William Bowyer (; 19 December 169913 November 1777) was an
English
English usually refers to:
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* English people
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* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
printer
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Technology
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known as "the learned printer".
Life
Born in London, Bowyer was educated at
St John's College, Cambridge
St John's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corpo ...
, and in 1722 became a partner in his father
William Bowyer's business. In 1729 he was appointed printer of the votes of the
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England.
The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 mem ...
, and in 1736 printer to the
Society of Antiquaries, of which he was elected a fellow in 1737.
He was also appointed printer to the Society for the Encouragement of Learning. On the death of his father in 1737 he became the sole owner of the Bowyer press.
In 1759 he took as apprentice
John Nichols, who was to be his successor and biographer. Bowyer was also a close collaborator with the prominent London bookseller
Andrew Millar
Andrew Millar (17058 June 1768) was a British publisher in the eighteenth century.
Biography
In 1725, as a twenty-year-old bookseller apprentice, he evaded Edinburgh city printing restrictions by going to Leith to print, which was considered be ...
.
In 1761 Bowyer became printer to the
Royal Society
The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...
, and in 1767 printer of the rolls of the
House of Lords
The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...
and the journals of the
House of Commons.
Also in 1767 he moved from
Whitefriars to a larger house in Red Lion Passage,
Fleet Street
Fleet Street is a major street mostly in the City of London. It runs west to east from Temple Bar at the boundary with the City of Westminster to Ludgate Circus at the site of the London Wall and the River Fleet from which the street was na ...
. He died leaving unfinished a number of large works and among them the reprint of
Domesday Book
Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...
. He was known as "the learned printer."
Bowyer was buried in
Leyton parish church, where he has a monument.
Works
Bowyer's major work was an edition of the
New Testament
The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...
in
Greek, with notes. He wrote tracts and pamphlets, and edited, arranged and published a host of books. He also edited the Greek-Latin Lexicon of
Schrevelius.
Legacy
Bowyer's generous bequests in favour of
indigent printers were administered by the
Stationers' Company, of which he became a liveryman in 1738. In their hall was his portrait bust and a painting of his father.
Notes
References
*Millar, Andrew, ''Letter to Andrew Mitchell'', 26 August 1766, accessed through "www.millar-project.ed.ac.uk."
''University of Edinburgh''br>
External links
*
hdl:10079/fa/beinecke.bowyer, William Bowyer Papers. James Marshall and Marie-Louise Osborn Collection, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bowyer, William
1699 births
1777 deaths
Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge
Businesspeople from London
English printers