White Knights Library
Catalogue of that Distinguished and Celebrated Library Which Will Be Sold by Auction

Reissued here together, the two parts of the 1819 sale catalogue for one of the period's grandest libraries, with annotations about prices and purchasers.

Robert Harding Evans (Author)

9781108065986, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 22 May 2014

242 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.4 cm, 0.36 kg

The dispersal of the library amassed by George Spencer-Churchill (1766–1840), Marquess of Blandford and later fifth Duke of Marlborough, is most commonly cited today as a preservative against folly. The collection contained some of the most sought-after incunabula of a period defined by the high prices paid for early printed books. It included a fine selection of Caxtons, spectacular botanical and emblem books, and the iconic Valdarfer Boccaccio - the first edition of the Decameron, purchased by Blandford in 1812 for the unprecedented sum of £2,260. The Boccaccio was symptomatic of the profligate expenditure of its buyer. By 1819 his spendthrift ways had ruined him, leading to the sale of his opulent estate at Whiteknights, near Reading, and the dispersal of one of the key libraries in the era of bibliomania. Reissued here together are the two parts of the auction catalogue, both annotated by an auction attendee who recorded details of the purchasers and the prices paid. Ed Potten, Head of Rare Books at Cambridge University Library, has provided a new introduction that places the catalogue in its wider context.

Introduction Ed Potten
Conditions of sale
Index to the days of sale
A catalogue of a rare and splendid library
A catalogue of the White Knights library - part second.

Subject Areas: Literary studies: general [DSB]