1864 · Cheltenham
by (Phillipps, Thomas)
Cheltenham: Middle Hill Press, 1864. Bifolium. 170 x 108 mm., [6 ¾ x 4 ¼ inches]. Folded. Printed on recto and verso of the first leaf only. Disbound, signs of stitching still visible. Very good condition.
Remarkable survival, printed by Sir Thomas Phillipps (1792-1872), in his dotage from notes taken as a boy of 16 years. The catalogue suggests great pride by the elderly Phillipps as he records the beginning of his youthful enthusiasm for the printed book and manuscripts. The catalogue cites in short-title format 111 individual books, mostly of gothic novels but also history, classical tales of adventure and biography. The most striking aspect of this collection are the number of novels Phillipps collected, including Don Quixote, Robinson Crusoe, Gulliver's Travels, but also gothic fiction titles such as Cavern of Horrors, The Secret Oath, The Midnight Assassin, Mysteries of the Black Convent, and the Jewish Magician, to name a few. Phillipps was to go on to from this adolescent passion to build the largest and most important collection of books and manuscripts, numbering over 100,000 titles, many of which have come into the market during my lifetime.
OCLC locates copies of this catalogue at the Grolier Club, Huntington Library, Newberry Library, Yale, and the British Library. See Eric Holzenberg's book, the Middle Hill Press: A Checklist of the Horblit Collection, no. 40. (1202) . (Inventory #: 1202)
Remarkable survival, printed by Sir Thomas Phillipps (1792-1872), in his dotage from notes taken as a boy of 16 years. The catalogue suggests great pride by the elderly Phillipps as he records the beginning of his youthful enthusiasm for the printed book and manuscripts. The catalogue cites in short-title format 111 individual books, mostly of gothic novels but also history, classical tales of adventure and biography. The most striking aspect of this collection are the number of novels Phillipps collected, including Don Quixote, Robinson Crusoe, Gulliver's Travels, but also gothic fiction titles such as Cavern of Horrors, The Secret Oath, The Midnight Assassin, Mysteries of the Black Convent, and the Jewish Magician, to name a few. Phillipps was to go on to from this adolescent passion to build the largest and most important collection of books and manuscripts, numbering over 100,000 titles, many of which have come into the market during my lifetime.
OCLC locates copies of this catalogue at the Grolier Club, Huntington Library, Newberry Library, Yale, and the British Library. See Eric Holzenberg's book, the Middle Hill Press: A Checklist of the Horblit Collection, no. 40. (1202) . (Inventory #: 1202)