1870 · London
by Edwards, Edward
London: Trübner and Co., 1870. 8vo. 235 x 150 mm., [8 ½ x 5 ½ inches]. [2], 780 pp. 13 plates. Bound in contemporary brown cloth, embossed floral designs on covers, gilt title and author's name on spine; inner joints cracked, text book sound, edges of the binding show some wear. With the bookplates of William Cavendish-Bentinck the Sixth Duke of Portland (1857-1943) and Anthony Robert Alwyn Hobson (1921-2014). Attractive copy in original condition.
First edition. With Edwards' typical thoroughness, this work provides an excellent history of the British Museum by concentrating on the lives and collections of benefactors whose gifts made the museum the greatest in the western world. Included are biographies of the following benefactors: Cotton, Arundel, Harley, Courten, Sloane, Hamilton, Charles Towneley, Payne-Knight, Lansdowne, Bridgewater, King George III, Banks, Carcherode, Grenville, Fellows, Layard and Cureton. In addition to biographical vignettes of these men there is detailed information on how they formed their libraries and how these libraries contributed to the greatness of the British Museum.
Edward Edwards (1818-1886) was the son of a builder who was mostly self-educated through the various educational societies that were formed by guilds and mercantile societies. At the age of 20 he published a pamphlet directed to the British Museum suggesting changes to its rules, increasing opening hours, and expanding the "class of persons" allowed to use the collections. He caught the attention of the newly appointed Keeper of Printed Books, Antonio Panizzi and was offered a job in the Museum Library. During his time there Edwards became expert in library statistics and wrote a number of articles for the Athenaeum comparing practices of the BM with other national libraries in Europe. He also caught the attention of Sir William Ewart, who authored the "Public Library Act" of 1850.
But Edwards career was not without controversy. In 1839 he was forced to leave the country after misusing the budget of Art Union of London where he was secretary. Upon his return he rehabilitated his career by editing and writing essay on scholar subjects and he continued his work at the British Library until let go in 1850. He immediately found work as the first librarian at the Manchester Free Library, but he was removed from this job too, for mismanagement. The Bodley Library offered him a position as cataloguer of books, but this job was made redundant due to budgetary issues. He finished his career as an essayist for the Encyclopedia Brittanica and in 1882 was made an honorary member of the Library Association, an appointment elusive to him at the height of his career for reasons described above. He died in indigent in 1886.
Edwards career is notable example of the difficulties that bright, self-educated men had fitting into the structures of Victorian society. His checkered career and the criticism charged against the quality of his work does not diminish the impact he had on the free library movement in England during the 19th century. But his limited experience and obvious ambition made him a target of his more gentile peers and his death as a homeless man at the age of 68 is indicative of his struggles to master the norms of middleclass Britain at mid-century. (1188). . (Inventory #: 1188)
First edition. With Edwards' typical thoroughness, this work provides an excellent history of the British Museum by concentrating on the lives and collections of benefactors whose gifts made the museum the greatest in the western world. Included are biographies of the following benefactors: Cotton, Arundel, Harley, Courten, Sloane, Hamilton, Charles Towneley, Payne-Knight, Lansdowne, Bridgewater, King George III, Banks, Carcherode, Grenville, Fellows, Layard and Cureton. In addition to biographical vignettes of these men there is detailed information on how they formed their libraries and how these libraries contributed to the greatness of the British Museum.
Edward Edwards (1818-1886) was the son of a builder who was mostly self-educated through the various educational societies that were formed by guilds and mercantile societies. At the age of 20 he published a pamphlet directed to the British Museum suggesting changes to its rules, increasing opening hours, and expanding the "class of persons" allowed to use the collections. He caught the attention of the newly appointed Keeper of Printed Books, Antonio Panizzi and was offered a job in the Museum Library. During his time there Edwards became expert in library statistics and wrote a number of articles for the Athenaeum comparing practices of the BM with other national libraries in Europe. He also caught the attention of Sir William Ewart, who authored the "Public Library Act" of 1850.
But Edwards career was not without controversy. In 1839 he was forced to leave the country after misusing the budget of Art Union of London where he was secretary. Upon his return he rehabilitated his career by editing and writing essay on scholar subjects and he continued his work at the British Library until let go in 1850. He immediately found work as the first librarian at the Manchester Free Library, but he was removed from this job too, for mismanagement. The Bodley Library offered him a position as cataloguer of books, but this job was made redundant due to budgetary issues. He finished his career as an essayist for the Encyclopedia Brittanica and in 1882 was made an honorary member of the Library Association, an appointment elusive to him at the height of his career for reasons described above. He died in indigent in 1886.
Edwards career is notable example of the difficulties that bright, self-educated men had fitting into the structures of Victorian society. His checkered career and the criticism charged against the quality of his work does not diminish the impact he had on the free library movement in England during the 19th century. But his limited experience and obvious ambition made him a target of his more gentile peers and his death as a homeless man at the age of 68 is indicative of his struggles to master the norms of middleclass Britain at mid-century. (1188). . (Inventory #: 1188)