The Bowyer Ledgers

The Bowyer ledgers, kept by William Bowyer, father and son, between 1710 and 1777, offer vast stores of new information concerning authorship, book production, and distribution in 18th-century London. More than 5000 works by some 1000 authors were commissioned by some 500 customers, whether booksellers, institutions, or private gentlemen, and produced through the agency of several hundreds of workmen. Printed copies were delivered to more than 1500 persons, members of the trade, or representatives of the reading public at large. The density of information is no less astonishing. The ledgers record what happened to a text as it moved through the printing-house, noting particulars of paper, types, format, corrections, number printed, and the like. This edition of the Bowyer ledgers presents the records themselves in photo-facsimilie on microfiche, accompanied by a volume of editorial apparatus. The microfiches reproduce the four surviving ledgers and associated papers, prefixed with detailed descriptions of the originals (which are owned by the Bodleian Library and the Grolier Club, of New York City).
The volume of editorial apparatus, headed by an essay on the nature and function of the ledgers, also contains a chronological checklist of works printed by the Bowyers, a comprehensive index of authors and titles, and a topical index of equipment, materials, and processes.