Richard Bentley (24 October 1794 – 10 September 1871) was a 19th-century English publisher.

Born 24 October 1794 into a family of publishers in London, Bentley started a firm with his brother in 1819. Ten years later, he went into partnership with the publisher Henry Colburn although the two men did not get along and ended their partnership acrimoniously three years later.

During the 1830s and early 1840s, Bentley successfully ran his own publishing firm, establishing the profitable and well-regarded Bentley’s Miscellany. However, he and its editor, Charles Dickens, quarrelled and the periodical went into decline after Dickens left. After 1843, Bentley’s business started to falter, as hard economic times set in. He was forced to sell many of the copyrights he had purchased as well as Bentley’s Miscellany. It was not until 15 years later that his business recovered, and he began initiating projects again. In 1867, he was injured in an accident at a railway station and he suffered ill health after that until his death four years later.