Publications of John Mozley

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 John Mozley

  • The school of wisdom; or repository of the most valuable curiosities of art & nature. ... Compiled from various authors. Gainsbrough: printed by John Mozley; and sold by J. F. and C. Rivington, London, 1776. ESTC No. T128783. Grub Street ID 178331.
  • The school of arts improv'd; or companion for the ingenious. ... Compiled from various authors. Gainsbrough: printed by John Mozley, 1776. ESTC No. N21607. Grub Street ID 10966.
  • Hodgson, Henry. Effusions of the heart and fancy in verse and prose. By the Rev. Henry Hodgson, B. A. of Peterhouse Cambridge, Curate of Market-Rasen, Lincolnshire. Gainsbrough: printed by J. Mozley, for the author. Sold by J. F. and C. Rivingtons, London; Mr. Woodyer and Messrs. Merrils, Cambridge, MDCCLXXVIII. [1778]. ESTC No. T111042. Grub Street ID 163510.

Sold by John Mozley

  • Philanthropos.. Theological converse. In a dialogue, between Juventus and Puber. The several Branches of which, may be said to comprehend A Definition Of Adam in Paradise: Singular. Idem ibid: Plural. Idem in Fallen State. The Possibility of Adam's Fall. The Original of Adam's Sin: shewing how God was not the Author of it. What is meant by the Lord's repenting, &c. that he had made Man on the Earth. Gen. 6. 6.) The Scripture Doctrine of Regeneration. - Redemption. Salvation. - Eternal Life. The Work occasionally interspersed with brief Philosophical and Metaphysical Strictures. By Philanthropos. To which is added, a Supplement: Discovering the the Sin unto Death: in its Nature and final Judgment. By the same author. Gainsbrough: printed and sold by John Mozley, and J. Weir, Horncastle, [1785?]. ESTC No. T120458. Grub Street ID 171498.
  • Watts, Isaac. Divine songs, attempted in easy language, for the use of children. By I. Watts, D.D. Gainsbrough: printed and sold by J. Mozley, M.DCC.LXXXVI. [1786]. ESTC No. T210089. Grub Street ID 238392.

Printed for John Mozley

  • A father's legacy to his daughter. London: printed for S. Osborne and J. Griffin, and J. Mozley, Gainsborough, [1780?]. ESTC No. T223933. Grub Street ID 246339.
  • Locke, John. A letter concerning toleration. By John Locke, Esq. A new edition. Published for the benefit of mankind. London: printed for J. Osborne and T. Griffin, and J. Mozley, Gainsborough, 1784. ESTC No. T155050. Grub Street ID 198943.
  • Gay, John. Fables by the late Mr. Gay. In one volume complete. London: printed for W. Osborn, & T. Griffin in Holborn, and J. Mozley in, Gainsbrough, MDCCLXXXIV. [1784]. ESTC No. T13863. Grub Street ID 186495.
  • Bunyan, John. The pilgrim's progress from this world to that which is to come. ... Complete in three parts. By John Bunyan. London: printed for J. Osborne and T. Griffin, and J. Mozley, Gainsborough, 1785. ESTC No. T58396. Grub Street ID 284512.
  • Goldsmith, Oliver. The poetical works of Dr. Goldsmith. Complete in one volume. London [i.e. Gainsborough]: printed for J. Osborne and T. Griffin, and J. Mozley, Gainsborough, 1785. ESTC No. T146790. Grub Street ID 193402.
  • Swift, Jonathan. The adventures of Captain Gulliver, in a voyage to the islands of Lilliput and Brobdingnag. Abridged from the works of the celebrated Dean Swift. Adorned with cuts. London: printed for P. Osborne & T. Griffin; and J. Mozley, Gainsbrough, 1785. ESTC No. N29463. Grub Street ID 18612.
  • Little Jack Horner's wonderful history, of birds, beasts, fishes, insects, and reptiles, adorned with a set of fine cuts: ... London: printed for W. Osborne and T. Griffin, and J. Mozley, Gainsbrough, 1786. ESTC No. N19477. Grub Street ID 8896.
  • The history of little Goody Two-Shoes, otherwise called Mrs. Margery Two-Shoes. ... London: printed for W. Osborn and J. Griffin; and J. Mozley, Gainsbrough, 1786. ESTC No. N7531. Grub Street ID 52469.
  • Aesop.. Select fables of Esop and other fabulists in three books. By R. Dodsley. London: printed for Willm. Osborne & Jno. Mozely, Gainsborough, [1788?]. ESTC No. N21716. Grub Street ID 11072.
  • Watts, Isaac. Hymns and spiritual songs. In three books. ... By I. Watts, D.D. London: printed for W. Osborne, T. Griffin: and J. M. Mozley and Co. Gainsbro', 1792. ESTC No. N17148. Grub Street ID 6614.