I’d never heard of William Henry Ireland until I started reading the autobiography of ASW Rosenbach, who a century ago was a colossus in the rare book world. He regarded Ireland as the greatest forger ever. At the age of 17, Ireland fooled almost the entire literary world with his “discovery” of many Shakespearean … [Read more...]
Uncovering a book’s history
Who was John Wolfe Barry? We didn't know anything about Sir John other than he had put his bookplates in a five-volume series of books titled "Boswell's Life of Johnson." It turns out that Barry purchased the books used. We know that because they were published in 1831, and he was born in 1836. Barry was the son of … [Read more...]
When booking passage also meant the passing of books
April 12 is the anniversary of the sinking of the Tittanic. Thirty-seven months later, the Lusitania was torpedoed and sunk. Coincidentally, each sinking had rare-book related aspects that reverberate to this day. One of the Titanic passengers was Henry Elkins Widener. Widener was a noted collector of rare books … [Read more...]