Thomas Davies (bookseller)

Thomas Davies
Born	c. 1713 Scotland
Died	1785
Occupation(s)	Bookseller, writer, actor
Years active	1736–1785
Known for	Life of Garrick; Dramatic Miscellanies; introduction of Boswell to Dr. Johnson

Thomas Davies (circa 1713 – 1785) was a Scottish bookseller and writer. After completing his studies at the University of Edinburgh, he initially pursued a career in acting but abandoned it following a satirical mention by Churchill in The Rosciad. Subsequently, Davies established a bookshop in Covent Garden, where in 1763 he facilitated the introduction of Boswell to his close acquaintance Dr. Johnson. He later dedicated his edition of Massinger's works to Johnson. Davies authored the well-received Life of Garrick (1780), which went through four editions, as well as Dramatic Miscellanies (three volumes, 1783–84).

Life

Born around 1713, Davies attended the University of Edinburgh during 1728–29. He made his theatrical debut in 1736 under the management of Henry Fielding, but soon shifted his focus to bookselling before returning briefly to acting. In 1746, he portrayed Pierre in Venice Preserved at Covent Garden and subsequently toured as an actor. He married Susannah Yarrow, daughter of the York-based actor Joseph Yarrow.

Davies performed in both Edinburgh and Dublin, where he faced criticism for dominating leading roles. By 1753, he and his wife secured positions at Drury Lane, primarily serving as understudies. Churchill’s 1761 satire The Rosciad included the line "He mouths a sentence as curs mouth a bone," which, according to Johnson, led Davies to retire from the stage in 1762 and reopen a bookshop at 8 Russell Street, Covent Garden. It was there in 1763 that he introduced Boswell—who had been introduced to him by Samuel Derrick—to Johnson.

As part of a booksellers’ club that convened initially at the Devil Tavern and later at the Grecian Coffee-house, Davies read excerpts from his Life of Garrick to members; it was within this circle that Johnson’s Lives of the Poets also took shape. Davies passed away on 5 May 1785 and was interred at St. Paul's, Covent Garden. Despite occasional tensions—Johnson once disparaged him by suggesting Jonathan Swift’s Conduct of the Allies might have been penned by Davies—Johnson nonetheless expressed appreciation for the care Davies and his wife provided him in later years.

Publisher

Davies reissued works by authors including William Browne (1772), Sir John Davies (1773), John Eachard (1774), George Lillo (1775), and Philip Massinger, accompanied by a prefatory biography (1779). In 1773, he published Miscellaneous and Fugitive Pieces in two volumes, marketed as authored by the writer of The Rambler. Although much of this collection consisted of unauthorized writings attributed to Johnson, Johnson accepted it due to Davies’s good intentions.

After declaring bankruptcy in 1778, Davies received assistance from Johnson, who helped retrieve his furniture and organized a benefit performance at Drury Lane through Richard Brinsley Sheridan. Davies’s final stage role was Fainall in William Congreve’s The Way of the World. In 1779, he dedicated his edition of Massinger to Johnson.

Motivated by Johnson—who contributed the opening sentence and aided with details concerning Garrick’s early life—Davies published Life of Garrick in 1780. This work achieved both commercial success and critical acclaim. Building on this accomplishment, he released Dramatic Miscellanies in 1785: three volumes featuring critical commentary on Shakespearean plays and characters as performed by Garrick and other actors, along with anecdotes about playwrights and performers. A second edition was issued within the same year.

References

Attribution