John Debrett, a London bookseller and stationer, was an apprentice and subsequently heir to the business of John Almon. While his business appears to have been highly successful in the late 1780s and early 1790s, he was later bankrupted on two occasions, in 1801 and again in 1804. According to his obituary in the Gentleman's Magazine, Debrett was 'a kind, good-natured, friendly, man, who experienced the vicissitudes of life with fortitude. He had full opportunity of acquiring a large fortune, but from too much confidence and easiness of temper, he did not turn it to the best account' (1st ser., 92/2 (1822): 474). Debrett appears to have given up his shop in Piccadilly in 1805, but did not retire from publishing until about 1814.
