Publications of William Bowyer the elder

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 William Bowyer the elder

  • The bride-woman's counsellor: being a sermon preached at a wedding, May the 11th. 1699, at She[r]bourn in Dorsetshire. By John Sprint. London: printed by W[illiam]. Bowyer; and sold by A[bigail]. Baldwin, in Warwick-Lane, MDCC. [1700]. ESTC No. R184550. Grub Street ID 74050.
  • Sharp, John. Fifteen sermons preach'd on several occasions. The last of which was never before printed. By the most reverend father in God, John, Lord Arch-Bishop of York, primate of England, and Metropolitan. London: printed by Will. Bowyer, for Walter Kettilby at the Bishop's Head in St. Paul's Church-Yard, 1700. ESTC No. R4705. Grub Street ID 125094.
  • Young, Edward. Two sermons concerning nature and grace. Preach'd at White-Hall, April, 1699. By E. Young, Fellow of Winchester-College, and Chaplain in Ordinary to His Majesty. London: printed by W[illiam]. Bowyer, for Walter Kettilby, at the Bishop's Head in St. Paul's Church-yard, 1700. ESTC No. R187816. Grub Street ID 75960.
  • Patrick, Simon. A treatise of repentance and of fasting, especially in the Lent-Fast. In three parts. By Simon Patrick, D.D. now Lord Bishop of Ely. London: printed by W[illiam]. B[owyer]. for Luke Meredith, at the Star in St. Paul's Church-Yard, 1700. ESTC No. R33030. Grub Street ID 115685.
  • Jonson, Ben. Earl Mortimer's speech. [London: printed by William Bowyer for Lintott, 1711]. ESTC No. N276. Grub Street ID 16848.
  • Bisse, Thomas. Microscopium, & certamen glaciale. [London?: printed by William Bowyer?, 1716?]. ESTC No. T125625. Grub Street ID 175755.
  • Pope, Alexander. The works of Mr. Alexander Pope. London: printed by W. Bowyer, for Bernard Lintot, 1717. ESTC No. T5385. Grub Street ID 280748.
  • Wotton, William. The omniscience of the Son of God, an undoubted argument of his divinity: being a discourse upon St. Mark xiii. 32. By W. Wotton, D.D. London: printed by W. Bowyer for Tim. Goodwin, at the Queen's Head against St. Dunstans Church in Fleet-Street, 1720. ESTC No. N10355. Grub Street ID 364.
  • Piazza, Girolamo Bartolomeo. Relation succincte & veritable de l'Inquisition et de ses procedures, comme il se pratique en Italie, ce qui est represente dans des CAS particuliers. ˠquoi est ajouté un extrait d'un livre authentique de legendes de l'Eglise Romaine. Par Hierome Barthelemi Piazza, Italien de Naissance; autresois prosesseur en Philosophie & en Theologie, & un des Juges Delegues de ce Tribunal, & maintenant par la grace de Dieu proselyte de l'Eglise Anglicane. Londres: imprim par Guillaume Bowyer, 1722. ESTC No. T114267. Grub Street ID 166089.
  • Madox, Thomas. Firma burgi, or an historical essay concerning the cities towns and buroughs of England. Taken from records. By Thomas Madox Esquire, His Majesties Historiographer. London: printed by William Bowyer; and sold by Robert Gosling at the Middle-Temple-Gate in Fleetstreet, MDCCXXVI. [1726]. ESTC No. T97070. Grub Street ID 316512.
  • Reeves, William. Fourteen sermons preach'd on several occasions. By William Reeves, M. A. Late Vicar of St. Mary's in Reading. Now first published from the Author's Manuscript, prepared for the Press by himself. London: printed by W[illiam] B[owyer] for R. Williamson, near Grays-Inn-Gate in Holbourn, and S. Birt at the Bible in Avemary-Lane, MDCCXXIX. [1729]. ESTC No. T109365. Grub Street ID 162159.
  • Régnier, Mathurin. Les satyres et autres oeuvres de Regnier, avec des remarques. A Londres: [imprimé par William Bowyer] chez Lyon & Woodman, MDCCXXIX. [1729]. ESTC No. T111966. Grub Street ID 164018.
  • Cheselden, William. An appendix to the fourth edition of the Anatomy of the human body. Printed separately for the use of those who have the former editions. By W. Cheselden, ... London: printed by W. Bowyer: and sold by James and John Knapton, A. Bettesworth, J. Osborn and T. Longman, J. Noon, and J. Clark, 1730. ESTC No. N30310. Grub Street ID 19278.
  • Voltaire. Lettres écrites de Londres sur les Anglois et autres sujets. Par M. D. V***. Basle [i.e. London?: printed by W. Bowyer?], 1734. ESTC No. T138264. Grub Street ID 186136.
  • Nelson, Robert. Instructions for them that come to be confirmed, by way of question and answer: with prayers for them to use before and after their confirmation. By Rob. Nelson, Esq;. London: printed by W. Bowyer, for J. Walthoe, R. Wilkin, J. and J. Bonwicke, S. Birt, T. Osborn, and E. Wicksteed, 1737. ESTC No. N18440. Grub Street ID 7915.