RLIN
ID No.
NYGG01-A49
Title
Nichols and Son vs. Henry Fawcett, Esq. : Arbitration papers re Mssrs. Nichols and Son vs. Henry Fawcett, Esq. [with] statement of case on behalf of Mr. Nichols [by] Devon & Tooke, [solicitors of Gray’s Inn], ca. 1813.
Physical
Description
1 volume (67 p.) ; 34 cm.
Historical/Biographical
Note
After the antiquary John Hutchins died in 1773, his son-in-law, Major-General John Bellasis, undertook to sponsor a second edition of Hutchins’ well-known History and Antiquities of the County of Dorset, with corrections and emendations by Richard Gough. The work was put through the press by printers and publishers John Nichols and his son, John Bowyer Nichols. In addition to publishing Samuel Johnson’s Lives of the Poets, a collected edition Swift, and many other important works, John Nichols was known particularly as a printer of topographic works. The first two volumes of the revised Hutchins Dorset appeared one each in 1796 and 1803. In 1808 a fire on the Nichols’ premises destroyed the unsold copies of these volumes as well as all of volume 3. Nichols appealed for funds to carry through the project, and in 1813 volume 3 appeared with Richard Gough’s name as editor. Volume 4 was published in 1815.
Major-General Bellasis apparently
subsidized the project heavily before his death in 1808. The lawsuit concerns
the controversy over ownership of the copyright, the claimant then being Henry
Fawcett. The arbitrator, William Bolland of the Middle Temple, who was both a
barrister and a bibliophile, awarded the copyright to the Nichols in March (?)
1813, but allowed Fawcett to purchase the copper plates for the sum of 50
pounds.
Scope and Contents
Account of case involving ownership of the copyright in the
second edition of John Hutchin’s History
and Antiquities of the County of Dorset printed by John Nichols and his son
John Bowyer Nichols between 1796 and 1815. Includes history
of the publication with proposals for printing volumes 3 and 4, financial
records, and report of the arbitrator. Also an
unidentified set of gray boards with some endpapers and designation “Vol. 4” on
spine.
General Note
Title amended by cataloger as indicated by brackets.
General Note
Papers bound into a volume with board covers protected by a clamshell box.
Names
Bellasis, John, d. 1808.
Bolland, William, 1772-1840, arbitrator.
Devon, William.
Fawcett, Henry, litigant.
Gough, Richard, 1735-1809.
Hutchins, John, 1698-1773. History and Antiquities of the
Nichols, John, 1745-1826.
Nichols, J. B. (John Bowyer), 1779-1863, litigant.
Tooke, William 1744-1820.
Copyright.
Genre
Legal instruments.
Occupation (as
reflected in collection)
Printers.
Publishers.
Location
Grolier Club,