A Dictionary of the Booksellers and Printers who Were at Work in England, Scotland and Ireland from 1641 to 1667/Moseley (Humphrey)

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MOSELEY (HUMPHREY) bookseller in London; Princes Arms St. Paul's Churchyard, 1630-61. Conjectured to be a son of Samuel Moseley, a Staffordshire man, who was a stationer in London. [Arber, ii 249; iii 683.] Took up his freedom May 7th, 1627. [ibid., iii. 686.] His first book entry May 29th, 1630. He became the chief publisher of the finer literature of his age. He published the first collected edition of Milton's Poems, as well as the works of Cartwright, Crashaw, D'Avenant, Denham, Donne, Fanshaw, Howell, Vaughan, and Waller. He died January 31st, 1660-61, and was buried in St. Gregory's. By his will he appointed his wife Anne and his only daughter Anne his executors, and bequeathed £10 for a bowl to the Stationers' Company. [D.N.B.] An interesting list of books sold by him in 1640, with dates of publication and prices attached, is amongst the State Papers, Charles I, vol. 478, no. 16. This consists of 76 items, the greater part being plays, and the average price was sixpence apiece. Printed lists of his publications were issued with many of his books, of which the following have been noted: Sir Aston Cokain's Dianea, 1654 (B.M. 12470, bb. 8), containing a list of 180 works, and Richard Brome's Five New Playes, 1653 (B.M. E. 1423), which has an added sheet containing 135 items.