William Proctor, Nathaniel Ponder and the financing of The Pilgrim's Progress

A ledger in the Norfolk Record Office records the activities of William Proctor, a wealthy London stationer, in financing other members of the book trade. The most detailed entries relate to the sale of larger numbers of copies of Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress in the period immediately following the death of Nathaniel Ponder, the original owner of the copyright. Ponder had mortgaged his rights in Bunyan's works to Proctor, who is the 'W.P.' identified in several imprints from 1695. After Ponder's death in June 1699 Proctor sought to recover his outstanding debts by publishing further editions of Pilgrim's Progress in 1701 and 1702.