John Wilkes (1750 – March 31, 1810) was an English

printer Printer may refer to: Technology * Printer (publishing), a person * Printer (computing), a hardware device * Optical printer for motion picture films People * Nariman Printer (fl. c. 1940), Indian journalist and activist * James Printer (1640 ...

bookseller Bookselling is the commercial trading of books, which is the retail and distribution end of the publishing process. People who engage in bookselling are called booksellers, bookdealers, book people, bookmen, or bookwomen. History The foundi ...

and

stationer Stationery refers to writing materials, including cut paper, envelopes, continuous form paper, and other office supplies. Stationery usually specifies materials to be written on by hand (e.g., letter paper) or by equipment such as computer pr ...

Life

Wilkes was a Freeman of

Winchester Winchester (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs N ...

and proprietor of the ''

Hampshire Chronicle The ''Hampshire Chronicle'' is a local newspaper based in Winchester, Hampshire, England. The first edition was published on 24 August 1772, making it one of the oldest publications in England. History The paper was founded by James Linden ...

''. With Peter Barfoot he ran the British Directory Office in London, which published the ''Universal British Directory'' from 1790 to 1798 after obtaining a royal patent. He "compiled, digested and arranged" the ''Encyclopaedia Londinensis; or, universal dictionary of arts, sciences, and literature'', which was published between about 1801 and 1828 in 24 volumes, with three volumes of

copperplate engraving Intaglio ( ; ) is the family of printing and printmaking techniques in which the image is incised into a surface and the incised line or sunken area holds the ink. It is the direct opposite of a relief print where the parts of the matrix that m ...

s. Some extensive articles were also published separately, ''viz.'' ''Horology'' (1811). Wilkes took on the engraver John Pass, of

Pentonville Pentonville is an area in North London, located in the London Borough of Islington. It is located north-northeast of Charing Cross on the London Inner Ring Road, Inner Ring Road. Pentonville developed in the northwestern edge of the ancient p ...

, who worked on volume 13. He owned Milland House, the "chief residence" in

Milland Milland is a village and civil parish in the Chichester (district), Chichester Districts of England, district of West Sussex, England. It is situated north of the A272 road on the border with Hampshire. In the 2001 census the parish covered an ...

West Sussex West Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Surrey to the north, East Sussex to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Hampshire to the west. The largest settlement is Cr ...

. It was described later as "a remote, old-fashioned country house of antique appearance, and difficult of access, arranged in a style that would now be considered out of date. It contained a brewery, bakery, servants hall...The house was built by Peter Bettesworth in 1584, and was completely destroyed by fire November 6th, 1901. The interior contained a very fine staircase in oak, of Jacobean character, and the drawing room was fitted with some oak panelling of the same character and date."George Heath, ''Records of the Heath Family'', 1913, quoted in
brief biography of a later resident, /Rev.John Moore Heath
'

References

External links

English printers 1750 births 1810 deaths Businesspeople from Winchester People from Chichester District English booksellers {{publish-bio-stub

Life

References

Further reading

External links