John Osborn (1) (d. 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.]