Joseph Moses Levy

Who was Joseph Moses Levy?

Joseph Moses Levy was a newspaper editor and publisher.

The son of Moses Levy and Helena Moses, he was educated at Bruce Castle School, after which he was sent to Germany to learn the printing trade. When he returned to England he established a printing company in Shoe Lane, Fleet Street. Levy became involved in the newspaper industry; by 1855 he was chief proprietor of The Sunday Times.

Colonel Arthur Sleigh founded the Daily Telegraph & Courier on 29 June 1855, and Levy agreed to print the newspaper. The venture was not a success and when Sleigh was unable to pay his printing bill, Levy took over the newspaper.

In 1855, there were ten newspapers published in London. The Times, at sevenpence, was the most expensive and had a circulation of 10,000. Its two main rivals, the Daily News and the Morning Post, both cost fivepence. Levy believed that if he could produce a cheaper newspaper than his main competitors, he could expand the size of the overall market.

Levy decided that his son, Edward Levy-Lawson, and Thornton Leigh Hunt, should edit the newspaper. When he re-launched the newspaper on 17 September 1855, Levy used the slogan, "the largest, best, and cheapest newspaper in the world". Within a few weeks, the one-penny The Daily Telegraph was outselling The Times, and by January 1856, Levy was able to announce that circulation had reached 27,000.