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,[1]Clara Reeve, and others. As part of his business he ran a circulating library,[2][3] established in 1764 and by the 1800s one of "the two largest in London."[4][nb 1] The library continued on Bond Street until it was acquired by Mudie's ca.1871.[7][8] In addition, about 1794 he opened the Literary Assembly subscription reading rooms stocked with periodicals and reference books.[1]
His sons, Thomas Hookham, Jr. (1787–1867) and Edward T. Hookham also worked as publishers and booksellers in London.[9] A third generation, Thomas Hookham and Henry Hookham, continued in the business into the mid 19th century.[10]
^Paul Kaufman (1967). "The Community Library: A Chapter in English Social History". Transactions of the American Philosophical Society. 57 (7): 1–67. doi:10.2307/1006043. JSTOR1006043.
^Peter Garside (1991). "Popular Fiction and National Tale: Hidden Origins of Scott's Waverley". Nineteenth-Century Literature. 46 (1): 30–53. doi:10.2307/3044962. JSTOR3044962.
^Ian Maxted (2007), "Thomas Hookham", The London Book Trades 1775-1800: a preliminary checklist of members, Exeter Working Papers in British Book Trade History