John Taylor (d. 1722; fl. 1683–1713)

Identifiers

Occupations

  • Bookseller
  • Publisher

Dates

  • Apprenticeship: 1676
  • Clothed: 1689

John Taylor, bookseller, 1683–1713; at the Globe at the West End of St. Paul's Churchyard, 1683–1687; at the Ship in St. Paul's Churchyard, 1687–1713.

Apprenticed to Nathaniel Ranew 3 April 1676
Freed 7 June 1684
Clothed 29 May 1689

Taylor's will, dated 16 November 1722, was proved 29 December 1722. It reads, in part,

I give and bequeath to my Nephew William Taylor of Pater Noster Row Bookseller the Moiety or halfe share of the property of my Copys of Books ... …. Item I give unto my said Nephew William Taylor the Number of Salmon’s English Herbal that I am Intitl’d to the whole of the Remaining Impression being according to the late computation of Mr John Wyat M.r Thomas Ballard and M.r Ranew Robinson upwards of seven hundred they being intrusted and made choice of on that account since Mr Henry Rhode’s decease which have been Lock’t up in a Room in M.r Daniel Brown’s Warehouse in Bartholomew Close the said Henry Rhodes keeping one key of the Door and I another, he and I having paid for paper and printing of the said Herbal to M.r Ichabod Dawks printer equally and share and share alike save only if I allowd more on my account to the Doct.rs [William Salmon's] Executrix Mrs [Eleanor] Grey but to avoid all future controversies and Disputes I wholly quitt and give up, but if it appears there is any legal Demand from W.m Battersby’s family by a due Examination of their claim I desire it may be Satisfy’d; there were some articles concluded and agreed unto which as I remember Mr Thomas Moore has in his custody I refer to him; Item I give and bequeath to my Nephew Jonathan Taylor Son of my late Brother Philip Taylor of Weymouth ... the other Moiety or half Share of all my Copys and Shares of Copys equall in proportion with his Brother William Taylor. … I farther desire that William Harris my Binder might be Employd from time to time as occasion serves to Bind the Numbers or particular Books that shall be distributed by the aforesaid Trustees and that he may be paid by my Executors to the sume of forty pounds as he shall finish the parcells put out to him on that account. …  my Final Request is my Funeral may be manag’d with all privacy in the Night about nine of the Clock, and the Corps to be interr’d in the Burying place in Bunhill Fields. The Undertaker I desire may be M.r Philip Morris in Fleet Street for the performing what may be requisite in his way which charge my Executors are to pay ... (PROB 11/588/424).

The parish registers of Bunhill Fields record "Mr Taylor from Hamstid buried in a grave" on 17 December 1722 (PRO RG4/3976).

A Dictionary of the Printers and Booksellers who were at Work in England, Scotland and Ireland from 1668 to 1725, by Henry Plomer (1922)

TAYLOR (JOHN), bookseller in London, Globe, (1) at the West End of St. Paul's Churchyard, 1683–7; (2) Ship, St. Paul's Churchyard, 1687–1713. 1683–1713. One of the largest publishers of the period; the references under his name in the Term Catalogues, beginning in Mich. 1683 [T.C. n. 55], are very numerous. In 1687 he moved to Benjamin Tooke's premises, the Ship in St. Paul's Churchyard. About 1700 he took his son William into partnership, but in 1711 William set up for himself in Paternoster Row. John Taylor was a contributor to the Bowyer fund in 1713; but the date of his death is unknown. Dunton [p. 207] wrote of him: "Mr. John Taylor deals very much and is very honest. ... His principles are moderate." Timperley [p. 588] says that he instituted an annual sermon at the Baptist Church in Lincoln's Inn Fields, to commemorate his escape from death in the great storm of 1703.

Notes & Queries "London Booksellers Series" (1931–2)

TAYLOR, JOHN. A well-known publisher in the metropolis. He was trading at the Ship in St. Paul's Churchyard when the century opened. He was still living in 1712, for he is included in Nichols's List for that year, but he is not heard of after.

—Frederick T. Wood, 17 October 1931

 

TAYLOR JOHN. Hilton Price gives him at the Ship in Paternoster Row in 1710. He was succeeded, at this address, by his son, William Taylor (see below). Previous to this year both father and son were at the Ship in St. Paul's Churchyard.

—Ambrose Heal, 5 December 1931