John Bell (publisher)

John Bell
Born	1745 England
Died	1831 Fulham, England
Occupation(s)	Publisher, bookseller, printer
Years active	1769–1831
Known for	Typographical innovation; publishing The Poets of Great Britain, British Theatre series; founding Morning Post and other periodicals

John Bell (1745–1831) was an English publisher who initially worked as a bookseller and printer. He is recognized for his typographical innovation, commissioning a typeface that excluded the long s. Bell attracted audiences to distinguished literary works by combining them with engaging illustrations.

Life

Starting in 1769, Bell managed the "British Library" bookshop located on the Strand, London. From 1777 to 1783, he issued the 109-volume series The Poets of Great Britain Complete from Chaucer to Churchill, a collection sold at six shillings per volume—making it far more accessible than competing editions—and serving as a rival to Samuel Johnson's Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets (1781).

Bell's publishing enterprise, organized as a joint-stock company, confronted the dominance of forty leading publishers. In addition to Poets of Great Britain, he released collections such as Shakespeare and The British Theatre, which featured influential illustrations that impacted subsequent publishing trends. He also ran a circulating library.

Between 1788 and 1789, Bell partnered with punchcutter Richard Austin to establish the British Letter Foundry, producing typefaces that were later revived under the names Bell and Austin.

Bell passed away in Fulham in 1831. Publisher Charles Knight characterized him as a "mischievous spirit, the very Puck of booksellers." He was also the uncle of engraver Edward Bell.

Periodicals

In 1772, Bell co-established the London daily newspaper Morning Post. Later, in 1787, he launched The World alongside Edward Topham. Subsequently, he founded the Sunday publication Bell's Weekly Messenger, the women's monthly magazine La Belle Assemblée, Bell's classical anthology of fugitive poetry (1789–1810), among other periodicals.

British Theatre

Bell's British Theatre series (1776–1778) was offered in 21 volumes containing a total of 140 plays, each volume carefully curated. Noteworthy contents include:

• Volume 2: Plays by John Dryden, Richard Glover, Samuel Foote, and Colley Cibber.
• Volume 3: Works from Nicholas Rowe, John Home, Joseph Addison, and William Whitehead.
• Volume 4: Ben Jonson's Every Man in His Humour, Dr. Benjamin Hoadly's The Suspicious Husband, Arthur Murphy's The Grecian Daughter, and Richard Cumberland's The Choleric Man.
• Volume 5: Robert Dodsley's Cleone, Thomas Southerne's Isabella, Colley Cibber's She Would and She Would Not, and Frances Sheridan's The Discovery.
• Volume 6: Translations and tragedies such as Ambrose Philips' adaptation of Racine's Andromaque, Henry Jones' The Earl of Essex, Richard Glover's Medea, Charles Johnson’s version of Shirley’s The Gamester, and Richard Cumberland’s The Battle of Hastings.
• Volume 7: Colley Cibber’s Love Makes a Man, Aaron Hill’s adaptation of Voltaire’s Alzira, Hugh Kelly’s The School for Wives, and William Whitehead’s The School for Lovers.
• Volume 8: Isaac Bickerstaffe’s The Maid of the Mill, Beaumont and Fletcher’s Rule a Wife and Have a Wife, Colley Cibber’s The Careless Husband, and Edward Young’s The Revenge.
• Volume 9: Thomas Otway’s The Orphan, Charles Johnson’s The Country Lasses, Oliver Goldsmith’s She Stoops to Conquer, and William Shirley’s Edward the Black Prince.
• Volume 10: George Farquhar’s The Beaux Stratagem, Edward Moore’s The Gamester, Colley Cibber’s The Double Gallant, and Nathaniel Lee’s Theodosius.
• Volume 11: John Gay’s The Beggar’s Opera, adaptations by The Duke of Buckingham, Henry Fielding’s The Miser, and Edward Moore’s The Foundling.
• Volume 12: Mrs. Susanna Centlivre’s A Bold Stroke for a Wife, Arthur Murphy’s All in the Wrong, Richard Cumberland’s The Brothers, and John Hughes’ The Siege of Damascus.
• Volume 13: Isaac Bickerstaffe’s Love in a Village, David Garrick’s adaptation of William Wycherley, Sir Richard Steele’s The Conscious Lovers, and George Farquhar’s The Recruiting Officer.
• Volume 14: Charles Shadwell’s naval comedy, James Thomson’s tragedy, George Lillo’s drama, alongside George Coleman with David Garrick's collaboration on The Clandestine Marriage.
• Volume 15: Thomas Otway’s tragedy, Nicholas Rowe's historical drama, John Dryden and Nathaniel Lee's joint work on Oedipus, plus Colley Cibber's heroic play.
• Volume 16: Mrs. Susanna Centlivre's comedy, John Dryden's tragedy, George Farquhar's popular play, and Richard Cumberland's drama featuring Sarah Siddons.
• Volume 17: Aaron Hill's tragedy, Arthur Murphy's comedy starring Frances Abington, Oliver Goldsmith's comedy, along with Dr. Franklin's translation of M. de la Harpe.
• Volume 18: Works by Beaumont and Fletcher; contributions from Sir John Vanbrugh with Colley Cibber; pieces by Richard Cumberland; plus Hall Hartson.
• Volume 19: William Congreve's tragedy; Thomas Southern's adaptation of ‘‘Oroonoko’’; Richard Cumberland's comedy; and Mr. William Havard's historical play.
• Volume 20: Plays by Sir Richard Steele, Sir Robert Howard, Richard Cumberland, and George Coleman the Elder.
• Volume 21: Isaac Bickerstaffe plays including comedies featuring William Parsons, John Fawcett, William Wyatt Dimond, and Dorothy Jordan.

Every volume contained detailed illustrations showcasing prominent actors from that era, enhancing its appeal among theatre aficionados and collectors alike.

References

Acknowledgment

Further reading

• Stanley Morison, John Bell, 1745–1831. Cambridge University Press, 1930; reissued by Garland Publishing, 1981.
• Kalman A. Burnim and Philip H. Highfill Jr., John Bell, Patron of British Theatrical Portraiture: A Catalogue of Theatrical Portraits in Bell's Shakespeare Editions and Bell’s British Theatre, Southern Illinois University Press, 1998
• Thomas F. Bonnell, The Most Disreputable Trade: Publishing the Classics of English Poetry 1765–1810, Oxford University Press, 2008
• Clare Bucknell, The Treasuries: Poetry Anthologies and the Formation of British Culture, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2023

External links

• Actor Portraits, 1720–1920 hosted by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (archived)