James Lackington (31 August 1746 in Wellington, Somerset[1] – 22 November 1815 in Budleigh Salterton, Devon[2]) was a bookseller who is credited with revolutionizing the British book trade.

Lackington had no formal education so in order to teach himself to read, he and his friends would often scour flea markets for cheap editions of plays, and classical literature.

Later, in his memoirs, he explained: "for had I bought a dinner, we should have eaten it to-morrow, and the pleasure would have been soon over, but should we live fifty years longer, we shall have the Night Thoughts to feast upon.

By 1794, Lackington had amassed a large enough inventory to move into a massive shop on Finsbury Square with his business partner Robert Allen.

A flag would fly above the bookstore when he was present, and he rode through the streets in a custom stagecoach, inscribed with his personal motto: “Small profits do great things.” A catalogue of Lackington's available inventory was regularly printed, and book orders were fulfilled for places as far away as the United States.

[2][3] Lackington partnered with Hughes, Harding, Mavor & Jones to publish a very small amount of copies Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, who was unknown at the time.

Every cover image features a nod to a book hoard and Lackington's era, the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.