Publications of William Bunce

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 Bunce

  • A catalogue of the pictures, sculptures, designs in architecture, models, drawings, prints, &c. exhibited by the Society of Artists of Great-Britain, at the great room in Spring-Garden, Charing-Cross, April the twenty-third, 1765. Being the sixth year of their exhibition. [London]: Printed for the Society, by William Bunce, Russel-Street, Covent-Garden, MDCCLXV. [1765]. ESTC No. T72124. Grub Street ID 295680.
  • A catalogue of the pictures, sculptures, designs in architecture, models, drawings, prints, &c. exhibited by the Society of Artists of Great-Britain, at the great room, Spring-Garden, Charing-Cross, April the twenty-first, 1766. Being the seventh year of their exhibition. [London]: Printed for the Society, by William Bunce, Russel-Street, Covent-Garden, MDCLXVI. [1766]. ESTC No. T72125. Grub Street ID 295681.
  • The proposed deed of settlement of a society for granting annuities to the widows of gentlemen of the law. [London]: Printed by William Bunce, 1766. ESTC No. N62113. Grub Street ID 44522.
  • A catalogue of the pictures, sculptures, designs in architecture, models, drawings, prints, &c. exhibited at the great room in Spring-Garden, Charing-Cross, April the twenty-second, 1767, by the Society of Artists of Great-Britain, incorporated by His Majesty's royal charter. The eighth year of exhibiting. [London]: Printed for the Society, by William Bunce, Russel-Street, Covent-Garden, 1767. ESTC No. T72126. Grub Street ID 295682.
  • A catalogue of the pictures, sculptures, designs in architecture, models, drawings, prints, &c. exhibited at the great room in Spring-Garden, Charing-Cross, April the twenty-eighth, 1768, by the Society of Artists of Great-Britain, incorporated by His Majesty's royal charter. The ninth year of exhibiting. [London]: Printed for the Society, by William Bunce, Russel-Street, Covent-Garden, 1768. ESTC No. T72127. Grub Street ID 295683.
  • Walkingame, Francis. The tutor's assistant: being a compendium of arithmetic; and a complete question-book. In five parts. Containing. I. Arithmetic in whole Numbers; being a brief Explanation of all its Rules, in a new and more concise Method than any hither to published; with an Application to each Rule, consisting of a large Variety of Questions in real Business, with their Answers annexed. II. Vulgar Fractions, which are treated with a great deal of Plainness and perspicuity. III. Decimals with the Extraction of the Square, Cube, and Biquadrate Routs, after a very plain and Familiar Manner, in which are set down Rules for the easy Calculation of Interest, Annuities, and Pensions in Arrcars, the present Worth of Annuities, &c. either by Simple or Compound Interest. IV. Duodecimals or Multiplication of Feet and Inches, with Examples applied to measuring, and working by Multiplication, Practice, and Decimals. V. A Collection of Questions set down promiscuously, for the greater Trial of the foregoing Rules. [London]: Printed for the author, by W. Bunce, in Russel-Street, Covent-Garden; and sold by Edward Johnson, in Ave-Maria-Lane, (successor to the late Mr. Dod) and E. Walkingame, in St. Martin's Lane, near Charing-Cross, [1768?]. ESTC No. T188837. Grub Street ID 224546.
  • A catalogue of the pictures, sculptures, designs in architecture, models, drawings, prints, &c. exhibited at the great room in Spring-Garden, Charing-Cross, May the first, 1769. By the Royal Incorporated Society of Artists of Great-Britain. The tenth year of exhibiting. [London]: Printed for the Society, by William Bunce, Russel-Street, Covent-Garden, 1769. ESTC No. T72128. Grub Street ID 295684.
  • A catalogue of the pictures, sculptures, designs in architecture, models, drawings, prints, &c. exhibited at the great room in Spring-Garden, Charing-Cross, May the first, 1769. by The Royal Incorporated Society of Artists of Great-Britain. The tenth year of exhibiting. [London]: Printed for the Society, by William Bunce, Russel-Street, Covent-Garden, 1769. ESTC No. T28774. Grub Street ID 260365.
  • Reynolds, Sir Joshua. A discourse, delivered at the opening of the Royal Academy, January 2, 1769, by the president. London: printed by W. Bunce, and sold by T. Davies, [1769]. ESTC No. N55419. Grub Street ID 38926.
  • The exhibition of the Royal Academy, MDCCLXIX. The first. [London]: Printed by William Bunce, Printer to the Royal Academy, [1769]. ESTC No. T33772. Grub Street ID 264266.

Sold by William Bunce

  • Cooper, William. The will of a certain northern vicar: carefully copied from the original, deposited in his own cabinet, at N-------- upon T---. London: printed for the author; and sold by William Bunce, in Russel-Street, Covent-Garden; William Charnley, Newcastle upon Tyne; J. Tessyman, at York; J. Leeke, at Bath - Bristol, &c. &c, [1765]. ESTC No. T52502. Grub Street ID 279580.
  • Cooper, William. The will of a certain northern vicar. The second edition, with corrections. To which is annex'd a codicil. London: printed for the author, and sold by W. Bunce; the booksellers at Durham, and Newcastle upon Tyne; W. Tessyman, at York; J. Leeke, [sic] at Bath: - Bristol, Tunbridge, &c. &c, 1765. ESTC No. T125867. Grub Street ID 175924.
  • Reynolds, Sir Joshua. A discourse, delivered at the opening of the Royal Academy, January 2, 1769, by the president. London: printed by W. Bunce, and sold by T. Davies, 1769. ESTC No. T31942. Grub Street ID 262695.

Printed for William Bunce

  • Wills, James. A sermon preached at St. Paul's Church, Covent-Garden, on Monday the 19th of October, 1767. before the Incorporated Society of Artists of Great-Britain. Being the Day of their Annual Election: St. Luke the proper Day, being on Sunday the 18th. By the Rev. James Wills, Chaplain to the Society, and Curate of Whitchurch. Published at the Request of the Society. London: printed for W. Bunce, Russel-Street, Covent-Garden; J. Dodsley, Pall-Mall, J. Walter, Charing-Cross; and J. Wilkie, St. Paul's Church-Yard, [1767]. ESTC No. T95474. Grub Street ID 314980.
  • Francklin, Thomas. A sermon preached in the chapel of the Asylum for Female Orphans, at the anniversary meeting of the guardians, on Monday the sixteenth of May, 1768. Published at their Request. By the Revd. Thomas Francklin, Vicar of Ware, in Hertfordshire, And Chaplain in Ordinary to His Majesty. London: printed for W. Bunce, Russel-Street, Covent-Garden; R. Baldwin, Pater-Noster-Row; T. Davies, Russel-Street; J. Wilkie, St. Paul's Church-Yard; and J. Walter, Charing-Cross, [1768]. ESTC No. T69589. Grub Street ID 293555.

Printed by and for, or by/for and sold by William Bunce

  • Francklin, Thomas. Sermons on the relative duties. Preached at Queen-Street Chapel, and St. Paul's Covent-Garden. By the Revd. Tho. Francklin, M. A. Vicar of Ware in Hertfordshire. London: printed and sold by W. Bunce, in Russel-Street, Covent-Garden; (succesor to the late Mr. R. Francklin) R. Baldwin, in Pater-Noster-Row; J. Dodsley, in Pall-Mall; T. Davies, Russel-Street; and C. Moran, under the Great Piazza, Covent-Garden, MDCCLXV. [1765]. ESTC No. T104512. Grub Street ID 158028.
  • Moore, Edward. The dramatic works of Mr. Edward Moore. Containing, The foundling, a comedy; Gil Blas, a comedy; The gamester, a tragedy. London: printed and sold by W. Bunce; (successor to the late Mr. R. Francklin) R. Baldwin; J. Dodsley; and T. Davies, 1765. ESTC No. N54699. Grub Street ID 38364.
  • Hallifax, James. A sermon preached in the chapel of the Asylum for Female Orphans, at the anniversary meeting of the guardians, on Friday the sixteenth of May, 1766. Published at their Request, and for the sole Benefit of the Charity. By the Rev. James Hallifax, D. D. Rector of Cheddington, Bucks, and Vicar of Ewell, in the County of Surry. London: printed and sold by W. Bunce, in Russel-Street, Covent-Garden; sold also by R. Dodsley, in Pall-Mall; J. Walter at Charing-Cross; J. Wilkie in St. Paul's Church-Yard, and at the Asylum, D.DCC.LXVI [1766]. ESTC No. T96363. Grub Street ID 315819.