Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 15.djvu/176

 death gave up his shop and dealt wholesale in his own publications. The retail business was taken over by George Nicol. 'He kept a carriage many years, but studiously wished that his friends should not know it, nor did he ever use it on the eastern side of Temple Bar' (Gent. Mag. vol. lxvii. pt. i. p. 347). He left the bulk of his fortune, estimated at 70,000l., to nephews and nieces. He died on 19 Feb. 1797 at his house in Pall Mall in his seventy-fourth year, and was buried in St. James's Church, Westminster.



DODSLEY, ROBERT (1703–1764), poet, dramatist, and bookseller, was born in 1703, probably near Mansfield, on the border of Sherwood Forest, Nottinghamshire; but there is no record of his birth in the parish register of Mansfield (Notes and Queries, 1st ser. vii. 237). His father, Robert Dodsley, kept the free school at Mansfield, and is described as a little deformed man, who, having had a large family by one wife, married when seventy-five a young girl of seventeen, by whom he had a child. One son, Alvory, lived many years, and died in the employment of Sir George Savile. Isaac died in his eighty-first year, and was gardener during fifty-two years to Ralph Allen of Prior Park, and Lord Weymouth of Longleat. The name of another son, John, was, with those of the father and Alvory, among the subscribers to 'A Muse in Livery.' A younger son was [q. v.], afterwards in partnership with his elder brother. Harrod states that Robert Dodsley the younger was apprenticed to a stocking-weaver at Mansfield, but was so starved and illtreated that he ran away and entered the service of a lady (History of Mansfield, 1801, p. 64). At one time he was footman to [q. v.] While in the employment of the Hon. Mrs. Lowther he wrote several poems; one 'An Entertainment designed for the Wedding of General Lowther and Miss Pennington.' The verses were handed about and the writer made much of, but he did not lose his modest self-respect. In the 'Country Journal, or the Craftsman,' of 20 Sept. 1729 was ad- vertised 'Servitude, a poem,' Dodsley's first publication. It consists of smoothly written verses on the duties and proper behaviour of servants. An introduction in prose, covering the same ground, is considered by Lee to have been written by Defoe (Notes and Queries, 3rd ser. ix. 141-2, and Daniel Defoe, his Life, i. 449-51). Dodsley appears to have been sent by the bookseller to whom he first showed his verses to Defoe, who consented to write the title, preface, introduction, and postscript, the latter bantering his own tract, 'Every Body's Business is No Body's Business.' Eighteen months afterwards, when Mrs. Lowther and her friends were getting subscribers for Dodsley's next volume, it was thought desirable to bring out 'Servitude' with a new title-page, 'The Footman's Friendly Advice to his Brethren of the Livery ... by R. Dodsley, now a footman.' Two short 'Entertainments' were printed in pamphlet form, and in 1732 included in 'A Muse in Livery,' a volume of verse with one trifling exception. A second edition was issued in the same year as 'by R. Dodsley, a footman to a person of quality at Whitehall.' His lady patrons exerted themselves, and the list of subscribers exhibits a remarkable array of names, including three duchesses, a duke, and many other fashionable people.

Dodsley next composed a dramatic satire, 'The Toy-shop.' There must have been great charm in his manner. It captivated Defoe, and even Pope, perhaps influenced by the duchesses, received the young footman in a very friendly way. When asked to read the manuscript he answered, 5 Feb. 1732-3, 'I like it as far as my particular judgment goes,' and recommended it to Rich. 'This little piece was acted [at Covent Garden, 3 Feb. 1735] with much success; it has great merit, but seems better calculated for perusal than representation' (, Account of the English Stage, iii. 460). The hint of the plot was taken from Thomas Randolph's 'Conceited Pedlar' (1630), who, like the toyman, makes moral observations to his customers on the objects he sells.

With the profit derived from his books and play, and the interest of Pope, who assisted him with 100l. (, Lives in Works, 1823, viii. 162), and other friends, Dodsley opened a bookseller's shop at the sign of Tully's Head in Pall Mall in 1735. 'The King and the Miller of Mansfield' was acted at Drury Lane 1 Feb. 1737, 'a neat little piece. . . with much success' (, iii. 492). The plot turns upon the king losing his way in Sherwood Forest, when John Cockle, the miller, receives and entertains his unknown guest, and is ultimately knighted for his generosity and honesty. A sequel, 'Sir John Cockle at Court,' was produced at the same theatre 23 Feb. 1738. During this