Joseph Johnson: The Publisher, the Books, the Illustrators An Exhibit at the James Ford Bell Library April 20 – July 31, 2006 Exhibit Curator: Susan Stekel Rippley Assistant Curator, James Ford Bell Library

Illustration: Printing Press, from Luckombe’s The History and Art of Printing, published by Johnson in 1771.

Joseph Johnson was an unassuming man. Quiet, modest in demeanor and attitude, he ran a successful publishing and bookselling business in London for nearly fifty years, until his death in 1809. But the work of this man, and the circle of friends that he maintained, is rather more dramatic. It is ironic that the visually-arresting travel literature held in the collection of the James Ford Bell Library—so brilliantly tinted and beautifully illustrated—should lead to man who made no effort to call attention to himself. It is the work of Johnson—the books and their illustrations—that speaks for itself, in quantity, in quality, and in political importance.

Johnson was born in1838 near Liverpool into family of land owners and tradesmen. His family sent him to London to learn the book trade with George Keith, a Baptist bookseller known for publishing religious tracts. At the start of his career, Johnson often worked as part of a conger—a syndicate of booksellers who would cooperatively publish works, thus cutting down on the expense to any single seller. He maintained a stock of both new and secondhand books but very quickly discovered there was more profit to be had from publishing new works. Illustration: portrait of Joseph Johnson, painted by Moses Haughton ca 1800, when Johnson would have been 65 years old.

In 1765, Johnson set up his first shop at No. 8 Paternoster Row, where he continued to work as a partner, first with B. Davenport and then with John Payne. He had begun to build up his stock when disaster struck—a fire destroyed his shop in January of 1770. His friends lent financial support to help re-establish him in a new location: no. 72 St. Paul’s Churchyard, where he would stay for the rest of his career.

Such support gave Johnson the confidence to publish in new subject areas, sometimes choosing works that were risky both in a political sense as well as a financial one. In the late 1770s, he published the essays of Benjamin Franklin; while the essays were scientific in nature, Franklin was still controversial in Britain, so publishing him put Johnson under the watchful eye of a government that was wary of dissent. Johnson minimized the risk by producing an expensive edition of the title, priced out of reach of many readers—so that the government couldn’t easily accuse him of spreading dangerous content to the masses. It was only one of his efforts at avoiding prosecution for dealing in seditious material—a threat that would cloud most of his publishing career.

Johnson and his Illustrators

While building his business, Johnson also was forming acquaintances that would grow into an impressive social circle. He hosted weekly dinners at his home and invited many notable figures in artistic, literary, and intellectual circles. In 1764, he first met Henry Fuseli, the Swiss artist and intellectual. Johnson was interested in publishing some of Fuseli’s translated texts; the two soon formed a friendship that would last for decades and which would result in Fuseli producing engravings for a number of Johnson’s books.

Fuseli also is responsible for introducing Johnson to William Blake. Johnson first worked with Blake in 1783, when Blake completed an engraved portrait for Memoirs of Albert de Haller, which Johnson published. Blake would eventually become one of Johnson’s most prolific engravers, producing twenty-nine plates in all, ten of which were from his own original designs. Johnson’s biographer would note that “the large number of engravings for Johnson at this time indicates both that Blake was in relatively close contact with the publisher and his circle and that Johnson’s use of and sensitivity to illustrations had increased from earlier years.” While that may be true, it is also likely that Johnson’s ability to commission and pay for high-quality illustration work had increased as well. Illustration: The Fertilization of Egypt, by William Blake. From Erasmus Darwin’s Botanic Garden, 4^th edition, published by Johnson in 1799.

Johnson’s Trial for Sedition

Eighteenth-century Britain was a dangerous time and place to be publishing radical material. The loss of the American colonies and the revolution in France had made the British government sensitive to any threat to its authority. In May 1792, King George III issued a proclamation against seditious writings. The proclamation was prompted by the distribution of Thomas Paine’s Rights of Man; many booksellers were arrested for selling the work, though Johnson somehow escaped arrest, even though he was Paine’s primary representative in London.

His fortune would change as the decade went on. In 1798, the Rev. Gilbert Wakefield went on trial for a pamphlet that criticized Bishop Watson and the government; Johnson was one of three booksellers accused of selling the material. Johnson was convicted on seven counts of selling seditious work. He served nine months in London’s notorious Newgate Prison. Fortunately, his income was enough to allow him to rent a private accommodation within the prison, thus avoiding the crowded and unsanitary conditions of the standard cells.

The years after his release saw Johnson slowing markedly in his publishing efforts. His time in Newgate had degraded his frail health even further. He now had a full time assistant, Rowland Hunter, to help meet the demands of his business, but nevertheless his long-time authors and associates complained of his increasing neglect of their work. In 1806, a fire partially damaged his shop. The business was strong enough to rebuild, but it was yet another blow to the already weakened man. Johnson passed away in 1809, from respiratory problems described vaguely as an asthma attack. His loss reverberated through the London publishing community, inspiring respectful tributes such as that published in Gentleman’s Magazine. As a testament to the strength of the business and reputation that Johnson had built, his shop continued to successfully publish and sell material for years after his death.