Author: Draper, William
Biography:
DRAPER, William (fl 1770)
Just one copy of Draper’s Aspasia is known to survive and Draper does not seem to have published any other works. The title page of Aspasia is curious: it may be that Draper was not only the author but also, with I. Mackenzie, the printer. The book was distributed by several City of London booksellers. The printing is more elaborate than usual for such a slight work by an unknown author and it may have been intended as a specimen of the printers’ skill. William Draper is not an unusual name and the author has not been traced. If he was connected to the book trade it is possible that he was the son of Thomas and Ann Draper and baptised at St. Botolph’s, Bishopsgate, on 12 Feb. 1734. Thomas Draper was a stationer who in 1719 was apprenticed to a well-known and sometimes controversial stationer, Elizabeth Nutt. (ancestry.co.uk 2 Aug. 2024; BBTI) SR