This passage illustrates the problems of communication that still had to be dealt with entering the final quarter of the eighteenth century. As Christine Ferdinand and Michael Harris have both discussed, networks were required – networks for the communication of information, for the passage of goods and for the payment of monies. Of course, some networks had been established for many years – those of the chapmen, the carriers, the letter-writers and the Post Office were all of great importance to the book trades – yet, during the eighteenth century a number of more specific enterprises emerged aimed at dealing with these concerns. This case study takes a preliminary look at one such business – that of William Tayler. Beginning with the imprint of Pendred’s Vade mecum of 1785, it attempts to identify Tayler; to look at possible antecedents; describe the scope of his activities; and, finally, to explain the succession of the enterprise, placing it in a historical context.