Thomas Spence : Literary networks and connections. Daniel Isaac Eaton, Hannah More, and Ralph Beilby

This article examines Spence’s connections with contemporary authors and political activists. It considers Spence’s relationship with the notable political reformer and fellow London Corresponding Society member Daniel Isaac Eaton (1753-1814), the evangelical conservative Hannah More (1745-1833), and the Newcastle engraver and publisher Ralph Beilby (1744-1817). Firstly, by considering the under-examined literary networks that connected Spence and Eaton in the metropolitan world of 1790s radicalism this article draws attention to the similar design and publication of Spence’s One Pennyworth of Pig’s Meat ; or, Lessons for the Swinish Multitude (1793-1795) and Eaton’s Hog’s Wash, or a Salmagundy for Swine, (1793-1795). These works are read alongside evidence of a professional and literary relationship that connected the two authors. Additionally, this article outlines Spence’s relationship with Ralph Beilby, a figure who helped Spence create the unique typeface for his Grand Repository of the English Language (1775). Next, the article explores the literary network that connected Beilby and Hannah More through the distribution of the Cheap Repository Tracts (1795). Lastly, there is a consideration of the striking correspondences that exist between Spence and Hannah More, not only through their professional connection to Beilby, but also between their popular political works which aimed at a broad labouring class audience.