The Edwardses of Halifax The Making and Selling of Beautiful Books in London and Halifax 1749 1826 1st Edition JR G E Bentley

The Edwardses of Halifax The Making
and Selling of Beautiful Books in

London and Halifax 1749 1826 1st
Edition Jr G E Bentley
Visit to download the full and correct content document:
https://ebookmeta.com/product/the-edwardses-of-halifax-the-making-and-selling-of-b
eautiful-books-in-london-and-halifax-1749-1826-1st-edition-jr-g-e-bentley/
More products digital (pdf, epub, mobi) instant
download maybe you interests ...
The Science and Method of Politics 1st Edition G. E. G.

Catlin
https://ebookmeta.com/product/the-science-and-method-of-
politics-1st-edition-g-e-g-catlin/
Selling Science Polio and the Promise of Gamma Globulin

1st Edition Stephen E. Mawdsley
https://ebookmeta.com/product/selling-science-polio-and-the-
promise-of-gamma-globulin-1st-edition-stephen-e-mawdsley/
The Bookshop of the World: Making and Trading Books in

the Dutch Golden Age Andrew Pettegree
https://ebookmeta.com/product/the-bookshop-of-the-world-making-
and-trading-books-in-the-dutch-golden-age-andrew-pettegree/
The Embodiment of Characters: The Representation of

Physical Experience on Stage and in Print, 1728-1749
Jones Deritter
https://ebookmeta.com/product/the-embodiment-of-characters-the-
representation-of-physical-experience-on-stage-and-in-
print-1728-1749-jones-deritter/
A Hitch In Time Writings from the London Review of
Books 1st Edition Christopher Hitchens
https://ebookmeta.com/product/a-hitch-in-time-writings-from-the-
london-review-of-books-1st-edition-christopher-hitchens/
A Hitch in Time Writings from the London Review of

Books 1st Edition Christopher Hitchens
https://ebookmeta.com/product/a-hitch-in-time-writings-from-the-
london-review-of-books-1st-edition-christopher-hitchens-2/
The Literary Legacy of the Macmillan Company of Canada

Making Books and Mapping Culture 1st Edition Ruth
Panofsky
https://ebookmeta.com/product/the-literary-legacy-of-the-
macmillan-company-of-canada-making-books-and-mapping-culture-1st-
edition-ruth-panofsky/
The Making of the Abrahamic Religions in Late Antiquity

1st Edition Guy G Stroumsa
https://ebookmeta.com/product/the-making-of-the-abrahamic-
religions-in-late-antiquity-1st-edition-guy-g-stroumsa/
Peasant and Nation The Making of Postcolonial Mexico

and Peru Florencia E. Mallon
https://ebookmeta.com/product/peasant-and-nation-the-making-of-
postcolonial-mexico-and-peru-florencia-e-mallon/
THE EDWARDSES OF HALIFAX
This page intentionally left blank
G.E. BENTLEY, JR
The Edwardses of Halifax

The Making and Selling
of Beautiful Books in London
and Halifax, 1749–1826
UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO PRESS

Toronto Buffalo London
© University of Toronto Press 2015
Toronto Buffalo London
www.utppublishing.com
Printed in the U.S.A.
ISBN 978-1-4426-4518-9 (cloth)
Printed on acid-free, 100% post-consumer recycled paper with vegetable-based inks.
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Bentley, G. E. (Gerald Eades), 1930–, author

The Edwardses of Halifax : the making and selling of beautiful books in London
and Halifax, 1749–1826 / G.E. Bentley, Jr.
Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-4426-4518-9 (bound)
1. Edwards, James, 1757–1816. 2. Edwards, James, 1757–1816 – Family.

3. Publishers and publishing – England – Biography. 4. Antiquarian booksellers –
England – Biography. 5. Book industries and trade – England – History.
6. Publishers and publishing – England – History. I. Title.
Z325.E38B46 2015 070.5092′2 C2014-908310-6
This book has been published with the help of a grant from the Federation for the
Humanities and Social Sciences, through the Awards to Scholarly Publications
Program, using funds provided by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research
Council of Canada.
University of Toronto Press acknowledges the financial assistance to its publishing

program of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council, an agency
of the Government of Ontario.
Funded by the Financé par le

Government gouvernement
of Canada du Canada
Dedicated to Karen Mulhallen
Student, Friend, Patroness
who, without my foreknowledge,
submitted this book to the University of Toronto Press
and, by force of character and persistence,
talked the book through to publication
Contents
List of Appendices: Bibliographies xi

List of Illustrations xiii
Note on References xvii
Acknowledgments xix
Preface xxi
Introduction 3
Locations of Leading Booksellers and Printers 6
Westward March of the Book Trade 7
Richard Edwards’ Edition of Young’s Night Thoughts (1797)
with Plates Designed and Engraved by William Blake 9
Genealogy: Edwards of Halifax 12
Genealogy: Edwards of Northowram 14
Part I: William Edwards, Paterfamilias

Bookselling 1748–1808 17
Bookselling at Auction 1749–60 20
Publishing 1749–1808 21
Bookbinding 24
Painted Transparent Vellum Bindings 27
Fore-Edge Paintings 33
Edwards Publications with Fore-Edge Paintings 36
Other Members of the Edwards Family: William [Jr] (1753–86),
John (1706–93), and John (1745–1819) of Lisbon and
Northowram Hall, Yorkshire 36
Style of Life 1796–1808 38
viii Contents
Part II: James Edwards, the Medicean Bookseller
1 The Medicean Bookshop and James Edwards’s Shop

Catalogues 1784–1800 43
John Edwards 45
Catalogues 1784–1800 45
Some Notable Friends 52
Joseph Johnson the Bookseller 53
Henry Fuseli the Artist 55
Horace Walpole the Author 56
Giambattista Bodoni and James Edwards: The Best Printer
in Europe and the Best Bookseller in the World 60
2 Buying on the Continent and Selling at Auction 1786–1799 73

3 James Edwards as a Publisher 1785–1800 87
Concealed Editions 87
Elegance 89
Books in French, Italian, German, and Latin, and Translations 89
Reprints 90
Range of Subjects 92
Prospectuses 92
Books in Parts 93
Books Published by Subscription 94
James Edwards’s Printers 94
His Co-Publishers 96
His Accomplishments as a Publisher 106
Books Imported by James Edwards 120
Retirement from Publishing 122
4 The Bookseller as Diplomat: James Edwards, Lord Grenville,

and Earl Spencer in 1800 126
5 Last Years 139
Part III: Richard Edwards, Publisher of Church-and-King

Pamphlets and of William Blake
Artist, Bookseller, and Civil Servant 153
Church-and-King Publishing 1792–6 159
Richard Edwards’s Co-Publishers in Chronological Order 166
Printers for Richard Edwards 167
Contents ix
Illustrated Books Published by Richard Edwards 168

The Great Illustrated-Book Publisher 1796–8 168
Merigot’s Rome (1796–8) 168
Young’s Night Thoughts (1797) 170
Part IV: Thomas Edwards, an Important Provincial Bookseller

Sale Catalogues 1812–34 195
Publishing 1788–1826 197
Style of Life 199
Notes 201
Index 243
Appendices: Bibliographies
[available on the volume’s book page at the University of Toronto

website: http://www.utppublishing.com/pdf/Bentley_Edwardsesof
HalifaxVol2.pdf]
Appendix 1: William Edwards’s Publications 1

Summary in Chronological Order 1
A Bibliography in Alphabetical Order 4
Appendix 2: James Edwards’s Publications 29
Publications by Subject 34
Books Imported by James Edwards 279
Summary in Alphabetical Order 280
Bibliography of Books Imported in Alphabetical Order 282
Appendix 3: Richard Edwards’s Publications 300
Appendix 4: Thomas Edwards’s Publications 351
Appendix 5: Publications of the WRONG James Edwards
(fl. 1787–1807) 364
Appendix 6: Publications of the WRONG Richard Edwards of Bristol
(1792–1802) and London (1804–26) 365
Appendix 7: Catalogues of Mr Edwards of Great St Helens, Bishopsgate,
Auctioneer (1798–1800) 366
Appendix 8: Publications of the WRONG John Edwards of 17 Conduit
Street (1791) 367
xii Appendices: Bibliographies
Appendix 9: Works about the Edwardses 369

Contemporary Manuscripts (1774–1828) 369
Correspondence of James Edwards (1775–1815) 372
Correspondence of John Edwards (1792) 382
Correspondence of Thomas Edwards (1798–1819) 382
Contemporary Printed Books &c (1784–1835) 383
Retrospective Manuscripts and Typescripts (1912–1983) 386
Retrospective Books and Essays (1874 ff.) 387
Works about Young’s Night Thoughts (1797) 390
Reproductions of Young’s Night Thoughts (1797) 395
Exhibitions of Blake’s Night Thoughts (1797) 396
Illustrations
1 John Horner, Buildings in the Town and Parish of Halifax

(Halifax: Leyland & Son, 1835), lithograph of the
“Old Market, Halifax, as it appeared in 1800” 19
2 The Book of Common Prayer (W. Edwards & Sons, 1791)
title page 23
3 A Commentary on the Holy Bible: Containing the whole
sacred text … with Notes (Bristol: William Pine, 1774),
covers and fore-edge 26
4 The Letters of Lady Rachel Russell, 6th Ed. (London:
J. Mawman, 1801), front cover 28
5 [Horace Walpole] The Castle of Otranto, 6th Ed. (Parma:
Printed by Bodoni, for J. Edwards, Bookseller of London,
1791), title page 58
6 Bibliotheca Parisiana: A Catalogue of a Collection of Books,
[which] ... will be Sold by Auction, in London on [26–31 March
1790] (London: [James] Edwards; Paris: M. Laurent; and “the
principal Booksellers throughout Europe,” 1790), title page 81
7 Novelle Otto (Londra: Giacomo Edwards, 1790), title page 91
8 Sir Brooke Boothby, Sorrows Sacred to the Memory of Penelope
(London: Caddell and Davies, [James] Edwards, and
[Joseph] Johnson, 1796), frontispiece (Henry Fuseli-Anon.) 99
9 Prospectus (London: R. Edwards and J. Edwards, ?1796)
for Young’s Night Thoughts (Richard Edwards, 1797) with
Night Thoughts coloured copy N 103
10 The Fables of John Dryden, Ornamented with Engravings from the
Pencil of The Right Hon. Lady Diana Beauclerc (London: J. Edwards
and E. Harding, 1797), vignette (Lady Diana Beauclerk-
Francesco Bartolozzi) for “Palamon and Arcite” Book II 107
xiv Illustrations

and E. Harding, 1797), vignette (Beauclerk-W.N. Gardiner) for
“The Flower and the Leaf: A Vision” 108
12 Gottfried Augustus Bürgher, Leonora, tr. W.R. Spencer, with
Designs by the Right Honourable Diana Beauclerc (London:
J. Edwards and E. Harding, 1796), print (Beauclerk-Harding) 109
13 William Roscoe, The Life of Lorenzo de’ Medici (London:
J. Edwards, 1795), Vol. 1 title page 115
Illustrations in Appendices
14 Name card of G.E. Bentley, Jr, formed from the harp and flute in
the corners of Blake’s Job (1826) frontispiece
and E. Harding, 1797), engraving for Arcite threatening Palamon
for “Palamon and Arcite” Book II 397
16 Joseph Strutt, A Complete View of the Dress and Habits of the People of
England, Vol. I (London: J. Edwards, R. Edwards, B. and J. White,
G.G. and J. Robinson, and J. Thane, 1796), in colour 398
17 [C.E. De Coetlogon], Reflections ..., on the Murder of Louis the Sixteenth
(London: R. Edwards, Rivingtons, Knight, and Debrett, 1793), title
page 399
18 [C.E. De Coetlogon] Reflections ... on the Murder of Louis the Sixteenth
(London: R. Edwards, Rivingtons, Knight, and Debrett, 1793): “Fils
de S.t Louis, montez au Ciel” 400
19 Edward Young, Night Thoughts (London: R. Edwards, 1797), title
page 401
20 Edward Young, Night Thoughts (London: R. Edwards, 1797), p. 4
(Blake-Blake, with Blake’s monogram) 402
21 Transparent vellum cover of The Book of Common Prayer (1784) 403
Colour Plates (following page 72)

Plate 1 James Edward Smith, The Natural History of the Rarer
Lepidopterous Insects of Georgia (London: J. Edwards,
Cadell and Davies, and J. White, 1797), plate 5
(John Abbot-John Harris)
Illustrations xv
Plate 2 Captain J.G. Stedman, Narrative, of a five years’ expedition,

against the Revolted Negroes of Surinam ... (London: J. Johnson
and J. Edwards, 1796), vol. 2: engraving ([J.G. Stedman?] -
Blake) of “Europe supported by Africa & America”
Plate 3 Moses Harris, The Aurelian (London: The Author and
J. Edwards, 1794), plate 29 (Moses Harris-Moses Harris)
Plate 4 [J. Merigot] A Select Collection of Views and Ruins in Rome
(London: R. Edwards, [James] Edwards, White,and
Robinson, 1797), aquatint of “ARCH OF SEPTIMUS SEVERUS,”
on pale plum paper
Plate 5 [J. Merigot] A Select Collection of Views and Ruins in Rome
(London: R. Edwards, [James] Edwards, White, and
Robinson, 1797), aquatint of “ARCH OF SEPTIMUS
SEVERUS,” hand coloured
Plate 6 Edward Young, Night Thoughts, vol. 1, frontispiece,
William Blake, watercolour (?1796)
Plate 7 Tickets of (a) James Edwards and (b) Richard Edwards
Plate 8 J.G. Stedman, Narrative, of a five years expedition, against the
Revolted Negroes of Surinam (London: J. Johnson and
J. Edwards, 1796), engraving ([J.G. Stedman]-William
Blake) of “The Execution of Breaking on the Rack”
Note on References
G.E. Bentley, Jr, Blake Books (1977) = BB

G.E. Bentley, Jr, Blake Records, 2nd Edition (2004) = BR (2)
Edwards, James and Thomas, letters: Their sources are given in the
bibliography (see Appendix 9)
Farington, Joseph, diary (1793–1820), quoted by date from the
manuscript in the Royal Library, Windsor; see The Diary of Joseph
Farington, ed. Kenneth Garlick & Angus Macintyre, Vol. 1–6, ed.
Kathryne Cave, Vol. 7–16 (New Haven, CT, & London: Yale Uni-
versity Press, 1978 [1–2], 1979 [3–6], 1982 [7–10], 1983 [11–12], 1984
[13–16], 1999 [Index])
Hanson: T.W. Hanson, “Edwards of Halifax” (c. 1965), unpublished
manuscript in Bodley; for more details, see appendix 9. Hanson
rarely gives his sources, and usually I quote him because I do not
know where he found his information
Roscoe, William, correspondence, mostly with James Edwards:
Quoted from reproductions of the manuscripts in Liverpool Pub-
lic Library, with a few noted exceptions; for the James Edwards
correspondence, see Appendix 9
Note that the bibliographies (see appendices 1–8) often give details that
are cited or quoted without sources in the text of parts 1–4.
Most copies of books reported here were seen in Bodley and the British
Library, but many were examined in the Huntington Library, Harvard,
Yale, Princeton, Toronto, National Library of Australia, and elsewhere.
Locations of the copies reported but not seen are taken from the National
xviii Note on References
Union Catalog and the catalogues of the British Library, the Bibliothèque
Nationale, and elsewhere, identified in alphabetical order of institution:
“Toronto” = University of Toronto Library. Note, however, that “Halifax
Public” = Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Library in Halifax, Yorkshire.
The existence of reviews of poetry is sometimes taken silently from
my friend J.R. de J. Jackson’s Annals of English Verse 1770–1835: A Pre-
liminary Survey of the Volumes Published (1985).
The books cited here from the Doheny Collection were for forty years
in the library of St John’s Seminary, Camarillo, California; they were
somewhat abruptly dispersed at Christie auctions in 1987 and 1988, and
I have not attempted to trace their new locations.
Acknowledgments
A great deal of the material for this book derives from the essays of T.W.
Hanson, a native of Halifax. This material consists principally of docu-
ments concerning the family that Hanson gathered and that are now
in the Bodleian Library – manuscripts of contemporaries, deeds, books
published and bound by them, clippings from catalogues, and his own
notes and correspondence about them – as well as a book he drafted in
longhand entitled “Edwards of Halifax.” This last contains most of his
conclusions about the Edwards family and omits the sources of almost
all his evidence. Hanson’s interest was primarily in Edwards of Halifax
bindings, and most of my information on this subject derives from him.
His information on Edwards publications was, however, only the begin-
ning of my own, and I have rarely depended upon him or left his facts
unextended, though often, of course, he drew my attention to a fact that
I have pursued independently. I quote from the writings of T.W. Hanson
by generous permission of his daughter-in-law Carola D. Hanson.
The information that I published in “The ‘Edwardses of Halifax’ as
Booksellers by Catalogue 1749–1835,” Studies in Bibliography (1991), I
have, by permission of the editor Professor Fredson Bowers, distrib-
uted in the separate sections here covering William, James, and Thomas
Edwards. The essay “The Bookseller as Diplomat: James Edwards, Lord
Grenville, and Earl Spencer in 1800,” Book Collector (1984), is reprinted
with only minor changes by permission of its editor. The article “Rich-
ard Edwards, Publisher of Church and King Pamphlets and of William
Blake,” Studies in Bibliography, 41 (1988): 283–315, is adapted here in
part 3.
I have been generously assisted by many correspondents, some of
whom are acknowledged in footnotes. I should like to mention here
xx Acknowledgments
with special gratitude Gerard Vaughan, Elizabeth Swaim, who gener-

ously shared with me portions of her work on the eighteenth-century
Yorkshire book trade, and Rosa Edwards, widow of Walter M. Edwards,
great-grandson of James Edwards, who collected information about
Edwards of Halifax bindings. I am also grateful to the custodians of
the books, manuscripts, and pictures cited and reproduced in this book
and to the anonymous readers for the University of Toronto Press for
valuable suggestions carefully followed here.
I owe a special debt to Professor Karen Mulhallen, first my student
and now my patron, whose enthusiasm and powerful disinclination to
accept excuses have achieved wonders, here and elsewhere.
My work on the Edwardses of Halifax has been generously sup-
ported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of
Canada, which provided a research leave fellowship in Oxford and
summer grants, and I express here my deep sense of appreciation for
the council’s enlightened support of original scholarship, both my own
and others’.
Work on this book has been conducted in scores of research institu-
tions, particularly the libraries of the Boston Athenaeum, Boston Public
Library, Cambridge University, Calderdale (i.e., Halifax) Public Library,
the Courtauld Institute, Doheny Library (Camarillo, California, since
dispersed), Glasgow University, Harvard University, Leeds University,
Manchester Public Library, National Library of Australia, Princeton
University, Toronto Public Library (Osborne Collection), the University
of Chicago, University of Toronto, Victoria & Albert Museum, Victoria
University in the University of Toronto, and Yale University (Beinecke
Library, Center for the Study of British Art, W.S. Lewis Library, and
Stirling Library), but the most satisfying and rewarding work was done
among the endless riches of the British Library and British Museum
Print Room, the scholarly friendships of the Huntington Library, the
humane glories of the Bodleian Library – and the still and lonely woods
of Dutch Boys Landing, Mears, Michigan.
Preface
The challenge of finding materials concerning the Edwardses of Halifax

is a formidable one. No publishing archive or extensive cache of family
manuscripts is known to survive, and many of the records of the family
and of their publications are quite unrelated to one another, so there is
rarely a chain of evidence to pursue.
For James Edwards, the best-known and most distinguished member
of the family, there is moderately extensive surviving correspondence
with William Roscoe of Liverpool and Giambattista Bodoni of Parma;
he issued a number of shop and auction catalogues, and many of his
books were advertised and offered second-hand in these catalogues.
Publications of the Edwards family were regularly listed and reviewed
with their names in the Analytical Review (1788–98), published by their
friend Joseph Johnson, and a number of Edwards publications were
first noticed there. (Most other reviews and lists in journals, such as the
Gentleman’s Magazine, did not identify the publisher.)
However, it is probable that some publications by James Edwards
and numbers by William, Thomas, and Richard Edwards have not yet
been noticed, and several here were discovered by mere serendipity.
Anon., Lodowick (Richard Edwards ... 1795), for instance, was offered in
a 1981 bookseller’s catalogue and immediately acquired by the Osborne
Collection of Toronto Public Library. For William, Thomas, Richard,
and even to some extent for James Edwards, the publications recorded
here should be regarded as symptomatic rather than comprehensive.
It is unlikely that any major publication initiated by James or Richard
Edwards has been overlooked, for their publications were apparently
recorded fairly systematically in the Analytical Review and in James
Edwards’s own catalogues (for his own publications), but unrecorded
xxii Preface
books published by congeries including them are still likely to turn up.
What follows is probably a good record of the shape and even the bulk
of the publications of the Edwards family, but minor details certainly
need to be added to it.
The Edwardses of Halifax were famous in their time and distin-
guished as bookbinders, as antiquarian booksellers, and as publishers,
but their personal lives are remarkably obscure. I have searched for and
presented extensively information about their publications and about
their lives as booksellers, especially in London, but my evidence about
their bookbindings, their social lives, and their descendants is largely
summarized from the papers of T.W. Hanson in the Bodleian Library,
derived from half a century of searching and an acquaintance with a
number of Edwards descendants. The omission of extensive details
about their work as bookbinders is a serious one, and in justification I
can only plead that I have no competence as a scholar of bookbindings
to supply the omission. Their work as booksellers and as publishers has
heretofore been neglected, while their bindings are described in numer-
ous articles and books. In any case, they were in general important as
inventors of bookbinding styles and as commissioners of bookbindings
in their Edwards styles rather than as craftsmen executing the covers
and fore-edges themselves. A comprehensive book about the Edward-
ses of Halifax as bookbinders would be very welcome, but it is not to
be found here.
This book endeavours to set forth the evidence concerning the family
of Edwards of Halifax through three generations as booksellers, book-
binders, and publishers. The family is known primarily for its inven-
tions in bookbinding, but my focus is chiefly upon them as booksellers
and publishers, in which roles their accomplishments are more formi-
dable though not so unusual.
There are separate parts on the bookselling and publishing careers
of William Edwards (1721–1808), the paterfamilias in Halifax, on his
son Thomas Edwards (1762–1834), who continued the shop in Halifax,
and on his youngest son Richard Edwards (1768–1827), who opened a
shop in London and sponsored one of the greatest illustrated books of
the time, Young’s Night Thoughts (1797), with folio plates designed and
engraved by William Blake.
Most of the book, however, is about William’s eldest son, James
Edwards (1756–1816), who established in Pall Mall a shop that was
wonderfully fashionable and who became one of the most distin-
guished antiquarian booksellers and book publishers of the day, with a
surprising excursion into secret international diplomacy.
Preface xxiii
In addition, there is a bibliography of all the books James, Richard,

William, and Thomas Edwards are known to have published. This is
an area in which little information had previously been collected. C.J.
Weber remarked in 1966 that since “this aspect of his [James Edwards’s]
career has received almost no attention from many of those who have
written about him, it may be well to try to correct that omission here.”1
However, Weber named only six books published by James Edwards,
concluding somewhat lamely, “Doubtless there were others.” I have
traced rather more than 150 books published by James Edwards, but
doubtless there are others that I have missed. Still, I am persuaded that
almost all of them are here, including the most important ones.
There are relatively few books on English publishers of the late eigh-
teenth and early nineteenth centuries, and none of them has a full bib-
liography of the firm’s publications. Among the best of these books are
the studies of Cadell & Davies,2 Joseph Johnson,3 Longman,4 the Minerva
Press,5 John Murray,6 and James Robson.7 Additionally, there are records
of the copyrights of the Robinson firm8 and of the illustrated publica-
tions of Robert Bowyer (Hume’s History of England, folio),9 John & Josiah
Boydell (Shakspeare and Milton, folio),10 F.J. Du Roveray (English poets,
octavo),11 and Thomas Macklin (Bible, folio).12
Among these publishers, the only ones who specialized in elegant
illustrated books were John & Josiah Boydell, Robert Bowyer, Thomas
Macklin, and F.J. Du Roveray. And none of them was like the Edward-
ses of Halifax and London in printing on vellum, satin, and silk and
binding in Etruscan calf, painted transparent vellum, and shot silk.
The case of William Blake is somewhat peculiar. Joseph Viscomi has
published a brilliant book on Blake as a printmaker and printer,13 but
there is no book on Blake as a publisher, though he was the publisher
of all his own books.14
Note on Orthography
An abbreviation that ends with a period and superscript letter repre-

sents a common orthographical convention of Blake’s time in which the
superscript letter is above the period, e.g., M.r
THE EDWARDSES OF HALIFAX
Introduction
The work of the firm known as Edwards of Halifax is widely recorded

and celebrated in the field of bookbinding.1 However, little has been
published about the Edwardses of Halifax as antiquarian booksellers or
as publishers.2 In fact, the title should refer to both Halifax and London,
for there were family shops in both cities, and the title was held not by
just one man but by five.
The Edwardses of Halifax and London were important actors in a
series of remarkable changes in the book trade in the last twenty years of
the eighteenth century. Before this time, English pretensions to taste and
accomplishment in the art of bookmaking had been modest and insular;
thereafter, they were self-confident and imperial. The best-known English
illustrated editions of the time, the Boydells’ great folio Shakspeare (nine
volumes, 1802) and Thomas Macklin’s folio Bible (five volumes, 1800),
were regarded as National Editions, and Richard Edwards’s folio edi-
tion of Young’s Night Thoughts (1797), with extraordinary engravings
by William Blake, was created “with those advantages of dress and
ornament which have lately distinguished the immortal productions of
Shakspeare and of Milton,” in order “to increase the honours of the brit-
ish press.”3
These revolutions in book taste and accomplishment were concen-
trated in three areas: quality of materials, skill of craftsmen, and aesth-
etic ambition. The very materials of bookmaking altered. Paper of the
first quality was manufactured in England by new firms such as that of
James Whatman, so that the best paper no longer had to be imported
at great expense from Holland, France, and Italy. Far more use was
made of luxurious vehicles for printing such as India paper, vellum,
silk, and satin, all used by the Edwardses. New inks were invented by
4 The Edwardses of Halifax
Joseph Cooper (c. 1749–1808) and for John Boydell, so that the printed
impressions would appear more sharp, black, and uniform. The eigh-
teenth century is the first great age of British typography, with type
designers of the stature of William Caslon father (1692–1766) and son
(1720–78), Robert Foulis (1707–76), and William Baskerville (1706–75),
and their achievements in type design rivalled those of the Continent
and are still in cherished use. Books were sheathed in handsomer cov-
ers, some publishers issued books in leather bindings (not just in sheets
or boards), and new methods of decoration were invented, particularly
by Edwards of Halifax, with fore-edge paintings and exquisite designs
under transparent vellum covers. The Edwards patent for transparent
vellum covers is the earliest and perhaps the only English patent for
hand binding.
The skill of the new craftsmen in the book trade in the late eighteenth
century was as remarkable as their new methods and materials. Printers
such as Thomas Bensley (c. 1760–1835) and William Bulmer (1757–1830)
transformed and made commercially successful the accomplishments
of the printing trade. James Edwards employed both firms, as well as
those of the great Continental printers Didot in Paris, and Bodoni in
Parma, and Schmidt & Alberti in Vienna.
The illustration of books improved dramatically in the last quarter of
the century. Previously the best book illustrations had been made on the
Continent or by Continental designers and engravers in England, but the
works of William Hogarth (1691–1764) and Richard Bentley (1708–82)
and particularly the foundation of the Royal Academy in 1769 fostered
extraordinary changes in English book decoration. English designers
and engravers at the end of the century such as Sir Joshua Reynolds,
President of the Royal Academy, Benjamin West, P.R.A., Sir Thomas
Lawrence, P.R.A., John Flaxman, R.A., and William Sharp deservedly
established European reputations. The new art also revived interest
in painters of earlier times, and James Edwards published important
books of engravings after Holbein, Leonardo, and other Continental
artists.
Stimulated by such accomplishments – and by the final lapse of the con-
cept of Perpetual Copyright in 1774 – the publishers of the time became
enormously ambitious, especially with illustrated books, and four of
their undertakings were on an imperial scale previously attempted only
by royal presses on the Continent. The National Editions of Shakspeare
(1786–1805) published by John and Josiah Boydell, of the Bible (1791–
1800) by Thomas Macklin, of Hume’s History of England (1793–1806) by
Introduction 5
Robert Bowyer, and of Young’s Night Thoughts (Part I, 1797) by Rich-

ard Edwards, were on a scale of magnificence in cost, size, beauty, and
achievement hitherto unknown in England, and they were accompanied
by works on a smaller scale but of comparable beauty, such as Dryden’s
Fables (1797), Smith’s Insects of Georgia (1797), and Bűrgher’s Leonora
(1796), all published by James Edwards.
Connected with this revolution in bookmaking was a renewed inter-
est in the great books of the past. New opportunities of acquiring such
books stimulated booksellers such as James Edwards and collectors
such as his customer Earl Spencer to extraordinary accomplishments.
Both men exhibited remarkable diplomatic qualities, Spencer as First
Lord of the Admiralty during the British Navy’s greatest years and
Edwards in negotiating with Continental collectors in the troubled
times of the French Revolution to allow their books to be sold in London.
In a surprising collaboration, James Edwards acted as Lord Spencer’s
secret agent on a delicate diplomatic mission to France in 1800. James
Edwards was probably best known in his own time as an antiquarian
bookseller and collector, and some of the finest works he acquired went
into his own personal collection – until they were dispersed in two great
sales of 1804 and 18l5.
James Edwards worked with important authors such as Horace Wal-
pole and with great artists such as Henry Fuseli and William Blake. He
published some of the most spectacular books of his time. Many were
enormous, some had coloured plates, and a few copies were printed
on vellum or silk or satin.4 These included Anon., Beauties of the Dutch
School (1793), 40 × 30.5 cm (15½ʺ × 12ʺ), Albanis Beaumont, Select Views
in the South of France (1794), 29 × 43 cm (11½ʺ × 17ʺ), Burg[k]maier,
Le Triomphe de l’Empereur Maximilian I (1796), 57 x 41.5 cm (22½ʺ ×
16ʺ), Caracci, Original Designs (1797), 42 × 54 cm (16½ʺ × 21ʺ), Dryden,
Fables (1797), 30.6 × 42.9 cm (12ʺ × 16½ʺ), Moses Harris, The Aurelian
(1794), 32 × 42 cm (12½ʺ × 16ʺ), Hodges, Select Views in India (1794) 59 ×
49 cm (23½ʺ × 25ʺ), Leonardo da Vinci, Original Designs (1796), 42 ×
54 cm (16ʺ × 19½ʺ), and J.E. Smith, Coloured Figures of Rare Plants (1790–3)
46 × 60 cm (18ʺ × 23½ʺ).
Even the scientific works were extraordinary for elegance. James
Edward Smith’s Lepidopterous Insects of Georgia (1797) was, wrote
James Edwards, a work “wch. our Friend Fuseli says will immortalize
me – it is 20 Guineas in Sheets 104 plates.” And Fuseli, who was an
authority on butterflies, praised the work for its “splendor of appear-
ance, and uniform excellence of execution ... we return our thanks to
the publisher ... for ... the perseverance and taste with which he super-
intended the execution of the whole.”5
To the surprise of both author and bookseller, William Roscoe’s hand-
some quarto edition of The Life of Lorenzo de’ Medici6 became what we
would call a best-seller. Not only were there authorized editions in 1795,
1796, 1797, and 1800 (in octavo), but at the same time there were edi-
tions, almost certainly not authorized, in German (Berlin, 1797), English
(Basil, 1799), French (Paris, 1799), and Italian (Pisa, 1799). In addition,
James Edwards collaborated with distinguished booksellers such as
Joseph Johnson, James Robson, and Cadell & Davies, and he employed
the best printers from London and the Continent.
As a publisher James Edwards had remarkably good judgment in both
art and literature. In the antiquarian book world, he was one of the chief
suppliers of Earl Spencer, the greatest English collector of his time, he
outbid King George for The Bedford Missal, and he ransacked the Conti-
nent for books in time of turmoil, sometimes bringing back whole librar-
ies to London.
James Edwards therefore appears in a remarkable variety of roles in
the book world – as maker, decorator, publisher, and collector of beauti-
ful books new and old. In all these roles, he achieved distinction, and his
achievements were echoed and fostered by those of his father William
Edwards and his brothers John (his partner for a time), Thomas, and
Richard Edwards. It is a very remarkable family, whose accomplish-
ments illuminate a great age of English bookmaking.
Locations of Leading Booksellers and Printers
The most notable booksellers and printers associated with the Edwardses
of Halifax – and William Blake – had shops in a very restricted area of the
City of London, Westminster, and Lambeth. In general, the trade spread
westward and along the Thames from where it had originally been estab-
lished in the City of London, round St Paul’s Cathedral. None of these
booksellers was east of St Paul’s, but a number of those in the list below
were in St Paul’s Churchyard and in Paternoster Row just north of it.
The survival of rural names such as St Giles in the Fields, St Mar-
tin in the Fields, and Leicester Fields, all in Westminster, suggests how
recently these areas had been built over, after the Fire of London in 1666.
All the great open areas, such as Green Park, St James Park, Hyde Park,
and Regents Park, are at the western end of Greater London, beyond the
fashionable book world.
Introduction 7
Some of the shops were very grand, such as those of Robert Bowyer
and James and John Edwards in Pall Mall, John & Josiah Boydell in
Cheapside, and Thomas Macklin in Fleet Street. Bowyer, the Boydells,
and Macklin held annual exhibitions of pictures commissioned for their
extraordinarily ambitious books, and the beau monde flocked to their
shops. James Edwards’s shop “became the resort of the gay morning
loungers of both sexes,”7 and Colonel Brandon in Sense and Sensibility
hears some fashionable and unwelcome news in a bookshop in Pall
Mall.8 But some shops were distinctly modest, such as that of Richard
Edwards in New Bond Street and those of William Blake, which were
merely his increasingly humble residences.
In the list below, book shops are aranged in geographical order, from
the City of London and St Paul’s in the east to Westminster, Bond Street,
and Pall Mall in the west.
Westward March of the Book Trade
Horwood Plan9 15
City of London
Leadenhall Street
John Lane, Minerva Press
Great St Helen’s
F.J. Du Roveray
Cheapside
John & Josiah Boydell
Horwood Plan 14
City of London
St Paul’s Churchyard
Joseph Johnson (No. 72)
Rivington
Paternoster Row
Longman & Co (No. 39)
G. G. & J. Robinson
Green Arbour Court, Old Bailey
R. Noble, Printer
Fleet Street
Thomas Macklin
John Murray
Benjamin & John White
Bolt Court, Fleet Street

Thomas Bensley (printer)
Horwood Plan 13
Westminster
Fountain Court, Strand
William Blake (No. 3) 1821–7
Strand (continuation of Fleet Street)
Thomas Cadell & William Davies
W. Faden
Green Street, Leicester Fields
Mews Gate, Leicester Fields
Thomas Payne
Horwood Plan 12
Westminster
Piccadilly
J. Debrett
Poland Street
Broad Street, Golden Square
William Blake & James Parker print shop (No. 27) 1784–5
William Blake exhibition (No. 28) 1809–10
New Bond Street
Richard Edwards
Robert Faulder
James Robson
Bond Street
James Robson
South Molton Street
Horwood Plan 22, under Plan 12

Westminster
Russell Court, Cleveland Lane, St James
William Bulmer (printer)
Pall Mall
Robert Bowyer
James Edwards (No. 77, 78, 102)
Introduction 9
John Edwards
Edward & Sylvester Harding (No. 98)
Horwood Plan 23, under Plan 13

Westminster
Whitehall
Thomas & John Egerton
Horwood Plan 24, across the river

Lambeth
Hercules Buildings
Felpham, Sussex
William Blake 1800–1803
Halifax, Yorkshire
East Side of the Old Market Place (No. 20, Red Hall)
Thomas Edwards
William Edwards
Almost all Blake’s sales from Felpham were by post. Few buyers
came to his cottage in Felpham besides his friends William Hayley and
Johnny Johnson, and E.J. Marsh.
But in Halifax, a woollen manufacturing town of five thousand in
1787, local people flocked to William Edwards’s shop in the Red Hall
in Old Market Street. In 1795 Dorothy Wordsworth’s uncle bought
her at the Edwards shop two books “very elegantly bound.”10 The
shop even became a sight for tourists. In 1788, John Thomas Stanley
wrote that “No Traveller leaves Halifax without paying a Visit to Mr
Edwards the Bookseller” to see his “elegant bindings” and elegant
rare books.
Richard Edwards’s Edition of Young’s Night Thoughts (1797) with

Plates Designed and Engraved by William Blake
Paradoxically, today the best-known publication of the Edwards family

is the edition of Young’s Night Thoughts (1797), with forty-three extra-
ordinary folio engravings by William Blake (see plate 6 and illus. 19–20
in the appendix). This was commissioned, but scarcely published, by
Richard, the youngest bookselling member of the Edwards family. Cer-

tainly, by far the largest commission Blake ever received was for his
537 folio watercolours for Young’s Night Thoughts. He was “employed
for more than two years” (?1794–6) upon the drawings (see plate 6),11
neglecting during that time most other commercial engraving work and
his own works in Illuminated Printing.
The drawings alone should have made Blake’s fortune. However,
according to the Royal Academy gossip Joseph Farington, “Blake asked
100 guineas for the whole. Edwards said He could not afford to give
more than 20 guineas for which Blake agreed.”12 Perhaps Blake hoped
that the fees for the 150 folio engravings proposed, worth at least 750
guineas, would make up the difference. Or perhaps Blake had agreed
with Richard Edwards to provide the engravings from his Night Thoughts
designs in return for copies of the published work, which Blake could
then colour and sell for himself.13
A prospectus announced that Edwards’s folio Night Thoughts would
be in “four parts, with one hundred and fifty engravings” at a cost of
only £5.5.0.14 This was an engraving undertaking of extraordinary mag-
nitude. In all his professional engraving career before 1794, Blake had
engraved only 167 commercial plates;15 very few of them were folios,
and for 102 of them in 1790–3 he probably had the assistance of his only
apprentice, Thomas Owen.16
The plates for Night Thoughts Part I are dated 27 June 1796 – 1 June
1797. At this rate, the remaining 107 plates for parts 3–4 might have
occupied 1798–1801. There is no evidence as to how much Blake was
paid for his Night Thoughts engravings – or whether he was paid for
them at all in cash.
In his integral Advertisement for Night Thoughts, Richard Edwards
said that he had “shrunk from no expence in the preparing of it.” This
is distinctly disingenuous. He shrank from the expense of Blake’s 537
folio watercolours, offering £21 when Blake had asked £105,17 and
he shrank from the expense of a really fine printer like Bensley or
Bulmer. R. Noble, whom he hired, was little more than a jobbing
printer. And he may have shrunk from paying Blake in cash for his
engravings. At any rate, there is no evidence that Blake received for
them more than thirty copies of the printed text – there are records of
twenty-eight copies of Young’s Night Thoughts (1797) with the prints
coloured by Blake and his wife Catherine. But he did choose fine
WHATMAN paper both for Blake’s watercolours and for the printed
Night Thoughts.
Introduction 11
It is difficult to imagine how Blake lived during the three or four

years he was working on Richard Edwards’s edition of Young’s Night
Thoughts. His probable earnings for other engraving work were £33 in
1794, £88 in 1795, £6 in 1796, and £184 in 1797, while in 1780–9 he had
averaged £130 a year and in 1790–3 he had averaged £330 a year.18
For four years Blake worked on his watercolours and engravings for
Young’s Night Thoughts and looked forward to its publication. How-
ever, part 1 was scarcely published in the sense of being advertised and
sold by a bookseller at a fixed address. In 1797 Richard Edwards was
going out of business, reducing his commercial commitments, and he
may not have advertised or published the Night Thoughts then at all.
The book seems to have passed to a congeries of booksellers led by
Richard’s brother James, who was himself going out of business, replete
with honour, beautiful old books, and gold. In 1798 Night Thoughts was
apparently taken over by James Robson, one of the congeries. We don’t
know who sold it thereafter – nor apparently did his customers. In 1810
Crabb Robinson wrote that it “is no longer to be bought.”19
In this commercial turmoil, Night Thoughts was virtually lost to sight.
There were only five advertisements for it and no review. Perhaps
250 copies were printed and sold, but we scarcely know by whom or
when. Blake’s greatest commercial enterprise apparently earned him
little gold or glory.
GENEALOGY EDWARDS OF HALIFAX
RICHARD EDWARDS m Martha
(1691–April 1767) (c. 1694–1773)
Schoolmaster, Stationer,
and Bookseller
Allan Mary Hannah m WILLIAM m Jane Green John Judith

(b. 1716) (d. 17 (1716–10 (baptised 6 (1726–25 (?1725–
March Dec 1749) Jan 1722, July 1772) 177[1?])
1722) d. 10 Jan
1808) Joseph
Bookseller (1765–71)
William [II] Mary JAMES JOHN Sarah THOMAS Joseph RICHARD

(25 Dec (b. 20 (8 Sept (23 Dec (b. 12 (1 Aug 1762– (26 Nov (16 March
1753–23 April 1756–2 1758–13 April 26 May 1765– 1768–10
June 1786) 1755) Jan 1816) May 1793) 1761) 1834) 8 July Oct 1827)
Shag-maker m Bookseller Bookseller m Bookseller 1771) Bookseller
m Disney m 1805 James m m 1793
Mary Alexan- Catherine Macau- Caroline Miss Chapman
der, M.D. Bromhead lay Matilda m 1803
(b 1769) Lister (1776– Miss Howard
1860)
William Elizabeth Jane John James Mary Thomas Anne Richard

[III] m in India John Anne
Ack- in 1807
royd (d. 1817)
Catherine James Edward James Jane Beatrice James

(b. 31 Aug 1810) (10 May Justinian George (d. m John Powlatte
m Frederick Carne 1809–22) (26 Dec 1811– single) Orde, Bart
Rasch 27 Nov 1884)
m Elizabeth Anne Beatrice
Guy Elland Heathcote (alive in 1912)
Rasch
(d. young)
Captain Justinian Edith L.
Edwards Heathcote m Reynolds
Jane Caroline Catherine Elizabeth Caroline Walter Fawkes John

(4 Nov 1806– (1809–40) (1813–98) (b. 1818) (7 Feb 1815– (15 Dec 1816–
16 March1809) m Francis m Benjamin m John 10 Aug 1836) June 1864)
Macken- Rusthforth Blundell m Louise
zie Broadbent Moles-
(d. 1846) worth
Children Daughters Children
Thomas 4 other sons Mary Jane

Introduction 13
Edwards of Halifax Genealogy Notes
The genealogy derives chiefly from

1 Hanson, pp. 1‒2, 6, 15, 28‒9, 258‒9, 286, 304, 314, 406, etc., and his miscel-
laneous notebooks, principally transcribing
a Baptismal, Marriage, and Burial Registers in Northgate End Chapel,
Halifax
b Harrow Church records (for James Edwards)
c Tomb inscriptions for William Edwards (1722‒1808), William’s two
wives, and their sons John and Thomas, Thomas’s wife Caroline Matilda,
and their children Jane and Walter Fawkes Edwards
2 C.J. Weber, A Thousand and One Fore-Edge Paintings (1949), the authority
for Allan (b 1716)
3 Inscriptions on grave-covers in Halifax Parish Church recording the deaths
of (a) Richard Edwards, “Bookseller,” “buried April the 13th 1767 Aged 76
years,” (b) Richard’s wife Martha, buried 14 Oct 1773, “aged near 80,” (c) His
daughter Mary (d. 17 March 1722), (d) His daughter Judith (d. 25 July 177[?]),
“age or near 46 years,” (e) Judith’s son Joseph (d. 8 July 1771), “aged [5] years
7 months and [11] days,” (f) Richard’s son William, “Bookseller” (d. 10 Jan
1808), “aged 86 years,” (g) William’s first wife Hannah, “departed this life the
10th day of December 1749 in the [34th] year of her age,” (h) William’s second
wife Jane Green and her children (i) William (b. 25 Dec 1753), (j) Mary (b. 20
April 1755), (k) James (b. 8 Sept 1756), (l) John (b. 23 Dec 1758), (m) Sarah
(b. 12 April 1761), (n) Thomas (b. 1 Aug 1762), (o) Joseph (b. 26 Nov 1765, and
(p) Richard (b. 16 March 1768). (The Halifax tomb inscriptions from Cal-
derdale Archives TS/HP B35 were generously transcribed for me by D.A.
Betteridge, archivist, Calderdale Central Library, Halifax.)
4 The Will (13 February 1807) of William Edwards recording the names of
the children of Sarah [Edwards] and James Macaulay.
GENEALOGY EDWARDS OF NORTHOWRAM
Edwards Edwards
Richard John m Mary William Robert

(1691–1767), (1706–9 Dec 12 Hargreaves
schoolmaster, 1793) Oct (1712–49)
paterfamilias of Lisbon 1743 of Craven
the bookselling merchant
Edwardses of
Halifax
Jeremiah Dyson (1737–91)

Lisbon merchant associated
with John Edwards
Daniel Dyson m Sarah John Joseph m Sarah Robert

of Willowfield (b. 1744) (1745–16 (1747–10 (1747–21 (b. 1756)
March 1819 June 1808) May 1812)
Thomas Fournis Dyson John Dyson m Harriet Edwards

\ / daughter of John
four sons, three daughters Edwards of Pye Nest
Sarah
(1774–3 Aug 1797)1
Edwards of Northowram Genealogy Notes
The Genealogy derives from W.B. Trigg, “Northowram Hall,” Halifax

Antiquarian Society Transactions (1932), 143‒50, and [Anne Lister], “Social Life
in Halifax in the Early Nineteenth Century No. XI [and XIX] ‒ Some Extracts
from the Diary of a Halifax Lady,” Halifax Guardian ‒ see chapter 1.
Trigg says (p. 143) that “The Northowram Edwards family and the famous
bibliophile family of Edwards were connected, the father of Richard Edwards,
school master, being probably the common ancestor of both branches,” and
he quotes (p. 150) their contemporary Miss Lister as calling the booksell-
ers Thomas and Richard Edwards “distant cousins” of John Edwards II of
Northowram. However, the connection must be more distant than Richard
Edwards (1691‒1767), who was only fifteen when John Edwards (1706‒93) of
Northowram was born.
PART I
William Edwards, Paterfamilias


Halifax is a surprising place to find one of the most distinguished book-

shops in the kingdom. In the mid-eighteenth century it was a growing
centre of the cloth trade, and in 1787 “The population of the Town is
estimated at 5000, and in the Parish which is very extensive, there may
be 30,000, five and twenty of which may be occupied in the Woollen
Manufactories.”1 Halifax was among the first places to experience
dramatically the effects of the Industrial Revolution, and in 1781 “The
appearance of trade, population, and advancement of every kind there,
is striking.” Its situation in the abrupt Yorkshire dales is protected, for
“The town is in a bottom with monstrous hills about it, which you see
rising over the houses as you walk the streets.”2 According to a visitor
in 1787, “The Town itself cannot in any Degree be call’d handsome[;]
the Streets are many of them narrow and very irregular.”3 “The town is
not extraordinary, except for the many magnificent houses lately built,
and now daily building in and about it [of fine light colour’d stone],4 by
the manufacturers chiefly.”5 Its most extraordinary new building was
the enormous and handsome Piece Hall, built in 1779, which J.T. Stan-
ley justly described in 1787 as “among the first [buildings] of great Brit-
ain.”6 It occupied one hundred thousand square feet and had over three
hundred rooms for the display of cloth at the weekly market, and for
two centuries it has testified to the aesthetic ambition and commercial
prosperity of Halifax.
William Edwards, the original Edwards of Halifax, was born in Hali-
fax probably in the last days of 1721 and was baptised there on 6 Janu-
ary 1722. His father, Richard (1691–1767), was a schoolmaster, stationer,
and bookseller,7 and it is possible that when William grew up he took
over a family business and that at first he worked with his father. How-
ever, the earliest publications of the firm, in 1749, 1751, 1752, 1759, and
1767, while Richard Edwards was still alive, give the name as merely
William (or W.) Edwards, so clearly William Edwards from the start
was his own man at least as a publisher.
Bookselling 1748–1808
By 1748, when he was twenty-six years old, William Edwards was suc-
cessful enough to acquire property in Halifax, and deeds and agree-
ments with various vendors8 identify him indifferently as Stationer
18 William Edwards, Paterfamilias
(25 April 1748, 13 July 1762, 19 November 1764, 23 September 1779),

Bookseller (11 October 1757), and Bookseller and Stationer (2 September
1793), plus three without profession (1–2 January 1756, 23 June 1766, and
1776). From an early date he had large sums of money to spare from his
business to lend on land mortgages, including £300 in 1756 and £400 in
1793. By 1749, the year in which his wife Hannah died, William Edwards
had established himself in a shop at No. 20 on the east side of Old Mar-
ket Place, where he conducted his business as bookseller, auctioneer,
publisher, and bookbinder. According to “An anonymous Halifax man,”
“On the left-hand side, going down the street [south], Mr. Thos. Edwards,
a seller of rare books and old prints, had a shop, a very old building ...
At the Halifax Midsummer Fair, Mr. Edwards filled his shop-windows
with old prints and old engravings and scarce old books.”9
It was a large, three-story building, with some 1440 square feet on each
floor and half as much in the cellar. The outside timbers were painted
red, and at one time it was called the Red Hall. A view of Halifax Old
Market, apparently seen from “one of the shop windows” of Edwards’s
shop10 in 1800, shows street vendors’ stalls in the foreground, venerable
half-timbered buildings on the left (west), solid newer stone buildings
on the right, and in the distance a stagecoach approaching down the
broad cobbled street (see fig. 1). In back of the shop was an open space
called Edwards Yard, and in Gaol Lane nearby was a little stable that
William Edwards purchased and that he may have used as his bindery.
A contemporary wrote that William Edwards “was remarkable, early
in life, for his great attention, industry, and application to his business,
which were bookbinding and bookselling; in both of which he excelled
almost every one of that branch, and particularly in the latter he has
been noted the world round.”11 When he died, an obituary reported
that “his skill in collecting rare books, not less than his exquisite taste
in rich and expensive bindings, will long be recollected in the annals
of Bibliography ... The Catalogues which he occasionally published
abounded in rare and valuable books, many of them most ornamen-
tally and superbly bound, in a manner peculiar to himself.”12
His book-stock at the time was probably not ambitious. His adver-
tisement in The Union Journal: or, Halifax Advertiser 1, no. 9 (3 April
1759) named thirty-nine books as “Just PUBLISHED and SOLD by
WILLIAM EDWARDS, BOOKSELLER, IN HALIFAX,” priced mostly
at a shilling or less (some are in weekly numbers at sixpence). Most
of them are on religion, such as Bunyan’s Sighs and Groans, and there
are also nine dictionaries, a few works of history and literature, and
William Edwards, Paterfamilias 19
Figure 1 John Horner, Buildings in the Town and Parish of Halifax (Halifax:
Leyland & Son, 1835), lithograph of the “Old Market, Halifax, as it appeared in
1800.” Calderdale Central Library, Halifax. The view is apparently taken from a
window in William Edwards’s bookshop.
seven named magazines plus “all other Monthly and Weekly Numbers”
and “several Hundred” back numbers. (Note that none of his own
publications is named, not even his Treasure of Maxims [1759].) He also
offered twenty-four “New Prints, Just Published,” plus “several Hun-
dred more ... ready Glazed and Framed, Plain and Coloured.”13 In addition,
like many country booksellers, he had in stock “MEDICINES truly pre-
pared in London”; his advertisement names thirty-two of them, such
20 William Edwards, Paterfamilias
as “Dr Fraunce’s Female Strengthening Elixir” (ls 6d) and “Specific

Drops, for Cureing Diseases” (3s 6d). The average cost, for a bottle of
unspecified size, was ls 4d, about the same cost as a book. At the end of
the list are [playing?] cards, ink, and mustard. Probably he also carried
other kinds of stationery-ware such as paper, pens, and sand that he
did not bother to advertise.
After the death of his childless first wife Hannah on 12 December
1749, William Edwards married Jane Green, and by her he fathered
a large brood, four of whom joined their father in the bookshop and
three of whom became booksellers and publishers of distinction in their
own rights. William was born on 25 December 1753, Mary on 20 April
1755, James on 8 September 1756, John on 23 December 1758, Sarah on
12 April 1761, Thomas on 1 August 1762, Joseph on 26 November 1765,
and Richard on 16 March 1768. All but one of these eight children grew
up to adulthood, a remarkable achievement in the eighteenth century,
and all but one of the adults married and in turn begot children. The
Edwardses of Halifax clearly were a hardy stock.
When William’s son James, aged nineteen, went to London about
1775, he apparently carried with him commissions from customers for
many kinds of goods besides books, for James wrote to an unnamed
correspondent (perhaps James Bolton the artist) about his efforts to
obtain for him “genuine Indian manufactured ink” (£6 a pound), pen-
cils [i.e., paintbrushes], “flower roots,” and miniature paintings by Jean
Petitot – “I have been at some great sales of Paintings.” Such generous
serviceability must have done much to create and retain loyal custom-
ers for the bookshop in Halifax.
Bookselling at Auction 1749–60
William Edwards seems to have started selling books at auction about

the same time (1749) as he commenced publishing. There are advertise-
ments for seven sales by Edwards (sometimes William Edwards) in
Halifax from 1749 through 1760; the first of these was in conjunction
with the Halifax bookseller Nathaniel Binns, and the rest were by Edwards
alone.14 No surviving catalogue has been traced, so these sales are ill
known. In particular, it is difficult to gauge how extensive they were,
for at least two sales (those of 1749 and 1759) began on a specified date
and continued “every Evening till they are Sold.” Only one collector is
named in the advertisements, and the contents are described merely as
“Choice and valuable Books” or as “Books on Divinity, History, Law,
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
fell and prepare timber, it was pretended that it was for pleasure-
boats wherewith to entertain him. Under the able direction of Martin
Lopez aided by Alonso Nuñez, the master carpenters, they were
completed within a few weeks, and provided with four guns and tiers
of oars, affording transport for three hundred men.
A hunting-trip to one of the imperial reserves across the lake was
at once arranged.[553] The largest vessel had been provided with
awnings and other comforts for the reception of Montezuma, his
suite, and a strong guard, while other notables were accommodated
in the other craft. A volley from the guns announced their arrival, and
did more probably to inspire respect than even the presence of
majesty. The vessels were accompanied by a fleet of canoes, some
holding forty or more courtiers, hunters, or attendants. All were
curious to see how the winged water-houses would behave, for their
immense size was supposed to render them slow and clumsy. A fair
breeze was blowing, however, and as the large sails unfurled, the
vessels bounded forward with a speed that in a few moments left the
occupants of the canoes far behind. Montezuma was delighted, and
the trip was repeated. Hunting parties were likewise formed; for the
royal captive enjoyed the chase and used the blow-pipe with great
skill.[554]
FOOTNOTES
[517] ‘Le dió en guarda á un capitan, é de noche é de dia siempre estaban
españoles en su presencia.’ Tapia, Rel., in Icazbalceta, Col. Doc., ii. 580. This
captain appears to have been Juan Velazquez, whose place was taken by Olid,
when required. Bernal Diaz, Hist. Verdad., 77, 86.
[518] ‘Se quiso echar de vna açutea de diez estados en alto, para que los suyos le
recibiessen, sino le detuuiera vn Castellano.... Denoche y de dia procurauan de
sacarle, oradando a cada passo las paredes, y echando fuego por las azuteas.’
The result was an increase of the guard, Álvarez Chico being placed with 60
men to watch the rear of the quarters, and Andrés de Monjarraz the front, with the
same number, each watch consisting of twenty men. Herrera, dec. ii. lib. viii. cap.
iii. Bernal Diaz intimates that the guarding of Montezuma proved a severe strain
on the soldiers; but, situated as they were, vigilance was ever required, and still
greater must have been the danger had he not been in their power.
[519] Herrera calls him Peña, which may have been one of his names, dec. ii. lib.
viii. cap. v. Bernal Diaz assumes that Montezuma asked Cortés to give him the
page, after the execution of Quauhpopoca. Hist. Verdad., 75.
[520] The bride was named Francisca. Hist. Verdad., 77. As an instance of
Montezuma’s eagerness to gratify the Spaniards, and at the same time to exhibit
his own power, it is related that one day a hawk pursued a pigeon to the very cot
in the palace, amid the plaudits of the soldiers. Among them was Francisco the
dandy, former maestresala to the admiral of Castile, who loudly expressed the
wish to obtain possession of the hawk and to tame him for falconry. Montezuma
heard him, and gave his hunters orders to catch it, which they did. Id.; Gomara,
Hist. Mex., 125.
[521] Duran states that the soldiers discovered a house filled with women,
supposed to be wives of Montezuma, and hidden to be out of the reach of the
white men. He assumes that gratitude would have made the Spaniards respect
them; or, if the women were nuns, that respect for virtue must have obtained.
[522] Cortés’ protégée being named Ana. Quite a number of the general’s
followers declare in their testimony against him, in 1528, that he assumed the
intimate protectorship of two or even three of Montezuma’s daughters, the second
being called Inés, or by others Isabel, the wife of Grado, and afterward of Gallego.
‘Tres fijas de Montezuma e que las dos dellas an parido del e la otra murio
preñada del quando se perdio esta cibdad.’ Tirado, in Cortés, Residencia, ii. 39,
241, 244; i. 63, 99, 221, 263. Intrigues are mentioned with other Indian princesses.
Vetancurt assumes that two noble maidens were given, one of whom Olid
received. Teatro Mex., pt. iii. 133; Torquemada, i. 462. Bernal Diaz supposes that
this is the first daughter offered by Montezuma, and he believes evidently that
Cortés accepts her, to judge by a later reference. Hist. Verdad., 85, 102.
[523] Herrera states that Cortés’ order was prompted by a consideration for the
heavy expense to Montezuma. The latter remonstrated at this economical fit, and
commanded that double rations should be provided for the exiled. dec. ii. lib. viii.
cap. iv.
[524] Tapia, Rel., in Icazbalceta, Col. Doc., ii. 580. ‘Purchè non tocchino disse il
Re, le immagini degli Dei, nè ciò che è destinato al loro culto, prendano quanto
vogliono,’ is Clavigero’s free interpretation of Ojeda’s version. Storia Mess., iii. 97;
Gomara, Hist. Mex., 125.
[525] ‘Lo q̄ vna vez daua no lo auia de tornar a recibir.’ ‘Las caxas donde la ropa
estaua, eran tan grandes que llegauan a las vigas de los aposentos, y tan anchas,
q̄ despues de vacias, se alojauã en cada vna dos Castellanos. Sacaron al patio
mas de mil cargas de ropa.’ Herrera, ii. viii. iv.
[526] ‘Casa de Cacao, de Motecuhçuma, adonde avia mas de quarenta mil

Cargas, que era Gran Riqueça, porque solia valer cada Carga quarenta
Castellanos.’ Alvarado alone emptied six jars of 600 loads. Torquemada, i. 472.
[527] The man had insisted that Montezuma should have a search made for two of
his missing female attendants. The emperor did not wish Spaniards punished for
pilfering, as he told Cortés, only for offering insult and violence. In such cases he
would have his own courtiers lashed. Herrera, dec. ii. lib. viii. cap. v.
[528] ‘Tinie el marques tan recogida su gente, que ninguno salie un tiro de
arcabuz del aposento sin licencia, é asimismo la gente tan en paz, que se
averiguó nunca reñir uno con otro.’ Tapia, Rel., in Icazbalceta, Col. Doc., ii. 586.
[529] Bernal Diaz, Hist Verdad., 77. ‘Un giuoco, che gli Spagnuoli chiamavano il
bodoque.’ Clavigero, Storia Mess., iii. 97. Bodoque signifies balls in this
connection. When Alvarado lost, he with great show of liberality paid in
chalchiuites, stones which were highly treasured by the natives, but worth nothing
to the Spaniards. Montezuma paid in quoits, worth at least 50 ducats. One day he
lost 40 or 50 quoits, and with pleasure, since it gave him the opportunity to be
generous. B. V. de Tapia testifies that Alvarado used to cheat in playing cards with
him and others. Cortés, Residencia, i. 51-2. Another way of gratifying this bent
was to accept trifles from the Spaniards and liberally compensate them. Alonso de
Ojeda, for instance, had a silk-embroidered satchel with many pockets, for which
Montezuma gave him two pretty slaves, beside a number of robes and jewels.
Ojeda wrote a memoir on the conquest, of which Herrera makes good use. dec. ii.
lib. viii. cap. v.
[530] ‘Fué muchas veces á holgar con cinco ó seis españoles á una y dos leguas
fuera de la ciudad.’ Cortés, Cartas, 92. Both the times and the number of the
Spaniards are doubtful, however. ‘Quando salia a caçar.... Lleuaua ocho o diez
Españoles en guarda de la persona, y tres mil Mexicanos entre señores,
caualleros, criados, y caçadores.’ Gomara, Hist. Mex., 124; Ixtlilxochitl, Hist.
Chich., 297.
[531] Bernal Diaz intimates that more sacrifices were made in their presence. ‘Y
no podiamos en aquella sazon hazer otra cosa sino dissimular con èl.’ Hist.
Verdad., 78.
[532] Bernal Diaz admits that he knows not what occurred between governor and
monarch, but Herrera claims to be better informed. Barefooted, and with eyes
upon the floor, Quauhpopoca approached the throne and said: ‘Most great and
most powerful lord, thy slave Quauhpopoca has come at thy bidding, and awaits
thy orders.’ He had done wrong, was the reply, to kill the Spaniards, and then
declare that he had orders so to do. For this he should suffer as a traitor to his
sovereign and to the strangers. He was not allowed to make any explanations,
dec. ii. lib. viii. cap. ix. It is not unlikely that Montezuma commanded him not to
reveal anything that might implicate his master, hoping that Cortés would out of
regard for his generous host inflict a comparatively light punishment.
[533] ‘Examinaron los segunda vez, con mas rigor, y amenazas de tormento, y sin
discrepar todos confessaron,’ says Herrera, loc. cit.
[534] ‘En vna de las casas reales dicha Tlacochalco.’ Herrera, loc. cit. ‘É serien
mas que quinientas carretadas.’ Tapia, Rel., in Icazbalceta, Col. Doc., ii. 584.
[535] ‘Me has negado no auer mãdado a Couatlpopocà q̄ matasse a mis

compañeros, no lo has hecho como tan gran señor que eres, ... porque no quedes
sin algun castigo, y tu y los tuyos sepays quanto vale el tratar verdad, te mãdare
echar prisiones.’ Herrera implies with this that Cortés laid more weight on the
disregard for truth than on the authorization of the outrage. dec. ii. lib. viii. cap. ix.
‘Que ya que aquella culpa tuuiesse, que antes la pagaria el Cortès por su
persona, que versela passar al Monteçuma.’ Bernal Diaz, Hist. Verdad., 75.
[536] ‘Esto hizo por ocuparle el pensamiento en sus duelos, y dexasse los ajenos.’
Gomara, Hist. Mex., 129. ‘Todo à fin de espantarle mas.’ Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chich.,
298.
[537] Solis seems to say that the bodies were burned after execution, Hist. Mex., i.
461-2, but Cortés and others are frank enough about the actual burning, which
was not regarded in that cruel age with the same aversion as by us. Instances are
to be found in the Native Races, ii.-iii., where this ordeal was undergone by
criminals as well as temple victims among the Aztecs. Bernal Diaz gives the
names of two of Quauhpopoca’s companions in misfortune, Quiabuitle and Coatl.
Hist. Verdad., 75. Prescott, Mex., ii. 173, states that the execution took place in
the court-yard; but this is probably a misprint, to judge by his own text.
[538] ‘Á lo que entendimos, ê lo mas cierto, Cortés auia dicho á Aguilar la lengua,
que le dixesse de secreto, que aunque Malinche le mandasse salir de la prision,
que los Capitanes nuestros, è soldados no querriamos.’ Bernal Diaz, Hist.
Verdad., 75.
[539] ‘Fué tanto el buen tratamiento que yo le hice, y el contentamiento que de mí
tenia, que algunas veces y muchas le acometi con su libertad, rogándole que
fuese á su casa, y me dijo todas las veces que se lo decia, que él estaba bien allí,’
etc. Cortés, Cartas, 91. ‘No osaua, de miedo que los suyos no le matassen ... por
auerse dexado prender,’ is one of the suppositions of Gomara, who calls him a
man of little heart. Hist. Mex., 129-30. Peter Martyr appears to be moved rather by
pity for him. dec. v. cap. iii. ‘Non gli conveniva ritornare al suo palagio, mentre
fossero nella Corte gli Spagnuoli.’ Clavigero, Storia Mess., iii. 102.
[540] ‘Como este castigo se supo en todas las Prouincias de la Nueua-España,

temieron, y los pueblos de la costa, adonde mataron nuestros soldados, bolvieron
á servir.’ Bernal Diaz, Hist. Verdad., 75-6, comments upon the daring of the
Spaniards in carrying out these and similar high-handed acts. For a short time
after this, says Herrera, the soldiers were ordered to sleep on their arms, in case
of any demonstration. dec. ii. lib. viii. cap. ix. Clavigero regards the burning as
unjustifiable, since the emperor was regarded as having authorized it. If he was
not guilty, the Spaniards were ungrateful to treat him as they did. Storia Mess., iii.
101. Robertson finds some excuse for Quauhpopoca’s punishment, but calls the
humiliation of Montezuma a wanton display of power. Hist. Am., ii. 63, 453-4.
Prescott, on the other hand, regards the humiliation as politic, on the ground that
by rendering the monarch contemptible in the eyes of his subjects, he was obliged
to rely more on the Spaniards. Mex., ii. 177. But this would hardly have been
necessary since he was in their power, and considering that the object of keeping
him so was to control the country, it would have been better not to degrade him.
[541] ‘Donde mas oro se solia traer, que era de vna Provincia que se dize,
Zacatula ... de otra Provincia, que se dize Gustepeque, cerca de donde
desembarcamos ... é que cerca de aquella Provincia ay otras buenas minas, en
parte que no son sujetos, que se dizen, los Chinatecas, y Capotecas.’ Bernal
Diaz, Hist. Verdad., 81. Montezuma detailed two persons for each of four
provinces where gold was to be had, and Cortés gave two Spaniards for each
couple. The provinces named were Cuzula, Tamazulapa, Malinaltepeque, Tenis.
Cortés, Cartas, 92-3. Of the eight Indians, four were miners or goldsmiths, and the
others guides. Gomara, Hist. Mex., 130. Chimalpain names the provinces:
Tamazólan, in upper Miztecapan, Malinaltepec and Tenich, both on the same river,
and Tututepec, twelve leagues farther, in the Xicayan country. Hist. Conq., i. 254-
5.
[542] ‘Con tal, que los de Culùa no entrassen en su tierra.’ They were reassured
and dismissed with presents. Herrera, dec. ii. lib. ix. cap. i.
[543] ‘Cortés se holgô tanto con el oro como si fueran treinta mil pesos, en saber
cierto que avia buenas minas.’ Bernal Diaz intimates beside that Umbría and his
two companions had provided themselves with plenty of gold. Hist. Verdad., 81-2.
[544] A young man of 25 years, whom Cortés treated as a relative. With him went
four Spaniards who understood mining, and four chiefs. Id.
[545] ‘En granos crespillos, porque dixeron los mineros, que aquello era de mas
duraderas minas como de nacimiento.’ Id., 82.
[546] Bernal Diaz names them, ‘Barriẽtos, y Heredia el viejo, y Escalona el moço,
y Cervantes el chocarrero,’ and says that Cortés, displeased at soldiers being left
to raise fowl and cacao, sent Alonso Luis to recall them. Hist. Verdad., 82;
Herrera, dec. ii. lib. ix. cap. i. He is evidently mistaken, as shown by his own later
text, for Cortés himself states that he sought to form plantations in that direction.
The recall was made later and for a different reason.
[547] ‘Estaban sembradas sesenta hanegas de maíz y diez de frijoles, y dos mil
piés de cacap [cacao] ... hicieron un estanque de agua, y en él pusieron
quinientos patos ... y pusieron hasta mil y quinientas gallinas.’ Cortés, Cartas, 94;
Peter Martyr, dec. v. cap. iii. Oviedo writes that farms were established for the king
in two or three provinces, one in Chimanta [Chimantla]. The two Spaniards left in
the latter were saved, but elsewhere, subject to the Aztecs, they were killed during
the uprising originated by Alvarado. iii. 376. Tapia refers to an expedition at this
time against a revolted province, 80 leagues off. Rel., in Icazbalceta, Col. Doc., ii.
584.
[548] ‘Por aquella causa llaman oy en dia, donde aquella guerra passò,
Cuilonemiqui.’ Bernal Diaz, Hist. Verdad., 82.
[549] Herrera, loc. cit. ‘Creyan lo que desseauan,’ remarks Gomara, Hist. Mex.,
131.
[550] Cortés, Cartas, 95, 116; Gomara, Hist. Mex., 131-2. Bernal Diaz throws
doubt on the expedition of Velazquez, but is evidently forgetful. Hist. Verdad., 81-
2. ‘El señor de la provinçia ... luego hiço seys [casas] en el assiento é parte que
para el pueblo se señaló.’ Oviedo, iii. 293. Peter Martyr calls these buildings
‘Tributaries’ houses.’ dec. v. cap. iii.; Cortés, Residencia, ii. 6, 49.
[551] He had served as equerry in the noble houses of the Conde de Ureña and
Pedro Giron, of whose affairs he was always prating. His propensity for tale-telling
lost him many friends, but he managed to keep intimate with Sandoval, whose
favors he afterward repaid with ingratitude. Bernal Diaz, Hist. Verdad., 76, 246.
Gomara insists on naming him as the comandante, but this dignity he attained
only after Sandoval and Rangel had held it. Cortés, Residencia, i. 256;
Torquemada, i. 456.
[552] ‘Luego que entré en la dicha ciudad di mucha priesa á facer cuatro
bergantines ... tales que podian echar trecientos hombres en la tierra y llevar los
caballos.’ Cortés, Cartas, 103; Peter Martyr, dec. v. cap. iv. ‘Quatro fustas.’
Gomara, Hist. Mex., 146. ‘Dos vergantines.’ Bernal Diaz, Hist. Verdad., 76. The
cedars of Tacuba, numerous enough at this period, yielded much of the timber,
and the slopes of Iztaccihuatl and Telapon the harder portion for masts, keels, etc.
Mora, in Soc. Mex. Geog., Boletin, ix. 301.
[553] ‘En la laguna á vn peñol, que estaua acotado, q̄ no ossauan entrar en èl á

montear, por muy principales que fuessen, so pena de muerte.’ Bernal Diaz, Hist.
Verdad., 78.
[554] Native Races, ii. 411. ‘Qãdo yua a caça de monteria, le lleuauan en ombros,
con las guardas de Castellanos, y tres mil Indios Tlascaltecas.... Acompañauanle
los señores sus vassallos.’ Herrera, dec. ii. lib. viii. cap. iv.
CHAPTER XIX.
POLITICS AND RELIGION.
1520.
Growing Discontent among the Mexicans—Cacama’s Conspiracy—He

openly Defies both Montezuma and Cortés—The Council of Tepetzinco
—Seizure of Cacama—The Tezcucan Ruler Deposed—Cuicuitzcatl
Elevated—Montezuma and his People Swear Fealty to the Spanish King
—Gathering in the Tribute—Division of Spoils—The Spaniards Quarrel
over their Gold—Uncontrollable Religious Zeal—Taking of the
Temple—Wrath of the Mexicans.
With their hand so securely on the spring that moved a mighty

empire, there is little wonder that these Spanish adventurers became
somewhat insolent toward the people they so injured. The Mexicans
were not slow to mark this, and there were those among them, and
others beside them, who began to think of taking matters into their
own hands, of destroying the invaders and releasing the emperor.
Montezuma’s occasional appearance in public, and the assertion
that he remained with the Spaniards of his free-will, and because the
gods desired it, had for a time satisfied the nobles; but the hard irons
on his limbs and the cruel burning of patriotic men had opened their
eyes somewhat to the true state of affairs. No one knew when his
turn might come. Life was insecure enough subject to the caprice of
their own sovereign, but the dark uncertain ways of these emissaries
of evil were past finding out. These things were thought of and talked
of in high places. Race aversions and the political systems of the
tripartite alliance caused more than one party to be formed, each
with aspirations that could not be entertained by the others. The
most prominent leader at this time was Cacama, who had at first
favored the strangers in their character as envoys. And now he
began the endeavor to direct the movement of the Aztec nobility, but
jealousy of Acolhua influence rose uppermost, and his efforts tended
only to create a reaction in favor of abiding by the will of the emperor.
[555]
Although there were enough of sympathizers in Mexico for his

purpose, Cacama found that he must rely almost wholly on the
northern provinces, and in connection with Cuitlahuatzin,
Totoquihuatzin II. of Tlacopan, his own brothers, and others, he
organized a conspiracy which had for its aim the expulsion of the
Spaniards and the release of his uncle. Beneath this was harbored a
design upon the Aztec throne, which would probably become vacant;
and even if Cacama was not sure of gaining this for himself, he had
at least the expectation of assuming the leadership of the Anáhuac
confederacy.[556] He presented to the council in the most dismal
aspect the purposes of the Spaniards, who evidently sought to
become absolute masters and reduce them all to slavery. It was time
to rise for religion and liberty. Their honor and welfare demanded it,
and this before the Spaniards rendered themselves too powerful by
reinforcements and alliances. With heedless confidence he vaunted
that Mexico should be his within a few hours after setting out against
her, for there were many of her citizens ready to aid in such a work.
The Spaniards were overrated, and could effect little, surrounded as
they were on all sides, and without other supplies than those
provided by the Mexicans.
The motives and the necessity were recognized, though the
means proposed met with some objections; but when the question of
spoils and rewards came forward there were still greater differences.
Among others, the brave and powerful lord of Matlaltzinco advanced
pretensions, founded in part on his close relationship to Montezuma,
which Cacama above all could not admit. The result was
disagreement, followed by the withdrawal of several members.[557]
No attempt had been made to keep the movement, or its
ostensible motive, a secret from Montezuma, nor could it have been
kept from him who was the still powerful ruler of a servile race; but,
even if the deeper lying aim was not revealed him, he could not fail
to foresee the troubles that might arise, particularly under such a
leader. He still hoped the Spaniards would soon leave, or that his
release might be effected by other means, for he dreaded a conflict
with the powerful invaders, involving perhaps the destruction of the
city and his own death. He sent to tell the conspirators that they
need not concern themselves about his imprisonment. The
Spaniards had more than once proposed that he should return to his
own palace, but the gods had decreed it otherwise. He could not
allow his people to be needlessly exposed to war, or his capital to
destruction. Remember Cholula. Their stay would not be long.
This message was not without its effect even among the
Tezcucans, for, although the fate of the Aztec capital and king may
have concerned them but little, there were many who could not
forget that the impetuous and proud Cacama had obtained the
throne by favor of Montezuma, to the prejudice of an elder brother,
Tetlahuehuetquizitzin.Their father, Nezahualpilli, had died in 1515,
without naming a successor, and the choice devolving on the royal
council, in conjunction with the rulers of Mexico and Tlacopan,
Cacama was elected. Cohuanacoch, the third brother, acquiesced,
but the youngest, the fiery Ixtlilxochitl, protested in favor of the eldest
heir, and denounced the selection as due to Montezuma, who hoped
to mould the new king to his own will and so again to control. He
even resorted to arms in support of his views, and enlisting the
northern provinces in his favor, after a short campaign he obliged
Cacama to consent to a division of the kingdom with himself.[558]
His ready success proved that Cacama had no very great hold
on the people, and now, when came the warning of Montezuma,
more than one chief counselled prudence from other motives than
fear. But the king stamped all these objections as cowardly, and
appears even to have placed under restraint several of those whose
want of sympathy he had reason to suspect.[559] His blood was hot,
and relying on the promises of his supporters, he considered himself
strong enough to bid defiance to his opponents. He sent word to his
uncle that if he had any regard for the dignity of his station and the
honor of his person and ancestry, he would not quietly submit to the
bondage imposed by a handful of robbers, who with smooth tongue
sought to cover their outrages against him and the gods. If he
refused to rise in defence of his religion, throne, and liberty, Cacama
would not.[560]
This outspoken utterance of the nephew whom he had assisted
to rulership amazed Montezuma as much as it wounded his pride,
and he no longer hesitated to take counsel with Cortés, who had
already obtained an inkling that something was stirring.[561] With
characteristic promptness the latter suggested that, since Cacama’s
real object was evidently to usurp the throne, a Mexican army should
be given to aid the Spaniards in laying waste the territory of the
conspirators and in capturing them. The emperor had probably
entertained a hope that the news would frighten his guest and make
it safe to urge a retreat from Mexico, thus ending the whole trouble.
He was therefore somewhat startled by this proposal, the true tenor
of which he well understood. He feared a fratricidal war of doubtful
result, wherein he would appear as arrayed against the defenders of
national religion and liberty; and being now weak and cowed he
hesitated to arm at all, preferring peaceful measures. To this Cortés
was not averse, for he recognized on second thought that
aggressive steps might become the signal for a general uprising
which would overwhelm him, since Aztec troops could never be
relied on.
He accordingly sent messages to Cacama, reminding him of
their friendly intercourse, and representing the danger of offending
the Spanish king by proceedings which could only react on himself
and lead to the destruction of his kingdom. Montezuma supported
this by asking the king to come to Mexico and arrange the difficulty.
Cacama had not gone so far to be restrained by what he termed an
empty threat, and regardless of the warnings from a timid minority he
replied that he knew not the king of the Spaniards, and would never
accept the friendship of men who had oppressed his country and
outraged his blood and religion. He had had enough of their
promises, but would declare his determination when he saw them.
[562] To Montezuma he sent word that he would come, “not with the
hand on the heart, however, but on the sword.”[563]
There was considerable meaning in this threat, for Cacama had
with great energy set about to mass his forces at Oztoticpac, and
they in conjunction with those of his allies would make a formidable
host.[564] Cortés was aware of this, and seeing that no time was to
be lost he firmly represented to Montezuma the necessity of securing
the person of the king, openly or by stealth; and when he still
hesitated, the significant hint was given that the Spaniards would
regard a refusal with suspicion. This decided him, and he promised
that it should be done, if possible. Cortés broke forth in expressions
of good-will, and again offered him that freedom which Montezuma
well knew he would never grant.
In placing Cacama on the throne, the emperor had seized the
opportunity to introduce into the Acolhua government offices several
creatures of his own, who were paid to maintain Aztec influence in
the council[565] and to watch operations. To these men he sent an
order, weighted with presents, to seize the king and bring him to
Mexico.[566] They accordingly prevailed on their victim to hold a
council at Tepetzinco for finally arranging the campaign. This palace
was situated on the lake, near Tezcuco, and approached by canals.
Here Cacama was seized and thrown into a boat prepared for the
occasion, and carried to the Aztec capital.[567]
Ashamed, perhaps, of his share in the transaction, and unwilling
to face the taunts of the captive, Montezuma refused to see him, and
he was surrendered to Cortés, who, regardless of royalty, applied the
fetters as the surest means against escape.[568] This seizure
scattered the conspirators and their schemes to the winds, and the
demoralization was completed by the arrest of several of the more
important personages, such as the king of Tlacopan and the lords of
Iztapalapan and Coyuhuacan, who were also shackled.[569] Thus we
see that Montezuma’s captivity did not greatly affect his power, since
he could so readily place under restraint the confederate kings, in
their own provinces; and it was not wholly unwelcome to him to find
his misfortune shared by other prominent men, since this made his
disgrace less conspicuous.
He now resolved, with the approval of Cortés, to depose the
Tezcucan ruler, as a rebel against his authority, and to place on the
throne a more dutiful subject, a younger natural brother of Cacama,
named Cuicuetzcatl,[570] whom his ill-treatment had driven to Mexico
for protection. The nomination was for the sake of appearance
submitted for ratification to a convention of loyal Tezcucan chiefs,
many of whom hoped no doubt to obtain greater influence under this
youth. The new king was escorted to the gates of Mexico by Cortés
and Montezuma, and received at Tezcuco with triumphal arches and
processions.[571]
And now, with the three confederate rulers and a number of
leading caciques in his power, the great king-maker thought the time
had come to exact a formal acknowledgment of Spanish sovereignty.
He reminded Montezuma of his promises to pay tribute, and
demanded that he and his vassals should tender allegiance. Instead
of the objections expected, Cortés was surprised to hear a prompt
acquiescence. Montezuma had evidently been long prepared for the
demand, and said that he would at once convene his chiefs for
consultation. Within little more than a week the summoned
dignitaries had arrived, and at a meeting, attended by no Spaniards
save the page, he intimated to the leading personages, so far as he
dared before this witness, that the concession demanded of them
was to satisfy the importunate jailers. “The gods, alas! are mute,”
concluded Montezuma; “but by and by they may signify their will
more clearly, and I will then say what further is to be done.”[572] All
declared sorrowfully that they would do as he bade, and Cortés was
informed that on the following day the required ceremony would take
place.
On this occasion the chiefs mustered in force before
Montezuma, who was seated on a throne having on either side the
new king of Tezcuco and he of Tlacopan.[573] All being prepared, the
Spanish general entered with his captains and a number of soldiers.
The emperor now addressed his vassals, reminding them of the
relation so long and happily maintained between them—as dutiful
subjects on the one side, and a line of loving monarchs on the other.
Comparing the Quetzalcoatl myth and other indications with the
advent of white men from the region of the rising sun, he showed
that they must be the long expected race, sent to claim allegiance for
their king, to whom the sovereignty evidently belonged. The gods
had willed it that their generation should repair the omission of their
ancestors. “Hence I pray that as you have hitherto held and obeyed
me as your lord, so you will henceforth hold and obey this great king,
for he is your legitimate ruler, and in his place accept this captain of
his. All the tribute and service hitherto tendered me give to him, for I
also have to contribute and serve with all that he may require. In
doing this you will fulfil not only your duty, but give me great
pleasure.”[574]
His concluding words were almost lost in the sobs which his
humiliated soul could no longer stifle. The chiefs were equally
affected, and the sympathies even of the flint-hearted Spaniards
were aroused to a degree which moistened many an eye. With some
of the lately arrived dignitaries, who had not had time to fully grasp
the situation at the capital, indignation struggled with grief at the
dismal prospect. Others recalled the prophecy that the empire would
terminate with Montezuma, whose very name appeared fraught with
evil omen,[575] and were quite reconciled to the inevitable. So were
most of them, for that matter, either through belief in the myth or from
a sense of duty to their master. One of the eldest nobles broke the
oppressive silence by declaring his sorrow at witnessing the grief of
their beloved sovereign and hearing the announcement of coming
changes. But since the time had come for the fulfilment of divine
decrees, they, as devout and dutiful subjects, could only submit.
Again their grief broke forth, though many a bitter glance was called
up by the allusion to changes in store for them. Observing the bad
impression, Cortés hastened to assure them that Montezuma would
not only remain the great emperor he had always been, and his
vassals be confirmed in their dignities and possessions, but that their
domain and power would be increased. The changes proposed were
merely intended to stop wars, to enlighten them on matters with
which they were as yet unacquainted, and to promote general
welfare. One after another, beginning with Montezuma, they now
swore allegiance, and gave promise of service and tribute, after
which they were dismissed with thanks for their compliance.[576]
The submission of the sovereigns appears to have been quietly
accepted throughout the country, and the impunity with which even
single Spaniards moved about shows that no hostility had been
aroused by the act, in the provinces at least. Evidently the people
hovered between fear of men who so few in number could yet
perform so great achievements, and awe of divine will as indicated
by the prophecies and traditions. Cortés was not slow in making use
of his new power by representing to the emperor that, his king being
in need of gold for certain projects, it would be well for the new
vassals to begin tribute payments as an earnest of their loyalty.
Montezuma had expected this, and it was readily agreed that he
should send officers, accompanied by Spaniards, to the different
provinces and towns of the empire for contributions.[577] These
demands were met with more or less alacrity, and in poured gold and
silver, in dust, and quoits, and leaves, and trinkets, which formed to a
certain extent a medium for trade. Many towns remote from the
mines had nothing to offer save a few jewels, which were perhaps
heirlooms among the chiefs.[578]
When the collectors returned, Montezuma summoned the
Spanish leaders, and surrendered what they had brought. In addition
to this, he offered them the treasures kept in his own palace,
regretting that he had not more to give; but previous offerings had
diminished what he possessed. “When you transmit it to your king,”
he said, “tell him that it comes from his good vassal, Montezuma.”
He requested that certain fine chalchiuite stones, each valued at two
loads of gold, and some finely chased and inlaid blow-pipes, should
be given to the king alone.[579] This liberality evoked the most
profound protestations of gratitude, as may be supposed, for they
had not expected so great an addition to the glittering heaps already
in their possession. Tapia and another officer were despatched in all
haste with the imperial mayordomo to receive the treasure. It was
stored in a hall and two smaller chambers of the aviary building,[580]
and consisted of gold, silver, and precious stones, in setting and in
separate form, with feathers, robes, and other articles, all of which
were transferred to the Spanish quarters.[581]
These valuables, together with the collections from the provinces
and the previously surrendered treasures of Axayacatl, were given to
Cortés, who placed them in charge of the treasurer, Gonzalo Mejía,
and the contador, Alonso de Ávila. The famed smiths of Azcapuzalco
were called in to separate the gold and silver settings from the jewels
of less delicacy and beauty, which it had been determined to melt.
This took about three days. They were then melted into bars, three
fingers in breadth, and stamped with the royal arms.[582] Iron weights
were made of one arroba and downward, not very exact, it seems,
yet suitable for the purpose, and with these the value of the melted
gold was found to be somewhat over 162,000 pesos de oro,
according to Cortés’ statement; the silver weighed over 500 marcos,
and the unbroken jewels and other effects were estimated at over
500,000 ducats, not counting the workmanship.[583] The jewels were
set with feathers, pearls, and precious stones, fashioned chiefly in
animal forms, “so perfect as to appear natural.” A number of trinkets
for the royal share had also been fashioned by the goldsmiths after
designs by the Spaniards, such as saintly images, crucifixes,
bracelets, and chains, all made with wonderful fidelity to originals.
The silver for the same share was made into plates, spoons, and
similar articles. The feathers presented a brilliant variety of colors
and forms, and the cotton, some of the most delicate texture and
color, was both plain and embroidered, and made into robes,
tapestry, covers, and other articles. Turquoises, pearls, toys, and
trinkets were also among the treasures.[584]
Cortés proposed to defer the distribution till more gold and better
weights were obtained; but the men, who with good reason, perhaps,
suspected that a delay might diminish rather than increase the
treasures, clamored for an immediate division. The troops were
accordingly called, and in their presence the partition was made: first
of the royal fifth;[585] then of the fifth promised to Cortés when
appointed captain-general; after this a large sum was set apart to
cover expenditures by Cortés and Velazquez on the fleet and its
outfit, and the value of the horses killed during the campaign,[586]
and another sum for the expenses and shares of the procuradores in
Spain, while double or special shares were assigned to the priests,
the captains, those owning horses, and the men with fire-arms and
cross-bows.[587] After all these deductions but little remained for the
rank and file—a hundred pesos, if we may credit Bernal Diaz.[588]
This, many indignantly refused to accept; others took it, but joined in
the clamors of the discontented.
It is almost too much to ask of vultures not to quarrel over their
prey. The murmur against the royal fifth was loud enough, but the
second fifth for Cortés raised quite an outcry. “Are we to have a
second king?” they asked. Others inquired, “For whose fleet are we
paying?” They further wished to know whether the fame and
promotion acquired for the general by his men could not satisfy
some of his claims, for the present, at least. They had once before
surrendered hard-earned money to please him and to promote his
credit with the king, and now, when they had been led to expect
reward, it was again snatched from them. Some said that a large
proportion of the treasures had been secured by Cortés and his
favorites before the distribution began; and the value of the heavy
gold chains and other ornaments displayed by them was significantly
pointed at as out of proportion to their share.
The suspicion was confirmed by a quarrel which occurred shortly
after between Velazquez de Leon and Treasurer Mejía respecting
the payment of the royal fifth on certain unbroken jewels found in
Velazquez’ possession, and received by him before the
apportionment. It was enough, said Mejía, for Cortés to appropriate
unassessed treasures. Velazquez refusing to comply, they came to
blows, and if friends had not interfered there might have been an
officer or two less in the camp. As it was, both received slight
wounds, and subsequently shackles. Mejía was released within a
few hours; but his antagonist retained the fetters for two days,
persuaded to submit with grace thereto by Cortés, it was said, in
order to allay suspicions and to show that the general could be just,
even when it affected a friend.[589]
Finding that the murmurs were becoming serious, Cortés
brought his soothing eloquence to bear upon the troubled spirits. He
represented that all his thoughts, efforts, and possessions were for
the honor of his God, his king, and his companions. With them he
had shared every danger and hardship, and for their welfare he had
watched, rendering justice to all. The division had been fairly made
in accordance with previous arrangement. But he was not avaricious;
all he had was theirs, and he would employ it for them as might a
father. He would surrender the fifth which had been assigned him, if
they wished it, retaining only his share as captain-general; and he
would also help any one in need. The treasure thus far secured was
insignificant compared to what lay before them. What mattered a few
hundred pesos more or less in view of the rich mines, the large
tracts, and the immense number of towns, which were all theirs, so
long as they held loyally together? “I will make a lord of every one of
you,” he concluded, “if you will but have peace and patience.”[590]
And to give greater effect to this harangue he bribed with gifts and
promises the more influential to sound his praises; whereupon the
murmurs died away, though rancor still remained with many, awaiting
opportunity.[591]
A large proportion of the soldiers imitated the example of the
heavy sharers in the spoils by converting their allotment, with the aid
of Azcapuzalcan goldsmiths, into chains, crosses, and other
adornments for their persons, so that the display of wealth became
quite dazzling. Others yielded to the infatuation for gambling, then so
prevalent, and lost without a murmur the hard-earned share.[592]
But one thing now remained to complete the triumph of the
conqueror. The manacled kings were subservient, and the people
displayed their loyalty by pouring tribute into his coffers. But his god
was not theirs, and this the pious pilferer could not endure. He and
his priests had lost no opportunity to preach the faith to emperor and
subjects;[593] but the hearts of the natives were obdurately fixed on
the idols of the pyramid. He never beheld the temple without being
tempted to lay low the effigies of Satan, and it was owing only to
Father Olmedo’s prudent counsel that the temptation was resisted.
Repeatedly had he urged on the weak emperor to begin the great
work by some radical reform, but could obtain only the promise that
human sacrifices would be stopped. Finding that even this was not
observed, he consulted with his captains, and it was agreed to
demand the surrender of the great temple for Christian worship, so
that the natives might be made to feel the holy influence of its
symbols and rites. Montezuma was prepared with excuses, but the
deputation declared with fierce vehemence that if this were refused
they would forcibly remove the idols and kill the priests who resisted.
“Malinche,” exclaimed the monarch in alarm, “do you then seek the
destruction of the city? Our gods are incensed against us, and the
people imbittered. Even your lives will not be safe. Wait, I entreat
you, till I call the priests for consultation.”[594]
Cortés saw that nothing more could then be attained, but with
the indiscreet zeal for religion which often blinded him he determined
that there should be no further delay. He apprehended no uprising
among a people which had so patiently submitted to all exactions,
yet he feared that the priests, if warned, might prevent an entry into

The Edwardses of Halifax The Making and Selling of Beautiful Books in London and Halifax 1749 1826 1st Edition JR G E Bentley

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

You might also like

The Edwardses of Halifax The Making and Selling of Beautiful Books in London and Halifax 1749 1826 1st Edition JR G E Bentley

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

The Edwardses of Halifax The Making and Selling of Beautiful Books in London and Halifax 1749 1826 1st Edition JR G E Bentley

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

The Edwardses of Halifax The Making

and Selling of Beautiful Books in

The Science and Method of Politics 1st Edition G. E. G.

Selling Science Polio and the Promise of Gamma Globulin

The Bookshop of the World: Making and Trading Books in

The Embodiment of Characters: The Representation of

A Hitch in Time Writings from the London Review of

The Literary Legacy of the Macmillan Company of Canada

The Making of the Abrahamic Religions in Late Antiquity

Peasant and Nation The Making of Postcolonial Mexico

The Edwardses of Halifax

UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO PRESS

ISBN 978-1-4426-4518-9 (cloth)

Printed on acid-free, 100% post-consumer recycled paper with vegetable-based inks.

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Bentley, G. E. (Gerald Eades), 1930–, author

Includes bibliographical references and index.

1. Edwards, James, 1757–1816. 2. Edwards, James, 1757–1816 – Family.

Z325.E38B46 2015 070.5092′2 C2014-908310-6

University of Toronto Press acknowledges the financial assistance to its publishing

Funded by the Financé par le

List of Appendices: Bibliographies xi

Part I: William Edwards, Paterfamilias

Part II: James Edwards, the Medicean Bookseller

1 The Medicean Bookshop and James Edwards’s Shop

2 Buying on the Continent and Selling at Auction 1786–1799 73

4 The Bookseller as Diplomat: James Edwards, Lord Grenville,

5 Last Years 139

Part III: Richard Edwards, Publisher of Church-and-King

Illustrated Books Published by Richard Edwards 168

Part IV: Thomas Edwards, an Important Provincial Bookseller

[available on the volume’s book page at the University of Toronto

Appendix 1: William Edwards’s Publications 1

Appendix 9: Works about the Edwardses 369

1 John Horner, Buildings in the Town and Parish of Halifax

11 The Fables of John Dryden, Ornamented with Engravings from the

Colour Plates (following page 72)

Plate 2 Captain J.G. Stedman, Narrative, of a five years’ expedition,

G.E. Bentley, Jr, Blake Books (1977) = BB

with special gratitude Gerard Vaughan, Elizabeth Swaim, who gener-

The challenge of finding materials concerning the Edwardses of Halifax

In addition, there is a bibliography of all the books James, Richard,

An abbreviation that ends with a period and superscript letter repre-

The work of the firm known as Edwards of Halifax is widely recorded

Robert Bowyer, and of Young’s Night Thoughts (Part I, 1797) by Rich-

Locations of Leading Booksellers and Printers

Westward March of the Book Trade

Bolt Court, Fleet Street

Horwood Plan 22, under Plan 12

Horwood Plan 23, under Plan 13

Horwood Plan 24, across the river

Richard Edwards’s Edition of Young’s Night Thoughts (1797) with

Paradoxically, today the best-known publication of the Edwards family

Richard, the youngest bookselling member of the Edwards family. Cer-

It is difficult to imagine how Blake lived during the three or four

Allan Mary Hannah m WILLIAM m Jane Green John Judith

William [II] Mary JAMES JOHN Sarah THOMAS Joseph RICHARD

William Elizabeth Jane John James Mary Thomas Anne Richard