John Newbery, “the philanthropic publisher of St Paul's Churchyard,” as Goldsmith called him in his “Vicar of Wakefield,” is a figure of some interest in the literary history of the eighteenth century. The first bookseller who made the issue of books, specially intended for children, a business of any importance, he brought before the world a number of works which have proved of great benefit, and of which the memory and the influence have survived to the present day. But not only is he to be remembered as the publisher of “Goody Two Shoes,” and kindred books; he was himself an author of considerable ingenuity and wit; he and his family were intimately associated with Johnson, Goldsmith, Christopher Smart, Smollett, and many other literary men of the time; and he busied himself with many projects of a seemingly more important character than the publication of books for the young.

In this volume I have endeavoured to bring together all the scattered information that I could discover about this worthy man, thinking that it might prove of interest not only to those who are engaged in the production and publication of books, but to the much wider public who have benefited by the little volumes issued by him for their instruction and delectation.