John Stockdale

John Stockdale

John Stockdale (25 March 1750Probable - Stockdale (2005) "p."117] – 21 June 1814) was an English publisher whose London shop became something of a salon for the political classes and who had to face two actions for defamation. One by the House of Commons became something of a "cause célèbre" and resulted in an important change in the law.

Life

He was born in Cotbeck, Cumberland, the son of Priscilla Stockdale (1723?–1789) and, probably, Joseph Stockdale. He is believed to have been raised as a blacksmith, like his father, and then to have become valet to John Astley of Dukinfield, Cheshire. He married Mary Ridgway, a native of Roe Cross, Mottram-in-Longdendale, Cheshire, and sister to James Ridgway, a well-known publisher of Piccadilly, London.Barker (2004)] He had met Mary in the Dukinfield Moravian chapel.

Stockdale moved to London about 1780 and worked as a porter to publisher John Almon, near to the premises of his brother in law. When Almon retired from business in favour of John Debrett, Stockdale opened a book shop in competition and, "being a man of natural parts, he soon became conspicuous in business in spite of much eccentricity of conduct and great coarseness of manners". ["Gentleman's Magazine, June 1815] Both Stockdale's and Debrett's premises became meeting places for the political classes, Debrett's being frequented by the Whigs and Stockdale's by the supporters of William Pitt. John Adams, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States lodged with Stockdale for two months during 1783.Stockdale (2005) "p."148]

He was an industrious publisher and among the many works that he published were:Sutton (1897)]
*Adam Ferguson's "History of the Progress and Termination of the Roman Republic" (1783);
*An edition of William Shakespeare's "Dramatic Works" (1784);
*Bryan Edwards's "History of the West Indies";
*George Chalmers' edition of Daniel Defoe's "History of the Union";
*Arthur Phillip's "Voyage to Botany Bay";
*Samuel Johnson's "Works" (1787) (volumes 12 and 13 of which Stockdale edited);
*John Whitaker various works.
*Hester Thrale's "Retrospection: or, a review of the most striking and important events, characters, situations and their consequences, which the last eighteen hundred years have presented to the view of mankind" (1801). [ cite web | authorlink=Hester Thrale | author=Thrale, H. | title=Retrospection: or, a review of the most striking and important events, characters, situations and their consequences, which the last eighteen hundred years have presented to the view of mankind | year=1801 | url=http://books.google.com/books?id=qbsGAAAAYAAJ&dq=piozzi+retrospection&source=gbs_summary_s&cad=0 (Google Books)]

He also issued the "London Courant" newspaper, "Debates in Parliament" (1784–90), an edition of "Robinson Crusoe" and John Aikin's "A Description of the Country from Thirty to Forty Miles round Manchester" (1795), originally intended to be merely an account of the neighbourhood of Mottram-in-Longdendale, with which Stockdale had personal acquaintance.

Litigation

In 1788 he published John Logan's "Review of the Charges against Warren Hastings". The work was conceived by the government to embody a libellous charge of corruption and injustice against the House of Commons. Stockdale was accordingly prosecuted. The case came before Lord Kenyon in December 1789 and Stockdale was eloquently defended by Thomas Erskine. [Erskine, "Speeches", 1847, vol. iii.; Parl. Hist. xxvii. 1–7; "Howell's State Trials", xxii. 237] Erskine contended that the defendant was not to be judged by isolated passages, selected and put together in the accusation, but by the entire context of the publication and its general character and objects. Stockdale was acquitted, and such a conspicuous defence of the liberty of the press led to the passing of the Libel Act 1792, which established that nobody was to be punished for a few unguarded expressions, and left the construction of an alleged libeller's general purpose and animus in writing to a jury.

Stockdale again figured as defendant in an action for libel brought by Joseph Nightingale in 1809, when he had to pay £200 damages. Towards the end of his career he dealt largely in remaindered books from other publishers, and caused some resentment among the regular traders by a series of sales of books by auction which he established in various parts of the country. Early in his enterprise he had acquired considerable property, but afterwards he was less successful and the circumstance of having to make an arrangement with his creditors is said to have caused him some anxiety and accelerated his death.

Family

Stockdale and his wife had several children including:
*Mary Stockdale, writer and publisher;
*John Joseph Stockdale, publisher who was also the subject of a libel case involving parliament in "Stockdale v. Hansard"; and
*William Stockdale, bookseller.

References

Bibliography

----
*Barker, H. (2004) " [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/26541 Stockdale, John (c.1749–1814)] ", "Oxford Dictionary of National Biography", Oxford University Press, accessed 8 February 2008 ODNBsub
*Stockdale, E. (1983) "John Stockdale of Piccadilly: Publisher to John Adams and Thomas Jefferson", in cite book | author=Myers, R. & Harris, M. (eds) | title=Author/ Publisher Relations During the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries | publisher=Oxford Polytechnic Press | id=ISBN 0902692313
* cite book | title='Tis Treason, My Good Man! Four Revolutionary Presidents and a Piccadilly Bookshop | author=— | id=ISBN 0712306994 | year=2005 | publisher=The British Library | location=London
*Sutton, C. W. (1897) "Stockdale, John", in Lee, S. (ed.) "Dictionary of National Biography"


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • John Stockdale Rhea — For|the Tennessee politician|John RheaJohn Stockdale Rhea (March 9, 1855 July 29, 1924) was a U.S. Representative from Kentucky.Born in Russellville, Kentucky, Rhea pursued preparatory studies.He attended Bethel College, Russellville, Kentucky,… …   Wikipedia

  • John Joseph Stockdale — (1770, 1776Stockdale (1990) p. 30] or 1777 – 16 February 1847) was an English publisher and editor with something of a reputation as a pornographer. He sought to blackmail a number of public figures over the memoirs of society courtesan Harriette …   Wikipedia

  • Stockdale — is a surname probably originating from Northern England. The surname is very common in Australia.People*Andrew Stockdale, lead singer of Australian band Wolfmother *Carl Stockdale, US actor *David Stockdale, English footballer (Darlington)… …   Wikipedia

  • John Whitaker (historian) — John Whitaker was a historian, son of James Whitaker, innkeeper, was born in Manchester on 27 April 1735. In 1771, he published the first volume of The History of Manchester. A copy of Whitaker s manuscript of the continuation to the fifteenth… …   Wikipedia

  • John Cary — (circa 1754 1835) was an 18th century English cartographer. Cary served his apprenticeship as an engraver in London, before setting up his own business in the Strand in 1783. He soon gained a reputation for his maps and globes, his atlas, The New …   Wikipedia

  • John Adams — This article is about the politician and second president of the United States. For his son, the 6th president of the United States, see John Quincy Adams. For other uses, see John Adams (disambiguation). John Adams …   Wikipedia

  • John Coleman (Australian footballer) — John Coleman Personal information Full name …   Wikipedia

  • Stockdale High School (Bakersfield, California) — Stockdale High School is an American senior high school located in Bakersfield, California. Its athletics teams are known as the Stockdale Mustangs and the school colors are black and silver. Stockdale High School first opened in 1991. Stockdale… …   Wikipedia

  • John Francis Hamtramck Claiborne — (* 24. April 1809 in Natchez, Mississippi; † 17. Mai 1884 ebenda) war ein US amerikanischer Politiker. Zwischen 1835 und 1838 vertrat er den Bundesstaat Mississippi im US Repräsentantenhaus. Inhaltsverzeichnis 1 Familie 2 Frühe Jahre und …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • John Arne Riise — John Arne Riise, 2009 Spielerinformationen Voller Name John Arne Semundseth Riise Geburtstag 24. September 1980 …   Deutsch Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”