Robert Dodsley
Encyclopedia
Robert Dodsley was an English
bookseller and miscellaneous writer.
He is said to have been apprenticed to a stocking-weaver in Mansfield, from whom he ran away, going into service as a footman. Profits from his literary works enabled Dodsley to establish himself with the help of his friends--Alexander Pope
lent him £100—as a bookseller at the "Tully's Head" in Pall Mall
in 1735.
He soon became one of the foremost publishers of the day. One of his first publications was Samuel Johnson
's London, for which he paid ten guineas in 1738. He published many of Johnson's works, and he suggested and helped to finance the English Dictionary
. Pope also made over to Dodsley his interest in his letters. In 1738 the publication of Paul Whitehead
's Manners, voted scandalous by the House of Lords
, led to a short imprisonment. Dodsley published for Edward Young
and Mark Akenside
, and in 1751 brought out Thomas Gray
's Elegy.
In 1759 Dodsley retired, leaving the conduct of the business to his brother James
(1724–1797), with whom he had been many years in partnership. He died at Durham
while on a visit to his friend the Rev. Joseph Spence
.
; and a collection of short poems, A Muse in Livery, or the Footman's Miscellany, was published by subscription in 1732, Dodsley's patrons comprising many persons of high rank. This was followed by a satirical farce
called The Toyshop (Covent Garden
, 1735), in which the toymaker indulges in moral observations on his wares, a hint which was probably taken from Thomas Randolph
's Conceited Pedlar.
He also founded several literary periodicals: The Museum (1746–1767, 3 vols.); The Preceptor containing a general course of education (1748, 2 vols.), with an introduction by Dr Johnson; The World (1753–1756, 4 vols.); and The Annual Register
, founded in 1758 with Edmund Burke
as editor. To these various works, Horace Walpole, Akenside, Soame Jenyns
, Lord Lyttelton, Lord Chesterfield
, Burke and others were contributors.
Dodsley is, however, best known as the editor of two collections: Select Collection of Old Plays (12 vols., 1744; 2nd edition with notes by Isaac Reed
, 12 vols., 1780; 4th edition, by William Carew Hazlitt
, 1874–1876, 15 vols.); and A collection of Poems by Several Hands (1748, 3 vols.), which passed through many editions. In 1737 his King and the Miller of Mansfield, a "dramatic tale" of King Henry II
, was produced at Drury Lane
, and received with much applause; the sequel, Sir John Cockle at Court, a farce, appeared in 1738.
In 1745 he published a collection of his dramatic works, and some poems which had been issued separately, in one volume under the modest title of Trifles. This was followed by The Triumph of Peace, a Masque occasioned by the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1749); a fragment, entitled Agriculture, of a long tedious poem in blank verse
on Public Virtue (1753); The Blind Beggar of Bethnal Green (acted at Drury Lane 1739, printed 1741); and an ode, Melpomene (1751). His tragedy of Cleone (1758) had a long run at Covent Garden, 2000 copies being sold on the day of publication, and it passed through four editions within the year.
Lord Chesterfield is, however, almost certainly the author of the series of mock chronicles of which The Chronicle of the Kings of England by "Nathan ben Saddi" (1740) is the first, although they were included in the Trifles and "ben Saddi" was received as Dodsley's pseudonym. The Economy of Human Life (1750), a collection of moral precepts frequently reprinted, may also be written by Lord Chesterfield, although the 1817 edition has a "Sketch of the Life of Dodsley", that explicitly states (pp. vi-vii http://books.google.nl/books?id=rPENAAAAQAAJ&dq=%22robert+dodsley%22+economy+human+life&printsec=frontcover&source=bl&ots=GTvpsnOeeL&sig=SVYwTQbWl1IAeng7xZTO5S1FJWc&hl=nl&ei=fncRSvqoF4GP-Abdmey4AQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1#PPR6,M1) that Dodsley really is the author; his name is now on the title page.
He published two more works, The Select Fables of Aesop translated by R. D. (1764) and the Works of William Shenstone (3 vols., 1764–1769).
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
bookseller and miscellaneous writer.
Life
He was born near Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, where his father was master of the free school.He is said to have been apprenticed to a stocking-weaver in Mansfield, from whom he ran away, going into service as a footman. Profits from his literary works enabled Dodsley to establish himself with the help of his friends--Alexander Pope
Alexander Pope
Alexander Pope was an 18th-century English poet, best known for his satirical verse and for his translation of Homer. He is the third-most frequently quoted writer in The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, after Shakespeare and Tennyson...
lent him £100—as a bookseller at the "Tully's Head" in Pall Mall
Pall Mall, London
Pall Mall is a street in the City of Westminster, London, and parallel to The Mall, from St. James's Street across Waterloo Place to the Haymarket; while Pall Mall East continues into Trafalgar Square. The street is a major thoroughfare in the St James's area of London, and a section of the...
in 1735.
He soon became one of the foremost publishers of the day. One of his first publications was Samuel Johnson
Samuel Johnson
Samuel Johnson , often referred to as Dr. Johnson, was an English author who made lasting contributions to English literature as a poet, essayist, moralist, literary critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer...
's London, for which he paid ten guineas in 1738. He published many of Johnson's works, and he suggested and helped to finance the English Dictionary
A Dictionary of the English Language
Published on 15 April 1755 and written by Samuel Johnson, A Dictionary of the English Language, sometimes published as Johnson's Dictionary, is among the most influential dictionaries in the history of the English language....
. Pope also made over to Dodsley his interest in his letters. In 1738 the publication of Paul Whitehead
Paul Whitehead
Paul Whitehead is a painter and graphic artist known for his surrealistic album covers for artists on the Charisma Records label in the 1970s, such as Genesis and Van der Graaf Generator.-England: Liberty Records and Charisma Records:...
's Manners, voted scandalous by the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
, led to a short imprisonment. Dodsley published for Edward Young
Edward Young
Edward Young was an English poet, best remembered for Night Thoughts.-Early life:He was the son of Edward Young, later Dean of Salisbury, and was born at his father's rectory at Upham, near Winchester, where he was baptized on 3 July 1683. He was educated at Winchester College, and matriculated...
and Mark Akenside
Mark Akenside
Mark Akenside was an English poet and physician.Akenside was born at Newcastle upon Tyne, England, the son of a butcher. He was slightly lame all his life from a wound he received as a child from his father's cleaver...
, and in 1751 brought out Thomas Gray
Thomas Gray
Thomas Gray was a poet, letter-writer, classical scholar and professor at Cambridge University.-Early life and education:...
's Elegy.
In 1759 Dodsley retired, leaving the conduct of the business to his brother James
James Dodsley
-Life:Dodsley was born near Mansfield in Nottinghamshire in 1724. He was probably employed in the shop of his prosperous brother, Robert, by whom he was taken into partnership—the firm trading as R. & J. Dodsley in Pall Mall—and whom he eventually succeeded in 1759....
(1724–1797), with whom he had been many years in partnership. He died at Durham
Durham
Durham is a city in north east England. It is within the County Durham local government district, and is the county town of the larger ceremonial county...
while on a visit to his friend the Rev. Joseph Spence
Joseph Spence (author)
Joseph Spence was a historian, literary scholar and anecdotist, most famous for his collection of anecdotes that are an invaluable resource for historians of 18th century English literature .- Early life :Spence was born on 28 April 1699, at Kingsclere, Hampshire, the son of Joseph Joseph Spence...
.
Works
In 1729 Dodsley published his first work, Servitude: a Poem written by a Footman, with a preface and postscript ascribed to Daniel DefoeDaniel Defoe
Daniel Defoe , born Daniel Foe, was an English trader, writer, journalist, and pamphleteer, who gained fame for his novel Robinson Crusoe. Defoe is notable for being one of the earliest proponents of the novel, as he helped to popularise the form in Britain and along with others such as Richardson,...
; and a collection of short poems, A Muse in Livery, or the Footman's Miscellany, was published by subscription in 1732, Dodsley's patrons comprising many persons of high rank. This was followed by a satirical farce
Farce
In theatre, a farce is a comedy which aims at entertaining the audience by means of unlikely, extravagant, and improbable situations, disguise and mistaken identity, verbal humour of varying degrees of sophistication, which may include word play, and a fast-paced plot whose speed usually increases,...
called The Toyshop (Covent Garden
Covent Garden
Covent Garden is a district in London on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St. Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit and vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist site, and the Royal Opera House, which is also known as...
, 1735), in which the toymaker indulges in moral observations on his wares, a hint which was probably taken from Thomas Randolph
Thomas Randolph
Thomas Randolph may refer to:* Thomas Randolph * Thomas Randolph , English poet and dramatist* Thomas Randolph , Virginia politician...
's Conceited Pedlar.
He also founded several literary periodicals: The Museum (1746–1767, 3 vols.); The Preceptor containing a general course of education (1748, 2 vols.), with an introduction by Dr Johnson; The World (1753–1756, 4 vols.); and The Annual Register
Annual Register
The Annual Register is a long-established reference work, written and published each year, which records and analyses the year’s major events, developments and trends throughout the world...
, founded in 1758 with Edmund Burke
Edmund Burke
Edmund Burke PC was an Irish statesman, author, orator, political theorist and philosopher who, after moving to England, served for many years in the House of Commons of Great Britain as a member of the Whig party....
as editor. To these various works, Horace Walpole, Akenside, Soame Jenyns
Soame Jenyns
Soame Jenyns was an English writer.- Biography :He was the son of Sir Roger Jenyns and his second wife Elizabeth Soame, the daughter of Sir Peter Soame. He was born in London, and was educated at St Johns College, Cambridge. In 1742 he was chosen M.P...
, Lord Lyttelton, Lord Chesterfield
Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield
Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield PC KG was a British statesman and man of letters.A Whig, Lord Stanhope, as he was known until his father's death in 1726, was born in London. After being educated at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, he went on the Grand Tour of the continent...
, Burke and others were contributors.
Dodsley is, however, best known as the editor of two collections: Select Collection of Old Plays (12 vols., 1744; 2nd edition with notes by Isaac Reed
Isaac Reed
Isaac Reed was an English Shakespearean editor.-Life:The son of a baker, he was born in London. He was articled to a solicitor, and eventually set up as a conveyancer at Staple Inn, where he had a large practice.-Works:...
, 12 vols., 1780; 4th edition, by William Carew Hazlitt
William Carew Hazlitt
William Carew Hazlitt was an English bibliographer.The son of barrister and registrar William Hazlitt and grandson of essayist and critic William Hazlitt, Hazlitt was educated at the Merchant Taylors' School and was called to the bar of the Inner Temple in 1861...
, 1874–1876, 15 vols.); and A collection of Poems by Several Hands (1748, 3 vols.), which passed through many editions. In 1737 his King and the Miller of Mansfield, a "dramatic tale" of King Henry II
Henry II of England
Henry II ruled as King of England , Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Count of Nantes, Lord of Ireland and, at various times, controlled parts of Wales, Scotland and western France. Henry, the great-grandson of William the Conqueror, was the...
, was produced at Drury Lane
Drury Lane
Drury Lane is a street on the eastern boundary of the Covent Garden area of London, running between Aldwych and High Holborn. The northern part is in the borough of Camden and the southern part in the City of Westminster....
, and received with much applause; the sequel, Sir John Cockle at Court, a farce, appeared in 1738.
In 1745 he published a collection of his dramatic works, and some poems which had been issued separately, in one volume under the modest title of Trifles. This was followed by The Triumph of Peace, a Masque occasioned by the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1749); a fragment, entitled Agriculture, of a long tedious poem in blank verse
Blank verse
Blank verse is poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter. It has been described as "probably the most common and influential form that English poetry has taken since the sixteenth century" and Paul Fussell has claimed that "about three-quarters of all English poetry is in blank verse."The first...
on Public Virtue (1753); The Blind Beggar of Bethnal Green (acted at Drury Lane 1739, printed 1741); and an ode, Melpomene (1751). His tragedy of Cleone (1758) had a long run at Covent Garden, 2000 copies being sold on the day of publication, and it passed through four editions within the year.
Lord Chesterfield is, however, almost certainly the author of the series of mock chronicles of which The Chronicle of the Kings of England by "Nathan ben Saddi" (1740) is the first, although they were included in the Trifles and "ben Saddi" was received as Dodsley's pseudonym. The Economy of Human Life (1750), a collection of moral precepts frequently reprinted, may also be written by Lord Chesterfield, although the 1817 edition has a "Sketch of the Life of Dodsley", that explicitly states (pp. vi-vii http://books.google.nl/books?id=rPENAAAAQAAJ&dq=%22robert+dodsley%22+economy+human+life&printsec=frontcover&source=bl&ots=GTvpsnOeeL&sig=SVYwTQbWl1IAeng7xZTO5S1FJWc&hl=nl&ei=fncRSvqoF4GP-Abdmey4AQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1#PPR6,M1) that Dodsley really is the author; his name is now on the title page.
He published two more works, The Select Fables of Aesop translated by R. D. (1764) and the Works of William Shenstone (3 vols., 1764–1769).
Further reading
- Shadows of the Old Booksellers, by Charles KnightCharles KnightCharles Knight is the name of:*Charles Knight , English author and publisher*Charles Knight , British civil servant*Charles Knight , New Zealand filmmaker, actor and stuntman...
(1865), pp. 189–216 - "At Tully's Head" in Eighteenth Century Vignettes, 2nd series, by Austin Dobson (1894)
- H. Solly in The Bibliographer, v. (1884) pp. 57–61.
- Dodsley's poems are reprinted with a memoir in Alexander ChalmersAlexander ChalmersAlexander Chalmers was a Scottish writer.He was born in Aberdeen.Trained as a doctor, he gave up medicine for journalism, and was for some time editor of the Morning Herald...
's Works of English Poets, vol. xv. (1810).