Joseph Whitaker (4 May 1820 – 15 May 1895) was a publisher who founded Whitaker's Almanack.
Early life
Joseph Whitaker was born in London, and apprenticed to a bookseller at the age of fourteen.
Career
After years of experience at various bookselling firms, he undertook his own business as a publisher, first as J. Whitaker and later as J. Whitaker & Sons. Early publications were theological works. In January 1858 he launched The Bookseller and in 1869 published the first issue of Whitaker's Almanack, a reference annual, which met with immediate (and lasting) success.
In 1874 he launched the Reference Catalogue of Current Literature, whose goal to "anthologiz publishers' catalogues". This reference work went though numerous editions.
He helped "organize and distribute relief funds for Parisian booksellers" following the Franco-Prussian War (1870–71).
Personal life
He was the father of fifteen children; the eldest, Joseph Vernon Whitaker was editor of the American Literary Gazette, and later returned to England to become editor of the Bookseller and the Reference Catalogue. Cuthbert Whitaker, the twelfth child, succeeded his father as editor of the Almanack.
A fourth-generation descendant, David Whitaker, was involved with the development of International Standard Book Numbers.
Whitaker died at 68 Silver Street, Enfield, on 15 May 1895, where he had lived since 1862. He was buried at West Norwood Cemetery.
The British bookseller and publisher George Byrom Whittaker (1793–1847) was not related to Joseph Whitaker.
References and sources
- References
- ^ Chisholm 1911.
- A Reference catalogue of current literature : a national inclusive book reference index of books and prints and on sale in the United Kingdom, London, Whitaker & Sons, 1874–1961. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
- ^ Kevin A. Morrison, "Whitaker, Joseph (1820–95) English publisher", in: Michael F. Suarez, S.J. and H. R. Woudhuysen, eds., The Oxford Companion to the Book, Oxford University Press, 2010 (online edition). Retrieved 8 March 2023.
- Jones, Philip (5 August 2021). "Former Bookseller editor David Whitaker dies". The Bookseller. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
- Carter, Valerie. (Ed.) (2000) Treasures of Enfield: Discovering the buildings of a London Borough. Enfield: Enfield Preservation Society. p. 91. ISBN 0907318169
- Sources
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Whitaker, Joseph". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 28 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 597.- Tedder, Henry Richard (1900). "Whitaker, Joseph" . In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 61. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
- H. R. Tedder, Whitaker, Joseph (1820–1895) rev. Joseph Coohill, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, 2004 (Subscription required)
External links
- Rachel Elisabeth Calder, 'Mechanic’ to the book trade: Joseph Whitaker and information services in the Victorian book trade, (Thesis submitted for the award of Doctor of Philosophy), Department of Information Studies, University College London, ucl.ac.uk