James Lackington
British businessman
James Lackington (31 August 1746 in Wellington, Somerset – 22 November 1815 in Budleigh Salterton, Devon) was a bookseller who is credited with revolutionizing the British book trade. He is best known for refusing credit at his London bookshop which allowed him to reduce the price of books throughout his store. He built the largest bookstore in the United Kingdom, with an inventory of over 500,000 volumes.
Early life
The son of a shoemaker, and one of 11 children, Lackington was apprenticed to a cobbler at an early age. He showed initiative by also selling pies and cakes in the street when aged 10. Lackington had no formal education so in order to teach himself to read, he and his friends would often scour flea markets for cheap editions of plays, and classical literature.
"Temple of the Muses" bookstore
In August 1773, Lackington moved to London with his first wife, Nancy. Upon arrival, he spent their last half-crown on a book of poems. Later, in his memoirs, he explained: "for had I bought a dinner, we should have eaten it to-morrow, and the pleasure would have been soon over, but should we live fifty years longer, we shall have the Night Thoughts to feast upon." In 1774, Lackington had saved enough money to be able to rent his own shop, and he began selling both shoes and books together.
He bought whole libraries and published writers' manuscripts.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “James Lackington” is british businessman. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through James, Lackington and British, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “british businessman” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 29, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q6137696. VIAF identifies the subject as 2628816. The Library of Congress control number is n50041324. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1746, 1815, 1773 and 1774.
A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “James Lackington”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow James Lackington primary sources, James Lackington archive and James research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “James Lackington”?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “James Lackington” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.