University of Virginia Library

The Yorkshire family known as Edwards of Halifax was famous for almost a century in the book trade, first as provincial booksellers and publishers of growing ambition and success, then as bookbinders and book-decorators of extraordinary taste and originality, and finally as metropolitan booksellers and publishers at the head of the trade.[1] The title "Edwards of Halifax" applies primarily to the technique they invented and patented for painting under the surface of vellum—these distinctive bindings were apparently never signed, and, as we do not know precisely when or by whom they were made, we call them "Edwards of Halifax" bindings. The members of the family

were close-knit: they assisted one another, published books jointly, and probably bound works in the same style. It is therefore convenient to refer to the family as Edwards of Halifax, even though three of its members moved to London, where they were remarkably successful, both in collecting and selling old books and in publishing illustrated books. James Edwards was perhaps the most important antiquarian bookseller of his time,[2] and his brother Richard was the sole publisher of the great folio edition of Young's Night Thoughts (1797) for which William Blake made his most ambitious series of book illustrations.[3]

There were three generations of Edwardses active in the book trade in Halifax, as may be seen from the accompanying chart.

The first and most shadowy of the Edwardses of Halifax is RICHARD Edwards (1691-1767), stationer and schoolmaster. His son WILLIAM Edwards (1722-1808) was a provincial publisher and a major bookseller who distributed important books across Britain from his Halifax bookshop, and he and his sons perfected techniques of vellum decoration and fore-edge painting which became famous in his day and remain so in ours. At least four of his sons followed him in the business: JAMES Edwards (1756-1816), JOHN Edwards (1758-91), THOMAS Edwards (1762-1834), and RICHARD Edwards (1768-1827). James and John first worked in the Halifax shop and then went to London in 1784 to set up a new business as Edwards & Sons at 102 Pall Mall; John died in Paris in 1791; and James retired from the book-world in 1800, rich in honour and profit. Thomas continued with the Halifax shop until he wound it up about 1826. And Richard opened a third Edwards bookshop at 142 New Bond Street, London, about 1789, from which he retired in 1798 to take up a position with government in Minorca.

Of these three bookshops in Halifax, in Pall Mall, and in New Bond Street, the most important were those in Halifax and Pall Mall; both issued major catalogues of antiquarian books, were widely known in the trade, and published books of some ambition. Richard Edwards in New Bond Street was altogether more humble in ambition and accomplishment; he produced no catalogue, he was only slightly known in the trade, and, apart from works in which he was only a minor member of a publishers' conger, his publications were unimportant religious and political pamphlets—with the exception of Young's Night Thoughts (1797). The catalogues published by William Edwards (1722-1808), by James Edwards (1756-1816), and by Thomas Edwards (1762-1834) provide much of the detailed information which survives about their activities as antiquarian booksellers and book-collectors and tell us a good deal about their publications, their bindings, and their fore-edge paintings. The catalogues are hard to find, and a number of them are known only from advertisements and correspondence. It is therefore worthwhile to assemble information about them here.