Romanticism, publishing and Dissent: Joseph Johnson and the Cause of Liberty. . - Reviews - book review

Contemporary Review, June, 2003 by James Munson

Romanticism, Publishing and Dissent: Joseph Johnson and the Cause of Liberty. Helen Braithwaite. Palgrave Macmillan. [pounds sterling]45.00. 243 pages. ISBN 0-333-98394-7. In the history of ideas, one may say that writers are only as good as their publishers: no publisher, no book. Behind many of the great names in British radicalism, writers such as Priestley, Paine or Mary Wollstonecraft, stands Joseph Johnson.

Whilst this is not the first study of Johnson, it is the first to ask two fundamental questions: 'how radical a publisher was Joseph Johnson' and did the works he published between 1760 and 1810 really promote radical change in British life? Not all Johnson's authors (and he published over 2000 titles) and not all his friends for that matter were radical reformers. Dr Braithwaite concentrates therefore more on what Johnson published than on Johnson the man behind the scenes. She shows that Johnson should also be remembered as a publisher of scientific and educational works. Not surprisingly Johnson c ame from a Dissenting background and the author correctly distinguishes 'radical politics' from 'radicalised dissent' into which latter camp she places Johnson. This is a well argued and widely researched book which sheds much valuable light on the political and religious history of this period. One's only criticism is that clergymen, including dissenting ministers, should be referred to as 'the Rev Mr Johnson' not 'Reverend Johnson'.