John Taylor (English publisher)
John Taylor | |
|---|---|
| Born | Template:Birth date East Retford, Nottinghamshire, England |
| Died | July 5, 1864 (aged 82) Kensington, London, England |
| Occupation(s) | Publisher, essayist, author |
| Known for | Publishing poets John Keats and John Clare; writings on the Great Pyramid and British units of measurement |
John Taylor (31 July 1781 – 5 July 1864) was a notable English publisher, essayist, and author, recognized for bringing poets such as John Keats and John Clare to public attention.
Life
Taylor was born in East Retford, Nottinghamshire, the son of James Taylor, a printer and bookseller, and Sarah Drury. He received his education at both Lincoln Grammar School and Retford grammar school. After initially serving an apprenticeship under his father, he moved to London in 1803 to join the firm of James Lackington, but left due to inadequate remuneration.
Taylor and Hessey
In partnership with James Augustus Hessey, Taylor established the publishing house Taylor & Hessey at 93 Fleet Street, London. Through his cousin Edward Drury, a bookseller based in Stamford, he met John Clare from Northamptonshire in 1819 and provided assistance with Clare’s grammar and spelling for his publications. Taylor also published works by Keats, Lamb, Coleridge, and Hazlitt. By 1821, he had become involved in the publication of the London Magazine.
Taylor and Walton
Subsequently, Taylor became Bookseller and Publisher to the newly founded University of London and formed a partnership with James Walton, relocating their business to Upper Gower Street. He pioneered a series of standard academic textbooks catering to this developing educational market.
After enduring chronic illness and depression throughout his life, Taylor passed away at 7 Leonard Place, Kensington, on 5 July 1864. His remains were interred in Gamston near Retford, with the University of London funding his gravestone.
Legacy
Following his passing, Taylor’s manuscripts were sold at auction at Sotheby's but realized only approximately £250, reflecting a waning interest in poets from the Regency period. By comparison, in 1897, manuscripts of Endymion and Lamia commanded prices of £695 and £305 respectively.
Publications
Taylor authored Junius Identified, attributing the Letters of Junius to Sir Philip Francis, with two editions published by 1818.
- Taylor, John. The Great Pyramid: Why Was It Built, & Who Built It? Longman, Green, Longman, and Roberts, 1859 (London).
- Taylor, John. The Battle of the Standards. The Ancient, of Four Thousand Years, Against the Modern, of the Last Fifty Years--the Less Perfect of the Two. Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts & Green, 1864 (London).
In his 1859 work The Great Pyramid, Taylor argued that the design of the Great Pyramid of Khufu at Giza intentionally incorporated mathematical constants such as pi and the golden ratio. His theories on pyramidology later influenced scholars including Charles Piazzi Smyth. His 1864 book The Battle of the Standards opposed Britain's adoption of the metric system, positing that British units of measurement have a divine origin grounded in his earlier research.
Bernard Lightman observes a connection between these writings: "Taylor and his followers maintained that the dimensions of the Pyramid demonstrated the divine foundation of British units of length."
Family
His brother James Taylor (1788–1863), who worked as a banker in Bakewell, Derbyshire, authored articles on the subject of bimetallism.