out, and accounted for. By Josiah Tucker, M.A. Vicar of All Saints, and one of the Minor Canons of the College of Bristol. Oxford: printed for James Fletcher: and sold by J. Rivington in St Paul's Church-Yard, London; and the booksellers at Bristol, MDCCXLII. [1742]. ESTC No. T85810. Grub Street ID 306093.
The tablet of Cebes: OR, A Picture of Human Life. A Poem, Copied from The Greek of Cebes the Theban. By a Gentleman of Oxford. Oxford: printed for J. Fletcher, in the Turl, M.DCC.LIX. [1759]. ESTC No. N13576. Grub Street ID 3481.
Gentleman of Oxford.. The new Oxford guide: or, companion through the University. Exhibiting every particular worthy the observation of the curious ... To which is added, a tour to Blenheim, Ditchley, Heythrop, Nuneham, and Stow, ... Containing, an accurate description of their tapestry, paintings, sculptures, temples, gardens, and other curiosities. By a gentleman of Oxford. Oxford: printed for J. Fletcher; W. Jackson; E. Newbery; and J. Bew, London, 1786. ESTC No. N41828. Grub Street ID 28183.
Hawtrey, Charles. Free thoughts on liberty, and the revolution in France. By the author of A letter to Earl Stanhope on the Test. Oxford: printed for James Fletcher; and sold by Mess. Rivington, London, 1790. ESTC No. N31700. Grub Street ID 20575.
Church of England-Man.. A church of England-Man's answer to the arguments and petition of Protestant dissenters against the test. Oxford: printed for J. Fletcher. Sold, in London, by Rivington, St. Paul's Church-Yard; Payne, Mews Gate; and B. White, Fleetstreet, MDCCXC. [1790]. ESTC No. T64064. Grub Street ID 289152.

Printed by and for, or by/for and sold by James Fletcher senior

Watkins, Richard. A sermon preach'd on the fast-day, at Clifton Campvill in Staffordshire, Febr. 6. 1756. By R. Watkins, M.A. Oxford: printed and sold by James Fletcher in the Turl, and J. Whiston and B. White in Fleet-Street, London, MDCCLVI. [1756]. ESTC No. T1227. Grub Street ID 173320.

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