James Lackington

Who was James Lackington?

James Lackington was a bookseller who is credited with revolutionizing the British book trade. A shoemaker's son trained as a cobbler, he showed early initiative by selling pies and cakes in the street when aged 10 and teaching himself to read. In August 1773, Lackington arrived in London with two shillings and sixpence, and would eventually become a wealthy man. He is best known for refusing credit at his shop which allowed him to reduce the price of books throughout his store. He printed catalogues of his stock; according to Lackington's biography, the first edition contained 12,000 titles. He bought whole libraries and published writers' manuscripts. He also saved remaindered books from destruction and resold them at bargain prices, firmly believing that books were the key to knowledge, reason and happiness and that everyone, no matter their economic background, social class or gender, had the right to access books at cheap prices.

Lackington's main bookstore in Finsbury Square was called the "Temple of the Muses" and was said to have been large enough "that a mail-coach and four were driven round the counters at its opening" in 1793. His love of books is exemplified in the tale that, on arriving in London with his wife, he spent their last Half-crown on a book of poems. He explained "if I had bought a dinner we should have had it tomorrow and the pleasure would be over; but should we live fifty years we shall have these poems to feast on."