Benjamin Motte

Benjamin Motte (/mɒt/; November 1693 – 12 March 1738) was a London publisher and son of Benjamin Motte, Sr. Motte published many works and is well known for his publishing of Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels.

Benjamin Motte was born in St Botoloph (Aldersgate), London to Benjamin Motte Sr. and Anne Clarke. He was born in early November 1693 and baptised soon after on 14 November. Some of his first mentions are of his early publications and when he took over Benjamin Tooke's publishing business.

It was not under 7 February 1715 that Motte was free from his publishing patrimony, and he took off as a bookseller in 1719. Motte's place of business in Fleet Street (London) was located in Middle Temple Gate. This space was passed to Motte by his predecessor, Benjamin Tooke, and then passed to Motte's replacement, Charles Bathurst, in 1738 upon his death. Motte was then asked to become partners with the Tooke publishing firm after Benjamin Tooke's brother, Samuel Tooke, died in December 1724, and as he took the position, he became the only active member of the publishing firm. On 21 December 1725, Motte married Elizabeth, the daughter of Rev. Thomas Brian, and had two children.

Throughout his career, Motte had three apprentices: George Hall, Thomas Isborne, and Jonathan Russell. After taking over the Tooke publishing firm, he partnered with his brother, Charles, until 1731. Although he had no partner from 1731–1734, Motte took up his apprentice, Charles Bathurst, as his apprentice.

In 1726, Jonathan Swift sent Motte a copy of Gulliver's Travels, to be printed anonymously. Motte took great care to protect the identity of the author and employed five publishing houses to speed production of the book and avoid pirating. In 1727, Motte formed his first direct contract with Swift and Alexander Pope to publish their Miscellanies. As part of the contract, Motte paid Tooke for the original copyright to the work. Motte's work with Jonathan Swift was complicated and risky; one, An Epistle to a Lady, brought about Motte's arrest in 1734.

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