Typographia, or The Printers’ Instructor: Including an Account of the Origin of Printing, with Biographical Notices of the Printers of England, from Caxton to the Close of the Sixteenth Century

John Johnson (1777-1848) worked for a private press at Lee Priory, Kent, which published limited editions of poetry, prose and pamphlets, but was not financially successful. Moving to London in 1824, Johnson produced this two-volume work on printing, which had become a popular topic in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. As with Hansard’s Typographia of 1825 (also available in this series), his knowledge of the history of printing is largely derived from secondary works, particularly those of Dibdin. The work was published in several formats, and contemporary reviewers noted Johnson’s highly ornate typography and use of engravings more than the contents. Volume 1, in which Johnson was assisted by Richard Thomson, Librarian of the London Institution, covers the history of printing. It lists printers working in England up to the end of the sixteenth century, with bibliographical details of titles known to have been published by them.