Bookseller as Rogue: John Almon and the Politics of Eighteenth-Century Publishing

Based on archival research, this fascinating new work represents the first full-length biography of John Almon, the most important political bookseller of the second half of the eighteenth century. Using Almon as a case study, Deborah Rogers examines the way in which political pressure on booksellers affected the literature of the period. Bookseller as Rogue chronicles Almon’s relationships with such important politicians as Richard Grenville (Earl Temple), John Wilkes, John Calcraft, Edmund Burke, and Benjamin Franklin. Rogers also analyzes Almon’s libel trials, his fight for freedom of the press, and his efforts on behalf of the American Revolution. A valuable appendix catalogues works issued under Almon’s imprint.