Lot 98: OSBORNE, Thomas (d.1767). A Catalogue of Thirty Thousand Volumes, (with the prices printed) of several libraries just puchas'd' particularly the Library of William Kynaston; ... Mr. Josiah Martin ... W. Glanvil ... Mr Jackson . [London: 1749].

OSBORNE, Thomas (d.1767). A Catalogue of Thirty Thousand Volumes, (with the prices printed) of several libraries just puchas'd' particularly the Library of William Kynaston; ... Mr. Josiah Martin ... W. Glanvil ... Mr Jackson. [London: 1749]. 8°. Contemporary boards, uncut (old calf reback, head and tail of spine torn away, corners bumped, very rubbed). Provenance: Helmingham Hall (stamp on title). Josiah Martin (1685-1748) was a religious writer, whose library comprised 4000 volumes. Among books in the sale were works by classical authors, English, French, Spanish and Italian books, and books on canon and civil law. EARLIER ISSUE with the date Tuesday 9 May on title. ESTC T164072; not in the Grolier Club.

OSBORNE, T. A Catalogue of the Libraries of Richard Graham ... Thomas Day ... Mr Cawley. [London: 1750]. 8°. Contemporary half calf, uncut (head and tail of spine torn away, very rubbed, joints split but cords still holding). Contains amongst others Italian books, a collection of prints and books of prints. ESTC N27129; not in the Grolier Club. (2)

THE PROPERTY OF A NOBLEMAN

The following 7 lots comprise 15 of Thomas Osborne's sale catalogues. Thomas Osborne (died 21 August 1767) was the most celebrated bookseller of his day and is well known for selling the libraries of many eminent men, including Robert Harley, first Earl of Oxford, and his son Edward. In 1741 he employed Samuel Johnson and William Oldys to prepare the catalogue for the Harleian collection. While working on the catalogue, Johnson was criticized by Osborne for being more interested in reading the books than cataloguing them. In response, Johnson hit Osborne with a Greek folio Bible, explaining later to Boswell, 'Sir, he was impertinent to me, and I beat him'.

The present sale catalogues come from the library of Helmingham Hall. The great collector, Lionel Tollemache, 4th Earl of Dysart, subscribed to Osborne's Catalogues and noted that he had read at least two of them at Bawdsey. Osborne usually sold the books for the executors of their late owners, most of whose names are given in the descriptions for each lot. Some catalogues claim to contain as many as 30,000 books.