"John Harris (1756–1846) published children´s books in England from the end of the 18th century to the mid-19th century, creating innovative and popular new styles. Apprenticed ...
to Thomas Evans he found employment for a short time with John Murray before joining John Newbery´s publishing firm.
Harris took over Newbery´s firm which had passed first to his son Francis Newbery, then to his nephew and nephew´s wife. Harris had managed the firm for Elizabeth Newbery and in 1801 bought it from her, renaming in his own name. Noticing that playful books such as Mother Goose´s Melody sold better than Evangelical fare, in 1805 he issued The Comic Adventures of Old Mother Hubbard and Her Dog which departed from Newbery´s publications in that it was completely devoid of didacticism and was meant to amuse. The first edition of the book was illustrated with copperplate engravings, one on each page, unlike Newbery´s sparse use of woodcuts, and of a relatively small size (4 inches by 5 inches). Mother Hubbard sold well and began a run of similar books such as Whimsical Incidents in 1805 followed a year later by an edition of John Gilpin with colour illustrations." - (en.wikipedia.org 07.06.2020)
