The Salisbury Court:
The Center of Printing in 18th Century London
"Salisbury Square was to him a microcosm. From this small court he seldom strayed, and never without impatience to be back again. Here was his world, this small square with innumerable smaller courts opening into it, located just off Fleet Street at whose top stood what Richardson called “the bar of Temple Bar,” separating the citizenry of London from the socially favored of Westminster. To his activities within the confines of this small world we must look if we hope to find the influences that shaped his mind and that finally made themselves felt in the nature and structure of his novels" (Sale 4-5).
Salisbury Court is an area located just off of Fleet Street in London. Fleet Street is one of the most well-known streets in London, and it connects the City of London with the City of Westminster. Fleet Street was the home of the British press and the center of printing from about 1500 when “William Caxton's apprentice, Wynkyn de Worde, set up a printing shop near Shoe Lane, while at around the same time Richard Pynson set up as publisher and printer next to St Dunstan's church” (Fleet Street, Wikipedia). Many printers and publishers followed suit, making Fleet Street the center of printing and publishing in London until the last publishing office, Reuters, left Fleet Street in 2005. The area, however, is still strongly associated with British printing and the British press.
Many scholars suggest that Richardson moved to Salisbury Court in 1724. However, the following article appeared in The Weekly Journal or Saturday Post on January 11, 1724:
This small article or advertisement, printed in early January 1724, suggests that Samuel Richardson was probably settled in Salisbury Court by 1723 (Martin 469). Despite inconsistency of dates suggested for Richardson move to Salisbury Court, what is important is that in the second quarter of the eighteenth century Richardson’s home and offices were located in the center of printing culture and intellectual life in London.Any Person having a Presentation to a Living, to dispose of in Surrey, Hampshire, or in any of the Countries [sic] adjacent to London, of about 200 1. per Ann. an likely to fall in a short time; is desired to write to Samuel Richardson, a Printer, in Salisbury-Court, in Fleet-street, who will return an immediate answer. (Martin 469)
The Salisbury Court Theater
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Website created by Taylor Cooper, Emilee Johnson, and Jenny Plaster for Professor Tonya Howe
English 335, The 18th Century British Novel: Texts and Contexts, Washington and Lee University