Publications of Mary Fletcher

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 Mary Fletcher

  • Bentham, Edward. Reflections upon the nature and usefulness of logick as it has been commonly taught in the schools. By Edward Bentham M. A. Fellow of Oriel College, Oxford. Oxford: printed at the Theatre; and sold by Mary Fletcher Bookseller in Oxford, Oxford, S. Birt in Ave-Mary Lane, J. Stagg in Westminster Hall, London, and W. Thurlborn, Cambridge, 1740. ESTC No. T97801. Grub Street ID 317167.

Author

  • Fletcher, Mary. A letter to the Rev. Mr. John Wesley. By a gentlewoman. London: sold at the Foundery, Upper Moorfields; and at Mrs. Englefield's, at the Bible, in West-Sreet near the Seven Dials, 1764. ESTC No. N1014. Grub Street ID 151.
  • Fletcher, Mary. Jesus, altogether lovely: or a letter to some of the single women in the Methodist Society. London: printed by Robert Hawes, the Corner of Dorset-Street, Crispin-Street, Spitalfields. And sold at the foundry, Moorfields, [1766]. ESTC No. T92106. Grub Street ID 311909.
  • Fletcher, Mary. A letter written to Elizabeth A----ws, on her removal from England. Leeds: printed by J. Bowling, and sold by J. Walker, and J. Paramore, in Sheffield, [1770?]. ESTC No. T178110. Grub Street ID 215048.
  • Fletcher, Mary. A letter, written to Elizabeth A----ws, on Her Removal from England. [Leeds]: From the press of James Bowling, Leeds -Bridge, M.DCC.LXX. [1770]. ESTC No. T178036. Grub Street ID 214966.
  • Fletcher, Mary. A letter, written to Elizabeth written to Elizabeth A---ws, on Her Removal from England. Bristol: printed by William Pine, Wine-Street, 1771. ESTC No. T176626. Grub Street ID 213647.
  • Fletcher, Mary. A letter, written to Elizabeth A---ws, on her removal from England. [Leeds]: From the press of James Bowling, 1771. ESTC No. N60661. Grub Street ID 43671.
  • Fletcher, Mary. An aunt's advice to a niece, in a letter to Miss **** *******,. Leeds: printed by J. Bowling, and sold by J. Binns, in Briggate. MDCCLXXX. [1780]. ESTC No. T127061. Grub Street ID 176906.
  • Fletcher, Mary. Jesus altogether lovely: or, a letter to some of the single women in the Methodist Society. London: printed by R. Hawes, and sold at the New Chapel, in the City Road; and at the Rev. Mr. Wesley's preaching-houses, in town and country, 1780. ESTC No. T188183. Grub Street ID 224016.
  • Fletcher, Mary. Jesus, altogether lovely: or, a letter to some of the single women in the Methodist Society. London: printed by R. Hawes, And sold at the New Chapel, in the City Road; and at the Rev. Mr. Wesley's Preaching Houses, in Town and Country, 1780. ESTC No. T200709. Grub Street ID 232266.
  • Fletcher, Mary. An aunt's advice to a niece, in a letter to Miss **** *******. Also some account of a correspondence with the late Rev. Dr. Dodd, during his imprisonment. By Mary Bosanquet. Leeds: printed by J. Bowling, and sold by J. Binns, in Briggate, M.DCC.LXXX. [1780]. ESTC No. T162724. Grub Street ID 201441.
  • Fletcher, Mary. A letter to the Rev. Mr. Wesley on the death of the Rev. Mr. Fletcher, Vicar of Madeley in Shropshire. Madeley: printed by J. Edmunds, [1785?]. ESTC No. T7874. Grub Street ID 300469.
  • Fletcher, Mary. A letter to the Rev. Mr. Wesley on the death of the Rev. Mr. Fletcher, Vicar of Madley in Shropshire. Blessed are the Dead who die in the Lord: even so saith the Spirit; for they rest from their Labours and their works do follow them. Falmouth: printed by Philip Elliot, [1786?]. ESTC No. T169857. Grub Street ID 207634.
  • Fletcher, Mary. A letter to Mons. H.L. De la Fléchre, Assessor Ballival of Nyon, in the Canton of Berne, Switzerland, on the death of his brother, the Reverend John William de la Fléchre, twenty-five years vicar of Madeley, Shropshire. London: printed by R. Hindmarsh, and sold by G. Clark, 1786. ESTC No. T7875. Grub Street ID 300479.
  • Fletcher, Mary. Jesus altogether lovely: or, a letter to some of the single women in the Methodist Society. London: printed by G. Paramore, and sold by G. Whitfield, 1791. ESTC No. T188185. Grub Street ID 224018.
  • Fletcher, Mary. An aunt's advice to a niece, in a letter to Miss *** *******. Also some account of a correspondence with the late Rev. Dr. Dodd, during his imprisonment. By Mary Bosanquet. Dublin: printed by Robert Napper, for B. Dugdale, 1793. ESTC No. T218646. Grub Street ID 243120.
  • Fletcher, Mary. Jesus altogether lovely: illustrated in a letter to some of the single women in the Methodist Society. London: printed by G. Paramore. Sold by G. Whitfield, 1795. ESTC No. T188182. Grub Street ID 224015.
  • Fletcher, Mary. An aunt's advice to a niece, in a letter to Miss Mary Gaussen. Also some account of a correspondence with the late Rev. Dr. Dodd, during his imprisonment. By Mary De La Flechere. Madeley: printed by J. Edmunds, 1795. ESTC No. N63403. Grub Street ID 45584.
  • Fletcher, Mary. The Christian guide to holiness. A letter, written to Elizabeth A----ws, on her removal to England, by M. Bosanquet;. Burslem: printed, by J. Tregortha, M.DCC.L,XCVI [i.e 1796]. ESTC No. T231047. Grub Street ID 250430.
  • Fletcher, Mary. The Christian guide to holiness. A letter, written to Elizabeth A----ws, on her removal from England, by M. Bosanquet;. Burslem: printed by J. Tregortha, M.DCC.L,XCVI [i.e. 1796]. ESTC No. R232502. Grub Street ID 104289.
  • Fletcher, Mary. Jesus altogether lovely: illustrated in a letter to some of the single women in the Methodist Society. London: printed for G. Whitfield, 1798. ESTC No. N28985. Grub Street ID 18175.