by Dr Yin Harn Lee, University of Bristol Law School
This post is based on a presentation given at Marble Hill House, Twickenham, home of Henrietta Howard, Countess of Suffolk, a friend of Alexander Pope’s. Pope’s own residence, known for its gardens and underground grotto (which is still extant), was located just over a mile away.
Alexander Pope, poet, translator and satirist of the Enlightenment Era, was a key figure in the early history of British copyright law. The 1710 Statute of Anne, often regarded as the first British copyright statute, was enacted during the period in which he was most active as a writer. The legislation conferred on authors the ‘sole liberty of printing and reprinting their books’ for a limited term. And Pope, who has been described as ‘the first business man among English poets’, made full and strategic use of its protections. (more…)