Censura Literaria containing Titles. Extracts and Opinions of Old English Books

BRYDGES (Samuel Egerton): CENSURA LITERARIA. Containing Titles, Abstracts, and Opinions of Old English Books, With Original Disquisitions, Articles of Biography, and Other Literary Antiquities. London: Printed by T. Bensley for Longman, Hurst, Rees And Orme, and J. White, 1805-1809. Ten volumes, the start of volume IV beginning the New Series, which continues more fully: 'Censura literaria. Containing titles, extracts, and opinions of old English books, especially those which are scarce. To which are added Necrographia authorum, or memoirs of deceased authors; and the Ruminator, consisting of original, moral and critical essays, with other literary disquisitions.' The author/editor Sir Samuel Egerton Brydges, 1st Baronet (1762-1837) was an English bibliographer and genealogist. He was also Member of Parliament for Maidstone from 1812 to 1818. He was called to the bar from the Middle Temple in 1787. He wrote some novels and poems, now forgotten, but rendered valuable service by his bibliographical publications, especially this Censura Literaria. He was a founding member of the great Roxburghe Club, the oldest and most prestigious bibliophile organization.