Thomas_Astley

Thomas Astley

Thomas Astley

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Thomas Astley (died 1759) was a bookseller and publisher in London in the 18th century. He often wrote about relevant topics at the time, and contributed to many of those controversial topics. [1] He ran his business from Saint Paul's Churchyard (circa 1726-1742) and Paternoster Row (circa 1745).[2] He belonged to the Company of Stationers.[3] He published the celebrated[4] Voyages and Travels which described localities in Africa and Asia, compiling information from travel books by John Atkins, Jean Barbot, Willem Bosman, Theodor de Bry, Francis Moore,[5] Jean-Baptiste Labat, Godefroi Loyer, Thomas Phillips, William Smith, and Nicolas Villaut de Bellefond.[6] It included engravings by G. Child and Nathaniel Parr.[7][8] Astley intended his Voyages to improve upon the previous travel collections of Samuel Purchas, John Harris, and Awnsham & John Churchill.[9] It was read by patrons of Hookham's Circulating Library, Boosey's circulating library,[10] London Institution, Royal Institution, Salem Athenaeum, and Cape Town public library.[11] Astley's Voyages was translated into German (Schwabe (1747–1774), Allgemeine Historie der Reisen, Leipzig) and French (Prévost (1746–1789), Histoire des voyages, Paris).[12]

Advert for Thomas Astley at the Dolphin and Crown in St. Paul's Church-Yard, London, 1727

Titles issued by Astley

References

  1. [1]
    Charles Henry Timperley (1839). A Dictionary of Printers and Printing. H. Johnson.
  2. [2]
    Ian Maxted (2007), "Checklist of members in trade directories and in Musgrave's Obituary", London book trades, 1735-1775, Exeter Working Papers in British Book Trade History
  3. [3]
    London Magazine, March 1759
  4. [4]
    Sheridan Libraries. "Voyages + Travels". Library Guides: Special Collections: Africa, Asia + Oceania. USA: Johns Hopkins University. Archived from the original on 26 July 2014. Retrieved 30 July 2014.
  5. [5]
    Matthew H. Hill (1992), "Towards a Chronology of the Publications of Francis Moore's "Travels into the Inland Parts of Africa", History in Africa, 19: 353–368, doi:10.2307/3172005, JSTOR 3172005, S2CID 161464530
  6. [6]
    Adam Jones (1986). "Semper Aliquid Veteris: Printed Sources for the History of the Ivory and Gold Coasts, 1500-1750". Journal of African History. 27 (2): 215–235. doi:10.1017/s0021853700036653. JSTOR 181134. S2CID 162344095.
  7. [7]
    Nathaniel Parr (1745–1747). New General Collection of Voyages and Travels. Vol. 3. London: T. Astley. Plate 14 – via Yale University, Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library.
  8. [8]
    G. Child (1745–1747). New General Collection of Voyages and Travels. Vol. 3. London: T. Astley. Plate 17: Bird's Eye View of Loango – via Atlas of Mutual Heritage, Netherlands.
  9. [9]
    Edward Godfrey Cox (1935). "Collections". Reference Guide to the Literature of Travel. Vol. 1: Old World. Seattle: University of Washington. p. 15 – via Open Library.
  10. [10]
    A New Catalogue of the Circulating Library at No. 39, King Street, Cheapside. John Boosey. 1787.
  11. [11]
    Catalogue of the South African Public Library. Cape Town. 1829.
  12. [12]
    George Watson, ed. (1974). "Travel: Collections and Histories". New Cambridge Bibliography of English Literature. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-20004-2.
  13. [13]
    Books Printed for T. Astley, at the Rose, in St. Paul's Church-Yard, London, 1741
  14. [14]
    Defoe, Daniel; Carleton, George (1743), Books Printed for Thomas Astley, at the Rose in St. Paul's Church-Yard, London
  15. [15]
    John Russell Bartlett (1870). "Thomas Astley". Bibliotheca Americana: A Catalogue of Books Relating to North- and South-America in the Library of J. Carter Brown.
  16. [16]
    G. R. Crone (1949), "John Green. Notes on a Neglected Eighteenth Century Geographer and Cartographer", Imago Mundi, 6: 85–91, doi:10.1080/03085694908591935, JSTOR 1149987
  17. [17]
    G. R. Crone (1951), "Further Notes on Bradock Mead, Alias John Green, an Eighteenth Century Cartographer", Imago Mundi, 8: 69–70, doi:10.1080/03085695108591991, JSTOR 1150056
  18. [18]
    New general collection of voyages and travels, OCLC 773118890

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