Details
BECKFORD, William (1759-1844) -- The Hamilton Palace Libraries. The First [-Fourth] Portion of the Beckford Library, Removed from Hamilton Palace. London: Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge, 30 June 1882-27 November 1883.
Four parts in two, large 8o (285 x 190 mm). Printed price lists with buyers' names. Near-contemporary blue cloth, top edges trimmed, others uncut. Provenance: A.N.L. Munby (bookplate).
Large and fine paper copy of the sale of "Vathek," William Beckford, who "spent considerable sums of money on his library at Fonthill in Wiltshire. His earliest purchases were made about 1785, in Paris, and he continued until his old age. When he sold Fontill, in 1822, to John Farquhar (who re-sold the contents, including the library, on 9 September 1823), he removed all the valuable books to his new residence at Lansdowne Terrace, Bath, where he was buried in 1844. His art collections, together with his books and prints, went to his son-in-law the tenth Duke of Hamilton. When the Hamilton heirlooms were disposed of, the Beckford library, which had been kept separate, was auctioned by Sotheby's in four consecutive sales, which produced the enormous total of £86,000" (De Ricci, p.84).
[Laid-in:] Quaritch Rough List No.58, 30 July 1882, highlighting items from the Beckford auction. (2)
Four parts in two, large 8
Large and fine paper copy of the sale of "Vathek," William Beckford, who "spent considerable sums of money on his library at Fonthill in Wiltshire. His earliest purchases were made about 1785, in Paris, and he continued until his old age. When he sold Fontill, in 1822, to John Farquhar (who re-sold the contents, including the library, on 9 September 1823), he removed all the valuable books to his new residence at Lansdowne Terrace, Bath, where he was buried in 1844. His art collections, together with his books and prints, went to his son-in-law the tenth Duke of Hamilton. When the Hamilton heirlooms were disposed of, the Beckford library, which had been kept separate, was auctioned by Sotheby's in four consecutive sales, which produced the enormous total of £86,000" (De Ricci, p.84).
[Laid-in:] Quaritch Rough List No.58, 30 July 1882, highlighting items from the Beckford auction. (2)