Midwinter Books? Intermittently since 1703? What the heck?

Well, the “Midwinter” bit is easy enough - it’s my surname. The “intermittently since 1703” is a grandiose attempt to link to a bunch of maybe-but-probably-not relatives who had publishing and bookselling businesses in early eighteenth century London.

Daniel Midwinter (maybe 1675 - about 1733) and his son Daniel Midwinter (-1759) were printers and booksellers whose businesses could be found in St Paul’s churchyard, London at the Sign of the Rose and Crown and at later at the Sign of the Three Crowns. They were (possibly quite literally) bigwigs in the Stationer’s Company with the younger Daniel leaving the Stationers a thousand pounds to apprentice four children per year (and pay for their ‘graduating’ clothes) and to help fund the Company’s annual Dinner on 01 December.

The Daniels tended to the serious and weighty style of book, fun-filled tomes like “A new Geographical Dictionary containing a brief Defcription (sic) of the Countries, Empires, Kingdoms, Provinces, Cities, Mountains, Lakes, &c of the World” or “A Treatise of Fluxions: or, an Introduction to Mathematical Philosophy. Containing a full Explication of that Method by which the Most Celebrated Geometers of the present Age have made such vast Advances in Mechanical Philosophy” which is interesting to those of us who love Neal Stephenson’s “The Baroque Trilogy” but must have been pretty heavy going.

Edward Midwinter (-1736) had a shop at the Sign of the Looking Glass on London Bridge, (which must be one of the most romantic addresses ever) and at (the considerably more prosaic) Pye Corner. He appears to have specialised in chapbooks and sensational or popular literature like “Cynthia: A Tragical Account of the Unfortunate Lovers of Almerin and Desdemona” and “A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the most notorious Pyrates”. He may not have been, to modern eyes, 100% scrupulous about little things like copyright, being involved in an abridged edition of “Robinson Crusoe” possibly cut and published without involving Daniel Defoe in any way

The Daniel Midwinters was described as doing “topping business” - as opposed to Edward who may have ended up in in the Mint district of Southwark trying to escape those to whom he owed money.

I like to think that the modern “Midwinter Books” has Edward’s style of merchandise - and the Daniel’s business acumen.