Joseph Johnson (publisher) - 1800s: Declining Years and Death

1800s: Declining Years and Death

As publishing began to change its form in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, large publishing houses pushed out small, independent booksellers. Johnson did not attempt to form or join one of these new firms. In the late 1790s and early 19th century, Johnson's business declined, particularly as his relatives, John Miles and Roland Hunter, began to take over the daily operations; Miles was uninterested in the business, and Hunter did not have Johnson's commercial sense or his ability to choose successful manuscripts. In January 1806, Johnson's premises were wracked by a second fire, destroying the building and all of his stock.

Although not as active in routine business, Johnson still took an interest in political events. For example, he spearheaded the efforts of the booksellers of London and Westminster to appeal a new copyright law in 1808. Moreover, although Johnson did not publish controversial political works after his imprisonment, he still undertook important publishing ventures. For example, he administered the publication of a forty-five volume work entitled The British Essayists, edited by Alexander Chalmers; the complete works of Samuel Johnson; and a ten-volume set of Shakespeare. Johnson published in more congers during the last decade of his life than at any other time. He also occasionally published important new authors, such as the political economist Thomas Malthus, whose Essay on the Principle of Population (1798) sparked a long debate between idealists and pragmatists. His emphasis on educational books continued or even increased as his interest in publishing contentious political works diminished. He also continued to support his friends, as with Godwin, who needed financial rescue after his play, Faulkener, cost him £800.

Johnson's authors became increasingly frustrated with him towards the end of his life, Wakefield calling him "heedless, insipid, inactive" and Lindsey describing him as "a worthy and most honest man, but incorrigably neglectful often to his own detriment". Priestley, by then in Pennsylvania, eventually broke off his forty-year relationship with the publisher, when his book orders were delayed several years and Johnson failed to communicate with him regarding the publication of his works. Most of the authors who became upset with Johnson were those writing religious or literary works, the riskiest publishing ventures.