Note 6 — Front matter

Michael Treadwell has demonstrated that the “trade publishers” of the eighteenth century, such as James Roberts, acted almost exclusively as binders and distributors of books and were therefore different in kind from the printers and booksellers, who were directly involved in the selection and production process. Roberts and the other “trade publishers” dealt almost exclusively in “works belonging to others,” and Treadwell singles out Roberts as the purest example. Despite putting his name to “literally thousands of works,” he never purchased any of the copyrights on works during his long career. See “London Trade Publishers, 1675-1750,” Library, 6th ser., 4 (1982): 99-134.