Humphrey Robinson (died 13 November 1670) was a prominent

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 ...

publisher and bookseller of the middle seventeenth century. Robinson was the son of a Bernard Robinson, a clerk from Carlisle; other members of his family were important clergymen and church office-holders. Humphrey Robinson became a "freeman" (a full member) of the Stationers Company on 30 June 1623. He was active as an independent bookseller in the years 1624–70. Based in his shop at the sign of the Three Pigeons in St. Paul's Churchyard, he was "one of the largest and most important booksellers of this period."

With Moseley

Robinson is most noted for publishing two collections of plays in English Renaissance drama; he partnered in these works with colleague

Humphrey Moseley Humphrey Moseley (died 31 January 1661) was a prominent London publisher and bookseller in the middle seventeenth century. Life Possibly a son of publisher Samuel Moseley, Humphrey Moseley became a "freeman" (a full member) of the Stationers Co ...

. The most important of these collections was the first Beaumont and Fletcher folio of

1647 Events January–March * January 2 – Chinese bandit leader Zhang Xianzhong, who has ruled the Sichuan province since 1644, is killed at Xichong by a Qing archer after having been betrayed one of his officers, Liu Jinzhong. ...

; they also issued a significant collection of

James Shirley James Shirley (or Sherley) (September 1596 – October 1666) was an English dramatist. He belonged to the great period of English dramatic literature, but, in Charles Lamb's words, he "claims a place among the worthies of this period, not so m ...

's dramas titled ''Six New Plays'' in

1653 Events January–March * January 3 – By the Coonan Cross Oath, the Eastern Church in India cuts itself off from colonial Portuguese tutelage. * January– The Swiss Peasant War begins after magistrates meeting at Lucer ...

. The two Humphreys also published a volume of the

Duke of Newcastle Duke of Newcastle upon Tyne was a title that was created three times, once in the Peerage of England and twice in the Peerage of Great Britain. The first grant of the title was made in 1665 to William Cavendish, 1st Marquess of Newcastle ...

's plays, and Sir

William Davenant Sir William Davenant (baptised 3 March 1606 – 7 April 1668), also spelled D'Avenant, was an English poet and playwright. Along with Thomas Killigrew, Davenant was one of the rare figures in English Renaissance theatre whose career spanned b ...

's '' Love and Honour'', both in

1649 Events January–March * January 4 – In England, the Rump Parliament passes an ordinance to set up a High Court of Justice, to try Charles I for high treason. * January 17 – The Second Ormonde Peace concludes an allianc ...

. (After Moseley's death in 1661, Robinson worked with widow Anne Moseley when she continued her late husband's business; conjointly they published the 1661 edition of the Beaumont and Fletcher play ''

Beggars' Bush ''Beggars' Bush'' is a Jacobean era stage play, a comedy in the canon of John Fletcher and his collaborators that is a focus of dispute among scholars and critics. Authorship The authorship and the date of the play have long been debated by ...

.'')

And without

Operating without Moseley, Robinson published John Milton's

masque The masque was a form of festive courtly entertainment that flourished in 16th- and early 17th-century Europe, though it was developed earlier in Italy, in forms including the intermedio (a public version of the masque was the pageant). A masq ...

Comus In Greek mythology, Comus (; grc, Κῶμος, ''Kōmos'') is the god of festivity, revels and nocturnal dalliances. He is a son and a cup-bearer of the god Dionysus. He was represented as a winged youth or a child-like satyr and represents ana ...

'' (1637), and Peter Hausted's scandalous play ''The Rival Friends'' (1645). Beyond the confines of the drama, Robinson published a range of works of various types, from the miscellaneous works of Sir

Francis Bacon Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban (; 22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626), also known as Lord Verulam, was an English philosopher and statesman who served as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England. Bacon led the advancement of both ...

(

1629 Events January–March * January 7– Henry Frederick, Hereditary Prince of the Palatinate, the 15-year-old son of the German Palatinate elector, Frederick V, drowns in an accident while sailing to Amsterdam. * January 19&nd ...

) to Robert Norton's ''The Gunner'' (

1664 It is one of eight years (CE) to contain each Roman numeral exactly once (1000(M)+500(D)+100(C)+50(L)+10(X)+(-1(I)+5(V)) = 1664). Events January–March * January 5 – In the Battle of Surat in India, the Maratha leader, Chhat ...

). Robinson may also have been involved in the private news service business that was a significant enterprise in his era; when newspapers were still in their infancy, many people relied on manuscript subscription news services for information. ee:_Nathaniel_Butter;_John_Pory.html" ;"title="Nathaniel_Butter.html" ;"title="ee: Nathaniel Butter">ee: Nathaniel Butter; John Pory">Nathaniel_Butter.html" ;"title="ee: Nathaniel Butter">ee: Nathaniel Butter; John Pory.] Robinson partnered with stationers other than Moseley on various projects. In one venture important in his own era, he was involved in the 1657 in literature, 1657 publication of Brian Walton, Bishop of Chester, Bishop Brian Walton's Polyglot (book)#London Polyglot, polyglot Bible. Robinson published an abundant supply of religious literature, as was standard for the booksellers of his period.

Later career

Robinson served as a Warden of the Stationers Company in 1653, and as the guild's Master in both 1661 and 1667; in the later year, he was responsible for rebuilding the guildhall after the Great Fire of London (1666). In the mid-1650s, during the Commonwealth era, Robinson maintained an important correspondence with Joseph Williamson, who later became Secretary of State; their letters are preserved in the State Papers, and provide abundant data on the role Robinson played as a leading publisher of the period. (Williamson, at this early point in his career, regularly travelled to France as a tutor of young aristocrats; he simultaneously worked as Robinson's agent and business contact with French publishers.) At his death he was survived by two children, a son, Humphrey, and a daughter, Grace. At the time of the father's death, the son was a fellow of

All Souls' College, Oxford All Souls College (official name: College of the Souls of All the Faithful Departed) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Unique to All Souls, all of its members automatically become fellows (i.e., full members of t ...

. Grace Robinson received two houses in St. Paul's Churchyard in her father's last will and testament. The stationer John Baker II leased the Three Pigeons shop from Robinson's heirs and continued the business to 1684.Furdell, Elizabeth Jane. ''Publishing and Medicine in Early Modern England.'' Rochester, NY, University of Rochester Press, 2002; p. 116.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, Humphrey Publishers (people) from London Year of birth missing 1670 deaths English booksellers

With Moseley

And without

Later career

See also

References