Bibliotheca Askeviana
Sive, Catalogus librorum rarissimorum Antonii Askew, M.D.

Reissued here together, the 1775 and 1785 sale catalogues for Anthony Askew's extensive library, with annotations about prices and purchasers.

Baker and Leigh (Author)

9781108065849, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 2 January 2014

212 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.2 cm, 0.32 kg

The library of the physician Anthony Askew (1722–72) was outstanding in both printed books and manuscripts. He may have failed in his ambition to secure a complete collection of every printed edition of the Greek classics, but he did amass a classical library which remained unsurpassed until Spencer. Although he was later accused of plagiarism, virtually every edition of Aeschylus down to the 1850s cited 'Askew's collations'. He also secured Richard Mead's fine collection of Latin and Greek manuscripts, alongside other early classical codices from the Maffei library. The dispersal of Askew's collection in two sales, ten years apart, attracted international interest. Bidders at the 1775 book sale included George III, while the manuscript sale in 1785 led to acquisitions by the British Museum, the Bodleian and Cambridge University Library. Now reissued together, the sale catalogues have been annotated here by auction attendees who recorded prices and some purchaser details.

Part I. Bibliotheca Askeviana: Preface
Conditions of sale
First day's sale to twentieth day's sale
Libri omissi
Part II. Bibliotheca Askeviana Manuscripta: Preface
Conditions of sale
1. Printed books with manuscript notes
2. Manuscripts, English, on paper
3. Manuscripts, English, on vellum
4. Manuscripts, Lat.
5. Manuscripts, Graec.
6. Beautiful Chinese, Persian and other manuscripts.

Subject Areas: Literary studies: general [DSB]