Essays on British book collectors and bibliographers from the fourteenth through the eighteenth centuries. This period marked the growth of humanism and coincides with the early Renaissance, before the widespread establishment of print culture. Focuseson the historical evolution of a specific library, as well as a collecting family. Discusses the nature and variety of collecting as a cultural activity.
An eclectic view of the book and manuscript collecting and bibliographical activity during nineteenth century Britain is presented. Subjects range from the wealthy, bibliographically knowledgeable members of the aristocrats to others who impoverished themselves and their families in their obsession. Discusses how these collections were instrumental in the advocacy of the public library movement.
This volume provides a wide-ranging account of the development and importance of private libraries and book ownership through the seventeenth century, based upon many kinds of evidence, including examination of thousands of books, and a list of over 1,300 known owners from diverse backgrounds. It considers questions of evolution, contents and size, and motives for book ownership, during a century when growing markets for both new and second-hand books meant that books would be found, in varying numbers, in the homes of all kinds of people from the humble to the wealthy. Book ownership by women, and by non-professional households, is explicitly explored. Other topics include the balance of motivation between books for use, or for display; the relationship between libraries and museums; and cultures of collecting. While presenting a wealth of information in this field, conveniently brought together, this volume also advances methodologies for book history, and makes extensive use of material evidence such as bookbindings. It challenges received wisdom around priorities for studying private libraries, and the terminology which is appropriate to use. In addition, the list of owners, detailed in the Appendix, make this book a work of permanent reference, alongside its value in advancing book history.
The editorial policy of Anglo-Saxon England has been to encourage an interdisciplinary approach to the study of all aspects of Anglo-Saxon culture. This approach is pursued in exemplary fashion by many of the essays in this volume. Fresh light is thrown on the dating and form of Cynewulf's poem The Fates of the Apostles through a comprehensive study of the historical martyrologies of the Carolingian period on which Cynewulf is presumed to have drawn. The literary form of Ælfric's Preface to his translation of Genesis is illustrated through a wide-ranging study of the rhetorical genre of preface-writing in the early Middle Ages (the genre which subsequently was known as the ars dictaminis), and the problems which Ælfric faced and solved in composing a Life of St Æthelthryth are illustrated through detailed comparison of the sources which he utilized. The usual comprehensive bibliography of the previous year's publications in all branches of Anglo-Saxon studies rounds off the book.
This popular reference book is now in its eighth edition, comprehensively revised with over 450 alphabetical entries, ranging in length from a single line to several pages. An ideal book for any collector or bookseller.
