Thomas Davies (bookseller)

Thomas Davies (c. 1713 – 1785) was a Scottish bookseller and author. He studied at the University of Edinburgh and was for some years on the stage; but having been ridiculed by Churchill in The Rosciad he gave up acting and opened a bookshop in Covent Garden. It was here that in 1763 he introduced Boswell to Dr. Johnson, who was his close friend and to whom he dedicated his edition of the works of Massinger. He wrote a successful Life of Garrick (1780), which passed through four editions, and Dramatic Miscellanies (three volumes, 1783–4).