David Alphonso Talboys (c. 1790–1840) was an English bookseller, known as a publisher, translator, and local politician.
Life
Born around 1790, Talboys established himself as a bookseller in
Bedford
Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population was 106,940. Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire and seat of the Borough of Bedford local government district.
Bedford was founded at a ford (crossin ...
before moving his business to
Oxford
Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town.
The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...
, where he became renowned for his knowledge of the book trade. In 1823, he formed a partnership with James Luff Wheeler, the university bookseller, who married his daughter Anne Ophelia. Talboys & Wheeler then began publishing the "Oxford English Classics" series, in collaboration with William Pickering of
Chancery Lane
Chancery Lane is a one-way street that forms part of the City of London#Boundary, western boundary of the City of London. The east side of the street is entirely within the City, After the 1835 election, Talboys emerged as the leader of the radical reformers in Oxford municipal affairs, and, alongside Charles Sadler, a moderate reformer, he implemented changes in charity organisation. However, he faced opposition from the ''Oxford Herald'', controlled by Philip Bliss, who attempted to boycott his business.
Talboys passed away on 23 May 1840, leaving behind a widow and seven children.
His son-in-law was Archibald MacLaren, a gymnast and fencing master.
Works
Talboys was the author of ''Oxford Chronological Tables of Universal History'', 1835 and 1840. He referenced James Bell's ''Compendious view of universal history and literature, in a series of tables'' (1820) and adopted some of the typographical conventions of Bell. Together Bell and Talboys are considered to have innovated influentially, in the use of
bold type
In typography, emphasis is the strengthening of words in a text with a font in a different style from the rest of the text, to highlight them. It is the equivalent of prosody stress in speech.
Methods and use
The most common methods in We ...
for cueing, in a way that carried over into textbook design.
Talboys made translations of Arnold Hermann Ludwig Heeren's ''Researches into the Politics, Intercourse, and Trade of the Carthaginians, Ethiopians, and Egyptians'' (1832) (from the ''Ideen'' of Heeren) and ''Manual of the Political System of Europe'' (1834). He translated also Friedrich von Adelung's ''Historical Sketch of Sanscrit Literature'' (Oxford, 1832), making additions and corrections.