George Woodfall (1767–1844) was an English printer.

Life

The son of

Henry Sampson Woodfall Henry Sampson Woodfall (21 June 173912 December 1805) was an English printer and journalist. He was born and lived in London. Biography Woodfall's grandfather Henry Woodfall (c. 1686–1747), was the author of the ballad ''Darby and Joan'' ...

, he was his father's partner in the printing business till December 1793, when the father retired. George Woodfall later moved to Angel Court, Snow Hill, where he carried on business till 1840, when his eldest son, Henry Dick Woodfall, fifth in a line of printers, became his partner. When Friedrich König, inventor of the steam printing-press, was in London in 1806,

Thomas Bensley Thomas Bensley (1759–1835) was an English printer known for fine work, and as a collaborator of Friedrich Koenig. He was an innovator in the fields of steam-powered printing presses, and lithography for book illustration. Life Bensley, the son o ...

brought his fellow-printers Woodfall and Richard Taylor into a consortium to develop a press. Woodfall, however, failed to see the potential. Woodfall was often chosen chairman at the meetings of the London master-printers. In 1812 he was elected a stock-keeper of the

Stationers' Company The Worshipful Company of Stationers and Newspaper Makers (until 1937 the Worshipful Company of Stationers), usually known as the Stationers' Company, is one of the livery companies of the City of London. The Stationers' Company was formed in ...

; in 1825 member of the court of assistants, and master of the company in 1833–4. He was re-elected stock-keeper in 1836, and in 1841 he was elected master for the second time. In 1823 he became a fellow of the

Society of Antiquaries of London A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Societ ...

, and in 1824 of the

Royal Society of Literature The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820, by George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV, to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, th ...

. He served on the general committee of the

Royal Literary Fund The Royal Literary Fund (RLF) is a benevolent fund that gives assistance to published British writers in financial difficulties. Founded in 1790, and granted a royal charter in 1818, the Fund has helped an extensive roll of authors through its long ...

from 1820 to 1828, and, on his resignation, was elected to the council, an office which he filled till his death, with the exception of the period between March 1835 and March 1838, when he was treasurer to the corporation. He was a commissioner for the lieutenancy of the city of London. He died on 22 December 1844 at his house in Dean's Yard, Westminster.

Identity of Junius and legacy

An edition of the ''Letters'' of Junius, published in 1812, was by Woodfall;

John Mason Good John Mason Good (25 May 1764 – 2 January 1827), English writer on medical, religious and classical subjects, was born at Epping, Essex. John Good's parents were the Nonconformist minister Revd Peter Good and Sarah Good, the daughter of another ...

wrote the preliminary essay and notes. John Taylor went through the files of the ''

Public Advertiser The ''Public Advertiser'' was a London newspaper in the 18th century. The ''Public Advertiser'' was originally known as the ''London Daily Post and General Advertiser'', then simply the ''General Advertiser'' consisting more or less exclusively o ...

'' at Woodfall's request, looking for earlier works of Junius; from the search 140 letters were marked up, and of these 113 were printed as being "by the same writer under other signatures". Some were authentic; but most were identified by the personal opinion of Woodfall and Taylor. Woodfall left it on record, on his father's authority, that Junius wrote the ''Letters'' signed "Lucius", "Brutus", and "Atticus"; his father also said on the

identity of Junius Junius (writer), Junius was the pen name, pseudonym of a writer who contributed a series of political letters critical of the government of George III of the United Kingdom, King George III to the ''Public Advertiser'', from 21 January 1769 to 21 ...

, to his personal knowledge, that

Sir Philip Francis Sir Philip Francis GCB (22 October 1740 – 23 December 1818) was an Irish-born British politician and pamphleteer, thought to be the author of the ''Letters'' of Junius, and the chief antagonist of Warren Hastings. His accusations against t ...

"did not write a line of Junius". Woodfall left in manuscript a detailed review of John Jaques's ''Junius and his Works'' (1843), also doubting that Francis wrote the letters. Many of Junius's letters in manuscript, which his father had preserved, passed to Woodfall, who printed the unpublished ones and added facsimiles of the handwriting. Woodfall left these papers to his son, Henry Dick Woodfall, from whom they passed, through

Joseph Parkes Joseph Parkes (22 January 1796 – 11 August 1865) was an English political reformer. Born into Unitarian Whig circles, Parkes developed an association with the Philosophical Radicals. In 1822 he established a Birmingham solicitor's practice spec ...

, to the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

. Another edition by John Wade of "Junius" letters was published in 1850 by Henry Bohn.

Notes

Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Woodfall, George 1767 births 1844 deaths English printers English book editors Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London