THEOPHILUS JOHNSON (1836-1919)

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THEOPHILUS JOHNSON (1836-1919) was an amateur naturalist and artist who privately printed a large number of natural history publications in the latter half of the 19th century and into the early 20th century. Born in Tottenham on 23 August 1836, he seems to have been apprenticed to the stationery and printing trade, and was consequently able later to produce well-executed letterpress works. They are remarkable for not only was all the printing executed by himself, but Johnson also illustrated all of his works with original watercolours and drawings, without any engraved or lithographic backing. It is also extremely likely that all of the cloth bindings in the collection presented here were executed by Johnson himself. Because of their nature, the bibliography of all of his books is complicated, and all are rare: The Natural History Museum, London, holds 29 printed books and manuscripts (although the printed BM(NH) catalogue only lists 4, and their online catalogue a further 4 titles); and the Zoological Society of London 4 more. The British Library does not seem to contain any of his works. Christie's is proud to present the following 7 lots by Johnson, all of which, excepting Personal recollections of the zoo, do not seem to be recorded in the library catalogues we have perused. Lot 197 contains 3 non-natural history works, all of which are apparently unrecorded, and reveal a religious side to Johnson. Included in same that lot is a letter to Johnson from the lepidopterist F.W. Frohawk, indicating that Johnson was interacting with leading scientific figures of the day; with it is another letter from Johnson to his daughter Connie. Her dates are unknown, but she emigrated to Canada. Upon her death, she bequeathed this collection of her father's works to her friend Josephine de Brincat (1902-86; notable for her development of nursing in Manitoba), and thence by descent to the present consignor. References: R.B. Freeman. British Natural History Books. 1495-1900. Folkestone: Dawson, 1980: '... very few copies were produced. Their bibliography is complex' (p.192); Howard Radclyffe, 'Theophilius Johnson: amateur naturalist, artist and publisher extraordinaire' in Archives of Natural History (1995) 22 (2): 183-190.

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THEOPHILUS JOHNSON (1836-1919)

Personal recollections of the Zoo: during a period of fifty years. [Dartford: privately printed,] 1905. 8° (213 x 140mm). 62 plates of original drawings, of which 35 in full colour and 27 monochrome, and 20 monochrome vignettes in the text. (2 leaves pp.163-166 on the Walrus loosely inserted, occasional faint spotting and some ink marks from the press.) Original green cloth (extremities rubbed).

VERY RARE. This is perhaps a slightly later issue as the 4pp. on the Walrus are numbered, whereas of the two copies that have sold at auction in the past 40 years, one had these leaves unnumbered.

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