Finding Aid for the Sir Thomas Phillipps Collection on
Publishing and Bookselling 1749-1835
Processed by Rebecca Fenning.
William Andrews Clark Memorial Library
University of California, Los Angeles
2520 Cimarron Street
Los Angeles, CA 90018
Phone: (323) 731-8529
Fax: (323) 731-8617
Email: rfenning@humnet.ucla.edu
URL: http://www.humnet.ucla.edu/humnet/clarklib/
©2009
The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
Descriptive Summary
Title: Sir Thomas Phillipps Collection on Publishing
and Bookselling,
Date (inclusive): 1749-1835
Collection number: MS.2004.006
Collector: Phillipps, Thomas,
Sir, 1792-1872
Extent:
1 box
(2.5 linear inches)
Repository:
William Andrews Clark Memorial Library
Los Angeles, California 90018
Abstract: Letters related to publishing and bookselling
in 18th and 19th century England, from the collection of Sir Thomas Phillipps.
Physical location: Clark Library
Language of Material: Collection materials in English, with some French
Access
Collection is open for research.
Publication Rights
Copyright has not been assigned to the William Andrews Clark Memorial
Library, UCLA. All requests for permission to publish or quote from
manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Clark Librarian.
Permission for publication is given on behalf of the William Andrews
Clark Memorial Library, UCLA as the owner of the physical items and is
not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder,
which must also be obtained.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Sir Thomas Phillipps Collection on
Publishing and Bookselling, MS.2004.006, William Andrews Clark Memorial
Library, University of California, Los Angeles.
Acquisition Information
Originally from the collection of Sir Thomas Phillipps, some letters
collected here still bear his manuscript numbers. Later, part of the
H.P. Kraus inventory auctioned at Sotheby's New York, December 5, 2003,
lot 519.
Purchased by the Clark Library in 2003.
Processing History
Processed by Rebecca Fenning, September 2009.
Biographical Note
Sir Thomas Phillipps was a book and manuscript collector from young
adulthood, who amassed the largest manuscript collection of the 19th
century. He was born in 1792, the illegitimate son of a textile
manufacturer, and began collecting while a student at Rugby and later at
Oxford. Though he inherited a substantial estate upon his father's
death, his bibliomania and "vello-mania" (his obsession with manuscripts
on vellum) resulted in his being nearly perpetually in debt.
After Phillipps' death in 1872, his library was left to his youngest
daughter and her family. Beginning in 1885, they began to disperse the
collection at a series of sales that only ended in 1977, when New York
dealers H.P. Kraus purchased the remainder.
Scope and Content
Letters related to publishing and bookselling from the collection of
legendary collector Sir Thomas Phillipps. The 34 items in this
collection date from approximately 1749 to 1835, and contain letters
from a wide variety of booksellers, printers, authors, readers,
clergymen, foreign dignitaries and antiquaries. Many letters concern
ordering books from printers and booksellers, while other letters
concern payments due to authors and discussions of books. Some letters
bear Phillipps' manuscript catalog numbers. Many also still bear seals and
postmarks.
Arrangement
Letters are arranged in the original order in which they arrived at
the Clark Library. It is unclear whether this arrangement was imposed by
Sotheby's, Kraus or even Phillipps.
Related Material
Additional correspondence from booksellers Cadell & Davies and
other contemporaries in the
William
Roscoe Collection,
(MS.2008.023).
Indexing Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this
collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Subjects
Cadell
& Davies
H.P.
Kraus (Firm)
Hurst,
Robinson, and Co.
Lackington,
Allen and Co.
R. and J.
Dodsley
Ashby,
George, 1724-1808
Bacon,
Richard Mackenzie, ca. 1775-1844
Bathurst,
Charles
Bosanquet,
George
Boydell,
John, 1719-1804
Buchanan,
Claudius, 1766-1815
Buckinghamshire, John Hobart, Earl of, 1722-1793
Cadell,
Thomas, 1773-1836
Conybeare,
J. J. (John Josias), 1779-1824
Fenn, John,
1739-1794
Florian, J.
B. (Jolly B.)
Gaskin,
George, 1751-1829
Lackington,
George, 1768-1844
Lackington,
James, 1746-1815
Laird,
James, d. 1840
Lambert,
Aylmer Bourke, 1761-1842
Leroy de
Barde, Alexandre-Isidore, 1777-1828
Lovechild,
Mrs., 1743-1813
Mordente,
John Emmanuel
Noble,
Mark, 1754-1827
Northumberland, Hugh Percy, Duke of, 1742-1817
Nourse, J.
(John), d. 1780
Planquais,
Thomas
Stockdale,
John, 1749?-1814
Stuart de
Rothesay, Charles Stuart, Baron, 1779-1845
Tucker,
Josiah, 1712-1799
Wimpffen,
Alexandre-Stanislas, baron de
Wrangham,
Francis, 1769-1842
Booksellers and
bookselling--England--18th century
Booksellers and
bookselling--England--19th century
Publishers and
publishing--England--18th century
Publishers and
publishing--England--19th century
Genres and Forms
Letters--England--18th
century
Letters--England--19th
century
Container List
Box 1, Folder 1
Letters to John Stockdale,
1787-1806
Physical Description: 3 items
Scope and Content Note
1 letter from Jolly B. Florian, 21 Jan. 1806; 1 letter from Thos.
North---?, 25 Jan. 1787; 1 letter from Mark Noble, 21 May 1799.
Box 1, Folder 2
Letters to Cadell and Davies,
1797-1835
Physical Description: 4 items
Scope and Content Note
1 letter from Claudius Buchanan, 6 Dec. 1811; 1 letter from
Alexandre-Stanislas, Baron de Wimpffen, 23 May 1797; 1 letter from
Charles Bathurst, 23 Feb. 1797; 1 letter from James Laird, 16 Sept.
1835.
Box 1, Folder 3
Letter from Josiah Tucker to R. & J. Dodsley,
1763
Physical Description: 1 item
Scope and Content Note
Letter from Josiah Tucker, Dean of Gloucester to "Doddersley" [sic].
Small hole in the center of letter, with some loss of text.
Box 1, Folder 4
Letters to W. Booth, bookseller, from the Duke of
Northumberland,
1808, undated
Physical Description: 4 items
Scope and Content Note
3 letters from the Duke of Northumberland to W. Booth, Duke Street,
Portland Place, ca. 1800; 1 portrait engraving of the Duke, 1808.
Box 1, Folder 5
Letters to John Nourse,
1749-1777, undated
Physical Description: 6 letters
Scope and Content Note
1 letter in French from M. Lostau, 10 July 1749; 1 letter in French
from M. Palomba, 23 July 1777; from M. Montpellier, 27 March 1765; 1
letter in French from Th. Tyrrell, 25 Jan. 1766; 1 letter in French from
M. Bourdillon, 9 Feb. 1749; 1 letter in English from Mr. Demorande, ca.
1770s. Several letters are docketed by Nourse or someone in his office.
Box 1, Folder 6
Letters to James and George Lackington,
1806-1814, undated
Physical Description: 4 items
Scope and Content Note
1 letter from the Chevalier de Barde, undated; 1 letter from Bianchi
(?), 4 March 1814; 1 letter from Thomas Planquais, 4 July 1808; 1 letter
from John Emmanuel Mordente, 14 March 1806.
Box 1, Folder 7
Letter from Francis Wrangham to printer Mr. Smeeton,
undated
Physical Description: 1 item
Box 1, Folder 8
Letters to and from Lady Eleanor Fenn and Sir John
Fenn,
1791-1792, undated
Physical Description: 4 letters
Scope and Content Note
2 letters from Eleanor Fenn to Richard M. Bacon, bookseller in
Norwich, 18--?; 1 letter from a Mr. Johnson to Lady Fenn, 6 Dec. 1792; 1
letter from John Hobart, Earl of Buckingham to Sir John Fenn, 10 Oct.
1791 with annotations by Sir Fenn.
Box 1, Folder 9
Letters to John Boydell, and Hurst, Robinson &
Co.,
1801,
1821,
undated
Physical Description: 4 letters
Scope and Content Note
1 letter from General-Brigadier Hansson to John Boydell, 29 May 1801;
2 letters from A. Bourke Lambert to Hurst, Robinson & Co., August
1821; 1 letter to J.O. Robinson from James Lambert, undated.
Box 1, Folder 10
Letter from George Bosanquet to Sir Charles Stuart,
6 May 1824
Physical Description: 1 item
Box 1, Folder 11
Letter from George Ashby to Rev. Mills, Bury St.
Edmunds,
5 July 1791
Physical Description: 1 item
Box 1, Folder 12
Letters to Rev. Dr. Gaskin,
1807-1811
Physical Description: 2 items
Scope and Content Note
1 letter from the Swedish Church in London, 21 July 1811; 1 letter
from John Josiah Conybeare, 6 Oct. 1807;
