James Stratford (publisher) facts for kids
James Stratford was a British printer, bookseller, and publisher who lived a long time ago, from the late 1700s to the early 1800s. He was known for making special books called part-works. These were books sold in small pieces, like magazines, over time. People would buy each part and then get them all bound together into a complete book later. James Stratford first worked with William Stratford. Later, he ran his own business. In 1813, he faced financial difficulties and was held in Fleet Prison.
Contents
Who Was James Stratford?
James Stratford was a busy person in London. He printed, sold, and published books from his shop at 112 Holborn Hill. He started his business around 1789. At first, he worked with William Stratford. Together, they published important books.
Early Publishing Work
Around 1790, James and William Stratford published the first edition of a popular cookbook. It was called The Housekeeper's Instructor; or, Universal Family Cook. This book was written by William Augustus Henderson. Their names, "W. & J. Stratford," were printed on the book. They published 16 editions of this cookbook up until 1810. After a while, James Stratford published these books by himself. William Stratford was still printing other books for James in 1810.
Later Challenges
In early 1813, James Stratford had money problems. He was declared bankrupt. This meant he could not pay all his debts. Because of this, he was held in Fleet Prison. This was a prison for people who owed money. He was still there in November 1816.
Books in Parts: Part-Works
James Stratford was famous for publishing "part-works." These were a clever way for people to buy big, expensive books. Instead of paying for the whole book at once, they could buy it in smaller, cheaper parts. Once all the parts were collected, they could be bound together to make one complete book.
Famous Part-Works
Some of the important part-works James Stratford published include:
- A detailed description of London by David Hughson. This huge work was published from 1805 to 1809. It came out in 149 parts and could be bound into six large books.
- The World: or, The Present State of the Universe by Cavendish Pelham. This was published between 1806 and 1808.
- Arcana by George Perry. This book came out in 1811.
Special Illustrations
Many of these part-works had beautiful copper-plate engravings. These were detailed pictures made by skilled artists. The high-quality pictures made the books very special and popular. However, these engravings were also expensive to create.
It is quite rare to find complete copies of these part-works today. This is especially true if they still have all their original illustrations. Often, people would remove the pictures from the books to frame them. For example, in George Perry's Arcana, only 13 complete copies with all 84 pictures are known to exist. This shows how valuable and sought-after these illustrations were.
