Darby, John (1625-1704), printer

Memorialised by John Dunton as ‘a True Assertor of English liberties’, John Darby’s printing career includes some of the key radical texts of the seventeenth century. Darby was born in Diseworth, Leicestershire. He was apprenticed to John Hyde in 1647, though later transferred to Peter Cole, and was freed in 1660. Darby can first be linked to radical printing through his early work as a journeyman for printers Simon and Joan Dover. The Dovers specialised in illicit printing of radical and non-conformist texts. In fact, Simon died whilst imprisoned for seditious printing in 1664. John married the widowed Joan and together they moved to new premises in Bartholomew Close and continued to be involved with illicit printing for the duration of their careers. Darby simultaneously engaged with an active, legitimate business printing scientific and navigational works, and the underground production of libels and radical tracts, most famously the prose writings of Andrew Marvell and Samuel Johnson. He was often subject to surveillance and investigations from Surveyor of the Press, Sir Roger L’Estrange. In his later years, Darby worked closely with John Toland to produce new editions of key Whig texts, such as the works of John Milton, Edmund Ludlow, and Algernon Sidney. Darby remained a respected member of the Stationers’ Company and was elevated to liveryman in 1689 and served as Renter-warden (1694-1695).

Birth: Diseworth, Leicestershire

Printer (1660-1704); Renter-warden (1694-1695)

John Darby (father), husbandman; Joan Dover (wife), printer; Elizabeth Bell (daughter); Mary Darby (daughter); John Darby (son), printer, freed by patrimony 1695; Thomas Darby (son), stationer, freed by patrimony 1697; James Dover (stepson), printer

International Standard Archival Authority Record for Corporate Bodies, Persons and Families - ISAAR(CPF) 2nd edition - ICA 2004 ISBN 2-9521932-2-3

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Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
Joseph Hone, ‘John Darby and the Whig Canon’, The Historical Journal 64 (5), 1257-80