Thomas Longman the First (1699–1755; fl. 1726–1754)

LONGMAN (THOMAS), bookseller in London, Ship and Black Swan, Paternoster Row, 1724–55. Son of Ezekiel Longman of Bristol, and founder of the great publishing house; was apprenticed to John Osborn, bookseller of Lombard Street, on June 9th, 1716. Just at the expiration of his term, William Taylor, bookseller, of the Ship and Black Swan in Patemoster Row, died, and Osborn, who was one of the executors, persuaded Longman to purchase the business, which he reopened there soon after, having previously married Osborn's daughter Mary. His subsequent career lies outside the scope of this Dictionary, but an excellent history of the house of Longmans appeared in The Critic in 1860 [new ser, xx. 366, &c.].

LONGMAN, T. I am indebted to Mr. J. E. Chandler, a director of the present firm of Messrs. Longmans, Green and Co., Ltd., for the following information.

He [Thomas Longman] bought the publishing business of William Taylor in 1724, which was situated on the same site in Paternoster Row where the present building now stands. The first Thomas Longman was born in 1699, and at the age of seventeen was apprenticed by his guardians to a bookseller named John Osborn, who carried on business in Lombard Street. ... Following the custom of the time, Thomas Longman, during his apprenticeship, lived in the house of his master, and a friendship sprang up with Osborne's only daughter, whom Longman eventually married. This Thomas Longman was one of the junior members of the family which had for several generations been established in Bristol as soap-makers. The. sum paid by him for William Taylor's business was £2,282 9s. 6d. After a successful publishing career he died in 1755.

There have been five Thomas Longmans in connection with the firm, and Thomas Longman the fifth died at the end of 1930. The history of the House of Longmans was published privately in 1924, together with a record of the Bicentenary Celebrations, the authors being Harold Cox and John E. Chandler.

—Frederick T. Wood, 12 September 1931

LONGMAN, THOMAS. The account of this famous firm might well be supplemented. All mention has been omitted of their sign which has been so long connected with Paternoster Row. William Taylor (the original publishers of 'Robinson Crusoe,') whose business Longman purchased in 1724, occupied two shops in Paternoster Row with the respective signs of the Ship and the Black Swan. In 1725 Longman was joined in partnership by his father-in-law, John Osborn, and at first they used the sign of the Ship; but in later year the two emblems were joined and the sign became the Ship and Black Swan. Plomer—on the authority of Nichols—states that he was Master of the Stationers' Company in 1735; and that he died in 1739. Both of these statements are incorrect. Osborn died in 1734 (Gentleman's Magazine, 1734, p. 164). After Osborn's death Longman's name is principally associated with that of S. Buckley but in the years 1745 and 1747 a number of publications were issued from the Ship in Paternoster Row with the imprint of T. Longman and T. Shewell (or Sewell). Thomas Longman I died 18 June, 1755, and he left the bulk of his stock divided between his widow Mary and his nephew Thomas. The remainder was sold by auction on 8 April, 1756. The nephew Thomas had been taken into partnership in 1753 and the imprint of T. and T. Longman appeared on Locke's 'Essay Concerning Human Understanding,' (1753) and also on Johnson's Dictionary (1755). For a few years after the death of T. Longman I, we find the imprints of M. and T. Longman. Mary Longman died 16 Jan., 1762; and Thomas Longman II died in February, 1797. He was succeeded by his son Thomas Norton Longman. For further details of the firm see the Critic, March and April, 1860; 'D. N. B.' and the 'House of Longman,' privately published in 1925.

—Ambrose Heal, 7 November 1931

LONGMAN (THOMAS) [I], bookseller in London, Ship and Black Swan, Paternoster Row, 1726–75. See Dictionary, 1668-1725. The firm was carried on after the death of the founder under the same title. The name occurs in numerous advertisements of high-class publications up to 1775. In 1728 the firm was interested in the publication of Chambers's Encyclopaedia. Longman's share when it was first published cost £50, and was probably 1/64th part; but he bought up other shares, and by 1740 the Stationers' Book assigns him 11 out of 64 shares, a larger number than was ever held by any other proprietor. On the death of Osborn, his father-in-law, in 1746 Longman took Thomas Shremrell into partnership, but this only lasted two years. In 1754 a nephew, Thomas Longman (II), became a partner, after which the title-pages of their booksran: "Printed for T. & T. Longman at the Ship in Paternoster Row." The firm was associated with Dodsley, Millar, and others in the publication of Johnson's Dictionary. On June 10th, 1765, only two months after its publication, Thomas I, the elder, died. He had no children and left half the partnership stock to his nephew, and the rest of his property to his widow. Thomas Longman (II), the nephew, was born in 1731, entered the firm aged 15 as an apprentice, and at his uncle's death was only 25. Under his management the old tradtions were kept up, and the business relations with the American Colonies were increased. At the outbreak of War, Longman had a large sum laid out in that particular business, but several of his correspondents liquidated their debts in full even subsequent to the Peace of 1783. Longman married a Miss Harris and had by her three sons, of whom Thomas Norton Longman, born in 1771, began to take his father's place in the firm about 1792. In 1794 Owen Rees was admitted a member and the title of the firm was altered to Longman & Co. Thomas Longman (II) died February 5th, 1797. [Curwen.]