A Little Pretty Pocket-Book

John Newbery (1713-1767) was a British publisher of books who first made children's literature a sustainable and profitable part of the literary market. He also supported and published the works of Christopher Smart, Oliver Goldsmith and Samuel Johnson. In honour of his achievements in children's publishing, the Newbery Medal was named after him. By 1740 he had started publishing books in Reading, Berkshire; his first two publications were an edition of Richard Allestree's The Whole Duty of Man and Miscellaneous Works Serious and Humerous in Verse and Prose. In 1743, Newbery left Reading, putting his stepson John Carnan in charge of his business there, and established a shop in London. The first book he published there was A Little Pretty Pocket-Book in 1744. Scholars have speculated that Oliver Goldsmith or Giles and Griffith Jones wrote one of Newbery's best-selling stories, The History of Little Goody Two-Shoes. This was Newbery's most popular book, going through 29 editions between 1765 and 1800. Newbery also published a series of books written by "Tom Telescope" that were wildly popular, going through seven editions between 1761 and 1787 alone.