Life
He was born near Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, where his father was master of the free school. He is said to have been apprenticed to a stocking-weaver in Mansfield, from whom he ran away, going into service as a footman. Profits from his literary works enabled Dodsley to establish himself with the help of his friends--Alexander Pope lent him £100—as a bookseller at the "Tully's Head" in Pall Mall in 1735.
He soon became one of the foremost publishers of the day. One of his first publications was Samuel Johnson's London, for which he paid ten guineas in 1738. He published many of Johnson's works, and he suggested and helped to finance the English Dictionary. Pope also made over to Dodsley his interest in his letters. In 1738 the publication of Paul Whitehead's Manners, voted scandalous by the House of Lords, led to a short imprisonment. Dodsley published for Edward Young and Mark Akenside, and in 1751 brought out Thomas Gray's Elegy.
In 1759 Dodsley retired, leaving the conduct of the business to his brother James (1724–1797), with whom he had been many years in partnership. He died at Durham while on a visit to his friend the Rev. Joseph Spence.
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