Background
He was born in East Retford, Nottinghamshire, the son of James Taylor and Sarah Drury. His father was a printer and bookseller. He was originally apprenticed to his father, but eventually he moved to London and worked for James Lackington in 1803.
Education
He attended school first at Lincoln Grammar School and then he went to the local grammar school in Retford.
Career
He is noted as the publisher of the poets John Keats and John Clare. Taylor left after a short while because of low pay. He polished Clare"s grammar and spelling for publication.
He was also Keats"s publisher, and published works by Lamb, Coleridge and Hazlitt.
In 1821 John Taylor became involved in publishing Blackwood"s Magazine. As such he developed a line in what was then the new and developing field of standard academic text books
After Taylor"s death, many of his manuscripts were put up for sale at Sotheby"s, but the poets of the Regency era were out of fashion, and the total only fetched about £250. In contrast, when sold in 1897, the manuscripts of Endymion and Lamia fetched £695 and £305 respectively.