Terry Foreman on 6 Nov 2010  •  Link

James Allestry

One of the greatest booksellers of his day, he was bookseller to the Royal Society and stocked his shop accordingly with a range of international books. Until the Fire of 1666, his shop was in St. Paul's Churchyard; thereafter in Duck Lane. He was the father of Jacob Allestry (1653–1686), poet and writer. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaco… (Also see L&M.)

Bill on 30 Jan 2014  •  Link

ALLESTRY, ALLESTRYE, or ALLESTREE (JAMES), bookseller in London, (1) Bell in St. Paul's Churchyard, 1652-64; (2) Rose & Crown, St. Paul's Churchyard, 1664-66; (3) Rose & Crown, in Duck Lane, 1667-69; (4) Rose & Crown, St. Paul's Churchyard, 1669-70. Was a relative, perhaps brother, of Richard Allestry the divine (1619-81), and father of Jacob Allestry, poetical writer (1653-86). Details of his early life are wanting, and the first heard of him as a bookseller is in the year 1652, when he is found in business at the Bell in St. Paul's Churchyard, in partnership with John Martin. In 1660 they were joined by Thomas Dicas, and at one time Timothy Garthwaite seems to have been associated with them. At this time James Allestry was one of the largest capitalists in the trade, and his shop was the resort of the wealthy and the learned. ... In the Great Fire of 1666 his premises were destroyed, and he was almost ruined. During the rebuilding of St. Paul's Churchyard he moved into Duck Lane, and there, by the help of his kinsman, Dr. Richard Allestry, who gave him the publishing of some sermons, he made a new start, returning to the Churchyard and resuming business under the old sign about 1669; but he did not live long afterwards, his death taking place on November 3rd, 1670.
---A Dictionary of the Booksellers and Printers... H.R. Plomer, 1907.