Edmund Curll

Peter Heaney (Staffordshire University)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.05: English Writing and Culture from the Glorious Revolution to the French Revolution, 1689-1789.
Vol. editors: Paul Baines (University of Liverpool), Daniel Cook (University of Dundee), Pat Rogers (University of South Florida), Nicholas Seager (University of Keele)

Dates

Born 1683
Died 1747
Activity 1706-1747

Places

Born in England
Active in England

Activities

Primary

Biographer
Book seller
Journalist
Pamphleteer
Publisher

Resources

Curll's Works

Save to Bookshelf

Edmund Curll, the bookseller-publisher, was born, by his own account, in the West of England in 1683, the son of a tradesman. He progressed from a stall-keeper to the embodiment of the new publishing phenomenon known now, as then, as Grub Street. He first comes to notice in 1706 with an edition published from the Strand, of Caesar's

Commentaries

. He was to become better known for less salubrious publications; Curll would sell anything by whatever means presented themselves. So, in his “Epilogue” to his

Compleat Key to The Dunciad

he concludes, characteristically: “There are but Two Things to be consider'd in every HEROIC Poem; First, how to write it, Secondly, how to make it sell”. His activities as publisher and bookseller were unscrupulous even for an age of fairly low…

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1799 words

Citation: Heaney, Peter. "Edmund Curll". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 18 December 2002 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=1098, accessed 22 November 2024.]