When on a tour of Oxford in 1776 Samuel Johnson was discussing biography with Thomas Warton, his companion James Boswell suggested that "Robert Dodsley's life should be written, as he has been so much connected with the wits of his time, and by his...

Robert Dodsley (1704-1764), the most significant bookseller and publisher of his age, rose from humble beginnings. Having apprenticed as a footman, he found his escape in poetry. His first publication, Servitude: A Poem, which originally appeared anonymously in 1729, advocated mutual respect between...

Harry M. Solomon's The Rise of Robert Dodsley: Creating the New Age of Print is the first biography since 1910 of the footman turned poet, playwright, satirist, bookseller, and publisher. In tracing the rise of Dodsley from plebeian poet to the most important...

In the first essay which follows, Solomon argues that a new biography of Dodsley is warranted, one that does not treat the publisher as a secondary literary figure to the authors he published. In the second, Solomon recounts Dodsley's many literary achievements as a poet, dramatist, journalist, editor, bookseller, and patron of the arts.

In the following excerpt, Tierney examines Dodsley's work as dramatist, journalist, editor, publisher, and bookseller.

In the following essay, Gray describes the rivalry between two London theater companies and how it affected the writing, staging, and critical reception of Dodsley's Cleone.