literary history of this country. Anything like an exhaustive account,
even so far as relates to the bookselling side of the question, would be
quite out of place in a work of this description. A few points,
therefore, must suffice. Apart from the booksellers already mentioned,
the following are also worthy of notice. At the latter part of the
sixteenth century Thomas Marsh, of the Prince's Arms, near St.
Dunstan's, issued Stow's 'Chronicles,' and was the holder of several
licenses for printing; for nearly half a century J. Smethwicke (who died
in 1641) had a shop 'under the diall' of St. Dunstan's, whence he issued
Shakespeare's 'Hamlet,' 'Love's Labour Lost,' 'Romeo and Juliet,'
'Taming of the Shrew,' as well as works by Henry Burton, Drayton,
Greene, Lodge, and others; Richard Marriot was in St. Dunstan's
Churchyard early in the seventeenth century, and his ventures included
Quarles' 'Emblems,' 1635, Dr. Downes' 'Sermons,' 1640, and Walton's
'Compleat Angler,' 1653, for which 1s. 6d. was asked, and for a good
copy of which £310 has been recently paid; Marriot was also the sponsor
of the first part of Butler's 'Hudibras,' 1663. Thomas Dring, of the
George, near Clifford's Inn; John Starkey, of the Mitre, between the
Middle Temple Gate and Temple Bar, the publisher of Shadwell's plays,
and for some time an exile at Amsterdam; Abel Roper, of the Black Boy,
over against St. Dunstan's Church, and publisher of the _Post Boy_
newspaper; Thomas Bassett, with whom Jacob Tonson was apprenticed;
Tonson himself, of the Judge's Head, near the Inner Temple Gate (he
started in Chancery Lane), are Fleet Street booksellers of the latter
half of the seventeenth century. Early in the following century we get
such names as Benjamin Tooke, of the Middle Temple Gate; Edmund Curll,
whose chaste publications appeared from the sign of the Dial and Bible,
against St. Dunstan's Church; Bernard Lintot, Tonson's great rival and
Pope's publisher, of the Cross Keys, between the Temple Gates; Ben
Motte, who succeeded Tooke; Andrew Millar, Samuel Highley, John Murray,
and many others who might be mentioned, but who were publishers rather
than second-hand booksellers.
One of the earliest, and perhaps the very first, of the Fleet Street
contingent of booksellers who advertised their stock through the medium
of priced catalogues was John Whiston, the younger son of the famous
William Whiston. Whiston sold several important libraries, including
those of such eighteenth-century celebrities as D'Oyly, Dr. Castell,
Wasse, Chishull, Dr. Banks, Prebendary John Wills, Adam Anderson (author
of 'The History of Commerce'), and many others; he included a large
number of literary men among his acquaintances. From 1756 to 1765 he
appears to have been in partnership with Benjamin White, and the
libraries which they sold during this period included those of the Rev.
Stephen Duck; Thomas Potter, Esq., M.P., son of the Archbishop of
Canterbury; Charles Delafaye, Esq., of the Secretary of State's Office;
Dr. James Tunstall, Vicar of Rochdale, etc. Of all the second-hand
booksellers of the latter half of the last century the most considerable
was the Benjamin White above mentioned, whose shop was at the sign of
Horace's Head, in Fleet Street, and whose bulky catalogues, often
including over 10,000 lots, are now very rare and exceptionally
interesting. The contents of these catalogues were classified, first
into three divisions, folio, quarto, and octavo and duodecimo, and then
again into numerous sections according to the subject-matter of the
volumes. 'The sale will begin' on such and such a day, and 'catalogues
may be had' at various stated booksellers' shops in London, and at
Oxford, and 'the principal towns of England.' From 1716 to 1792 Benjamin
White and his son and namesake issued catalogues of various collections
of books, including the libraries (or selections from) of Dr. Thomas,
Bishop of Salisbury; Sir William Calvert, M.P. for London; Dr. Secker;
Rev. Joseph Spence; Dr. Hutchinson, editor of Xenophon; Dr. William
Borlase; Dr. Matthew Maty, Secretary of the Royal Society, and Principal
Librarian, British Museum; Sir Richard Jebb; Rev. John Bowles, editor of
'Don Quixote'; Rev. John Lightfoot, chaplain to the Countess Dowager of
Portland, and author of the 'Flora Scotica.'
One of White's best customers was the eccentric George Steevens, who,
however, discontinued his daily visits, after many years' regular
attendance, for no real cause. He then transferred his attentions to
Stockdale's, whom in turn he abruptly forsook. The elder Benjamin
retired from business with 'a plentiful fortune,' and died at his house
in South Lambeth in March, 1794, and Benjamin junior retired to
Hampstead a few years after his father, leaving the business to a
younger brother, John, who continued bookselling until the earlier part
of the present century, when he, in his turn, gave up active work for
the 'enjoyment of a country life' with 'an easy competence.' In one of
the catalogues of this celebrated firm--our copy is minus the
title-page, but it was evidently issued about 1790--four of the most
interesting entries occur among the folios: Caxton's 'Lyfe of the
Faders,' with 'curious old wooden plates, not quite perfect, in Russia,'
is priced at £5 5s.; Caxton's 'Lyfe of our Lady,' by John Lydgate, is
offered at 10s. 6d.; a _fair_ copy of Caxton's 'Lyfe of St. Katherine
of Senis' is figured at £10 10s., the price asked also for a 'fair, not
quite perfect' example of the 'Golden Legende.' A Second Folio
Shakespeare is priced at £4; a Fourth Folio at £1 7s. The same catalogue
includes a copy of the famous 'Book of Hawking and Hunting,' printed at
St. Albans in 1486, but unfortunately the price is omitted, as is the
case with several other important rarities. The Whites published some
fine natural history books, including those of Pennant, Latham, and
White of Selborne; the last was a relative of the booksellers. Whiston
was succeeded by Nathaniel Conant, who sold, _inter alia_, the library
of Samuel Speed, 1776, and John White was succeeded by his partner, J.
G. Cochrane. Sixty years ago Charles Tilt, afterwards Tilt and Bogue,
occupied 85, Fleet Street, and a charming view of this shop appears in
Cruikshank's 'Almanack' for March, 1835.
[Illustration: _Charles Tilt's Shop._
From Cruikshank's 'Comic Almanac.']
Although the bookselling history of Fleet Street did not cease with the
general migration of booksellers, from the end of the last to the
beginning of the present century much of its glory as such had
departed. During the second and third quarters of the nineteenth century
its bibliopolic annals are indeed few. One of its most interesting
houses was situated at No. 39, upon part of the site of the present
banking-house of Messrs. Hoare. Here formerly stood the famous Mitre
Tavern; this place was much damaged during the Great Fire, and was
partly rebuilt. In the last century it was a favourite resort of Wanley,
Vertue, Dr. Stukeley, Hawkesworth, Percy, Johnson, Boswell, and many
other celebrities. Johnson and Boswell first dined here in 1763. It was
here that the 'Tour to the Hebrides' was planned; it was here also, at a
supper given by Boswell to the Doctor, Goldsmith, Davies, the
bookseller, Eccles, and the Rev. John Ogilvie, that Johnson delivered
himself of the theory that 'the noblest prospect which a Scotchman ever
sees is in the highroad that leads to England.' From 1728 to 1753 the
Society of Antiquaries met here, and for some time also the Royal
Society held its meetings in this place. In 1788 the tavern ceased to
exist, and the house became the 'Poets' Gallery' of Macklin, whose
edition of the Bible is described as an unrivalled monument of his taste
and energy. Thomas Macklin died in 1800, and the erstwhile Mitre gave
place--possibly not at once, but certainly very soon after--to Saunders'
Auction-rooms. The most important sale which occurred here, and of which
we have discovered any record, was an anonymous one in February, 1818;
the catalogue was entitled 'Bibliotheca Selecta: Library of an eminent
Collector, removed from the North of England.' This sale occupied six
days, and comprised a very fine series of books of old English poetry,
history, topography, and illustrated books. For instance, a very fine
copy in a genuine state of the First Folio Shakespeare realized the then
high figure of £121 16s. A copy of Yates's 'Castell of Courtesie,' 1582,
sold for £23 2s., Steevens' copy eighteen years previously going for £2
10s. A large number of other excessively rare books, several of which
were unique, were sold here at the same time; but whose they were, or
how they could have drifted into such an unimportant auction centre as
Saunders', are questions which we are not able to answer. Fifty years
ago there were at least three important firms of literary auctioneers in
Fleet Street--Henry Southgate (who eventually turned author, and who
died about three years ago), at No. 22; L. A. Lewis, at No. 125; and E.
Hodgson, referred to on p. 116. At each of these three centres many
extensive collections of books came under the hammer. When the elder
Southgate died or retired, in about 1837, two of his assistants,
Grimston and Havers, left, and started on their own account at 30,
Holborn Hill, making the auction of books a speciality; but their
existence appears to have been brief.
The neighbourhood had, however, a book-auction repute long before the
present century dawned, and the Rose Tavern, near Temple Bar, was a
favourite locality for this method of selling books. Samuel Baker here
sold the entire library ('Bibliotheca Elegans') of Alderman Sir Robert
Baylis in 1749, and that of Conyers Middleton, Principal Librarian of
the University of Cambridge, March 4, 1750-51, and nine following
days--by order and for the benefit of the widow, who in the preface
'takes this opportunity to assure the public that this catalogue
contains the genuine library of Dr. Middleton, without any alteration,
and is sold for my advantage'--there were 1,300 lots.
THE STRAND.
[Illustration: _Butcher Row, 1798._]
The modernization of the Strand, but more particularly the erection of
the New Law Courts from Temple Bar to Clement's Inn, has destroyed very
many book-hunting and literary localities. This project involved the
obliteration of thirty-three streets, lanes and courts, and the
levelling of 400 dwelling, lodging and ware houses, and so forth,
sheltering over 4,000 individuals. It has entirely altered the aspect of
the place; not perhaps before it was necessary, for the whole
neighbourhood had degenerated into rookeries of the vilest description.
Among the localities swept away, a brief reference may be made to one
which has a twofold interest--Butcher Row--first, because Clifton's
Eating-house, one of Dr. Johnson's favourite resorts, was in this Row,
and secondly because one of the earliest catalogues of second-hand books
was issued from within a yard or two of Clifton's. J. Stephens' shop was
at the sign of the Bible in Butcher Row, and towards the latter part of
1742 he published 'a catalogue of several libraries of books lately
purchased, in several languages,' etc., the price of each book being, as
usual, marked on the first leaf before the sale commenced, which sale
was announced to begin 'on Tuesday, the 2nd of November, 1742,' and 'to
continue till all are sold.' For a copy of this exceedingly rare and
interesting catalogue we are indebted to Mr. Dobell, the bookseller. It
comprises twenty-six pages octavo, and enumerates over 1,300 books, the
majority of which are priced. There are very few volumes in this list
which are now included in anyone's desiderata, but the list itself is a
very good indication of the book-buying tastes of our forbears of a
century and half ago. Butcher Row, it may be mentioned, was immediately
beyond St. Clement's Church (on the northern side of the Strand), and by
the end of the last century had degenerated into a number of wretched
fabrics and narrow passages, the houses greatly overhanging their
foundations; in or about 1802, this street was pulled down and gave
place to Pickett Street, so named because the improvement was the scheme
of Alderman Pickett.
[Illustration: _Charles Hutt's House in Clement's Inn Passage._]
One of the last bookselling haunts to be pulled down was the quaint old
shop occupied by the late Charles Hutt (who, by the way, was born in the
vestry of the Clare Market chapel-of-ease) where many famous
book-hunters had picked up bargains. Charles Hutt, had he lived, would
have become one of the leading booksellers of the day. He was for some
years at Hodgson's, and possessed a remarkable taste for, and knowledge
of, books. He left Hodgson's and started on his own account in the old
ramshackle house already referred to. This shop presented so
unfavourable an exterior that even the Income-tax Fiend never 'called
in,' although at one time there were several thousands of pounds' worth
of books in it. Hutt did a very extensive trade, not only in this
country, but in America. He had an especial aptitude at completing sets
of particular authors--Landor, Leigh Hunt, Byron, Shelley--and
contributed much to the prevailing taste for modern first editions. A
younger brother, Mr. F. H. Hutt, has been for some years established at
10, Clement's Inn Passage, within a few yards of the old shop. The
associations of the past half-century of this neighbourhood include two
other well-known firms of booksellers. Theophilus Noble, who had removed
from 114, Chancery Lane, was at 79, Fleet Street for some years until
his death in 1851, and a member of the same family is still a
second-hand bookseller opposite St. Mary-le-Strand Church. Reeves and
Turner removed from Noble's old house in Chancery Lane, to the house on
the west side of Temple Bar and adjoining it on the north, erected on
the site of the famous old bulk-shop, the last of its race, where at one
time Crockford, 'Shell-fishmonger and gambler,' lived. When Temple Bar
was removed, this shop came down, and Reeves and Turner (who for the
second time had to bow to the necessities of 'improvements') opened
their well-known place on the south side of the Strand, facing St.
Clement's Church. Their spacious shop here for about a quarter of a
century was a famous book-haunt, and one of the very few successful ones
which have existed in a crowded thoroughfare. It always contained an
immense variety of good and useful books, priced at exceedingly moderate
amounts, and the poorer book-lover could always venture, generally
successfully, on suggesting a small reduction in the prices marked
without being trampled in the dust as a thief and a robber. A year or
two ago, when the lease of the shop expired, Messrs. Reeves and Turner
bibliopolically ceased to exist--there not being a Reeves or a Turner in
the Chancery Lane firm of booksellers of that name--but Mr. David
Reeves, a son of Mr. William Reeves, started in Wellington Street,
Strand, the latter, the _doyen_ of London booksellers, occupying a
portion of the house as a publisher and a dealer in remainders.
[Illustration: _Mr. William D. Reeves, Bookseller._]
The most famous bookselling locality in this district is Holywell
Street, or, as it is now generally called, Booksellers' Row. This street
has always been afflicted with a questionable repute, not without cause,
and much of the ill-odour of its past career still clings to it. Even
second-hand bookselling has not purged it entirely. Half a century ago
its shops were almost entirely taken up with the vendors of second-hand
clothes, and the offals of several other more or less disreputable
trades. Above these shops resided the Grub Street gentry of the period.
'It was,' says one who knew it well, 'famous for its houses of call for
reporters, editors and literary adventurers generally, all of whom
formed a large army of needy, clever disciples of the pen, who lived by
their wits, if they had any, and in lieu of those estimable
qualifications, by cool assurance, impudence, and the gift of their
mother tongue in spontaneous and frothy eloquence.' It was also a famous
and convenient place 'for literary gentlemen and others, who were
desirous of evading bailiffs and sheriffs' officers who might be anxious
of making their acquaintance,' for even if they were traced to the
Holywell Street entrance of any particular house, they could easily
escape into Wych Street, and so slip the myrmidons of the law. It next
became the emporium of indecent literature (from which charge it is not
yet quite free), but much of this peculiar trade was suppressed by Lord
Campbell's Act. For nearly half a century the place has been growing in
popularity as a _locus standi_ of the reputable second-hand book trade.
Every book-hunter of note has known, or knows, of its many shops.
Macaulay, for example, obtained many of his books from Holywell Street.
The late Mr. Thoms related, in the _Nineteenth Century_, a very curious
incident which put the great historian in possession of some French
_mémoires_ of which he had long been endeavouring to secure a copy.
Macaulay was once strolling down this street, when he saw in a
bookseller's window a volume of Muggletonian tracts. 'Having gone in,
examined the volume, and agreed to buy it, he tendered a sovereign in
payment. The bookseller had not change, but said if he (Macaulay) would
just keep an eye on the shop, he would step out and get it. His name, I
think, was Hearle, and he had some relatives of the same name who had
shops in the same street. This shop was at the west end of the street,
and backed on to Wych Street; and at the back was a small recess,
lighted by a few panes of glass, generally somewhat obscured by the
dust of ages. While Macaulay was looking round the shop, a ray of
sunshine fell through this little window on four little duodecimo
volumes bound in vellum. He pulled out one of these to see what the work
was, and great was his surprise and delight at finding these were the
very French _mémoires_ of which he had been in search for many years.'
More rare and interesting books have been picked up in this street
during the past forty years than in any other locality. Rumour, which
sometimes tells the truth, says that Shelley's copy, with his autograph
on the title-page, of Ossian's 'Poems' was picked up here for a few
pence. A book with Shakespeare's autograph on the title-page was also
said to have been rescued from among a lot of cheap books in this
locality a few years ago. We are not certain, but we believe that the
Shakespeare autograph has been proved to be a forgery. If that is so,
then perhaps the honour of being the greatest 'find' ever discovered,
about four years ago, in Holywell Street, pertains to a perfect copy of
'Le Pastissier François,' 1655, the most valuable of all the Elzevirs,
its value being from about £60 to £100. The copy in question was bound
up with a worthless tract, and history has not left on record what the
bookseller thought when he discovered his ignorance. A copy of the first
edition of Horne's 'Orion,' 1843, was purchased in this street for 2d.
in 1886, its market value being about £2. It was originally issued at
1/4d., by way of sarcasm on the low estimation of epic poetry. The
Holywell Street bookseller did not appraise it at a much higher figure
than the author. Scarcely a week passes without a volume possessing
great personal or historic interest being 'bagged' in this narrow but
delightful thoroughfare. Many of these finds, it is true, may not be of
great commercial value, but they are oftentimes very desirable books in
more respects than one. The present writer has been fortunate in this
matter. No person would now rank James Boswell, for instance, among
great men, but a book in two volumes, with the following inscription,
'James Boswell, From the Translator near Padua, 1765,' would not be
reckoned costly at 1s., the book in question being a beautiful copy of
Cesarotti's translation into Italian of Ossian's 'Poems.' David Hume's
own copy of 'Histoire du Gouvernement de Venise,' par le Sieur Amelot de
la Houssaie, 1677, was not dear at 6d., and at a similar price was
obtained an excessively rare volume (for which a well-known
book-collector had been on the look-out in vain for many years), whose
contents are little indicated by the title of 'Roman Tablets,' 1826, but
whose nature is at all events suggested by the sub-title of 'Facts,
Anecdotes, and Observations on the Manners, Customs, Ceremonies and
Government of Rome.' It is a terrific exposure (originally written in
French), for which the author was prosecuted at the solicitation of the
Pope's Nuncio at Paris. The late John Payne Collier has told of a
Holywell Street 'find' as far back as January 20, 1823, when he picked
up a very nice clean copy of Hughes' 'Calypso and Telemachus,' 1712, for
which he paid 2s. 6d. It was not, however, until he reached home that he
discovered the remarkable nature of his purchase, which had belonged to
Pope, who had inscribed in his own autograph thirty-eight couplets,
addressed 'To Mr. Hughes, On His Opera.' These are only a selection from
an extensive series of more or less interesting 'finds,' of which every
collector has a store.
Two of the earliest and best-known of the more important Holywell Street
booksellers passed away some years ago. 'Tommy' Arthur, who made a
respectable fortune out of the trade, and whose shop and connections are
now in the possession of W. Ridler, who is a successful trader, and a
man of considerable independence as regards the conventionalities of
appearances. (Our artist's portrait of this celebrity in his brougham,
indulging in the extravagance of a clay pipe, had not arrived at the
time of going to press, so it must be held over until the next edition
of this book.) Joseph Poole was another Holywell Street bookseller of an
original type, with his quaint semi-clerical attire. This bibliopole's
relatives still carry on business in this street, school-books being
with them a speciality. The _doyen_ of the street is Mr. Henry R. Hill,
whose two shops are at the extreme east end of the street. Mr. Hill has
been here for about forty years, and has seen many changes, not only in
the general character of the street, but also of the tastes in
book-fancies. Mr. Hill's shops, with Mrs. Lazarus's three hard by, are
full of interesting books, priced at very moderate figures. The latter
has been established here for about fifteen years. Messrs. Myers, who
also occupy three bookshops in this street, were for some years with
Mrs. Lazarus; and Mr. W. R. Hill acquired a great deal of his
book-knowledge at Reeves and Turner's. Mr. Charles Hindley has been long
established in this street.
[Illustration: _Messrs. Hill and Son's Shop in Holywell Street._]