Elizabeth Nutt (''c.'' 1666 – November 1746) and John Nutt (? – 1716) were
printers and
booksellers and distributors in
London in the early 18th century. John Nutt's most famous publication was the first three editions of
Jonathan Swift's ''
A Tale of a Tub'', but he and Elizabeth were important both as publishers and sellers of many works of
English law and
literature.
John Nutt remains an obscure individual, with only his death well attested in 1716. Elizabeth Carr married John Nutt in 1692, and she was at that time already a practicing "
mercury
Mercury commonly refers to:
* Mercury (planet), the nearest planet to the Sun
* Mercury (element), a metallic chemical element with the symbol Hg
* Mercury (mythology), a Roman god
Mercury or The Mercury may also refer to:
Companies
* Merc ...
," or seller of newspapers and pamphlets. Independent of her husband, she is referred to as a significant and honest seller by
John Dunton in 1705. She therefore brought a retailing business to the marriage, and John brought a printing house. The couple lived in the
Savoy
Savoy (; frp, Savouè ; french: Savoie ) is a cultural-historical region in the Western Alps.
Situated on the cultural boundary between Occitania and Piedmont, the area extends from Lake Geneva in the north to the Dauphiné in the south.
Savo ...
off of
the Strand in London for nearly all of their adult lives, and they sold books, pamphlets, and news sheets by the
Royal Exchange.
John Nutt had a shop in the Savoy at least by 1705, when he published Swift's first major satire the year before (1703/4 and 1704). That same year, he obtained an exclusive patent to print law books. When John Nutt died in 1716, Elizabeth took over the printing business and had her son, Richard, manage the presses, and Richard took over the publication of legal writings in 1722. Elizabeth also worked with
Anne Dodd, the most famous distributor of books of the day. She would print books and sell them to Dodd for retail sale, as well as sell them in her own stalls.
The Nutts were allied with
Tory and general opposition causes during the
Hanoverian
The adjective Hanoverian is used to describe:
* British monarchs or supporters of the House of Hanover, the dynasty which ruled the United Kingdom from 1714 to 1901
* things relating to;
** Electorate of Hanover
** Kingdom of Hanover
** Province o ...
period, and she and her family were arrested for selling ''
London Evening Post'', which Richard Nutt published, ''
The Craftsman
Craftsman may refer to:
A profession
*Artisan, a skilled manual worker who makes items that may be functional or strictly decorative
*Master craftsman, an artisan who has achieved such a standard that he may establish his own workshop and take o ...
,'' and ''
Mist's Weekly Journal''. Nevertheless, Elizabeth and her family prospered and extended their ownership of news shops, stalls, and book sellers. Her name continued to appear as a printer on imprints to 1741, and she is listed as a book seller until her death in 1746.
References
*Hunt, Margaret. "Elizabeth Nutt" in Matthew, H.C.G. and Brian Harrison, eds. ''
The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.'' vol. 41, 291-2. London:
OUP, 2004.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nutt, John
1660s births
1746 deaths
Literature of England
British printers