John Noble (publisher)

John Noble (died 1797)[1] was a bookseller and publisher in London in the 18th century. He issued works by Daniel Defoe, George Smith Green, Eliza Haywood, Jane Marshall, John Robinson, and others. As part of his enterprise he ran a circulating library near Leicester Square that stocked some 5,535 titles by the 1760s.[2][3] By the late 1770s his business had been taken over by B. Desbrow. John's brother Francis Noble (d.1792) also worked in the book trade.[4]

Contemporary reviews of Noble's publications were mixed. A novel entitled False Gratitude (1773) was judged "extremely bad;"[5] Affected Indifference (1771) was "not void of interesting scenes ... tolerable entertainment to even a cultivated mind."[6]

References

1. Stoker, David. "Noble, Francis". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/75459. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
2. "London Circulating Libraries", The Times, London, 2 September 1913, OL 14020865M
3. Paul Kaufman (1967). "The Community Library: A Chapter in English Social History". Transactions of the American Philosophical Society. 57 (7): 1–67. doi:10.2307/1006043. JSTOR 1006043.
4. Ian Maxted (2007), "Francis Noble", The London Book Trades 1775-1800: a preliminary checklist of members, Exeter Working Papers in British Book Trade History
5. "Impartial Review of New Publications", London Magazine, January 1773
6. Monthly Review, quoted in Universal Catalogue, J. Bell, 1772

Further reading

Published by John Noble

• C. L (1747). Advantages of the Succession of the House of Stewart to the Crown of Great Britain.
• Daniel Defoe (1754), The history of the great plague in London in the year 1665, London: F. and J. Noble, OCLC 5693798, OL 24982398M
• Emily, Author of (1756). Emily, Or, The History of a Natural Daughter.
• The Muse In Good Humour: A Collection Of Comic Tales (7th ed.). 1765.
• Catalogue of the Large and Valuable Collection of Books (both English, and French) in John Noble's Circulating Library. London. 1767.
• Affected Indifference: a Novel. 1771.
• The Indiscreet Connection; or, The History of Miss Lester, London: F. and J. Noble, at their respective Circulating Libraries, 1772
  • (Includes list of Books Printed for F. and J. Noble)
• The Supposed Daughter: or, Innocent Imposter, 1773
• Memoirs of an American, with a Description of the Kingdom of Prussia, and the Island of St. Domingo, London: Printed for F. & J. Noble, 1773, OCLC 14192434, OL 7040633M
• The Way to Please Him. 1773.
• The Way to Lose Him. 1773.
• The Disinterested Marriage, Or, The History of Mr. Frankland., 1774

Works about Noble

• James Raven (1990). "The Noble Brothers and Popular Publishing, 1737–89". Library. s6-12 (4): 293–345. doi:10.1093/library/s6-12.4.293.

External links

• Ian Maxted (2007), "John Noble", The London Book Trades 1775-1800: a preliminary checklist of members, Exeter Working Papers in British Book Trade History