John Dunton

John Dunton (1659–1733) was an English bookseller, publisher, and writer, renowned for founding the Athenian Society in 1691 to publish *The Athenian Mercury*, England's first major popular and miscellaneous periodical.[1][2] He also briefly published *The Ladies' Mercury* in 1693, the first periodical aimed specifically at women, and authored his autobiography *The Life and Errors of John Dunton*.[1][3] Born in Graffham, Huntingdonshire, to a family of clergymen, he became a prominent figure in the late Restoration publishing world.[4][7]