Thomas Hookham Explained

Thomas Hookham (c.1739–1819)^[1] was a bookseller and publisher in London in the 18th-19th centuries. He issued works by Charlotte de Bournon, John Hassell, Pierre-Jean-Baptiste Nougaret, Ann Radcliffe, Clara Reeve, and others. As part of his business he ran a circulating library,^[2] established in 1764 and by the 1800s one of "the two largest in London."^[3] The library continued on Bond Street until it was acquired by Mudie's ca.1871.^[4] In addition, about 1794 he opened the Literary Assembly subscription reading rooms stocked with periodicals and reference books.

His sons, Thomas Hookham, Jr. (1787–1867) and Edward T. Hookham also worked as publishers and booksellers in London. A third generation, Thomas Hookham and Henry Hookham, continued in the business into the mid 19th century.

Further reading

• New Catalogue of Hookham's Circulating Library. 1794.
• Book: Nouveau catalogue français de la bibliothèque circulante de Messrs Hookham ... No. 15, Old Bond Street . fr . c. 1795 .
• Book: Catalogue of Hookham's Circulating Library, Old Bond Street . c. 1829 . Library. Hookham's.

External links

• WorldCat. Thomas Hookham
• WorldCat. Thomas Hookham, fl. 1767–1830

Notes and References

1. Book: Shelley's Correspondents: Thomas Hookham, Junr. . https://books.google.com/books?id=kUk7AAAAYAAJ&pg=PR26 . Letters of Percy Bysshe Shelley . Roger Ingpen . 1912 . London .
2. The Community Library: A Chapter in English Social History . Paul Kaufman . Transactions of the American Philosophical Society . 57 . 7 . 1–67 . 1967 . 1006043 . 10.2307/1006043 .
3. Popular Fiction and National Tale: Hidden Origins of Scott's Waverley . Peter Garside . Nineteenth-Century Literature . 46 . 1 . 30–53 . 1991 . 3044962 . 10.2307/3044962 .
4. A Victorian Leviathan: Mudie's Select Library . Guinevere L. Griest . Nineteenth-Century Fiction . 20 . 2 . 103–126 . 1965 . 2932540 . 10.2307/2932540 .