Jonah Bowyer (fl. 1705–1727)

BOWYER (JONAH or JONAS), bookseller in London, Rose, Ludgate Street, (a) the corner of St. Paul's Churchyard, (b) near the West End of St. Paul's Churchyard, 1705–22. Nichols states that this bookseller was no relation to William Bowyer the printer. He succeeded W. Hawes at the Rose in 1705, and his first pubhcation was a divinity book [T.C. III. 436.] In 1713 he gave a subscription of two guineas to the Bowyer Fund. Lintot is said to have bought of him a half share in Lauderdale's Virgil for £5 7s. 6d. [Nichols, Lit. Anecd. VIII. 294.] In September 1722 he gave Harley some papers, [Ib. I. 9.]

BOWYER, JONAH. Not to be confused with Bowyer the printer, to whom Nichols avers he was no relation. He was trading at the Ro[s]e in Ludgate Street, near the west end of St. Paul's Churchyard, by 1705, having taken over the premises from William Hawes (see infra). In the severe frost of January and February, 1716, booksellers erected booths and stalls upon the frozen Thames, and amongst them was to be found the stall of Jonah Bowyer (Nichols's 'Anecdotes' i. 118). On Sept. 1, 1722, he presented the Harleian Library with a collection of valuable manuscripts, a gift which Nichols saw that posterity should not forget. Fuller details of his life and character will be found in Malcolm's 'Anecdotes of the Manners and Customs of London in the Eighteenth Century' (1808) p. 325.

—Frederick T. Wood, 25 July 1931

BOWYER, JONAH. He is variously referred to as Jonah, Jonas or Jonathan. His sign was the Rose in Ludgate Street, not the "Roe," as the printer has given it. Timperley says it is not known whether the booth-holder on the frozen Thames i n 1716 was William Bowyer, the printer, or Jonah Bowyer, the bookseller.

—Ambrose Heal, 8 August 1931