John Watts (d. 1763; fl. ca. 1700 – 1763)
John Watts, printer, bookseller, publisher, and stationer, printer and publisher of music, and publisher of theatrical works and operas (1700–1763); in Bow Street, Covent Garden (1715–17); at the Printing Office in Wild Court near Lincoln's Inn Fields (1718–1755); in Little Queen Street, Lincoln's Inn Fields.
A Dictionary of the Printers and Booksellers who were at Work in England, Scotland and Ireland from 1668 to 1725, by Henry Plomer (1922)
WATTS (JOHN), printer in London, Little Queen Street, Lincoln's Inn Fields, 1700(?)–63. This was one of the most important printing houses in London in the first half of the eighteenth century, and was the school in which many eminent printers learnt the art. Nichols says: "The fame of Mr. John Watts for excellently good printing will endure as long as any public library shall exist. The duodecimo editions of Maittaire's Classicks 'ex officina lacobi Tonson et lohannis Watts' would alone have been sufficient to have immortalized his memory, both for correctness and neatness. But there are many works of still higher importance; Clarke's Caesar for example; and several beautiful volumes of English Classicks." [Lit. Anecd. I. 292.] Among those who worked in this office was Thomas Gent (q.v.) and Chalmers, the father of James Chalmers, printer to the City of Aberdeen; but the best known of all was Benjamin Franklin, who on finding himself stranded in London, first entered the printing office of Palmer and afterwards that of Watts, where he acted as compositor during the remainder of his stay in London. John Watts was one of the patrons of William Caslon the first, and lent him £100 to make a start. He died September 26th, 1763, aged 85. [Nichols, Lit. Anecd. III. 739.]
Notes & Queries "London Booksellers Series" (1931–2)
WATTS, JOHN. At the Printing Office at Wilde Court, in Lincoln's Inn Fields, c. 1700–1763. He is best known as a printer, but he also published several books and pamphlets, amongst them Colley Cibber's tragedy, 'Papal Tyranny in the Reign of King John.' A list of dramatic pieces published by him appears in the London Daily Post, 2 Jan., 1741. He died on Sept. 26, 1763, at the age of eighty-five.
—Frederick T. Wood, 24 October 1931
WATTS, JOHN. As a printer he was partner with Jacob Tonson in Covent Garden; and he was one of the earliest to employ William Caslon as a type-founder. Thomas Gent was in his employ; and Benjamin Franklin, in his early days was one of his compositors. In addition to being a known publisher of plays he printed several operas. The earliest was 'The Beggar's Opera' in 1728. (See Plomer, Timperley and Kidson op. cit.).
—Ambrose Heal, 19 December 1931