ROBERT, an eminent bookseller, and ingenious writer, born at Mansfield in Nottinghamshire, in the year 1703. He was not indebted to education for his literary fame, being originally a very servant; but his natural genius, and early passion for reading, soon elevated him to a superior station. He wrote an elegant little satirical farce called The Toyzshop, which was acted with applause in 1735, and which recommended him to the patronage of Mr Pope. The following year he produced the King and Miller of Mansfield. The profits of these two farces enabled him to commence bookseller, and his own merit procured him eminence in that profession. He wrote some other dramatic pieces, and published a collection of his works in one vol. 8vo, under the modest title of Trifles; which was followed by Public Virtue, a poem in 4to. Mr Dodsley was the author of the Economy of Human Life, a work which acquired considerable celebrity; but for this, it is supposed to have been indebted to the mistaken opinion which long prevailed of its being the production of Lord Chesterfield.