| John Newbery |
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| 1713 births | |
| newbery, john | |
| 1767 deaths | |
| british publishers people | |
| people from reading, berkshire | |
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John Newbery (baptized 9 July 1713 – 22 December 1767 ) was a British publisher of books who first made Children's Literature a sustainable and profitable part of the literary market. He also supported and published the works of Christopher Smart , Oliver Goldsmith and Samuel Johnson . In honor of his achievements in children's publishing, the Newbery Medal was named after him. EARLY LIFE Newbery was born in 1713 to a Berkshire farmer in Waltham St Lawrence . He was Apprentice d to a local printer at the age of sixteen. In 1737 his master, William Carnan , died and left the business to him and Charles Carnan, his brother. Two years later, he married William Carnan's widow, Mary.Rose, 216. PUBLISHING CAREER By 1740 he had started publishing books in Reading, Berkshire ; his first two publications were an edition of Richard Allestree's ''The Whole Duty of Man'' and ''Miscellaneous Works Serious and Humerous {Link without Title} In Verse and Prose''. In 1743, Newbery left Reading, putting his stepson John Carnan in charge of his business there, and established a shop in London , first at the Bible and Crown near Devereux Court and then at the Bible and Sun at 65 St. Paul's Churchyard. The first book he published there was '' A Little Pretty Pocket-Book '' in 1744.Rose, 217. This book has sometimes been called the "first children's book;" while other children's books by Thomas Boreman and Thomas and Mary Cooper had been published previously, ''A Little Pretty Pocket-Book'' is the first in Newbery's successful line of children's books. It already contains all of the hallmarks of a Newbery book. In developing his particular brand of children's literature, Newbery borrowed techniques from other publishers, such as binding his books in Dutch Floral Paper and advertising his other products and books within the stories he wrote or commissioned.Rose, 218. Newbery's firm published children's stories, ABC books, children's novels and children's magazines; his children's books constituted about one-fifth of the five hundred books his published.Rose, 216. Newbery, it seems, both hired authors to write his books and wrote himself. Scholars have speculated that Oliver Goldsmith or Giles and Griffith JonesRose, 219. wrote one of Newbery's best-selling stories, '' The History Of Little Goody Two-Shoes ''. This was Newbery's most popular book, going through 29 editions between 1765 and 1800.Rose, 219. Newbery also published a series of books written by "Tom Telescope" that were wildly popular, going through seven editions between 1761 and 1787 alone.Rose, 219. These were based on the emerging science of the day and consisted of a series of lectures given by a boy, Tom Telescope. The most famous is entitled ''The Newtonian System of Philosophy Adapted to the Capacities of Young Gentlemen and Ladies''. Newbery accrued most of his fortune from his patent and sales of Dr. James's Fever Powder, a medicine which claimed to cure the gout, rheumatism, scrofula, scurvy, leprosy, and distemper in cattle.Rose, 216. This product became successful due in part to Newbery's advertisements for it in his literature. In ''Goody Two-Shoes'', the heroine's father dies because he was "seized with a violent fever in a place where Dr. James Fever Powder was not to be had."Qtd. in Rose, 219. NEWBERY THEMES Inspired by John Locke's very successful '' Some Thoughts Concerning Education '', Newbery adopted the motto ''Deluctando monemus'' (Instruction through Delight). Locke had written that "children may be cozened into a knowledge of the letters; be taught to read, without perceiving it to be anything but a sport, and play themselves into that which others are whipped for." He also suggested that picture books be created for children. Locke also argued that children should be considered "reasoning beings." Newbery acted upon these suggestions. He also made his books relative cheap, charging only Sixpence for ''A Little Pretty Pocket-Book'', eightpence with a ball or pincushion.Rose, 217. The book was a hodge-podge of information and games, including riddles and advice on a proper diet, but its primary message was "learn your lessons . . . and one day you will ride in a coach and six."Rose, 219. "In Newbery's universe work is always rewarded and altruism pays dividends as reliably as Isaac Newton's laws of motion."Rose, 219. Newbery's stories look painfully didactic today but were clearly popular and enjoyed by children of the eighteenth century and nineteenth century. Most of his stories centered around an orphan who slowly, through hard work (what he referred to as "industry") and virtue, prospered. The world of his stories was a meritocratic world in which the child independently rose or fell on his or her own merits. Furthermore, many of his stories showed the entire life of the character, from childhood to adulthood, in order to illustrate the punishments and rewards associated with "good" and "bad" behavior. LEGACY His son Francis, his nephew Francis and Francis' wife Elizabeth and his grandson Francis Power continued the business after his death. In 1922, the Newbery Medal was created in honor of him; it is awarded each year to the best children's book published in the United States. BESTSELLING NEWBERY BOOKS
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