The Book-Hunter in London | Page 2

BOOK-COLLECTOR 212
NEWBERY'S SHOP IN ST. PAUL'S CHURCHYARD 213
CHARLES TILT'S SHOP 221
BUTCHER ROW, 1798 224
CHARLES HUTT'S HOUSE IN CLEMENT'S INN PASSAGE 226
MR. WILLIAM D. REEVES, BOOKSELLER 227
MESSRS. HILL AND SON'S SHOP IN HOLYWELL STREET 231
MESSRS. SOTHERAN'S SHOP IN PICCADILLY 233
HONEST TOM PAYNE 239
HENRY G. BOHN, BOOKSELLER 243
JOHN H. BOHN 244
MR. F. S. ELLIS 245
A CORNER AT ELLIS AND ELVEY'S 246
WESTMINSTER HALL WHEN OCCUPIED BY BOOKSELLERS
AND OTHERS 247
JOHN HATCHARD (1768-1849) 252
JAMES TOOVEY, BOOKSELLER 253

JAMES TOOVEY'S SHOP, PICCADILLY 254
BERNARD QUARITCH, THE NAPOLEON OF BOOKSELLERS
256
QUEEN ELIZABETH'S GOLDEN MANUAL OF PRAYERS
(FRONT COVER) 262
QUEEN ELIZABETH'S GOLDEN MANUAL OF PRAYERS (BACK
COVER) 263
THE FRONTISPIECE TO 'THE LADIES' LIBRARY' OF STEELE
266
ELIZABETH PINDAR'S BOOKPLATE 267
THE ESHTON HALL LIBRARY 269
'EARNING HIS DINNER' 275
THE KING'S LIBRARY, BRITISH MUSEUM 276
'STEALS A BOOK, PLACES IT IN A NOVELETTE, AND WALKS
AWAY' 280
'HE HAD PLACED THE BOOK IN HIS POCKET. SOMEONE HAD
RELIEVED HIM OF IT' 282
THE LATE HENRY HUTH, BOOK-COLLECTOR 300
MR. HENRY H. GIBBS, BOOK-COLLECTOR 302
MR. R. COPLEY CHRISTIE, BOOK-COLLECTOR 303
THE LATE FREDERICK LOCKER-LAMPSON 312
PORTRAIT BOOKPLATE OF MR. JOSEPH KNIGHT 313
'AN ORDER FROM MR. GLADSTONE' 315

PORTRAIT BOOKPLATE OF MR. H. S. ASHBEE 316
MR. T. J. WISE, BOOK-COLLECTOR 317
MR. CLEMENT SHORTER'S BOOKPLATE 318
MR. A. BIRRELL, BOOK-COLLECTOR 319
FACSIMILE OF TITLE-PAGE, 'PILGRIM'S PROGRESS,' FIRST
EDITION 321
[Illustration: Roman Book-box.]

PREFACE.
'THE Book-hunter in London' is put forth as a contribution to the
fascinating history of book-collecting in the metropolis; it does not
pretend to be a complete record of a far-reaching subject, which a
dozen volumes would not exhaust; the present work, however, is the
first attempt to deal with it in anything like a comprehensive manner,
but of how far or in what degree this attempt is successful the reader
himself must decide.
The task itself has been an exceedingly pleasant one to the author, and
it only remains for him to thank, collectively, the large number of
friends and acquaintances who have so cordially favoured him with
advice and information on so many points. In only a couple of quite
unimportant instances has he experienced anything approaching
churlishness. The geniality and courtesy of the book-collector are
proverbial, but specimens of a different type are evidently to be found
here and there.
As regards the chapter on Modern Collectors, the author's object has
been to deal with a representative selection of the bibliophiles of to-day.
To aim at anything like completeness in this section of the book would
be highly undesirable, having regard to a proportionate representation
of the subject as a whole. Completeness, moreover, would be an

impossibility, even in a volume devoted entirely to modern men.
The greatest possible care has been taken to prevent inaccuracy of any
kind, but whilst freedom from error is a consummation which every
author desires, it is also one of which few can boast. The reader will be
doing the author a favour by informing him of any mistake which may
be detected in the following pages. An omission in the account of
Stewart, the founder of Puttick's, may be here made good: he had the
privilege of selling David Garrick's choice library in 1823. The author
regrets to learn that Purcell (p. 165), a very intelligent bookseller, died
some months ago.
'The Book-hunter in London' is the outcome not only of material which
has been accumulating for many years past, from published and
unpublished sources, but also of a long and pleasant intercourse with
the leading book-collectors and booksellers in London, not to mention
a vigorous and constant prosecution of one of the most pleasant and
instructive of hobbies. The author has freely availed himself of the
information in the works of Dibdin, Nichols, and other writers on the
subject, but their statements have been verified whenever possible, and
acknowledgements have been made in the proper places to the
authorities laid under contribution.
W. R.
86, GROSVENOR ROAD, S.W.

INTRODUCTION.
IT would be quite as great a fallacy to assume that a rich man is also a
wise one, as to take for granted that he who has accumulated a large
library is necessarily a learned man. It is a very curious fact, but none
the less a fact, that just as the greatest men have the shortest
biographies, so have they been content with the smallest libraries.
Shakespeare, Voltaire, Humboldt, Comte, Goethe had no collection of
books to which the term library could fairly be applied. But though

each preferred to find in Nature and in Nature's handiworks the mental
exercise which less gifted men obtain from books, that did not prevent
them from being ardent book-lovers. Shakespeare--to mention one
only--must have possessed a Plutarch, a