Elizabeth Nutt (''c.'' 1666 – November 1746) and John Nutt (? – 1716) were

printer Printer may refer to: Technology * Printer (publishing), a person or a company * Printer (computing), a hardware device * Optical printer for motion picture films People * Nariman Printer (fl. c. 1940), Indian journalist and activist * James ...

s and

booksellers Bookselling is the commercial trading of books which is the retail and distribution end of the publishing process. People who engage in bookselling are called booksellers, bookdealers, bookpeople, bookmen, or bookwomen. The founding of librari ...

and distributors in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

in the early 18th century. John Nutt's most famous publication was the first three editions of

Jonathan Swift Jonathan Swift (30 November 1667 – 19 October 1745) was an Anglo-Irish satirist, author, essayist, political pamphleteer (first for the Whigs, then for the Tories), poet, and Anglican cleric who became Dean of St Patrick's Cathedral, Dubl ...

's ''

A Tale of a Tub ''A Tale of a Tub'' was the first major work written by Jonathan Swift, composed between 1694 and 1697 and published in 1704. It is arguably his most difficult satire, and perhaps his best. The ''Tale'' is a prose parody divided into sections o ...

'', but he and Elizabeth were important both as publishers and sellers of many works of

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

and

literature Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...

. John Nutt remains an obscure individual, with only his death well attested in 1716. Elizabeth Carr married John Nutt in 1692, and she was at that time already a practicing " mercury," or seller of newspapers and pamphlets. Independent of her husband, she is referred to as a significant and honest seller by

John Dunton John Dunton (4 May 1659 – 1733) was an English bookseller and author. In 1691 he founded The Athenian Society to publish '' The Athenian Mercury'', the first major popular periodical and first miscellaneous periodical in England. In 1693, for ...

in 1705. She therefore brought a retailing business to the marriage, and John brought a printing house. The couple lived in the Savoy off of the Strand in London for nearly all of their adult lives, and they sold books, pamphlets, and news sheets by the Royal Exchange. John Nutt had a shop in the Savoy at least by 1705, when he published Swift's first major satire the year before (1703/4 and 1704). That same year, he obtained an exclusive patent to print law books. When John Nutt died in 1716, Elizabeth took over the printing business and had her son, Richard, manage the presses, and Richard took over the publication of legal writings in 1722. Elizabeth also worked with Anne Dodd, the most famous distributor of books of the day. She would print books and sell them to Dodd for retail sale, as well as sell them in her own stalls. The Nutts were allied with

Tory A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. The ...

and general opposition causes during the Hanoverian period, and she and her family were arrested for selling ''

London Evening Post The ''London Evening Post'' was a pro- Jacobite Tory English language daily newspaper published in London, then the capital city of the Kingdom of Great Britain, from 1727 until 1797.Cranfield, G.A. (1963). "The ''London Evening Post'', 1727–17 ...

'', which Richard Nutt published, '' The Craftsman,'' and ''

Mist's Weekly Journal Nathaniel Mist (died 30 September 1737) was an 18th-century British people, British Printer (publisher), printer and journalist whose ''Mist's Weekly Journal'' was the central, most visible, and most explicit opposition newspaper to the British ...

''. Nevertheless, Elizabeth and her family prospered and extended their ownership of news shops, stalls, and book sellers. Her name continued to appear as a printer on imprints to 1741, and she is listed as a book seller until her death in 1746.

References

*Hunt, Margaret. "Elizabeth Nutt" in Matthew, H.C.G. and Brian Harrison, eds. ''

The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

.'' vol. 41, 291-2. London:

OUP Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, 2004. {{DEFAULTSORT:Nutt, John 1660s births 1746 deaths Literature of England British printers