Jacob Tonson

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jacob Tonson, sometimes referred to as Jacob Tonson the elder (1655/6–1736) was an 18th-century English bookseller and publisher.

Tonson published editions of John Dryden and John Milton, and is best known for having obtained a copyright on the plays of William Shakespeare by buying up the rights of the heirs of the publisher of the Fourth Folio after the Statute of Anne went into effect. He was also the founder of the famous Kit-Cat Club.

His nephew, Jacob Tonson the younger (1682-1735) was also a bookseller and publisher, whose business was continued by his son Jacob Tonson (1714–1767)

[edit] External links

• Raymond N. MacKenzie, ‘Tonson, Jacob, the elder (1655/6–1736)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, Jan 2008, accessed 11 Jan 2008
• Works by or about Jacob Tonson in libraries (WorldCat catalog)