William Miller

William Richard Beckford Miller (25 March 1769 – 25 October 1844) was one of the leading English publishers of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, known for his popular and expensive titles. He began publishing on his own in 1790 at Bond Street in London. In 1812 he retired, aged 42, selling his business and 50 Albemarle Street, his London home, to John Murray, the second publisher of that name. Origins and early life William Miller was born at Bungay, Suffolk, on 25 March 1769, the only son of Thomas Miller (1731–1804), a local bookseller and antiquarian, and Sally Kingsbury (1741–1773) of Waveney House, Bungay, daughter of a maltster. As William Miller tells in an unpublished memoir, his paternal grandfather was "a respectable Paviour", who completely repaved the streets of Norwich and Bury St. Edmund's. When a youth William showed a talent and a taste for drawing, and Sir Joshua Reynolds advised that he enter the Royal Academy as a student. His stay at the Academy proved short. In 1787 he was placed in Hookham's publishing house. Career as a publisher, 1790-1812