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Apr 24

When Bookselling was a Dangerous Business

The 18th Century crack-down on booksellers who sold political philosophy

Illustration de Edward Baines - History of the Wars of the French Revolution, 1817.jpg via Wikimedia Commons

In 1789, George III’s recovery from the illness which precipitated the Regency Crisis triggered nationwide rejoicing that “exceeded every thing before known.” But were they really “grateful testimonies of a nation’s love”? On 3rd April, the King issued a Royal Proclamation ordering that a day of thanksgiving be observed throughout the Kingdom to mark his…
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Comments Off on When Bookselling was a Dangerous Business | Categories: Blog, Homepage, In-depth | Tags: 18th Century book trade, 18th Century booksellers, 18th Century London, 18th Century print trade, Company of Stationers, Daniel Holt, Enlightenment ideas, Henry Delahay Symonds, James Lackington, Jeremiah Samuel Jordan, John Aitkin, John Jebb, John Reeves, Joseph Johnson, King George III's return to health., London Corresponding Society, Louis XVI, Richard Phillips, Rights of Man, Royal Proclamation Against Seditious Writings and Publications., Temple of the Muses, The Association for Preserving Liberty and Property against Republicans and Levellers., The French Revolution, The Regency Crisis, The Repeal of Shop Tax, Thomas Paine, William Blake

Apr 1

Putting the Temple of the Muses back on the map

Solving the Location Puzzle of the Temple of the Muses

The Temple of the Muses was probably the largest single shop in 18th Century England. James Lackington’s trade card boasted it was “the finest shop in the world”. Arguably, Josiah Wedgwood’s intimate London showroom was more luxurious, showcasing his ceramics as if they were works of art and museum pieces, admired by his elite clientele,…
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Comments Off on Putting the Temple of the Muses back on the map | Categories: Blog, Homepage, In-depth | Tags: 18th Century book trade, 18th Century London, 46 Chiswell Street, Allen & Co, Artillery Ground, Blue Plaque, E Beresford Chancellor, Elizabeth Caslon, English Heritage, Finsbury Pavement, Finsbury Place South, Finsbury Square, George Dance, Georgian London, Horwood's folding map, James Lackington, James Lackington's Memoirs, John Tallis, Joseph Jackson, Josiah Wedgwood, Lackington, Lackington Street, Listed buildings, London Squares, Merton, Moorfields, Mrs Burney, Richard Horwood, Samuel Johnson, Sir John Soames, Spring House, Tallis's London Street Views, The Bookseller's Wife, The Chiswell Street Chronicles, The Finsbury Estate, The HIstory of the Squares of London, The Northern Starr, The Temple of the Muses, Whitbread & Company, William Caslon

Mar 19

The Longest Scandal in British History: Britain’s Forgotten Atomic Veterans

The main protagonist in my novel, My Counterfeit Self, is Lucy Forrester, a political poet and activist. Having been anti-establishment all of her life, she’s horrified to find that she’s been featured on the New Year’s Honours list. Her inclination is to turn it down. But what if it’s an opportunity… WB Yeats said that…
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Comments Off on The Longest Scandal in British History: Britain’s Forgotten Atomic Veterans | Categories: Blog, Homepage, In-depth | Tags: Aldermaston, arms race, Atom Bomb Kids, Atomic energy, Atomic Veterans, Atomic Weapons Establishment, British Nuclear Test Veterans, Christmas Island, CND, Cold war, Hiroshima, Hydrogen bomb, LABRATS, Massey University Study, My Counterfeit Self, Nagasaki, National Service, New Year's Honour, Nuke test vets, Nuked Blood scandal, Operation Crossroads, Operation Hurricane, Operation Totem, Paul Foot, Poet activist, Radiation sickness, Richard Stott, Sue Rabbitt Roff, The McClelland Report, The Mirror newspaper, Windscale

Mar 8

The Four 18th-Century Publishers and Booksellers Who Made Reading Affordable

How John Bell, Alexander Donaldson, James Lackington and others transformed the book trade and brought cheap literature to ordinary readers

Today it is easy to forget that books were once luxury goods. A modern reader can buy a novel for a few pounds, download thousands of classics completely free, or borrow almost anything from a library. But in the early eighteenth century, owning a finely bound volume was a privilege reserved largely for the wealthy….
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Comments Off on The Four 18th-Century Publishers and Booksellers Who Made Reading Affordable | Categories: Blog, Homepage, In-depth | Tags: 18th Century book trade, Alexander Donaldson, British book trade, Cook and Harrison, copyright, Eighteen Century chapbooks, Eighteenth Century Chapbooks, Georgian London, James Lackington, John Ashton, John Bell, Numbers trade, The Temple of the Muses, William and Cluer Dicey

Mar 2

Why The Temple of the Muses is the Perfect Read for Women’s History Month

The Temple of the Muses, cover design by Jessica Bell

When researching an entirely different story in the autumn of 2022, I visited the ancient church of St Mary the Virgin, Merton. Walking among the gravestones, one caught my eye: Dorcas, Wife of J Lackington Bookseller, Finsbury Square Ladies who chance to frisk this way, With honest Hearts and Spirits gay. A serious moment give…
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Comments Off on Why The Temple of the Muses is the Perfect Read for Women’s History Month | Categories: Blog, Homepage, In-depth, My Books, The Making of a Book | Tags: behind the book, Dorcas lackington, Finsbury Square, Hidden women of history, Historical Fiction, James Lackington, The Temple of the Muses, Women's History Month

Feb 23

The Elephant in the Bookshop: The Paradox of an “Invisible” Workforce in London’s 18th Century Book Trade

Imagine stepping inside The Temple of the Muses in Finsbury Square — the bookshop famed in Georgian London as the largest in Europe. Shelves teem with novels, histories, pamphlets and curiosities. Priceless tomes sit side by side with cheap editions. Amid the bustle, male shop assistants in black frock-coats stand behind the circular counter underneath…
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Comments Off on The Elephant in the Bookshop: The Paradox of an “Invisible” Workforce in London’s 18th Century Book Trade | Categories: Blog, Homepage, In-depth, My Books | Tags: 18th Century book trade, 18th Century booksellers, 18th Century print trade, 18th century women, Doctrine of coverture, Dorcas lackington, Elizabeth Cox, Elizabeth Omer Delahoy, Georgian London, James Lackington, Longhollow: a Country Tale, Lucy Peacock, Martha Gurney, Mary Bryan, Mary Cooper, Mary Lewis, Mrs James Lackington, Rebecca Edwards, Sonnets and Metrical Tales, The Temple of the Muses

Jan 31

Why The Temple of the Muses was the perfect name for a Georgian Bookshop

In the bustling heart of Georgian London, James and Dorcas Lackington didn’t just open a bookshop—they created a cultural landmark. As their business outgrew its Chiswell Street premises, the Lackingtons dared to think bigger: a temple to books. Situated on one side of Finsbury Square (32 Finsbury Place South) and designed by architect George Dance,…
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Comments Off on Why The Temple of the Muses was the perfect name for a Georgian Bookshop | Categories: Art in Fiction, Blog, Homepage, In-depth, My Books, The Making of a Book | Tags: A Collection of Etruscan, and Roman Antiquities from the Cabinet of the Honourable William Hamilton, Angelica Kaufmann, Ary de Vois, Dorcas lackington, Emma Hamilton, European Grand Tour, George Romney, Greek, Herculaneum, Historical Fiction, James and Robert Adams, James Graham, James Lackington, Joos de Momper, Joshua Reynolds, Josiah Wedgwood, Mary Chudleigh, Neo-classical, Pompeii, Richard Samuel, Sir William Hamilton, The Muses in Art, The Muses of Mount Helicon, The Portland Vase, The Temple of Health

Jan 28

The Radical Idea of Affordable Books

Today, we take it for granted that books are within our grasp, but it wasn’t always so. By the late 18th century, literacy in England was steadily improving. Based on the ability to write their signature at the time of their marriages, historians estimate that approximately half of the population could read. But owning a…
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Jan 26

Georgian London After the Gordon Riots

A City in Chaos

London smouldering in the aftermath of the Gordon Riots

In the early summer of 1780, London erupted in one of the most violent chapters of civil unrest in British history. What began as a protest against proposed relief for Catholics spiralled into days of destruction, looting and terror that left swathes of the city in ruins. The Gordon Riots were more than a sudden…
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Nov 17

What made Lackington’s the ideal publisher for Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein?

Not a coincidence, but a culmination

When Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus appeared anonymously in January 1818, its title page read: London: Printed for Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor & Jones, Finsbury Square. At first glance, the connection between Mary Shelley’s novel and the sprawling London book emporium known as The Temple of the Muses might seem accidental. But Lackington’s didn’t only…
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Comments Off on What made Lackington’s the ideal publisher for Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein? | Categories: Blog, In-depth | Tags: Finsbury Square, Frankenstein, Lackington's, Mary Shelley; Percy Shelley, The Modern Prometheus., The Temple of the Muses, William Godwin