Thanks to the pioneering work of William Sale and Keith Maslen, which produced a catalogue of printer''s ornaments belonging exclusively to Richardson''s business, we now have an invaluable method for identifying the many publications that issued from the Salisbury Court shop. ''Samuel Richardson as Anonymous Editor and Printer'' adds a number of new titles to the Maslen catalogue and also examines stylistic evidence in supporting attributions of anonymous texts. A number of books from Richardson''s press are found to be unacknowledged digests of works already in print, and in some cases manuscripts of letters were appropriated as raw material for an essay or pamphlet. ''Samuel Richardson as Anonymous Editor and Printer'' offers a comprehensive account of Richardson''s numerous editorial interventions in producing books and pamphlets from his press. From the beginning of his career as printer, Richardson consistently worked as an anonymous editor and compiler while publishing books from his press. When setting type for his many newspapers and journals, this major London printer was mainly concerned about generating a readership and thus used all the tricks of his trade to arouse interest in his readers. Without ever asserting himself as the author, Richardson produced many letters to the editor as a means of invoking a collective response without risking the responsibility of answering for the opinions expressed in his letters. It was a rhetorical strategy that worked very well for a printer who by profession had to publish many works that expressed opinions wholly in conflict with his own.

His long experience as anonymous editor prepared him for launching fictional ''histories'' told through multiple voices that conceal or underplay a central author''s authority.