John Dunton, an English bookseller and author, born in Graffham, Huntingdonshire, May 4, 1659, died in 1733. He was apprenticed to a bookseller in London, engaged in business for himself, came to New England in March, 1686, with a cargo of books, where he remained about eight months, and after his return embarked again in business, with little success. He conducted a weekly publication called " The Athenian Mercury," resolving all the most nice and curious questions proposed by the inquiring, of which 20 volumes appeared. A selection was made from this in four volumes, called "The Athenian Oracle." He wrote voluminously on religion, ethics, and politics. He gives us, in his " Life and Errors of John Dunton" (London, 1705 and 1818), the " lives and characters of more than 1,000 contemporary divines and other persons of literary eminence," and relates many curious facts in relation to the bookselling business, describing the ministers, booksellers, and other citizens of Boston and Salem. His "Letters from New England," edited by W. II. Whitmore, were published by the Prince society in 1867.