John Baxter (1781–1858) was an English printer and publisher. Baxter was born at Rickhurst (Rykhurst),

Alfold Alfold is a village and civil parish in Surrey, England on the West Sussex border. Alfold is a dispersed or polyfocal village in the Green Belt, which is buffered from all other settlements. The Greensand Way runs north of the village along th ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

, on 20 October 1781. Early in life he settled in

Lewes Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. It is the police and judicial centre for all of Sussex and is home to Sussex Police, East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service, Lewes Crown Court and HMP Lewes. The civil parish is the centre of ...

as a bookseller and printer. Among the earliest of Baxter's enterprises was the publication of a large quarto Bible, annotated by the Rev.

John Styles John Styles (17 March 1782 – 22 June 1849) was an English Congregational minister and animal rights writer. Biography Styles was educated at Hoxton College.

, D.D., and illustrated with wood engravings.

Career

This work, known as ''Baxter's Bible'', sold well, especially in America. Baxter's other publications include several important works on the topography of

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

, and ‘ The Library of Agricultural Knowledge’ With his youngest son, W. E. Baxter, he started the ''Sussex Agricultural Express''. He was an enthusiastic

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

er, and the joint–if not the sole–author of the first ever book of rules for that sport, the first ever published, named ''Lambert's Cricketer's Guide'', after the celebrated professional cricketer William Lambert of that name. He died 12 November 1858. Baxter's second son, George Baxter, was the inventor of the process of printing in oil colours.

''The Library of Agricultural and Horticultural Knowledge''

''The Library of Agricultural and Horticultural Knowledge'' had a very extensive circulation. It was published in 1830, with a second edition in 1832. George Sinclair wrote an article ''On the cultivation of the natural grasses'' for the publication. Baxter, J. 1830 Library of Agricultural & Horticultural Knowledge, 217 Other authors included

John Ellman John Ellman (17 October 1753 – 22 November 1832) was an English farmer and stock breeder who developed the Southdown breed of sheep. Biography Early life John Ellman was born on 17 October 1753 in Hartfield, Sussex. He moved with his famil ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baxter, John 1781 births 1858 deaths English printers English publishers (people) People from Lewes 19th-century publishers (people) 19th-century British businesspeople