Robert Dodsley | |
|---|---|
 Dodsley byReynolds, 1760 | |
| Born | 13 February 1703 Mansfield, England |
| Died | 23 September 1764(1764-09-23) (aged 61) |
| Burial place | Durham, England |
| Notable work | Cleone |
Robert Dodsley (13 February 1703 – 23 September 1764)[1] was an Englishbookseller, publisher, poet, playwright, and miscellaneous writer.
Dodsley was born nearMansfield,Nottinghamshire, where his father was master of the free school.He is said to have been apprenticed to a stocking-weaver in Mansfield, from whom he ran away, going into service as a footman for the Honourable Mrs.Jane Lowther, widow of General Thomas Lowther. Dodsley worked for her household at Whitehall around the late 1720s and early 1730s. Profits and fame from his early literary works enabled Dodsley to establish himself with the help of his friends (Alexander Pope lent him £100) as a bookseller at the sign of Tully's Head inPall Mall, London, in 1735.
He soon became one of the foremost publishers of the day. One of his first publications wasSamuel Johnson'sLondon for which he paid tenguineas in 1738. He published many of Johnson's works, and he suggested and helped to finance Johnson'sDictionary. Pope also made over to Dodsley his interest in his letters. In 1738, the publication ofPaul Whitehead'sManners was voted scandalous by theHouse of Lords and led to Dodsley's imprisonment for a brief period. Dodsley published forEdward Young andMark Akenside, and in 1751 brought outThomas Gray'sElegy. He was also publisher to the Rev.Joseph Spence andJoseph Warton, and collaborated withJohn Baskerville, the innovative Birmingham printer.
In 1759, Dodsley retired, leaving the conduct of the business to his brotherJames, with whom he had been in partnership for many years. He died and was buried atDurham while he was on a visit to his friendJoseph Spence.
In 1729, Dodsley published his first work,Servitude: a Poem written by a Footman, with a preface and postscript ascribed toDaniel Defoe; and a collection of short poems,A Muse in Livery, or the Footman's Miscellany, was published by subscription in 1732, Dodsley's patrons comprising many persons of high rank. This was followed by a satiricalfarce calledThe Toy-Shop (Covent Garden, 1735), in which the toymaker indulges in moral observations on his wares, a hint which was probably taken fromThomas Randolph'sConceited Pedlar. In 1737 hisKing and the Miller of Mansfield, a "dramatic tale" ofKing Henry II, was produced atDrury Lane, and received with much applause; the sequel,Sir John Cockle at Court, a farce, appeared in 1738. Dodsley displayed his egalitarian leanings with the anonymousThe Chronicle of the Kings of England by "Nathan ben Saddi" (1740), rewriting English history in the style of the King James Version of the Pentateuch.The Oeconomy of Human Life appeared in 1750, a collection of moral precepts attributed to ancient authors in India and China, set out in a King James Version style of English attributed to an anonymous translator.
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Dodsley is, however, best known as the editor of two collections, one of plays, and one of poems. The first was theSelect Collection of Old Plays (10 vols., 1744; two further volumes, 1745);[2] 2nd edition with notes byIsaac Reed, 12 vols., 1780; 4th edition, byWilliam Carew Hazlitt, 1874–1876, 15 vols). Dodsley's collection of poems,A collection of Poems by Several Hands (1748, 3 vols.) was ‘to preserve to the public those poetical performances, which seemed to merit a longer remembrance than what would probably be secured to them by the Manner wherein they were originally published’ (Collection of Poems, 1748, vol. 1.iii–iv). Given his literary circle, he was able to fill three volumes of poetry by the time of the first edition on 15 January 1748. By March 1755 it had entered four editions and he added a fourth volume, and in 1758 volumes five and six, hence the change in titles.[3]
In 1745 he published a collection of his dramatic works, and some poems which had been issued separately in one volume under the modest title ofTrifles. This was followed byThe Triumph of Peace, a Masque occasioned by the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1749); his three-cantoblank verse georgic onAgriculture (1753), originally intended as part of a longer work to be titledPublic Virtue;The Blind Beggar of Bethnal Green (acted at Drury Lane 1739, printed 1741); and an ode,Melpomene (1751). His tragedy ofCleone (1758) had a long run at Covent Garden, 2000 copies being sold on the day of publication, and it passed through four editions within the year.
Dodsley also founded several literary periodicals:The Museum (1746–1767, 3 vols.);The Preceptor containing a general course of education (1748, 2 vols.), with an introduction by Dr Johnson;The World (1753–1756, 4 vols.); andTheAnnual Register, founded in 1758 withEdmund Burke as editor. To these various works,Horace Walpole, Akenside,Soame Jenyns, Lord Lyttelton,Lord Chesterfield, Burke and others were contributors.
He produced and published more successful works towards the end of his life.The Select Fables of Esop (1761), which remained in print in various editions for many decades, for which he and some of his friends wrote additional fables. TheWorks of William Shenstone (3 vols., 1764–1769) was brought out as a memorial after Shenstone's sudden death, and was very selectively edited so as to show that writer at his best.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Dodsley, Robert".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 8 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 373.
