Defoe's Distribution Agents and Robert Harley

Abstract

The aim of this note is to provide a full description and analysis of the list of circulation agents drawn up for Robert Harley by Daniel Defoe in early 1706. This group was assembled to disseminate pro-Harley material, following Defoe's extensive trip round England in the summer of 1705, during which he reported back political intelligence to Harley. New information drawn from probate records, parish registers and other archival sources makes it possible to identify most of those on the list, and thus to gain an adequate picture for the first time of the distribution system Defoe had set up. The composition of this group shows a heavy representation of dissenting ministers (especially presbyterians, the sect in which both Harley and Defoe had their roots); the mercantile community, especially those associated with the clothing trade; and provincial booksellers. The geographic spread of the agents indicates that it was Defoe rather than Harley who chose the course of the journey and the location of the circulation agents. This elaborate system was of direct use to Harley only for a brief time, since by the time of the elections of 1708 and 1710 his political constituency had greatly changed.