George Faulkner

He was also deeply involved with the argument over copyright infringement and piracy, both creating and fighting "Irish editions".

The publication of Drapier's Letters briefly landed him in trouble with the authorities: he was ordered into custody by the Irish House of Lords, but not convicted, and at the next session of Parliament, he was set free after being censured.

In 1732, Faulkner published Queries in Dublin Journal and was brought to the House of Lords to answer charges for doing so.

Faulkner continued to court controversy: in 1736 he was briefly committed to Newgate for publishing a libel on Richard Bettesworth, MP for Midleton.

The author was Dr Josiah Hort, Bishop of Kilmore, a friend of Swift, who also detested Bettesworth, both regarding him as a dangerous anti-clerical.

In this period, Irish booksellers frequently published English books without making arrangements with the copyright holders.

He produced the Irish edition of Alexander Pope's Works in 1736 and, illegally, Samuel Richardson's Pamela in 1741.

In 1754, Samuel Richardson freely distributed An Address to the Public to protest his treatment by Faulkner and other Irish printers.

Faulkner had licensed to print Richardson's Clarissa, and he arranged to be the Irish publisher of Sir Charles Grandison in July 1753.

However, by August, Faulkner had received only a few sheets of the first volume, while several other Irish printers were seemingly ready to print large portions of the novel.

By attempting to reprint texts legitimately, he had set himself against his less scrupulous countrymen, but by sometimes printing without a financial arrangement, he had already marked himself as a pirate.

While Faulkner won in the courts, the fine imposed upon Foote was trivial, and the episode did not cast the publisher in a good light.

Faulkner had previously been involved in the Marriage Settlement of Thomas Todd to Mary Smith in January 1739.