Collectors, Dealers, Publishers, Managers, …
Abdy, Sir Robert |
1896 – 1976 |
art dealer in London and Paris 5th Baronet of Albyns, Essex, UK |
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Adey, More |
1859 – 1942 |
editor of the Burlington Magazine |
friend of Oscar Wilde, helped him with his financial affairs after Reading Goal |
Alexander, George |
1858 – 1918 |
impresario, actor, theatre-manager married Florence Jane Théleur (1857/8 – 1946) |
producer of Lady Windermere’s Fan and The Importance of Being Earnest |
Altschul, Frank |
1887 – 1981 |
collector, banker, partner of Lazard Frères 11 West 34 St., New York, N.Y. San Francisco, Calif. |
see also George Blumenthal, Mrs G. Blumenthal and Eugene Meyer Jr. many of his important purchases were made through the Rosenbach firm in Philadelphia, an organization which he served as a financial adviser co-founded the Yale Library Associates |
Archer, H. [Horace] Richard |
1911 – 1978 |
bibliographer at the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library |
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Arents, George [and Mrs G. (Lena) Arents] |
1875 – 1960 |
businessman, director of the American Tobacco Company collector of book, manuscripts, periodicals and pamphlets on all phases of the history of tobacco |
the Arents Collection became part of The New York Library in January 1944 |
Arliss, George [Augustus George Andrews] |
1868 – 1946 |
actor, playwright, filmmaker |
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Arliss-Andrews, William |
c. 1837 – 1898 |
printer of The Duchess of Padua |
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Austrian, Alfred S. |
1870 – 1932 |
collector of rare books and manuscripts, lawyer Chicago, Ill. |
among the dealer names included in his correspondence, typically with typed letters signed, are Walter Hill, Chicago; A.S.W. Rosenbach, Philadelphia; Thomas Madigan [successor to Patrick F. Madigan] and Walter Benjamin, New York; and Dawson’s and Maggs, U.K. |
Bangs, John Kendrick |
1862 – 1922 |
writer, editor, humorist and satirist 1884-1888 associate editor of Life 1888-1901 Harper’s Magazine, Harper’s Bazaar, Harper’s Weekly |
Catalogue of Elegant and Rare Books from the Library of John Kendrick Bangs, Merwin-Clayton Sales Company, pt. II, New York, November 27-28, 1905 |
Barrett, Lawrence |
1838 – 1891 |
American actor and producer |
produced the first performance of The Duchess of Padua, New York, 26 January 1891, under the title Guido Ferranti |
Bement, Clarence S. (Sweet) |
1843 – 1923 |
businessman, collector of mineral, coins, and books joined his father’s company in 1870 which became “William B. Bement & Son“, Philadelphia, manufacturing machine tools for the railroad industry one of the original founders of and silent partner in the Rosenbach Company |
Catalogue of Rare and Valuable Books, Original Drawings, Mezzotints and Engravings from the Private Library of the late Clarence S. Bement, American Art Association, New York, February 28 – March 2, 1923 a portion of his library, begun in 1890, passed into the hands of Harry Elkins Widener, forming the nucleus of the Widener Library at Harvard University his mineral collection was purchased by John Pierpont Morgan in 1900 and presented as a gift to the American Museum of Natural History in 1901 the mineral Bementite was named after him in 1887 |
Berg, Albert A. [Ashton] |
1872 – 1950 |
surgeon, book collector brother of Henry W. Berg working at the Mount Sinai Hospital, East Harlem, Manhattan, New York retired in May 1934 president of the International College of Surgeons 10 East 73rd St., New York, N.Y. |
in February 1940, Dr. Albert A. Berg donated and endowed about 35,000 printed volumes and 2,000 feet of literary archives and manuscripts in his brother’s memory to the New York Public Library in September 1940, Dr. Albert A. Berg purchased W.T.H. Howe’s collection of over 16,000 books and manuscripts (obtained through Mitchell Kennerley, president of the Anderson Galleries), a collection that would later form part of Berg’s bequest to the New York Public Library October 11, 1940: the establishment of the Berg Collection at the New York Public Library November 13, 1940: the Howe library becomes officially a part of the Berg Collection May 1942: Owen D. Young’s collection of about 10,000 to 15,000 rare books and manuscripts were presented to the New York Public Library as the joint gift of A. Berg and O. Young |
Berg, Henry W. |
1858 – 1938 |
physician, book collector brother of Albert A. Berg |
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Bixby, William K. [Keeney] |
1857 – 1931 |
rare-book, manuscript and art collector president of the Great Northern Railroad president of the American Car and Foundry Company retired from business at the age of forty-eight St. Louis, Mo. |
between 1910 and 1920 important purchases from A.S.W. Rosenbach one of the financiers of the Anderson Auction Company |
Black Sun Books |
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bookseller est. 1969 157 East 57th Street, New York, N.Y. |
Black Sun was a small, avant-garde literary magazine published in Brooklyn, New York from 1965-1969. It was edited by Harvey Tucker who at the time was also active writing and publishing poetry. Since 1969, Tucker and his wife, Linda, have run Black Sun Books, dealing in rare books and manuscripts |
Blum, W. [William] Robert |
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19 E 24th St., New York, N.Y. Yale graduate (1916) |
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Blumenthal, George |
1858 – 1941 |
collector, banker, senior partner of Lazard Frères president of the Mount Sinai Hospital (1910 – 1938) president of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (1934-1941) |
customer of A.S.W. Rosenbach |
Blumenthal, Mrs G. [George] |
1873 – 1930 |
Mrs Florence Meyer Blumenthal (née Meyer), wife of George Blumenthal and sister of Eugene Meyer Jr. philanthropist, collector and arts patron 50 East 70th St. New York, N.Y. also living in Paris and in Grasse, in the south of France |
the Blumenthal Poe collection went to Gabriel Wells |
Bodmer, Martin |
1899 – 1971 |
bibliophile, collector Cologny-Geneva, Switzerland vice-president of the International Red Cross from 1947 to 1964 |
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Bonner, Paul Hyde |
1893 – 1968 |
American author, diplomat Charleston, Tenn. |
Sale Catalogue of the Private Library of Paul Hyde Bonner, New York, Duttons, Inc., 1931 Collection of Paul Hyde Bonner: First Editions and Manuscripts of Outstanding Importance, American Art Association, Anderson Galleries, New York, Feb. 15-16, 1934 |
Burgess, Gilbert |
1868 – 1911 |
English author and journalist |
when Burgess did an interview with OW after the first night of An Ideal Husband, Wilde said to him: “I am sure that you must have a great future in literature before you. … Because you seem to be such a bad interviewer. I feel sure that you must write poetry.“ |
Burnside, R.H. [Robert Hubberthorne] |
1873 [1870 NYPL] – 1952 |
Scottish-born actor, director, producer, composer, and playwright emigrated to the United States in 1894 226 West 47th St., New York, N.Y. |
because of his position as director and producer at the Hippodrome, Burnside inherited the legacies of Charles Dillingham and Charles Frohman. Upon his death, the material – including an extensive correspondence, business records, scripts, costume designs and other material – was donated to The New York Public Library |
Cannon, Charles |
1862 – 1906 |
bookseller “Modern Books and Remainders“ est. 1897 36 St. Martin’s Court / Charing Cross Rd. London, W.C. |
when Cannon died on 23 Feb. 1906 his business continued succeeded by Dan J. Rider |
Carlisle, Mary P. |
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collector East Islip, Long Island, N.Y. |
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Carter, Amon G., Sr |
1879 – 1955 |
publisher, philanthropist Fort Worth Star-Telegram |
Amon G. Carter Foundation Texas Christian University in Ford Worth named its football stadium Amon G. Carter Stadium to recognize Carter’s contributions to the college |
Chesson, Wilfred Hugh |
1870 – 1952 |
writer, book reviewer and publisher’s reader, collector 5 Tite St, Chelsea, London 337 Sandycombe Road, Kew Gardens, London |
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Chrysler, Walter P. [Percy] |
1875 – 1940 |
rare-book and art collector pioneer in the American automotive industry manager of the Buick Motor Company, Detroit founder of the Chrysler Motor Company in 1925 Chrysler Building, Manhattan (1930) lived in Kings Point, Long Island, N.Y. |
First Editions, Autograph Manuscripts of British Authors, from the Library of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr., Sold by His Order, Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York, Feb. 26-27, 1952 |
Chrysler, Walter P. [Percy], Jr. |
1909 – 1988 |
rare-book and modern art collector son of the founder of the Chrysler Corporation president of the Chrysler Building theatre and film producer Kings Point, Long Island, N.Y. and Key West, Fl. |
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Clark, William Andrews, Jr. |
1877 – 1934 |
book collector, philanthropist youngest son of copper baron William Andrews Clark, Sr. trained as a lawyer started his Wilde collection in 1916 founder of the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 1919 willing his library to the University of California, Los Angeles in 1926 2520 Cimarron Street, Los Angeles 90018 |
began by obtaining a wide range of English literature from the New York dealer George D. Smith, including Oscar Wilde Clark’s first major Wilde-related acquisition in 1920 included a number of drafts, manuscripts, and letters bought at auction from the private Wilde collection of John B. Stetson, Jr. through A.S.W. Rosenbach in 1929 Clark purchased from the Dulau & Company catalogue [no. 161, 1928], London, an extensive group of books, manuscripts, press clippings, and Wildeana [items 1 – 64, see Hyde Christopher Millard, pp. 120-1], which had belonged to Robert Ross, Christopher Millard, and Vyvyan Holland it appears that large segments of the Wildeana collection were likely originally part of the collection assembled by Wilde bibliographer Christopher Millard. The actual date the Clark acquired these materials is unknown and any documentation about the source of these items has been lost since 1929, the Clark Library has steadily purchased important new material and in the year 2000, the collection was estimated to contain over 65,000 items in 1934, the Clark Library becomes part of UCLA in 1957, a printed catalog of all Wilde-related works then owned by the Clark (approximately 2900 items) was compiled by John Charles Finzi and published as Oscar Wilde and his Literary Circle by the University of California Press |
Clifton, Arthur B. (Bellamy) |
1862 – 1932 |
Wilde’s solicitor and trustee about his bankruptcy lawyer, art dealer and partner of Robert Ross both running the Carfax Gallery (founded in 1898 by William Rothenstein, A. B. Clifton and John Fothergill) 17 Ryder St., St. James’s, London moving to 24 Bury Street in 1905 |
Valuable Printed Books, Important Literary Manuscripts, Autograph Letters, etc. … and A Very Remarkable Series of Manuscripts of Oscar Wilde, Sotheby’s, London, 3-4 April 1950 in the summer of 1892, Wilde gave Clifton and his wife Marjorie £120 so that they could get married |
Clifton, Madeline (née Knox) |
1890 – 1975 |
artist second wife of Arthur B. Clifton (his first wife was ?Marjorie Clifton) |
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Cohen, Philip K. |
b. 1943 |
rare-book collector, scholar (The Moral Vision of Oscar Wilde, 1978) Falls Church, Va. |
Oscar Wilde & His Circle: The [Philip] Cohen Collection, Part 1, Maggs Bros. Ltd, no 1512, London, 2021 |
Colbeck, Norman |
1903 – 1988 |
bookseller and collector 92 Great Russell St., London Sutton St., Soho Square from 1929: 37 Catherine St., Salisbury, UK 54 Ophir St., Bournemouth, UK later: 42 Ophir St. emigrated to Canada in 1967 |
A Bookman’s Catalogue: The Norman Colbeck Collection of Nineteenth-Century and Edwardian Poetry and Belles-Lettres, 2 vols., University of British Columbia, Vancouver, 1987 in 1967 the University of British Columbia acquired his collection of 50,000 books and manuscripts |
Cortes, Noel L. |
1907 – 1975 |
painter, New York collector |
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Cummins, James |
est. 1978 |
bookseller, rare books, autographs, manuscripts founded in 1978 667 Madison Ave., New York, N.Y. 699 Madison Ave. |
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Davis & Orioli |
1913 – 1965 |
art and rare-book dealers J. Irving Davis (1889 – 1967) Giuseppe Orioli (1884 – 1942) est. 1913 20 New End, London, N.W. 3 |
the residue of Davis’ stock was offered by Sotheby’s in 1968-1969 (principal sale on 2 December 1968, 305 lots); the remainder was sold there on 2 April 1985 (519 lots) |
De Coppet, André |
1892 – 1953 |
Swiss-American broker in 1916 he inherited a position in the family stock exchange firm of “De Coppet & Doremus“ (till1943) collector of manuscripts, books and documents New York and Lausanne, Switzerland |
Catalogue of the André de Coppet Collection, Part VI, Sotheby’s, London, 28-29 May 1956 through the 1920s and 1930s, De Coppet amassed a significant collection of European and American manuscripts, which were bequeathed to universities upon his death in 1953 (e.g. Princeton) |
De Ricci, Seymour |
1881 – 1942 |
historian, bibliographer, philologist, author |
agent for William Andrews Clark at the Dulau sale, 1928/9 |
Dickens, Ethel |
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“Miss Dickens’s Type Writing Office“ 3 Tavistock Street, Wellington Street, Strand, London, WC moved to 21 Tavistock Street in 1896 by December 1900 she moved back to 3 Tavistock Street |
“One of her [Mrs Marshall’s] best pupils, Ethel Dickens (granddaughter of the novelist), … opened her own successful business in Wellington Street, above the offices of Dickens’s old magazine All the Year Round; she became George Alexander’s regular typist. MIss Dickens used exclusively the American-made Remington typewriter. Ethel Dickens maintained a standard of quality that included the practice of proof-reading every document before it left her office – a habit she learned undoubtedly from her mentor Mrs Marshall.“ |
Dickson, Sarah Augusta, Dr. |
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editor, librarian curator of the Arents Collection, New York Public Library |
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Dillingham, Charles B. |
1868 – 1934 |
theatre manager New York, N.Y. associate of Charles Frohman |
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Dobell, Bertram |
1842 – 1914 |
bookseller, poet est. 1876 from 1914 to 1945, “P. J. & A. E. Dobell“ [Percy and Arthur, Dobell’s sons] 54 & 77 Charing Cross Rd, London, W.C. |
Catalogue of Books Printed for Private Circulation, Collected by Bertram Dobell, London, published by the author, 1906 |
Dodd, Mead & Co |
est. 1839 |
American publishers and booksellers est. 1839 “Rare Book Department“ 149-151 and 372 Fifth Ave., New York, N.Y. “Dodd & Livingston Rare Books“ 1910-1917: 4th Ave. 13th Street, New York, N.Y. |
between 1880 and 1910 one of the largest rare-book dealers in the US “They took some copies of Osgood, McIllvain’s edition (1891) [The House of Pomegranates] and published them in America early in 1892. They had already published the American edition of Intentions.“ |
Dolan, Winifred |
1867 – 1958 |
actress secretary and typist working as an assistant to George Alexander 1 Hurlingham Mansions, Fulham, London, S.W. |
typist of the manuscript of The Importance of Being Earnest in1898 “… by Oct. 1891 she was employed as an understudy by actor-manager George Alexander, at the St. James’s Theatre in London; her first credited role was the following year as the maid, Rosalie, in the premiere of Lady Windermere’s Fan. From this point she worked for Alexander and other West End and touring managers for over a decade.“ |
Douglas, Sir George |
1856 – 1935 |
Scottish poet and writer |
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Drake, James F. |
1863 – 1933 |
bookseller, rare books, autographs, manuscripts, first editions. started working for Dodd, Mead & Co. in 1882, leaving in 1900 opened his own shop in 1905, the “Association Book Company“ James F. Drake Inc. (est. 1911) 24 West 40th Street, New York, N.Y. 14 West 40th Street 4 West 40th Street (1921) |
chief agent for Henry A. Huntington at the 1923 John Quinn sale played a major role in developing the George Arents Tobacco Collection of the New York Public Library his London agent was Stevens & Brown (see below Stevens, B. F.) after his death succeeded by his sons James and Marston the firm closed on 31 Dec. 1965 James F. Drake Inc. Collection, Humanities Research Center, University of Texas, Austin |
Dreier, Katherine S. |
1877 – 1952 |
American artist, lecturer, patron of arts, suffragette New York, N.Y. |
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Dulau & Co. Ltd.. |
1792 – 1921 |
bookseller, publisher founded in 1792 by Arnauld B. Dulau, est. 1794 37 Soho Sq., London, W. 34-36 Margaret Street, London, W. 1 32 Old Bond Street, London W. 1 taken over in 1921 by Chaundy, Chaundy, Cox |
A Collection of Original Manuscripts, Letters & Books of Oscar Wilde … Formerly in the Possession of Robert Ross, C.S. Millard (Stuart Mason) and the Younger Son of Oscar Wilde, London, Dulau & Company [1928]: “The manuscripts, it is stated by Messrs. Dulau. of Old Bond Street, the firm disposing of them, will be kept intact until the end of January, in case’ any collector wishes to acquire them as a whole.“ Robert Ross Memorial Collection, University College, Oxford |
Eccles, David MacAdam, Viscount Eccles |
1904 – 1999 |
book collector, politician husband of Mary Hyde / Lady Eccles Minister of Works (1951-1954) Minister of Education (1954-1957) … Minister for the Arts (1970-1973) |
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Eccles, Mary, Viscountess |
1912 – 2003 |
(see Hyde, Mary) |
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Edwards, Francis Ltd. |
1855 – 1989 |
rare-book dealer, a. o. of “Colonial Literature & Remainders“ founded in 1855 83 High Street, Marylebone, London W. 1 |
succeeded by Herbert Edwards the business was sold in 1979 |
Edwards, J. O. [James Owen] |
b. 1943 |
collector and bibliophile chairman and CEO of ICF Kaiser International, Inc. Potomac, Md. |
assembled his Wilde collection between 1987 and 1999, sold his collection to Rick Gekoski, who sold it to John Simpson whose Wilde collection was then sold at Sotheby’s in October 2004 |
El Dieff, House of |
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(see Feldman, Lew D.) |
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Elliott, Geoffrey and Fay |
1939 – 2021 (G.) 1935 – 2020 (F.)
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London and Wall Street investment banker art lovers and collectors Trustee of the Morgan Library and Museum, New York, N.Y. the Elliotts moved to Bermuda in 1990 |
the Elliots began collecting the work of Oscar Wilde in the late 1970s with the intention of acquiring items worthy of any collection in the world, in the knowledge that they could not rival longer-established Wilde collections in size. In the 1980s and 1990s, collecting Wilde was a central theme for the Elliotts, the most striking purchase being the autograph manuscript of his second play The Duchess of Padua in 1993 |
Fales, DeCoursey |
1888 – 1966 |
banker collector and bibliophile |
established the Fales Library of Manuscripts and Books at the New York University in 1957, in memory of his father, Haliburton Fales |
Fales, Haliburton, 2nd |
1919 – 2015 |
lawyer son of Decoursey Fales president of the Pierpont Morgan Library, New York, 1981 – 2015 |
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Mrs Farebrother |
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5 Upper Bredford Place, London, W.C. (changed to Bredford Way, between 1 Jan. 1936 and 1 July 1939) |
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Feldman, Lew D. [David] |
1906 – 1976 |
rare-book dealer and manuscript collector founder (1937) and head of “The House of El Dieff“ [made up from his initials L. D. F.] East 51st St., New York, N.Y. later, 139 East 63rd St. |
“… he was largely instrumental in building the unsurpassed collection of the University of Texas. He also helped to enlarge the contents at the Berg Collection of the New York Public Library and the libraries of many private collectors.“ bought the Wilde collection of H. Montgomery Hyde for Mary and Donald Hyde in 1962 |
Fleming, John F. [Francis] |
1910 – 1987 |
book dealer worked his way from clerk to manager to vice-president (1948) of the Rosenbach company “John F. Fleming Rare Book Company“ 322 East 57th St., New York, N.Y.
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Printed Books and Manuscripts from the Estate of John E. Fleming, Christie’s, New York, Nov. 18, 1988 agent for Dr. Rosenbach, later his successor co-author with Edwin Wolf II: Rosenbach – A Biography (1960) at Parke-Bernet, January 1947, John Fleming, [Rosenbach’s] right hand, bought for him The Whole Booke of Psalmes Faithfully Translated into English Metre (Bay Psalm Book) for $151.000 (the equivalent of 30 Cadillacs, as a lady in the auction room exclaimed) at the sale of the Prescott Collection, Christie’s, February 1981: “Fleming bought most of the other Wilde autographs as well [besides the typescript of The Importance of Being Earnest], except for a couple that went to Jonathan Hill, who was seated next to a representative of the Clark Library in Los Angeles.“ |
Fletcher, C. [Constance] & I. K. [Ifan Kyrle], Ltd. |
1905 – 1969 (I.K.)) |
antiquarian and theatrical booksellers and dealers in manuscripts (I. K.) bibliographer and writer, particularly on dance and the theatre they married in 1929 22 Buckingham Gate, London S.W. 1 12 Lansdowne Road, London S.W. 20 |
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Forbes-Robertson, Johnson |
1853 – 1937 |
English actor-manager elder brother of Norman Forbes-Robertson |
Catalogue of Valuable Printed Books, Autograph Letters and Historical Documents, etc. … The Property of Lady Forbes-Robertson, Sotheby’s, London, 15-16 May 1939 |
Forbes-Robertson, Norman |
1859 – 1932 |
actor and dramatist younger brother of Johnson Forbes-Robertson |
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French, Samuel |
1821 – 1898 |
pioneered in the field of theatrical publishing and the licensing of plays. founder of Samuel French Inc., New York, 1854, and later, together with Thomas Hailes Lacy, Samuel French Ltd., London 89 Strand, London |
in 2018 acquired by Concord Music |
Frohman, Daniel |
1851 – 1940 |
American producer and impresario president of the Actors Fund of America elder brother of Charles Frohman |
Daniel Frohman produced An Ideal Husband at the Lyceum, New York, March 12, 1895 |
Frohman, Charles |
1860 – 1915 |
American producer and impresario died in the submarine-struck Lusitania. |
Charles Frohman sponsored an American tour of Lady Windermere’s Fan ([October] 1893) and the New York production of The Importance of Being Earnest controlled the American rights of Lady Windermere’s Fan “George Bernard Shaw called him The Napoleon of the Theatre.“ “His theatre company was later taken over by Paramount.“ Frohman’s theatre collection went via Charles Dillingham (his partner) to R.H.Burnside when working together at the Hippodrome, New York. |
Frost, Donald McKay |
1877 – 1958 |
lawyer collector of Western American and English literature of the 1890s Boston, Mass. |
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Gaige, Roscoe Crosby |
1882 – 1949 |
theater manager, scholar, book and manuscript collector, publisher Watch Hill Farm, Peekskill, N.Y. 229 West 42nd St., New York, N.Y. 30 Rockefeller Plaza |
Important First Editions, Rare Autographs and Beautiful Bindings … from the Collection of Crosby Gaige, New York, Union Art Galleries, New York, April 25-26, 1934 “WILDE LETTERS PURCHASED |
Garvan, Francis P. [Patrick] |
1875 – 1937 |
lawyer, government official, philanthropist “Garvan & Armstrong“ later “Osborne, Lambe & Garvan“ president of the Chemical Foundation, Inc., New York 654 Madison Ave., New York, N.Y. collector 740 Park Ave., New York, N.Y. |
The Mabel Brady Garvan Collection, Yale University Art Gallery The Garvan-Sheldon Collection, Yale University Library, Manuscripts and Archives
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Gaskell, C. G. [Charles George] Milnes |
1842 – 1919 |
lawyer, member of the Liberal Party home: Thornes House, Wakefield, UK, and Wenlock Abbey, |
A Catalogue of a Collection of Rare English Black-Letter Books, the Property of a Gentleman; Valuable Books from the Library of the late Rt. Hon. C. G. Milnes Gaskell, with Other Properties, Hodgson & Co, London, 26-27 June 1924 |
Gekoski, Rick A. |
b. 1944 |
rare-book dealer, publisher, writer started in 1982 13 Bathurst Mews, London, W2 2SB |
Catalogue of Rare Books, Offered for Sale from the Collection of Giles Gordon – Oscar Wilde, Aubrey Beardsley and the 1890s, R. A. Gekoski, London, no. 18, 1994 |
Gimbel, Richard A. (Colonel) |
1898 – 1970 |
American businessman grandson of Adam Gimbel, founder of Gimbels’ department stores, New York City, Philadelphia rare book and manuscript collector curator of aeronautical literature at the Yale University Library |
the company was purchased by the British American Tobacco subsidiary Brown & Williamson in 1973 |
Mrs Richard Gimbel [Julia Gimbel Millhiser] |
1902 – 1983 |
wife of Richard Gimbel (née Julia de Fernex Millhiser) |
donated several Wilde mss to the Free Library of Philadelphia (“Salomé“, “The Ballad of Reading Gaol“, notebook with drafts of poems) |
Glaenzer, Richard Butler |
1876 – 1937 |
poet, bibliophile, editor, writer on art 34 West 10th Street, New York, N.Y. |
Catalogue of the Library of Mr Richard Butler Glaenzer, The Merwin-Clayton Sales Company, New York, December 7, 1905 Two Hundred Books from the Library of Richard Glaenzer, The Anderson Auction Company, New York, November 28, 1911 |
Goodspeed (Charles E. [Eliot]) |
1867 – 1950 |
rare-book dealer, collector, publisher “Goodspeed’s Book Shop“ est. 1898 5A Park St,, Boston, Mass. 7 Beacon St. & 2 Milk St. 18 Beacon Street |
after Goodspeed’s death he was succeeded by his son George T. Goodspeed the firm closed in 1995 |
Gordon (George) |
? |
?book dealer, London |
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Gordon, Giles |
1940 – 2003 |
literary agent, writer, publisher, critic, book collector |
Catalogue of Rare Books, Offered for Sale from the Collection of Giles Gordon – Oscar Wilde, Aubrey Beardsley and the 1890s, R. A. Gekoski, London, no. 18, 1994 |
Gordon, John D. [Dozier] |
1907 – 1968 |
from 1940, curator of the Berg Collection, New York Public Library |
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Grasberger, George J. C. |
about 1887 – 1958 |
secretary and assistant salesman of A.S.W. Rosenbach, till 1916/1917 later: newspaper man and antiquarian Room 1137, Real Estate Trust Building, Broad and Chestnut St., Philadelphia, Pa. later: George J. C. Grasberger, Inc. 1500 Walnut Street, Philadelphia |
Catalogue of Autograph Letters & MSS – James McNeill Whistler … & Others, George Grasberger, Inc., Philadelphia [1924] buyer at the Hughes’ sale, AAA. April 16-18, 1923 |
Greene, Bella da Costa |
1879 – 1950 |
personal librarian to J. P. Morgan, Jr. and first director of the Pierpont Morgan Library, New York, a position she held for 24 years |
under her leadership, the Morgan Library took on a staff that was over 50% women, whilst also becoming an important centre for scholarly study of medieval manuscripts |
The Grolier Club |
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a private club and society of bibliophiles in New York founded in 1884 as a cooperative reference library its first president was Robert Hoe III 47 East 60th Street, New York, N.Y. |
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Groves, Charles J. |
?1878 – 1949 |
book collector Boston, Mass. |
Fine Books from the Library of Charles J. Groves of Boston, and from Other Consignors, Anderson Galleries, New York, Dec. 12-13, 1917 |
Haber, Ferdinand I. |
1881 – 1965 |
politician, lawyer son of Louis J. Haber New York, N.Y. |
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Haber, Louis J. |
1858 – 1947 |
rare book and manuscript collector member of the Grolier Club since 1885 owner of H. H. Upcam & Co., sign makers and commercial printers vice-president of the Young Men’s Hebrew Association of New York 508 West Broadway, New York, N.Y. |
The Library of Louis J. Haber of New York City, Part II, The Anderson Auction Company, New York, Dec. 7-8, 1909 “His library was sold for about $50,000 in 1909 at the Anderson Galleries.“ |
Hanley, T. E. [Thomas Edward] |
1893 – 1969 |
brick manufacturer, philanthropist rare book and manuscript collector Bradford, Pa. |
Hanley’s library was acquired by Harry Ransom (Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas, Austin, TX) in July 1958, a second portion, consisting mainly of manuscript collections, was purchased in 1964 “Jake [Schwartz] fed to Hanley nearly everything good that came his way: William Blake drawings and engravings, Whitman presentation copies, Shaw books, letters, manuscripts and memorabilia, Joyce, Wilde, Yeats, Dylan Thomas, both Lawrences, Pound, Eliot – the list is almost endless.“ |
Hart-Davis, Rupert |
1907 – 1999 |
British publisher, biographer Rupert Hart-Davis Ltd, founded in 1947 editor of The Letters of Oscar Wilde (1962), co-editor of The Complete Letters of Oscar Wilde, 2000 (together with Merlin Holland) |
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Harrington, Peter |
est. 1969 |
rare-book dealer started business in 1969, at The Antique Market, King’s Road, Chelsea, London Harrington Bros. (est. 1971) 100 Fulham Rd., London SW3 6HS 43 Dover St., London W1S 4FF |
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Hatchards & Co. |
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London’s oldest bookshop established in 1797 187 Piccadilly, London, W. 1 plus: St. Pancras station, next door to Fortnum and Mason (since 2014) |
Oscar Wilde used to buy books at Hatchards’ |
Hawtrey, Charles |
1858 – 1923 |
English actor-manager, theatre-owner brother of George Procter Hawtrey |
Hawtrey played Lord Goring in the first production of An Ideal Husband |
Hawtrey, George Procter |
1847 – 1910 |
English actor, playwright brother of Charles Hawtrey |
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Hedley, Arthur |
1905 – 1969 |
collector, musicologist, French teacher member of The Royal Musical Association editor of Selected Correspondence of Fryderyk Chopin (1962) |
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Heffer, William |
1843 – 1928 |
bookseller opened his first bookshop in 1876 104 Fitzroy St., Cambridge, UK “W. Heffers & Sons“ 3-4 Petty Cury since 1999 part of Blackwell’s 20-22 Trinity Street |
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Henderson, William |
1823 – 1889 |
actor, manager of the Standard Theatre (till 1883) 102 West 33rd St., New York, N.Y. |
most likely one of the recipients of the privately printed Vera; or, The Nihilists (1882) |
Henkels, Stan V. [Vincent] |
1854 – 1926 |
auctioneer, bookseller, cataloguer Henkels & Tripple, 1117 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, Pa. (1881-1882) Stan. V. Henkels & Co., 1117 Chestnut Street (1883-1886) chief auctioneer for Thomas Birch’s Sons, 1110 Chestnut Street (1890-1897) auctioneer for Davis & Harvey, 1212 Chestnut Street (1897-1898) auctioneer for Davis & Harvey, 1112 Walnut Street (1898-1908) auctioneer for Samuel T. Freeman & Co., 1519 & 1521 Chestnut Street (1908-1913) proprietor of Stan. V. Henkels & Son, 1304 Walnut Street (1924-1925) after his death the firm Stan. V. Henkels was relocated at 1110-1116 Sansom St from 1931-1934 the name of the firm changed to Stan. V. Henkels, Jr. |
|
Herrmann, Frank |
1927 – 2017 |
auctioneer “Bloomsbury Book Auctions“, London retired in 2002 |
|
Herzinger, Kim |
? |
book dealer, writer, lecturer, editor “Left Bank Books“ Greenwich Village, New York, N.Y. (after 2016 a new owner, at 41 Perry St.) |
|
Hill, Jonathan A. |
? |
bookseller Jonathan A. Hill Inc., founded in 1978 470 West End Avenue, New York, N.Y. 325 West End Avenue, Apt. 10B |
|
Hill, Walter M. |
1868 – 1952 |
rare-book dealer, publisher est. 1899 831-835 Marshall Field Building, 31 Washington Street, Chicago, Ill. 22 E. Washington St., Chicago 25 E. Washington St. (till 1941) |
born in Bristol, England, emigrated to America at the age of seventeen specialized in importing books from Europe John A. Spoor was one of his most important customers |
Hisao, Honma |
1886 – 1981 |
journalist, literary critic, professor for modern English literature at Waseda University, Tokyo
|
see Mason, Stuart, Oscar Wilde Scrapbooks 1-17 [-18], c. 1880 – , Honma Hisao Collection, Jissen Women’s University Institutional Repository, Hino, Tokyo translated De Profundis into Japanese |
Hodgson & Co. |
1807 – 1967 |
booksellers “Auctioneers of Libraries and Collections of Rare Books“ est. 1807 115 Chancery Lane, London (1863-1967) |
taken over by Sotheby’s in 1967 premises used for Sotheby’s book sales until 1981 today a wine bar and restaurant still known as the Hodgson’s Rooms |
Hoe, Robert III |
1839 – 1909 |
manuscript and rare-book collector businessman, manufacturer of printing presses, New York R. Hoe & Company, New York and London (till 1984) he and eight other bibliophiles founded the Grolier Club in 1884 Hoe was the club’s first president |
The Library of Robert Hoe, pt. II, L-Z, Anderson Auction Company, New York, Jan. 15-19, 1912 The library of Hoe was sold by The Anderson Galleries between April 1911 and November 1912, realizing $1,932,056, the richest American book auction at that time the catalogues were done by Arthur Swann, bibliographer many of his acquisitions came from Quaritch and Maggs, London |
Holland, Merlin |
b. 1945 |
author, journalist, editor literary executor of the Wilde estate grandson of Oscar Wilde, son of Vyvyan Holland co-editor of The Complete Letters of Oscar Wilde, 2000 (together with Rupert Hart-Davis) |
|
Holland, Vyvyan |
1886 – 1967 |
author and translator son of Oscar Wilde |
Vyvyan Holland succeeded Robert Ross as his father’s literary executor and administrator of the Wilde estate in 1918 |
Hornstein, J. [Joseph] |
|
bookseller 110, Victoria St., London, S.W. |
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Horowitz, Glenn |
b. ?1956 |
rare-book dealer 20 West 55 Street, New York, N.Y. (since 1992) |
|
Howe, Julia Ward |
1819 – 1910 |
American author, editor and reformer, advocate for women’s suffrage |
Rare and Valuable Autographs from the Correspondence of Julia Ward Howe and Dr. Samuel G. Howe, Anderson Galleries, New York, Dec. 20-21, 1917 Julia Ward Howe was one of the recipients of the privately printed Vera; or, The Nihilists (1882) |
Howe, W. T. H. [William Thomas Hildrup] |
1874 – 1939 |
collector of English and American literature and manuscripts Cincinnati, Ohio long time president of the American Book Company
|
the Howe collection was one of Berg’s founding collections in September 1940, one month before the donation of the Berg Collection to the New York Public Library, Dr. Berg purchased Howe’s collection of some 16,000 books and manuscripts Mitchell Kennerley directed Berg’s interest to the Howe collection in August 1940. On Nov. 13, 1940, the Howe library became officially a part of the Berg Collection. Kennerely was acting for Walter M. Hill, the well-known Chicago dealer, who represented Howe’s estate |
Howell, Warren R. |
1912 – 1984 |
rare-book dealer, publisher 434 Post St., San Francisco, Calif. fellow of the Pierpont Morgan Library president of the Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association of America (ABAA), 1976-1978
|
“An attorney for the John Crerar Library in Chicago charged Monday that a world-renowned West Coast book dealer was moved by greed to buy and resell valuable rare books and manuscripts that had been stolen from the library. Anton R. Valukas contended that Warren Howell, a rare-book dealer from San Francisco who died in 1984, bought 500 books and manuscripts that he should have known had been stolen from Crerar and then resold 200 of them at great profit between 1976 and 1980.“ |
Hughes, Colonel H.D. [Henry Douglas] |
1869 – ?1923 |
collector of rare books and art Hughes & Dier, banker and broker firm, specialized in mining stocks 1435 Walnut St., Philadelphia, Pa. one of the oldest and most influential members of the Philadelphia Stock Exchange (till1921) |
Books – Manuscripts – Drawings of Superlative Importance Acquired by or for a Noted Philadelphia Collector, American Art Association, New York, April 16-18, 1923 Hughes spent over $10,000 at the Stetson sale in 1920, via Rosenbach, bought originals of The Picture of Dorian Gray, The Importance of Being Earnest, An Ideal Husband, A Woman of No Importance, Lady Windermere’s Fan, Vera; or, The Nihilists, A Florentine Tragedy, The Sphinx, “The True Function and Value of Criticism“ |
Humphreys, Arthur L. |
1865 – 1946 |
bookseller, author, publisher, manager of Hatchards bookstore 187 Piccadilly, London |
in May 1895 he issued a privately printed edition of Wilde’s The Soul of Man under Socialism (50 copies) |
Huntington, Henry E. [Edwards] |
1850 – 1927 |
railroad and streetcar magnate art and book collector formed “the greatest private library in the world“ 1151 Oxford Rd., San Marino, Calif. 2 East 57th St., New York, N.Y. |
|
Hyde, Donald F. [Frizell] |
1909 – 1966 |
lawyer rare-book collector trustee of the New York Public Library Pierpont Morgan Library president of the Grolier Club, New York and the Bibliographical Society of America
|
Mary and Donald Hyde acquired the Oscar Wilde collection of H. Montgomery Hyde in 1962 Hyde bought from A.S.W. Rosenbach and Gabriel Wells |
Hyde, Mary, Viscountess Eccles |
1912 – 2003 |
rare book collector remarried to David Eccles, Viscount Eccles in 1984 |
Mary and Donald Hyde acquired the Oscar Wilde collection of H. Montgomery Hyde in 1962 her Wilde collection was bequeathed to the British Library in 2003 |
Hyde, H. Montgomery |
1907 – 1989 |
collector, author, historian, barrister, politician Wilde biographer |
H. Montgomery Hyde’s collection of Wildeana was acquired by Mary and Donald Hyde in 1962 and is now part of the Eccles Collection in the British Library |
Ingram, Bruce |
1877 – 1963 |
collector, editor editor of The English Illustrated Magazine {1899-1901}, The Sketch, and The Illustrated London News (1900 – 1963) |
his copy of Vera; or, The Nihilists (1880) was the presentation copy given by Wilde to Geneviève Ward, now part of the Eccles Collection, British Library |
Isman, Felix |
1873 – 1943 |
real estate dealer and theatrical entrepreneur, pioneer in the motion picture industry book and art collector (Cruikshank, Dickens, Wilde; Dürer, Rembrandt, Franz Hals, Delacroix, Millet, Corot, Daubigny, …) 1328 S. Penn Sq., Philadelphia. Pa. 112 East 83 Street, New York, N.Y. |
Isman was one one of the first American collectors of Wildeana and one of the earliest customers of A.S.W. Rosenbach. For him Rosenbach combed the London bookstores by mail for Wilde material. First it was the manuscript of The Importance of Being Earnest, then that of Vera; or The Nihilists, then eighteen first editions, all of them presentation copies, and finally anything of Wilde that Isman did not have [c. 1902] Felix Isman’s extensive Wilde collection was deposited as collateral for loans with his bankers, Wolf Brothers, for a note of $10,000. Their friend Abe Rosenbach knew he could dispose of that, and did so a little later for $18,000 to John Stetson |
Jackson, Richard Charles |
1851 – 1923 |
scholar, collector Bowyer Park, Camberwell, London Grosvenor Park, Camberwell, London |
close friend of Walter Pater said to be the original of Pater’s Marius the Epicurean |
Jacobs, J. [Josefine] |
? |
bookseller, publisher The Bibliophile Press est. 1900 149 Edgware Rd., London, W. |
publisher of Stuart Mason’s Oscar Wilde – Art and Morality, 1908 publisher of The Priest and the Acolyte, 1907 (with an introduction of Stuart Mason) Christopher Millard / Stuart Mason had joined Jacobs’ firm in the summer of 1907. He left in July 1908. |
Joseph, E. [Emmanuel] |
? |
firm, antiquarian booksellers (Jack and Sam Joseph) sons of Emmanuel Joseph, bookseller from 1876, Holywell Street, Strand, London moved to 48 Charing Cross Rd. in 1900 |
|
Karpeles, David |
b. 1936 |
mathematician, physicist, real estate investor founder and director of the Karpeles Manuscript Library Museums 21 W. Anapamu St., Santa Barbara, Calif. |
|
Kaufmann, Donald J. |
? |
collector of books 24 Cables Ave., Waterbury, Conn. |
in 1978 his Oscar Wilde collection was given to the Library of Congress, Washington, DC as a gift |
Kennerley, Mitchell |
1878 – 1950 |
bibliophile, publisher, auctioneer president of the Anderson Galleries from 1916 till 1929 co-founder of Parke-Bernet Galleries in 1937-8 |
friend of A.S.W. Rosenbach from 1894 till 1900 he worked for John Lane (after splitting with Elkin Mathews), first in London at the Bodley Head, then in New York, 140 Fifth Ave. started his own publishing firm in 1906 |
Keppel, Frederick |
1845 – 1912 |
Irish-born art and print dealer, bookseller, critic, publisher in 1862 he emigrated to Canada, in 1864 to Utica, N.Y. owner and founder of Frederick Keppel & Co. (1868-1940) 66 Beekman St., New York, N.Y. 243 Broadway 20 E 16th Street (for 20 years) from 1905, 4 E. 39th Street, then 6 E. 57th Street in 1940 Keppel & Co. merged with Arthur H. Harlow Co. Inc. The newly-formed Harlow, Keppel Co. moved to 670 Fifth Avenue |
Keppel had a close personal relationship with James McNeill Whistler |
Kern, Jerome D. |
1885 – 1945 |
composer, songwriter, collector
|
Kern wrote more than 700 songs, used in over 100 stage works, including such classics as “Ol’ Man River“, “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man“, “A Fine Romance“, “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes“, “The Song Is You“, “All the Things You Are“, “The Way You Look Tonight“, “Long Ago (and Far Away)“ and “Who?.“ his sale in 1929, realized $1,729,462 The Library of Jerome Kern, Part One, A-J, Anderson Galleries, New York, Jan. 7-10, 1929 The Library of Jerome Kern, Part Two, J-Z, Anderson Galleries, New York, Jan. 21-24, 1929 The Later Library of Jerome Kern – Important Literary Manuscripts and First Editions, Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York, Oct. 16, 1962 started to collect books around 1915 buying from A.S.W. Rosenbach, Gabriel Wells, Bernard Quaritch |
Kirby, Thomas E. [Ellis] |
1846 – 1924 |
art dealer, auctioneer one of three founders of the American Art Association (AAA) in 1883 in New York City managing director of the AAA for 40 years |
|
Koç, Ömer |
b. 1962 |
collector business magnate and president of the Koç Holding, Turkey’s largest group of companies Ankara, Turkey |
the Paris exhibition Oscar Wilde: Insolence Incarnate, 2016 “was the brainchild of the Turkish business magnate and collector Ömer Koç, who also financed it.“ |
Koch, Frederick R. [Robinson] |
1933 – 2020 |
collector of rare books and manuscripts, philanthropist New York, N.Y. |
Frederick R. Koch Collections: active with a range of arts and cultural organizations, including the Metropolitan Opera, the Royal Shakespeare Company, and Pierpont Morgan Library the Frederick R. Koch Foundation, est. 2020 |
Kraus, Hans Peter |
1907 – 1988 |
Austrian-born rare-book dealer emigrated to the United States in 1939 16 East 46th St., New York, N.Y. |
|
Lady Alexander (Florence Jane, née Théleur) |
1857/1858 – 1946 |
married to George Alexander in 1882 |
Catalogue of Valuable Printed Books, Fine Illuminated and Other Manuscripts, Autograph Letters, Historical Documents, Literary Manuscripts and Relics, Sotheby’s, London, 3-5 July 1933 |
Lane, I. Remsen |
[?1840 – 1910] |
Orange, N.J. |
Autograph Letters, Manuscripts and Documents … including the Collection of the late I. Remsen Lane, of Orange, N.J., Anderson Auction Company, New York, Jan. 26, 1914 Library of the late I. Remsen Lane, Anderson Galleries, New York, May 16-17, 1922 |
Lane, John |
1854 – 1925 |
publisher founded The Bodley Head together with Elkin Mathews in Oct. 1887, their partnership ended in August 1894 Vigo St., London |
Catalogue of Printed Books (…) Comprising a Selection from the Library of the late John Lane, Esq. of The Bodley Head, Vigo Street …, Sotheby’s, London, 6-7 July 1925 Mathews and Lane became Richard le Galliennes’s publishers in 1889, issuing a small volume of verse, entitled Volumes in Folio |
Lapham, Edwin Nathan |
1850 – ? |
rare-book and art collector Chicago, Ill. short-time president of the Merwin-Clayton Book Sales and Auction Company (till 1912) New York, N.Y. |
Catalogue of the Library of Edwin N. Lapham, Anderson Galleries, New York, Dec. 1-3, 1908 |
Ledger, Walter E. [Edwin] |
1862 – 1931 |
Wilde collector, bibliophile, bibliographer worked together with Christopher Sclater Millard for his Bibliography of Oscar Wilde founder of the Robert Ross Memorial Collection, University College, Oxford 45, Wilton Grove, Wimbledon, UK |
before meeting Millard he had been collecting editions of Salomé in all languages and preparing a bibliography of Salomé (see Collected Edition of Oscar Wilde, vol. XII, 2nd ed., Methuen, 1909) began collecting Wildeana in the 1890s in contact with Robert Ross since 1902 |
Leff, Jay C. |
1925 – 2000 |
art collector president of the Fayette Bank and Trust Co., Uniontown, Pa. (until 1986) |
First Editions – Fine Bindings, Modern French Illustrated Books, Art Reference Works, Illuminated Manuscripts. Collection of Jay C. Leff, Uniontown, Pa, Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York, Nov. 18, 1958 |
Le Gallienne, Eva |
1899 – 1991 |
daughter of Richard Le Gallienne actress, producer, director |
|
Le Gallienne, Richard |
1866 – 1947 |
English author, poet and critic friend of Oscar Wilde since 1888 chief reader for and first author of The Bodley Head, later one of the key-members settled in America in October 1900 before going back to England in 1926, then moving to France in 1927 |
A Catalogue of Select Books, Letters and Manuscripts from the Private Library of Richard Le Gallienne, The Anderson Auction Company, New York, June 5-7, 1905 |
Leon, Sir Herbert |
1850 – 1926 |
MP, Liberal Party Bletchley Park, Buckinghamshire, UK |
Catalogue of the Valuable Library formed by the late Sir Herbert Leon, BT., Sotheby’s, London, 19-21 July 1937 |
Leverson, Ada |
1862 – 1933 |
“the Sphinx“ – friend of Oscar Wilde sheltered Wilde in 1895 between his trials 2 Courtfield Gardens, South Kensington, London writer of parodies and satirical letters in Punch and Black and White in the nineties novelist after 1900 |
married Ernest Leverson in 1881 at the age of 19. The marriage broke up in 1905 |
Leverson, Ernest |
1851 – 1921 |
investor friend of Oscar Wilde Ada Leverson’s husband |
Wilde asked Leverson to lend him £500 for his legal expenses in March 1895 |
Lewis, William Luther |
1884 – 1952 |
English-born steel industrialist collector of rare books and manuscripts president of the Chicago Pneumatic Tool Company, New York (1946 – 1952) |
Kendall Jr., Lyle H., A Descriptive Catalogue of the W. L. Lewis Collection, Fort Worth, Texas Christian University, 1970 |
Lippincott, J. B. [Joshua Ballinger] |
1813 – 1886 |
founded the publishing company J. B. Lippincott & Co. in Philadelphia in 1836 publisher of “The Picture of Dorian Gray“ (1890) Lippincott opened their London office in 1875 at 16 (?36) Southampton Street in 1884 they moved to 15 Russell Street in 1886 to 10 Henrietta Street, Covent Garden later to 5 Henrietta Street then to 16 John St., Adelphi |
by the end of the 19th century, Lippincott was one of the largest and best-known publishers in the world Lippincott’s Monthly Magazine was published in America and England from 1868 to 1914 sold to Harper & Row in 1978 |
Livingston, Luther S. [Samuel] |
1864 – 1914 |
bookseller, bibliophile, bibliographer, scholar from 1893 cataloguer with Dodd, Mead & Co., later head of their Rare Book Department compiled the series of American Book Prices Current from 1895 to 1914, and the four volume Auction Prices of Books in 1905 “Dodd & Livingston Rare Books“ 4th Ave. 13th Street, New York, N.Y. |
Books, Autographs and Manuscripts of extreme Rarity from the Library of Mrs. Luther S. Livingston, Anderson Galleries, New York, March 5-6, 1923 “In 1914 Livingston was appointed Librarian of the Widener collection in the Harvard College Library. His death, after an illness extending over two years, came within four weeks after the time of his appointment.“ |
Louÿs, Pierre |
1870 – 1925 |
French poet and writer friend of Oscar Wilde |
Manuscrits de Pierre Louÿs, Catalogue de Manuscrits, L. Carteret, Paris, 14 Mai, 1926 |
Lowenherz, David H. |
b. 1951 |
rare book and autograph dealer founder and president of “Lion Hearts Autographs“ est. 1978 330 East, 38th St. New York, N.Y. |
|
Luyster Jr., S. B. [Samuel Britton] |
? |
bookseller, exporter and importer of British books (together with his brother Albert L. Luyster) S. B. Luyster & Co. 10 Silver St., Bloomsbury, London, W.C. 138 Fulton St., New York, N.Y. 79 Nassau St. from 1903 35 St. John St., Brooklyn |
|
MacKaye, James Morrison Steele |
1842 – 1894 |
American actor, dramatist, theatre manager |
MacKaye was one of the recipients of Vera; or, The Nihilists (1880) and of Vera; or, The Nihilists (1882) |
Madigan, Patrick F. [Francis] |
? |
book and autograph dealer, publisher est. his business in 1888 24 East 21st St., New York, N.Y. 501 Fifth Ave., 42nd St. 561 Fifth Ave.. 46th St. 12 West 47th St. 8 West 47 St. |
“His speciality is selling books signed by the author. He is one of the few men who realized Oscar Wilde’s importance at a time when no one paid much attention to this unfortunate poet. In the course of years he collected a mass of Oscar Wilde material, and he is now reaping the harvest.“ |
Madigan, Thomas F. |
1890 – 1936 |
book dealer, successor to Patrick F. Madigan “The Autograph Shop“ 8 West 47 St., New York, N.Y. 2 East 54th St. |
|
Maggs Bros. |
1853 – today |
bookseller “Fine and Rare Books, Prints and Autographs“ 159 Church St., Paddington, London, W. 109 Strand, London [1901-1918], later, 34 and 35 Conduit St. London, W. 1 [1918-1939], and 93 & 95 Rue la Boëtie, Paris later, 50 Berkeley Square, W. 1 (and 130 Boulevard Haussmann, Paris) later, 48 Bedford Square WC1B 3DR from 2016, 46 Curzon St., London, WiJ 7UH |
|
Marbury, Elizabeth |
1856 – 1933 |
theatrical and literary agent for Wilde in America, also representing G. B. Shaw New York, N.Y. |
Wilde first met Elizabeth Marbury on his lecture tour of America and Canada in 1882 M. worked closely with Charles Frohman a presentation copy of Lady Windermere’s Fan signed and inscribed by Wilde to Elizabeth Marbury was sold for $27,000 at Swann Auction Galleries, Nov. 13, 2018 to an unknown collector |
Marshall, Marion |
d. 1901 |
“Mrs Marshall’s Type Writing Office“ 27, Chancery Lane, London in 1887 moved to 126, Strand, London established the first typing agency in Britain |
“Having learned the craft and technique of operating the typewriter in 1883, Marian [sic] Marshall opened her typewriting business in Chancery Lane, and then moved to the Strand in 1887 in order to be more convenient for her largely theatrically connected clients. At a certain point she became Wilde’s exclusive typist, by which time she had a thriving company of ‘typewriter girls’.“ |
Mason, Jeremy |
b. 1950 |
bibliophile, collector London |
Oscar Wilde: A Man for Our Times – A Catalogue of Selected Items from the Collection of Jeremy Mason, London, Bonhams, 2021 |
Mason, Stuart |
|
(see Millard Christopher S.) |
|
Mathews, Elkin |
1851 – 1921 |
bookseller and publisher founded The Bodley Head together with John Lane in Oct. 1887, their partnership ended in August 1894 Vigo St., London |
A Catalogue of the Library of the late Elkin Mathews, Esq., Hodgson & Co., London, 26-28 April 1928 Mathews and Lane became Richard le Galliennes’s publishers in 1889, issuing a small volume of verse, entitled Volumes in Folio |
Meyer, Eugene I. [Isaac], Jr. |
1875 – 1959 |
collector brother of Mrs G. Blumenthal banker, owner of a New York Stock Exchange company (dissolved Sept. 1917) connected with J. P. Morgan publisher of the Washington Post (1933 – 1946), first president of the World Bank Group (June 1946 – Dec 1946) |
|
Meyerstein, E. H. W. (Edward Harry William) |
1889 – 1952 |
scholar, poet, novelist manuscript and book collector fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford assistant in the British Museum’s department of manuscripts (1913-1918) |
|
G. Michelmore & Co. |
? |
bookseller est. 1919 (- ?1936) 5 Royal Opera Arcade, Pall Mall, London S.W. 1 |
|
Millard, Christopher S. |
1872 – 1927 |
bibliographer of Oscar Wilde assistant editor Burlington Magazine rare book collector and antiquarian book dealer The Bungalow, 8, Abercorn Place, London, N.W. 8 |
Valuable Books and Manuscripts … First Editions of Modern Authors, Including a Collection, by and relating to, Oscar Wilde – The Property of Mr. C. S. Millard, M. A. …, Puttick and Simpson, London, 8-9 May 1907 A Collection of Original Manuscripts, Letters and Books of Oscar Wilde, including his letters written to Robert Ross from Reading Gaol and Unpublished Letters, Poems & Plays formerly in the possession of Robert Ross, C. S. Millard (Stuart Mason) and the younger son of Oscar Wilde, Dulau & Company [Catalogue 161], London, n. d. [1928] working closely together with Robert Ross as his (part-time) secretary published 16 catalogues between Dec. 1919 and Sept. 1927 “In October [1925] Christopher offered William Andrews Clark almost all of the Wildean material which he still possessed.“ |
Miller, Betty [Elizabeth Jane] Kern |
1918 – 1996 |
daughter of Jerome Kern Danville, Ky. |
|
Morgan, J. [John] Pierpont |
1837 – 1913 |
financier, banker founder of J. P. Morgan and Co. (1895) art and book collector 36th St., New York, N.Y. |
B. Quaritch was Morgan’s London agent |
Morgan, J. [John] Pierpont, Jr. |
1867 – 1943 |
banker, philanthropist, collector son of J. Pierpont Morgan New York, N.Y. |
in February 1924, Morgan made the Pierpont Morgan Library a public institution, as a memorial to his father, today The Morgan Library & Museum see also Greene, Bella da Costa |
Mosher, Thomas B. [Bird] |
1852 – 1923 |
American publisher started publishing in 1891 promoter of the British Pre-Raphaelites, Aesthetes, and Victorians Portland, Maine |
“pirate of Portland“ his books were banned from England a respected publisher of belles-lettres who took advantage of the absence of international copyright to reprint the work of English authors without permission – and often without payment |
Muehlstein, Herman |
1880 – 1962 |
collector of rare books, art and sculptures industrialist, philanthropist, rubber and plastic magnat, environmentalist H. Muehlstein & Co., Inc., est. 1911, as rubber recycler in Akron, Ohio president of the Rubber Trade Association 521 Fifth Ave., New York, N.Y. living at 60 Sutton Place South |
In 1955 Muehlstein made his first gift of rare books and first editions to The University of Akron. At the time of his death seven years later, the University received the remainder of his collection. |
Myers, Winifred A. |
1909 – 1985 |
collector, bookseller, autograph and antiquarian dealer est. 1889 (“Myers & Co.“) 12 Borough High St., and Holywell St., London “Albert I. Myers, Antiquarian Booksellers“ from 1901: 59 High Holborn from 1928: 102 New Bond Street from 1959: 80 New Bond Street “Winifred A. Myers (Autographs) Ltd.“ in the late 60s: Dover Street, and finally St Martin’s Lane president of the Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association (ABA), 1950-1952 |
|
Papantonio, Michael |
1907 – 1978 |
antiquarian book dealer, collector of American bindings opened his first shop in 1936 “Papantonio’s Bookshop“ 509 Madison Ave., New York, N.Y. “Seven Gables Bookshop“ (1946 – 1979) with his partner John S. van E. Kohn (formerly “Collector’s Bookshop“) 3 West 46 St., New York, N.Y. founding member of the Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association of America (ABAA), elected president in 1958 |
agent for William Luther Lewis |
Peters, Frederick E. |
? |
collector 26 Brunswick Square, Hove, Sussex |
|
Pickering & Chatto |
est. 1820 |
antiquarian bookseller, publisher “Old, Rare, First Editions“ Bloomsbury, London 66 Haymarket, London, S.W. 1 King Street, St. James, London, S.W. 1 17 Pall Mall, London SW1Y 5NB 36 St George Street, London W1R 9FA 1 ST Clement’s Court, London EC4N 7HB |
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Pitcher, William S. |
? |
Marin County, Calif. |
|
Poole, Ivor L. |
? |
bookseller, rare books, autographs, letters Ivor L. Poole Ltd. 104 Charing Cross Rd., London, W. C. 58 Gloucester Rd., London, S.W.7 |
|
Poor, Henry W. [William] |
1844 – 1915 |
banker, stockbroker book collector 777 Madison Ave., New York, N.Y. authority in railway matters Poor’s Railroad Manual |
Catalogue of the Library of Henry W. Poor, part III, Anderson Auction Company, New York, Jan. 12-14, 1909 the catalogues were done by Arthur Swann, bibliographer Henry E. Huntington bought about one third of the Poor library lost his fortune in the bankers’ panic / Knickerbocker crisis of 1907 and was forced to sell his library at auction |
Prescott, Marjorie Wiggin |
1893 – 1980 |
book, manuscript, furniture and art collector 30 Field Point Drive, Greenwich, Conn. Hobe Sound, Fla. purchased the bookshop Just Books Inc. (28 Arcadia Rd, Old Greenwich, Conn.) in 1959, sold it again in the 70s [?1978] |
The Prescott Collection: Printed Books and Manuscripts, including an extensive collection of books and manuscripts by Oscar Wilde, Christie, Manson & Woods, New York, February 6, 1981 her collection of 437 lots of books and manuscripts sold for $1.3 million her collection was formed between 1929 and 1965 by the early 1930s James F. Drake had become MWP’s primary dealer customer of A.S.W. Rosenbach since 1929 |
Prescott, Sherburne |
1886 – 1967 |
banker president of the Chase National / Manhattan Bank (retired in 1954) husband of Marjorie Wiggin Prescott |
|
Quaritch, Bernard |
1819 – 1899 |
German-born bookseller and bibliophile set off for London in 1842 Bernard Quaritch Ltd. opening his own bookshop at 16 Castle Street, Leicester Square, London (1847-1860) 15 Piccadilly (1860-1907) 11 Grafton Street, New Bond Street, London, W. 1 (1907- ?) 40 South Audley Street, London W1K 2PR 5-8 Lower John Street, London W1R 4AU since 2019: 36 Bedford Row, Bloomsbury, WC1R 4JH |
“I am desirous of becoming recognized as their London agent by all men outside of England who want books. The need of such an agent is frequently felt abroad by the heads of literary institutions, librarians, and book-lovers generally.“
|
Quaritch, Bernard Alfred |
1870 – 1913 |
antiquarian book dealer son of Bernard Quaritch one of the founding members of the Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association (ABA) in 1906
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friend of A.S.W. Rosenbach agent for The British Museum, the Government of India, the Society for Antiquaries, the Australian Museum, the Royal Society of Canada, the EgyptianExploration Fund, the Selden Society J. P. Morgan’s London agent, bought likewise for H. C. Folger, H. E. Huntington, Robert Hoe, Harry Elkins Widener Edmund Hunt Dring (1863-1928) became manager after B. A. Quaritch’s death, and from 1917 Managing Director when the business was converted into a Private Liability Company. He was succeeded by J. H. Wrentmore as Director, with F. S. Ferguson as Managing Director (retired in 1943). E. M. Dring, son of E.H. Dring, became managing director in 1960 (until 1990) now owned by book collector and investor John Koh |
Quinn, John |
1870 – 1924 |
manuscript, rare-book and art collector Irish-American lawyer New York, N.Y. |
The Library of John Quinn, part 5, Anderson Galleries, New York, March 17-20, 1924 Autograph Letters by Celebrated Authors … Sold by order of The National Bank of Commerce in New York and Maurice Leon, Surviving Executor of the Estate of John Quinn, Deceased, American Art Association, New York, Feb. 8-9, 1927 John Quinn Papers, Manuscripts and Archives Division. The New York Public Library. Astor, Lenox, and Tilden Foundations sale at Anderson Galleries between Nov. 1923 and March 1924: in the 1920s Quinn owned the largest single collection of modern European paintings in the world |
Ransom, Harry H. [Huntt] |
1908 – 1976 |
professor, dean, vice-president, provost, president of the University of Texas chancellor from 1961 to 1971 |
founded the Humanities Research Center of the University of Texas in 1957, which changed its name to the Harry Ransom Center in 1983 purchased the library of T. E. Hanley in 1958 for about $1 million bought from James F. Drake, El Dieff, Bertram Rota, House of Books, Kelleher |
Retz & Storm |
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rare-book dealer, publisher 598 Madison Avenue, New York, N.Y. |
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Richards, Grant |
1872 – 1948 |
publisher, writer started his first publishing house in 1897 at 9 Henrietta St., Covent Graden 48 Leicester Sq.. London “E. Grant Richards“ 7 Charlton St., London, S.W. “Grant Richards Ltd.“ 8 St. Martin’s St. from 1926, “Richards Press“ |
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Richardson, Frank |
1870 – 1917 |
journalist, critic, novelist |
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Richmond, Edward Dean |
1892 – 1933 |
investment banker book collector and philanthropist 575 Park Avenue, New York, N.Y. |
The Splendid Library formed by the late Edward Dean Richmond: A Remarkable Collection of Oscar Wilde – Manuscripts, First Editions, and Associated Items, American Art Association, Anderson Galleries, New York, Nov. 2-3, 1933 |
Rider, Dan J. [Daniel James] |
1869 – ? |
bookseller, author 36 St. Martin’s Court / Charing Cross Rd. London, W.C. in 1905 Rider took over from Charles Cannon (see above) |
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Rivière, Robert |
1808 – 1882 |
bookbinder, leather bindings trading dates 1829 – 1939 Bath (1829 – 1840) 28 Great Queen Street, London (1840 – 1856) Great Newport Street, Long Acre (1856 – 1861) 196 Piccadilly (1862 – 1881) “Rivière & Son“ 20 Broad Street, Bloomsbury (1882 – 1884) 29-33 Heddon St., Regent St., London, W. (1884 – 1939) |
Rivière bindings usually carry a stamp, “Bound by Riviere and Son“ Bayntun of Bath acquired Riviere c. 1930. in 1939 Bayntun and Riviere binderies were incorporated into a new set of premises on Manvers Street, Bath, UK |
Col. Robinson, Charles L. F. [Leonard Frost] |
1874 – 1916 |
book collector, financier, politician 1161 Prospect Ave., Hartford, Conn. president of the Colt Patent Firearms Company |
Catalogue of Rare Books Comprising the Valuable Library of the late Col. Charles L. F. Robinson, Anderson Galleries, New York, April 30 – May 1, 1917 |
Robson, Barthelomew |
1846 – 1928 |
bookseller, publisher est. 1870 at Castle St., Leiceister Sq., London Cranbourn St., Soho (1873) “Robson & Kerslake [later: Karslake]“ (from the 1880s) 23 Coventry Street, Piccadilly, London W “Robson & Co.“ (till 1918) “Robson Ltd.“ (1922) Hanover St. |
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Rosenbach, Dr. A.S.W. [Abraham Simon Wolf] |
1876 – 1952 |
rare-book dealer, bibliophile, and book collector with his brother Philip, A.S.W. Rosenbach started the Rosenbach Company in 1903, A.S.W. handling books and Philip the antiques first catalogue issued in March 1904 273 Madison Ave., New York, N.Y. 1320 Walnut St., Philadelphia, Pa. 2006 DeLancey Street 1618 Locust St. (1948) 4 West 40th St., New York, N.Y. (from 1914) 15 East 51 St. (1931) 322 East 57th St. (1948) |
“[Rosenbach] had just [1914 ] sold to Stetson for $14,300 the most sensational lot of Wilde material that had passed through his hands. It had come from Quaritch. Included in it were some manuscripts, proof sheets of The Ballad of Reading Gaol, letters to Wilde’s wife written before their marriage and the notorious ‘love letters’ from Oscar to his dear ‘Bosie,’ Lord Alfred Douglas. … They were the highlights of the Stetson collection, and were later among the William A. Clark, Jr’s., most prized possessions.“ “At the sale of the Stetson collection of Oscar Wilde at the end of April, 1920, Dr Rosenbach swept the board almost clean, taking virtually every item of real importance. He had been a Wilde enthusiast since his college days, when it was avant-garde to be mauve. His enthusiasm had been shared by Colonel H. D. Hughes of Philadelphia, who spent over $10,000 at the sale, wisely entrusting his bids to the Doctor. But if the dealer had been sure of his judgement in the spring, he for once lost some of that assurance by fall – and lost it a fortnight too soon. For $5700, in September, he turned over to Colonel Hughes the richest lot of Wilde manuscripts ever sold, the originals of The Picture of Dorian Gray, The Importance of Being Earnest, and An Ideal Husband, which he had bought for stock. When, two weeks later, William A. Clark, Jr. bought the notorious correspondence of Wilde with Lord Alfred Douglas, the “Dear Bosie“ letters, for $8690 the greatest Wilde collection in the world received its real impetus.“ since 1905 the latest A. S. W. Rosenbach systematically collected Oscar Wilde letters and manuscripts Rosenbach had a reputation for building great libraries for rich men friend of Mitchell Kennerley his clients: [Harry Elkins] Widener and the Widener family, Stetson, Earle, J. P. Morgan, [Henry C.] Folger, Huntington, Houghton, Rosenwald he saw his own role as keeping great books moving, increasing their value, getting them the care and preservation they deserved, and putting them in the hands of those who would most appreciate them named “the Napoleon of Books alias the Terror of the Auction Rooms or Rosy or Dr. R.“ the life-time total of his purchases is estimated to be worth more than $75,000,000 Henry Rham was Rosenbach’s official contact man inside Sotheby’s |
Rosenbach, Philip H. (Hyman) |
1863 – 1953 |
art collector elder brother of A.S.W. Rosenbach and his partner at the Rosenbach Company president of Rosenbach & Co.. |
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Rosenbach Company |
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founded June 22, 1903 1320 Walnut St., Philadelphia, Pa. 1618 Locust St. (1948) 4 West 40th St., New York, N.Y. (from 1914) 15 East 51 St. (1931) 322 East 57th St. (1948) |
founded by Philip and A.S.W. Rosenbach, Clement S. Bement and Joseph M. Fox. Bement and Fox left in 1915 |
The Rosenbach |
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founded in April 1954 |
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The Rosenbach of the Free Library of Philadelphia Foundation |
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2010 DeLancey Place, Philadelphia, Pa. |
in spring of 2013, the Free Library of Philadelphia and the Rosenbach Museum & Library agreed to merge, creating The Rosenbach of the Free Library of Philadelphia Foundation in December 2013 |
Rosenfield, Z. [Zerlina] and L. [Laura] |
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“Rosenfield Stenography and Typewriting“ six different offices in New York 71 Broadway (Empire State Building), formerly 66 Broadway, New York, N.Y. 44 Broad St. 27 Pine Street 49 West 28th Street 1440 Broadway 1402 Broadway |
the two sisters founded their business in 1889 and started in Gustave Frohman’s apartment-office at Madison Avenue and 20th Street the agency was taken over in 1939 by My E. Henley and Anne Green
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Rosenthal, Julia |
b. 1953 |
rare-book dealer, collector of Wildeana London |
Julia Rosenthal’s Wilde collection was acquired by the Library of Trinity College, Dublin, in 2011 |
Ross, Robert |
1869 – 1918 |
Canadian born journalist and art critic friend and literary executor of Oscar Wilde from 1901 to 1908, manager and part owner of the Carfax Gallery, 17 Ryder Street, London (founded in 1898 by William Rothenstein, Arthur Bellamy Clifton and John Fothergill) Hornton Street, London 15 Vicarage Gardens, Kensington, London 13 Lower Grosvenor Gardens 40 Half Moon Street |
Valuable Books, Autograph Letters and Illuminated and Other Manuscripts, Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge, London, 27 July 1911 A Collection of Original Manuscripts, Letters and Books of Oscar Wilde, including his letters written to Robert Ross from Reading Gaol and Unpublished Letters, Poems & Plays formerly in the possession of Robert Ross, C. S. Millard (Stuart Mason) and the younger son of Oscar Wilde, Dulau & Company [Catalogue 161], London, n. d. [1928] Ross administered the estate for Wilde’s sons, Cyril and Vyvyan Holland. Vyvyan Holland took over the estate after Ross’s death in 1918. |
Rota, Bertram |
1903 – 1966 |
bookseller great nephew of Bertram Dobell (s. above) Bertram Rota Ltd. est. 1923 Davies Street, London (1927-1934) Old Burlington Street (1934-1937) Bodley House, Vigo Street (1937-1965, formerly the office of John Lane) 4-6 Savile Row, London W1 (1965-1977) 30-31 Long Acre, Covent Garden, London WC2E 9LT |
in 2019 the firm’s archive, comprising correspondence with authors, literary agents and publishers, largely concerning the selling of their archives, has been found a permanent home at the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas |
Rothchild, Herbert L. [Lionel] |
1881 – 1935 |
lawyer, early motion picture exhibitor, book and manuscript collector San Francisco, Calif. |
The Private Library of Herbert L. Rothchild of San Francisco, California – Exceptionally Complete Series of First Editions of XIXth and XXth Century Writers, Inscribed Volumes and Original Manuscripts, American Art Association, New York, April 30, May 1-2, 1924 |
Sabin, Joseph F. [Fred] |
1846 – 1926 |
antiquarian bookseller [22] Pine St., New York, N.Y. 80 Nassau St. |
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Sabin, Percy J. [Joseph] |
1872 – 1934 |
antiquarian bookseller son of Joseph F. Sabin and his successor |
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Sabin, Frank |
? |
bookseller 172 New Bond Street, London father of Frank T. Sabin |
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Sabin, Frank T. [Thomas] |
b. ? – 1915 |
rare book and autograph dealer son of Frank Sabin “Fine and Rare Books, Autographs“ 118 Shaftesbury Avenue, London, W. C. (1896) 172 New Bond St., London, W. (1926) 46 Albermarle Street, Mayfair, London W1S 4JN |
Frank Sabin had two sons, Frank M. [Marshall] and Stanley “The relationship between Rosenbach and Sabin was a marriage de convenance; neither partner liked the other, but Sabin was Rosenbach’s richest source of supply and Rosenbach was Sabin’s best customer. After the outbreak of war [1914], the London dealer was happy to ship over the best of his stock ‘on tick.’“ |
Sachs, Howard J. [Joseph] |
1891 – 1969 |
investment banker, broker collector partner of Goldman, Sachs & Co., 1915 – 1963 New York, N.Y. Stamford, Conn. |
Rare First Editions, Autograph Letters, Manuscripts … The Distinguished Library of Howard J. Sachs, Stamford, Conn., Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York, Feb. 1, 1944 customer of A.S.W. Rosenbach |
Sadleir, Michael |
1888 – 1957 |
British publisher, scholar, novelist, book collector, bibliographer born Michael Thomas Harvey Sadler Througham Court, Blisley, Gloucestershire, UK (1929-1949) Willow Fram, Oakley Green, Berkshire, UK president of the Bibliographical Society, 1944 – 1946 London |
Valuable Printed Books, Important Literary Manuscripts, Autograph Letters, etc. … and A Very Remarkable Series of Manuscripts of Oscar Wilde, Sotheby’s, London, 3-4 April 1950 Catalogue of Printed Books, Autograph Letters & Historical Documents, … The Property of Michael Sadlier [sic], Esq., Sotheby’s, London, 4-6 April, 1955 Catalogue of First Editions in English Literature, Private Press Books and Bibliography: The Property of the late Michael Sadleir, Esq., Sotheby’s, London, 17-18 November 1958 son of Sir Michael Ernest Sadler (1861-1943), Master of University College, Oxford (1923 to 1934) |
Sangorski & Sutcliffe |
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bookbinders Frances Sangorski (1875 – 1912) and George Sutcliffe (1878 – 1943) well known for their exquisitely decadent bindings est. 1901 1-5, Poland St., Oxford St., London, W. 1 |
in 1988, both Sangorski & Sutcliffe and Zaehnsdorf bindery were bought by Asprey trading, merged, and rebranded as SSZ Limited – Shepards bookbinding purchased SSZ Limited and revived the individual bookbinding brands with their former names |
Schermerhorn, J. Maus |
1847 – 1927 |
New York, N.Y. |
Books and Autographs from the Collections of Mrs Henry P. Quincy, of Boston, Mr J. Maus Schermerhorn, of New York, and from Other Collections, Anderson Auction Company, New York, May 25-26, 1914 |
Schiff, Mortimer L. [Loeb] |
1877 – 1931 |
banker rare-book and art collector partner of Kuhn, Loeb & Co. (1900-1931) 932 Fifth Ave., New York, N.Y. Oyster Bay, Long Island, N.Y. 5th president of the Boy Scouts of America |
Catalogue of a Selected Portion of the Famous Library Principally of Fine Bindings, Rare Engravings, Illustrated Books and French Literature Formed by the late Mortimer L. Schiff, Esq., and now sold by order of John Mortimer Schiff Esq. of New York City, Sotheby’s, London 23 March, 1938 Catalogue of the Second Portion of the Famous Library Principally of Fine Bindings, Rare Engravings, Illustrated Books and French Literature Formed by the late Mortimer L. Schiff, Esq., and now sold by order of John Mortimer Schiff Esq. of New York City, Sotheby’s, London, 5-7 July 1938 Catalogue of the Third and Final Portion of the Famous Library Principally of Fine Bindings, Rare Engravings, Illustrated Books and French Literature Formed by the late Mortimer L. Schiff, Esq. of New York City, and now sold by order of John Mortimer Schiff Esq. of New York City, Sotheby’s, London, 9 December, 1938 part of his Wilde collection went to Mary and Donald Hyde |
Schwartz, Jacob (Jake) |
1899 – ?late 1960s |
American-born rare-book and manuscript dealer, bibliographer, publisher by 1930, “Ulysses Bookshop“, 20 Bloomsbury St., London, W.C. 1 13 Chichester Terrace, Brighton, UK |
one of his principal customers was T. E, Hanley |
Scott, Temple |
1864 – 1939 |
British-born rare-book dealer, writer, editor, publisher, bibliographer in the early 1900s, founded the Scott-Thaw Publishing Co. 542 Fifth Ave., New York, N.Y. from 1907 – 1918, in charge of the publishing department of Brentano’s |
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Shapero, Bernard J. |
est. 1979 |
rare-book dealer began dealing in rare books in 1979 from a stall in Gray’s Antique Market (near Bond St., London), moving to Holland Park Avenue in 1986 and Mayfair in 1996 32 St George Street, Mayfair, London, W1S 2EA “Shapero Rare Books“ (sold to Blackwell Publishing in 2007) Shapero Rare Books Ltd. 106 New Bond Street, Mayfair, London, W1S 1DN |
Oscar Wilde – A Collection, Bernard Shapero, London, 1989 The 1890s, Shapero Rare Books, London, Oct. 2021 |
Simpson, John |
b. 1943 |
British collector CEO Mayflower Corporation (buses, components for wind farms, supplied companies such as MG Rover) left in March 2004 (former prime ministerJohn Major used to sit on the board as part-time director) |
Oscar Wilde, Sotheby’s, London, 29 Oct. 2004 |
Sims, George F. [Frederick] |
1923 – 1999 |
antiquarian bookseller, first editions, letters, manuscripts; writer, publisher started his business in 1948 primarily a mail-order bookseller “G. F. Sims Rare Books“ Hurst, Reading, Berkshire, UK ended his career in 1987 |
over ten years Sims bought regularly from Vyvyan Holland “Some of the things V. H. sold to me had been given to him by various friends including Robert Ross, H. G. Wells, C. S. Millard and Charles Scott Moncrieff. Quite a number of books in his library had come from the collection of Edward Heron-Allen who had been a friend of Oscar Wilde and (reputedly) in love with Constance before becoming a friend of their son.“ |
Smith, George D. [Dallas] |
1870 – 1920 |
bookseller started as a stock boy for Dodd, Mead and Co. opened his first shop in 1895, 69 Fourth Ave., New York, N.Y. later, 4 East 42nd St. later, 50 New St. from 1910, 48 Wall St. later, 547 Fifth Av. later, 8 East 45th St. Henry E. Huntington’s agent and chief adviser |
bought nearly one-third of Henry Poor’s library in 1908/9 and about half of Robert Hoe’s library in 1911/2 for Henry E. Huntington “king“ of the American dealers in the pre-Rosenbach era |
Smithers, Leonard |
1861 – 1907 |
publisher, book dealer first: 174 Wardour St., London 1895: 1 Arundel St., Strand by the end of 1896: 4 & 5 Royal Arcade, Old Bond St. |
published Wilde’s The Ballad of Reading Goal (1898), An Ideal Husband (1899), and The Importance of Being Earnest (1899) “What is certain is that Smithers then became associated with a man name Alfred Cooper who traded as “Wright and Jones“ [see below]. After Wilde’s death, on the 30th November 1900, Smithers and Cooper were jointly responsible for issuing many pirated editions of Wilde’s work.“ |
Sotheran’s |
1761 – today |
antiquarian bookseller Henry Sotheran Ltd. from 1856: 136-140 Strand (formerly the head office of W. H. Smith & Son) from the late 1860s: branch at 36 Piccadilly, London from 1880: branch at 49 Cross St., Manchester from 1936 till today: 2 Sackville Street, Mayfair, London W1S 3DP |
founded 1761 in York est. 1815, by Thomas Southern, Little Tower Street, London
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Spencer, Walter T. |
1863 – 1936 |
bookseller est. 1884 27 New Oxford Street, London, W.C. 1 |
Spencer, Walter T., Forty Years in My Bookshop, London, Constable & Company Ltd., 1923 “one of the most celebrated bookshops in London“ |
Spiegelberg, Frederick |
1863 – 1937 |
judge, writer, collector 25 East 77th St., New York, N.Y. |
Early English Literature, Incunabula and Americana … – The Splendid Library of the late Honorable Frederick Spiegelberg, American Art Association, Anderson Galleries, New York, Nov. 3-4, 1937 auction result $27,137 |
Spohr, Max |
1850 – 1905 |
bookseller, publisher est. 1881 Kaiser-Wilhelm-Straße 37 (today August-Bebel-Straße), Leipzig from 1904, Moritzstraße 10 later, Sidonienstraße 62 (today, Paul-Gruner-Straße) Leipzig, Germany |
1942 saw the end of publishing activities, and the company was deleted from the commercial register in 1951 |
Spoor, John A. [Alden] |
1851 – 1926 |
businessman (rail transportation, banking, industrial development, and the livestock industry) bookcollector president and chairman of the board of directors of the “Chicago Junction Railway Company“ and the “Union Stock Yards and Transit Company“, Chicago, Ill. |
First editions of English XVIII-XIX Century and American XIX Century Authors, Autograph Letters and Manuscripts – The Renowned Library of the late John A. Spoor, Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York, April 26-8, May 3-5, 1939 Spoor dealt chiefly with the book dealers Stevens and Brown, London, and Walter Hill, Chicago |
Stetson, John |
1836 – 1896 |
theatrical impresario, producer, manager managed different theaters in Boston, Mass. (Howard Athenæum, Olympic, Globe, Park) and in New York, N.Y. (Fifth Avenue Theater, Standard, Star) |
his idea was to bring European stars to the U. S. and pair them with American troupes booked Sarah Bernhardt for the Globe Theatre in December 1880 |
Stetson Jr., John B. [Batterson] |
1884 – 1952 |
diplomat, businessman book collector, Elkins Park, Philadelphia, Pa. customer of A. S. W. Rosenbach since 1909 pilot in the US Army Air force from 1917-1920 U.S. Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Finland and then Poland, Ambassador to Poland (1925 – 1 Jan. 1930) son of J. B. Stetson, the founder of the hat manufacturing company in Philadelphia |
“With a decline of the family fortunes, Steson had to retrench and sell the Wilde materials.“ The Oscar Wilde Collection of John B. Stetson Jr., Anderson Galleries, New York, April 23, 1920, 423 lots [no Wilde-items were sold at two further Stetson sales in April 1935 and April 1953] Felix Isman’s extensive Wilde collection was deposited as collateral for loans with his bankers, Wolf Brothers, for a note of $10,000 [?in 1909]. Their friend Abe Rosenbach knew he could dispose of that, and did so a little later for $18,000 to John Stetson. This was “the real meat“ of the Stetson Wilde collection which was later sold at auction and which is now a distinguished part of the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library in Los Angeles. “In 1910, working through Rosenbach, he bought an extensive collection of Oscar Wilde first editions …“ “[Rosenbach] had just [1914 ] sold to Stetson for $14,300 the most sensational lot of Wilde material that had passed through his hands. It had come from Quaritch. Included in it were some manuscripts, proof sheets of The Ballad of Reading Gaol, letters to Wilde’s wife written before their marriage and the notorious ‘love letters’ from Oscar to his dear ‘Bosie,’ Lord Alfred Douglas. … They were the highlights of the Stetson collection, and were later among the William A. Clark, Jr’s., most prized possessions.“ Stetson was largest investor for the Anderson Galleries in 1915 (when the name was changed back from Anderson Auction Company) “At the sale of the Stetson collection of Oscar Wilde at the end of April, 1920, Dr Rosenbach swept the board almost clean, taking virtually every item of real importance. He had been a Wilde enthusiast since his college days, when it was avant-garde to be mauve. His enthusiasm had been shared by Colonel H. D. Hughes of Philadelphia, who spent over $10,000 at the sale, wisely entrusting his bids to the Doctor. But if the dealer had been sure of his judgement in the spring, he for once lost some of that assurance by fall – and lost it a fortnight too soon. For $5700, in September, he turned over to Colonel Hughes the richest lot of Wilde manuscripts ever sold, the originals of The Picture of Dorian Gray, The Importance of Being Earnest, and An Ideal Husband, which he had bought for stock. When, two weeks later, William A. Clark, Jr. bought the notorious correspondence of Wilde with Lord Alfred Douglas, the “Dear Bosie“ letters, for $8690 the greatest Wilde collection in the world received its real impetus.“ |
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“This collection was said to have been formed with the avowed intention of writing a ‘Life,’ but the pressure of other interests of the owner made this impossible.“ |
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Stetson Sale, April, 23, 1920: “Total price amended to £46,870“ [sic, must read $46,870] (see Robert Ross Collection, Oxford, Ross Env. d.222) “473 [sic, must read 423] lots brought $46,686“ (Bruccoli, p. 135) “473 [sic] lots brought $46,686“ (Publishers’ Weekly, May 1, 1920, p. 1403) £9,360 (The Bookman’s Journal and Print Collector, vol. II, no. 27, April 30, 1920, p. 11) |
Stevens, Henry [III.] |
1879 – 1961 |
son of Henry Newton Stevens in 1907 he became partner of “Henry Stevens, Son & Stiles“ London |
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Stevens, Henry Newton |
1855 – 1930 |
rare-book dealer son of Henry Stevens “Henry Stevens & Son“ est. 1885 115 St. Martin’s Lane, London from 1888, 39 Great Russell St. in 1895 he became head of “Henry Stevens, Son & Stiles“ (together with Robert Edward Stiles, 1869 – 1937) in 1907 he became first president of the Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association (ABA) |
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Stevens, B. F. [Benjamin Franklin] & Brown |
1833 – 1902 |
bibliographer, literary agent younger brother of Henry Stevens followed his brother to London in 1864 forming “B. F. Stevens & Brown Ltd.“ “American Library & Literary Agents“ 4 Trafalgar Square, Charing Cross, London, W.C. 2 28-30 Little Russell St., W. C. 1 and 27 Park Lane, W: 1 |
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Stevens, Henry |
1819 – 1886 |
American bookseller, publisher, bibliographer started his business in 1844 settled in London in 1845 4 Trafalgar Square, Charing Cross, London, W. C. 1 elder brother of B. F. Stevens |
a. o., agent for the Library of Congress, the British Museum, the Bodleian Library between 1847 and 1848, between 1857 and 1858, and again between 1868 and 1870, he returned to the United States |
Stikeman & Co. |
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bookbinders, leatherbindings founded by Henry W. Stikeman (1852/3 – 1932) 55 and 57th West 26th St., New York, N.Y. 124 E. 14th St. |
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Stoddart, J. M. [Joseph Marshall] |
1845 – 1921 |
publisher, editor of Lippincott’s Monthly Magazine (1886-1894) Philadelphia, Pa. editor of “The Picture of Dorian Gray“ (1890) |
together with Stoddart, Wilde visited Walt Whitman on his American lecture tour in 1882 |
Stonehill, Charles A. [Archibald], Jr. |
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British rare-book dealer, book collector, editor C. A. Stonehill, Inc., booksellers of New Haven, Connecticut 198 York St., New Haven, Conn. 262 York St. from the late 1930s, on Madison Avenue, New York, N.Y. C. A. Stonehill Ltd. Great Bookham, Surrey, UK |
When Stonehill returned to England in 1933, he offered Robert J. Barnett a partnership in his New Haven book business with the stipulation that it continued to be known as C. A. Stonehill Inc. In the late 1930s Stonehill returned to the United States and opened a bookstore on Madison Avenue, New York. At the end of the war, he went back to England permanently. |
Suzannet, Comte Alain de |
1882 – 1950 |
French-Swiss book collector (esp. Dickens), bibliophile, alpinist Biarritz, France Lausanne, Switzerland |
Catalogue of Valuable Sporting & Other Books, Important Manuscripts, Autograph Letters and Printed Books, Forming Part of the Library of the Comte de Suzannet, Sotheby’s, London, 26-27 March 1934 |
Taylor, Robert H. [Hill] |
1908 – 1985 |
bibliophile, writer collector of Wilde and Wildeana, manuscripts, English literature started his collection in the 1930s president of the Grolier Club and the Bibliographical Society of America |
Robert H. Taylor Collection, Princetown University Taylor placed his library collection on deposit in the Princeton University Library in 1972, and bequeathed it to the library upon his death in 1985 |
Teschenberg, Hermann Freiherr von |
1866 – 1911 |
Austrian translator translator of Oscar Wilde’s works lived in Vienna, Berlin, London, et al. |
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Thomas, Abel Cary |
1884 – 1945 |
collector of rare books and manuscripts started as a reporter for the New York Tribune member of the New York State Bar Association secretary and general counsel of Warner Brothers Pictures New York, N.Y. |
First Editions and Autograph Letters and Manuscripts – The Library of Abel Cary Thomas, New York City. Part I, American Art Association, Anderson Galleries, New York, Jan. 14-15, 1936 Abel Cary Thomas Collection, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University |
Tobin, Robert L. B. |
1934 – 2000 |
art collector, philanthropist San Antonio, Tex. built one of the most important theater design collections in the US served on the boards of the Metropolitan Opera, New York, and the Santa Fe Opera trustee of the Museum of Modern Arts, New York, N.Y. president of the Spoleto Festival, Italy |
Tobin Center for the Performing Arts, San Antonio The Tobin Collection of Theatre Arts, McNay Art Museum, San Antonio |
Tomlinson, John C. [Canfield] |
1856 – 1927 |
lawyer “Tomlinson, Herrick, Hoppin & Coats“ (law firm) 15 William St., New York, N.Y. collector of Wildeana private home: 45 West 57th St. and 15 East 92nd St. |
A Portion of the Library of Mr. John C. Tomlinson of New York City, Library Sets From the Estate of Mrs. Lee McBride of Cleveland, Ohio, Etc., Anderson Galleries, New York, Dec. 6, 1921 The Library of the late John C. Tomlinson, New York City, Anderson Galleries, New York, Jan. 17-18, 1928 sold for a total of $54,341 representing the late George D. Smith |
Tree, Herbert Beerbohm |
1853 – 1917 |
actor and theatre manager half-brother of Max Beerbohm in 1887 he became manager of the Haymarket Theatre, London in 1897 he moved to Her Majesty’s Theatre in 1904 he founded what became the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art knighted in 1909 |
Modern First Editions, Presentation Copies, Autograph Letters and Literary Manuscripts (including The Property of the Trustees of Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree), Sotheby’s, London, 8-9 Dec. 1969 producer and actor (Lord Illingworth) of the first production of A Woman of No Importance |
Tregaskis, James |
1850 – 1926 |
book dealer, rare books, autographs, manuscripts first working in his wife’s bookshop (Mary Lee Tregaskis, ?1854 – 1900) “The Caxton Head“ (J. & M. L. Tregaskis) 232 High Holborn, London trading 1889-1939 from 1915, 66 Great Russell Street, London, W.C. 1 from the late 1920s: “James Tregaskis & Son“ founding member and fourth president of the Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association (ABA) |
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Vander Poel, Halsted B. [Billings] |
1911 – 2003 |
collector of rare books and scholarly archeological materials member of the Grolier Club since 1938 Washington, DC moved to Rome in 1956, returned in 1998 to the United States friend of Mary (Lady Eccles) and Donald Hyde |
The Halsted B. Vander Poel Collection of English Literature, Christie’s, London, 3 March 2004 “His earliest acquisitions date back to the mid-1930’s. James F. Drake, Scribner’s, and the Rosenbach Corporation were among those who provided them …“ “The books and manuscripts Christie’s have for sale (March 3, 2004) were bought on both sides of the Atlantic, mainly between 1934 and 1960. … the collection is little known to scholars. Many items have never been previously recorded, or have been untraced or unallocated since the 1930s or 1940s. … the best Wilde items were relatively cheap at a few hundred dollars each in the early 1940s.“ in the early 70s he donated his Dickens collection to the Harry Ransom Center |
Vezin, Hermann |
1829 – 1910 |
American born actor “the best known teacher of acting in England“ (Herbert Beerbohm Tree was one of his students) London début in 1852 |
Vezin was one of the recipients of Vera; or, The Nihilists (1880) |
Wallack, John Johnstone (Lester) |
1820 – 1888 |
American actor, playright, actor-manager manager of Wallack’s Theatre, Broadway 30th St., New York, N.Y. |
Wallack was one of the recipients of Vera; or, The Nihilists (1882) |
Waller, Lewis [William Waller Lewis] |
1860 – 1915 |
actor, producer, actor-manager Theatre Royale, London started his career in 1883 |
mounting a tour of A Woman of No Importance in Sept. and Oct. 1883, in which he played Lord Illingworth manager and actor (Sir Robert Chiltern) of the first production of An Ideal Husband (Jan. 1895) |
Ward, Geneviève |
1838 – 1922 |
American-born actress, opera singer made her English début in 1873 as Lady Macbeth at the Theatre Royal, Manchester, UK |
Geneviève Ward was one of the recipients of Vera; or, The Nihilists (1880) [Bruce Ingram’s copy] “Anne-Mie … opened at the Prince of Wales’s Theatre on 1 November 1880, with Geneviève Ward and Johnston Forbes-Robinson in the principal parts.“ |
Wells, Gabriel [Weiss] |
1862 – 1946 |
Hungarian-born antiquarian book dealer and collector, publisher came to the United States in 1892 rooms at East 23rd St., New York, N.Y. 489 Fifth Ave. (opposite the New York Public Library) after ten years he moved to 145 West 57th St. had acquired 500 – 600 letters written by G. B. Shaw, Dec. 1928. Client: Henry C. Folger, competitor of Rosenbach one of the richest booksellers of the world (see Towner, p. 311) president of the Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association of America (ABAA) in 1930
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Rare Books, First Editions, Manuscripts, Autograph Letters, from the Estate of the late Gabriel Wells, catalogue no 1, Charles S. Boesen, New York, [1948] Rare Books, First Editions, Manuscripts, Autograph Letters, from the Estate of the late Gabriel Wells, catalogue no 2, Charles S. Boesen, New York, [May 1948] Miscellaneous – Rare Books, First Editions, Autographs, from the Estate of the late Gabriel Wells, catalogue no. 3, Charles S. Boesen, New York, [1949] Wells himself never issued a catalogue: “Let other dealers catalogue their books. I sell mine.“ (The New York Times, Nov. 7, 1946, p. 31) he would buy up runs of subscription and limited edition books, rebind them and sell them to dealers publisher of The Writings of Oscar Wilde, New York, 1925 Wells was active in the inter-war years in London and Europe buying up expensive books that could be sold to wealthy clients in the United States until WW II Wells spent about five months a year in Europe an active bidder on the New York and London markets one of the most significant transactions of Wells’ career was his purchase of a Gutenberg Bible from Joseph Sabin, who had bought it at auction in 1920. … Wells opted to break up the Bible and sell the leaves individually |
Widener, Harry Elkins |
1885 – 1912 |
rare-book and manuscript collector Philadelphia, Pa. Titanic victim |
A Catalogue of the Books and Manuscripts of Harry Elkins Widener, pt. II,, A.S.W. Rosenbach, Philadelphia, 1918 in close contact with A.S.W. Rosenbach and Bernard Quaritch Harry Elkins Widener Collection, Harvard University at the time, Widener had the greatest Robert Louis Stevenson collection in existence |
Willard, Edward Smith |
1853 – 1915 |
actor, producer |
possessed a typewritten fragment of “A Florentine Tragedy“ which Wilde had submitted to him |
Wolf II, Edwin |
1911 – 1991 |
librarian, rare-book collector, bibliographer, scholar, author employed by the Rosenbach Co. from 1930 to 1952 wrote and edited the firm’s printed catalogues from 1955 until 1984 he was the Librarian at the Library Company of Philadelphia, Pa. (founded by Benjamin Franklin) |
co-author with John F. Fleming, Rosenbach, A Biography,1960 in 1952 Wolf joined the Library Company of Philadelphia as a consultant and advisor, named Curator of the Library Company in 1953, named Librarian in 1955 (till 1984) |
Wolf Brothers |
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private bankers Wolf Bros. & Co. founded in 1899 608 Chestnut St., Philadephia, Pa. 100 Broadway, New York, N.Y. members of Philadelphia Stock Exchange, New York Stock Exchange, New York Coffee Exchange, and Chicago Board of Trade |
Felix Isman’s extensive Wilde collection was deposited as collateral for loans with his bankers, Wolf Brothers, for a note of $10,000 ?[in 1909]. Their friend Abe Rosenbach knew he could dispose of that, and did so a little later for $18,000 to John Stetson |
Wood, Henry T. |
? |
bookbinder est. 1875 18-19 Rathbone Pl., Oxford St., London, W. 1 |
in 1939 the company merged with Sangorski & Sutcliffe Henry Wood was also with Zaehnsdorf, working for him as a finisher for twelve years |
Wright & Jones [i.e. Alfred E. Cooper] |
? |
book dealer, publisher from 1902-1904: 2 Ormond Row, Chelsea, London 1904-1909: 350 Fulham Rd., London, S.W. |
“Wilde, Oscar. Original Plaster Bust of Lady Wilde (“Speranza“); also tinted lithograph of the same, size 12 x 7 inches; both items were purchased at Wilde’s sale. Unique. $20..“ produced several pirated editions of works of Oscar Wilde |
Zaehnsdorf, Joseph |
1816 – 1886 |
Austrian-Hungarian-born bookbinder settling in London in 1837, employed by Westley & Co. est. his own business in 1842 36 Catherine St., Strand, London, W.C. Zaehnsdorf Ltd. succeeded by his son Joseph William Zaehnsdorf (1853 – 1930) who retired in 1920 succeeded by his son Ernest J. W. Zaehnsdorf who retired in 1957 144-146 Shaftesbury Ave., London, W.C. 2 |
“Zaehnsdorf was acquired by department store (with a rare book department) Asprey of London in 1983, who then merged it into their earlier bindery acquisition, Sangorski & Sutcliffe, but retained the Zaehnsdorf prestige identity and, the whole point of the acquisition, the Zaehnsdorf purpose-built factory to house both. In 1998, Shepherds Bindery in London bought the two famed binderies from Asprey; they retained the Sangorski & Sutcliffe brand but dropped the Zaehnsdorf name …“ |
Zeitlin [Jacob / Jake] & Ver Brugge [Josephine] |
1902 – 1987 1915 – 2005 |
rare-book, manuscript and fine art dealer, publisher opened his first bookshop in 1927 567 South Hope St., Los Angeles, Calif. from 1929, 705 1/2 West Sixth St. since the late 1920s, joined by Josephine Ver Brugge (d. 2005), his third wife (married in 1939) “The Red Barn“ (opened in 1948) 815 North La Cienega Boulevard, West Hollywood |
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Zimbalist, Efrem Sr. |
1889 – 1985 |
Russian-American composer, violinist rare-book collector |
First Editions of English and American Authors. Library of Efrem Zimbalist, Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York, Nov. 15-16, 1939 |