John Osborn (1) (d. by 1746?; fl. 1707–1746)

OSBORNE, JOHN. There were probably four John Osborns, or Osbornes, within our period. I think DR. WOOD has merged the records of two of them (Nos. 1 and 3) and omitted one entirely. The identities of these four have not been completely disentangled, but some correspondence between Mr. C. J. Longman and Mr. G. Morey Miller, on "The Publisher of 'Pamela'," which appeared in The Times Lit. Sup., 31 July and 28 Aug., 1930, brought certain information to light and Mr. Longman has kindly supplemented this by private correspondence. So far as I have been able to identify these John Osborns they appear to be:—

(1) Of St. Saviour's Dockhead, and later of Paternoster Row.
(2) Of Paternoster Row, (?) son of above.
(3) Of Lombard Street, and later of Paternoster Row.
(4) Son of No. 3.

No. 1. I have a letter-press trade-card of "John Osborn stationer and bookseller at the sign of the Ship at St. Saviour's Dock-Head," near Horsley Down. His imprints are found bearing this address 1707–1726. One of the books he published from there was 'The Four Voyages of Capt. George Roberts,' generally attributed to Defoe, which appeared in 1726. From 1733 onwards we find the imprint of John Osborn at the Golden Ball, Paternoster Row. There is no proof positive that this was the man from St. Saviour's Dockhead, but Mr. Longman tells me that, judging from a careful comparison of title pages, he is pretty certain this is so. It was this John Osborn (or possibly his son) who, in conjunction with Charles Rivington, published Richardson's Pamela.' The imprint reads, "Printed for C. Rivington, 1741, in St. Paul's Church-yard, and J. Osborne in Paternoster Row." In 1740 and 1744 he published two of the earliest London Directories. He probably died in 1746, for on 11 Nov. of that year the stock of "John Osborne deceased" was sold by auction.

—Ambrose Heal, 14 November 1931

OSBORN (JOHN), see Dictionary, 1668–1725. In 1735 his name is found alone, publishing from The Golden Ball, Paternoster Row. [Daily Journal, January 29th, 1735.] In 1739 John Osborn (late of Paternoster Row) printed an edition of Shakespeare's Works, "as a copy that lay in Common". The Booksellers did not venture to claim an exclusive right by law or equity, but bought up the copies which Osborn had printed, for a pension. [Observations on the Case of the Booksellers of London and Westminster.]

John Osborn, senior and junior, of Horsley Downs, Southwark: later of the Golden ball, Paternoster Row. The move occurred in 1733. Osborn, senior, became free of the Stationers' Company by redemption in 1725; John, junior, was apprenticed to him in 1729 and was made free in 1736. The older man was probably in trade for some years before he began buying Copies at the trade sales. Osborn senior was dead by 1746; he was succeeded by his son, with whom he had been in partnership since the later 1730's. Osborn junior got into a feud with the rest of the Trade in the 1740's by publishing books which—according to the Copyright Act of 1710, but not according to most of the other wholesale booksellers in London—were in the public domain; and he retired early. For further information about the younger man, see the notes to 120 in Appendix A.