Joseph Johnson

Joseph Johnson (15 November 1738 – 20 December 1809) is an influential 18th-century London bookseller and publisher.

His publications cover a wide variety of genres and a broad spectrum of opinions on important issues.

Johnson is best known for publishing the works of radical thinkers such as Mary Wollstonecraft, William Godwin, and Joel Barlow, as well as religious dissenters such as Joseph Priestley, Anna Laetitia Barbauld, and Gilbert Wakefield.

In the 1760s, Johnson establishes his publishing business, which focuses primarily on religious works.

He also becomes friends with Priestley and the artist Henry Fuseli—two relationships that last his entire life and bring him much business.

In the 1770s and 1780s, Johnson expands his business, publishing important works in medicine and children's literature as well as the popular poetry of William Cowper and Erasmus Darwin.

Throughout his career, Johnson helps shape the thought of his era not only through his publications, but also through his support of innovative writers and thinkers.

He fosters the open discussion of new ideas, particularly at his famous weekly dinners, the regular attendees of which became known as the "Johnson Circle".

In the 1790s, Johnson aligns himself with the supporters of the French Revolution, and publishes an increasing number of political pamphlets in addition to a prominent journal, the Analytical Review, which offers British reformers a voice in the public sphere.

In 1799, he is indicted on charges of seditious libel for publishing a pamphlet by the Unitarian minister Gilbert Wakefield.

After spending six months in prison, albeit under relatively comfortable conditions, Johnson publishes fewer political works.

In the last decade of his career, Johnson does not seek out many new writers; however, he remains successful by publishing the collected works of authors such as William Shakespeare.

Johnson's friend John Aikin eulogized him as "the father of the booktrade".

He has also been called "the most important publisher in England from 1770 until 1810" for his appreciation and promotion of young writers, his emphasis on publishing inexpensive works directed at a growing middle-class readership, and his cultivation and advocacy of women writers at a time when they were viewed with scepticism.

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