Robin de Beaumont sale - samples of books acquired by the Btitish Lbrary

 

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Robin de Beaumont Collection

Samples of items purchased by the British Library at the Bonhams sale. (Those reproduced below are done as low grade samples only, to publicise the purchases.)

In the sale held by Bonhams at the end of January 2024, the Library successfully bid for a number of lots.

 Lot 140(15 books) and 141 (20 books) were bound in ‘publishers’ morocco’ – the most expensive type of binding and blocking of publishers’ bindings of the mid-Victorian period. The De Beaumont copies are in particularly fine condition. It is unlikely that copies in these numbers and condition will come again on the market. When these works were issued, the publishers advertised them frequently in newspapers. They charged a high price, which often was £31s. 6d. They almost invariably supplied the legal deposit copy to the British Museum Library - a copy bound in cloth or, for multi-part works, in paper wrappers. So, acquiring these leather bound books fills a gap in the BL collection.

 

The Library bid successfully for lots in paper wrappers, or bound in paper over thin boards. These publications at the cheaper end of the market were produced in quantity, using materials not intended to last, and the condition of copies deteriorated. Again, De Beaumont sought out copies in the best condition, which in many instances were rare/ hard to find.

Lot 188 contained some ninety-seven books/ items, grouped together as ‘wrappers’.  

Lot 189 contained some 42 books/ items, which were grouped together as ‘yellowbacks and pictorial boards’.

Given time and resources, the British Library intends to scan and provide descriptions for all the items acquired, placing these online for wider appreciation.

May 2024