Politics, profits and idealism: John Norton, the stationers' company and Sir Thomas Bodley

Abstract

The only formal contact between Sir Thomas Bodley and the Stationers Company is the latters order of 1610 which first established copyright deposit in England, an often told story. This important event looks significantly different when set in a wider context than that of Sir Thomas and the Stationers alone. That additional context is provided by the Companys own ambitions, by the accession of James I, and by the career of Bodleys bookseller, John Norton. John Norton (1556/7-612) was a bookseller, publisher, and finance capitalist, an extremely successful entrepreneur active on several fronts, including the continental trade. Further, Nortons business pre-eminence was intertwined with his role as a cultural broker and facilitator. Supplying books for Sir Thomas Bodleys new librarywas only one of his concerns,andNortons business shows how far early seventeenth century capitalismdepended upon the effective utilization of the openings provided by kinship, clientage, patronage and government favour. His example also suggests that historians should consider more regularly the evidence provided by book history and bibliography. The cultural impact of printing and the book trade was out of all proportion to its economic significance. I will start with Bodleys library, and then locate Sir Thomass dealings with his bookseller within an account of Nortons career, his relevant publications and his connections with James I, before returning to the beginnings of copyright deposit in England-a narrative from which John Norton is usually absent. © 2008 Springer-Verlag London Limited.