Forgotten Books of the American Nursery - A History of the Development of the American Story-Book by Rosalie Vrylina Halsey
page 63 of 259 (24%)
page 63 of 259 (24%)
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A contemporary of, and rival bookseller to, Gaine in seventeen hundred
and sixty was James Rivington. Mr. Hildeburn has given Rivington a rather unenviable reputation; still, as he occasionally printed (?) a child's book, Mr. Hildeburn's remarks are quoted: "Until the advent of Rivington it was generally possible to tell from an American Bookseller's advertisement in the current newspapers whether the work offered for sale was printed in America or England. But the books he received in every fresh invoice from London were 'just published by James Rivington' and this form was speedily adopted by other booksellers, so that after 1761 the advertisement of books is no longer a guide to the issues of the colonial press." Although Rivington did not set up a press until about seventeen hundred and seventy-three,--according to Mr. Hildeburn,--he had a book-shop much earlier. Here he probably reprinted the title-page and then put an elaborate notice in the "Weekly Mercury" for November 17, 1760, as follows: JAMES RIVINGTON _Bookseller and Stationer from London over against the Golden Key in Hanover Square._ This day is published, Price, seven Shillings, and sold by the said JAMES RIVINGTON, adorned with two hundred Pictures THE FABLES OF AESOP |
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