William Holland (1757 to 1834 in London) was a leading London print seller and radical publisher who was fined £100 and imprisoned in 1793 for a year for seditious libel.

Biography

Holland's antecedents are obscure, though David Alexander suggests he may have been of Irish origin, as hinted by his pseudonym ''Paddy Whack''. Holland began selling prints in a shop at 66 Drury Lane in 1782 and published a number of prints during the 1784 election. He move to new premises at 50 Oxford Street in 1788, where he charged 1s for admittance to his 'Museum of Graphic Genius'. Holland's successful business grew and his list included works by Frederick George Byron, George Murgatroyd Woodward, and

John Nixon John Nixon is the name of: Politicians *John Nixon (MP), Member of the Long Parliament in England, representing Oxford City 1646-1648 *John T. Nixon (1820–1889), U.S. Representative from New Jersey * John William Nixon (1880–1949), Unionist pol ...

, as well as James Gillray and

Thomas Rowlandson Thomas Rowlandson (; 13 July 175721 April 1827) was an English artist and caricaturist of the Georgian Era, noted for his political satire and social observation. A prolific artist and printmaker, Rowlandson produced both individual social an ...

. A radical, he was prosecuted in 1793 on charges of seditious libel for selling a copy of

Thomas Paine Thomas Paine (born Thomas Pain; – In the contemporary record as noted by Conway, Paine's birth date is given as January 29, 1736–37. Common practice was to use a dash or a slash to separate the old-style year from the new-style year. In th ...

's ''Letter Addressed to the Addressers'' and imprisoned in

Newgate Prison Newgate Prison was a prison at the corner of Newgate Street and Old Bailey Street just inside the City of London, England, originally at the site of Newgate, a gate in the Roman London Wall. Built in the 12th century and demolished in 1904, t ...

where he encountered Lord George Gordon and other radicals and communicated with John Horne Tooke. During this time his print shop was run by Richard Newton, a talented young caricaturist who Holland published until 1797. A surviving copy of his 1794 catalogue ''Holland's Catalogue of Humorous Prints, &C to be had at his Museum of Graphic Genius, No 50 Oxford Street, London''Discovered by John Wardroper in the Royal Library, Stockholm lists 116 prints and is a rare example of an 18th Century printseller's catalogue and provides interesting insights into his output. The list includes prices as well as hints as to their possible use ("an admirable print for a chimney piece," "fit for screens," etc.); many of the prints can be identified as prints in the

Catalogue of Political and Personal Satires Preserved in the Department of Prints and Drawings in the British Museum The twelve-volume ''Catalogue of Political and Personal Satires Preserved in the Department of Prints and Drawings in the British Museum'' is the primary reference work for the study of British satirical prints of the 18th and 19th century. Most ...

. Other Holland catalogues dating to 1778, 1789, 1791, and 1792 are found as advertisements in the backs of his books. His obituary appeared in 1815 in the ''Gentlemen's Magazine:'' "At the Hummuns Covent-garden, a few minutes after coming out of the warm bath.. an eminent publisher of caricatures, and patron of Woodward, Rowlandson, Newton, Buck and other artists. He was himself a man of genius and wrote many popular songs, and a volume of poetry, besides being the author of the pointed and epigrammatic words which accompanied most of his caricatures." This is borne out by the lettering in Hollands's distinctive and somewhat erratic hand on many of his published prints.

References

External links

British Museum Bio for William Holland
{{DEFAULTSORT:Holland, William Publishers (people) from London 1757 births 1834 deaths English satirists English non-fiction writers British free speech activists

Biography

See also

References

Further reading

External links