Samuel Richardson as Anonymous Editor and Printer: Recycling Texts for the Book Market

During the first two decades of his career, Richard Richardson played a significant role in producing text, particularly in The True Briton (1723-24) and The Weekly Miscellany (1732-41). He used his printer's skills to feminize journalism, creating a female voice to express his resistance against the legal restraints on women's participation in the public sphere.

Format: Hardback
Length: 148 pages
Publication date: 05 March 2024
Publisher: Anthem Press

During the first two decades of his career, Richardson's role as a printer extended far beyond simply setting the type for the periodicals that emerged from his shop. Perhaps the most striking testament to his active involvement in the production of text is the coincidence that both The True Briton (1723-24) and The Weekly Miscellany (1732-41) feature letters purportedly written by women who fervently protest the legal barriers impeding their participation in the public realm. Neither the Duke of Wharton, the proprietor of The True Briton, nor William Webster, the financially destitute producer of The Weekly Miscellany, launched their journals with the explicit intention of advocating radical views on political equality for women. Yet, almost inadvertently, this middle-aged, rotund printer at Salisbury Court was subtly feminizing journalism. Following his initial forays into Wharton's anti-Walpole journal, Richardson honed his satirical skills in The Miscellany by creating not only his own spirited counterpart to Pope's coquette Belinda but also collaborating with Sarah Chapone's subversive Delia. As an unconventional figure in what was widely perceived as a corrupt and predatory political world, Richardson readily adopted a female voice to express his steadfast resistance.

Weight: 374g
Dimension: 159 x 237 x 17 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781785273537