Papers by Shayne F Husbands
The Roxburghe Club has an unbroken publishing history from 1814 to the present day. Since the Clu... more The Roxburghe Club has an unbroken publishing history from 1814 to the present day. Since the Club’s edition of Havelok the Dane appeared in 1828, the Roxburghe has gained a reputation as a producer of valuable editions of manuscripts and reprinted early books. The founding period of the Club, however, has been viewed with less approval, often seen as a frivolous, unscholarly period of wasted years when little of value was produced by a membership composed of dilettante aristocrats. Examination of contemporary sources presents an alternative narrative of the formative years of the Club showing that the early members of the Roxburghe, rather than being frivolous bibliomaniacs, were in fact educated men with serious literary purpose and ability. The origin of the inaccuracies about the Club’s history is shown to be traceable to one malicious source and an accurate alternative biography of the Club is presented in correction of this version. The books produced by the members during thi...
Around the turn of the nineteenth century book the prices for rare books began to rise dramatical... more Around the turn of the nineteenth century book the prices for rare books began to rise dramatically, reaching an apex of previously unthinkable sums for volumes that had previously in many cases been dismissed as suitable only for use as waste paper and in the process creating a financial bubble, similar to, albeit on a far smaller scale, the furores that have at other times surrounded tulip bulbs or South Sea Company investments. Antiquarian book collectors, who had so often and for so long been mercilessly lampooned for their obscure, somewhat eccentric pursuits, now gained in the public imagination a new, more conspicuous and altogether more objectionable aspect to their character, that of ostentatious wealth and often high social standing.
In 1812, a group of wealthy bibliophiles founded the Roxburghe club in order to dine, celebrate r... more In 1812, a group of wealthy bibliophiles founded the Roxburghe club in order to dine, celebrate rare books and eventually to publish their own editions and facsimiles of rare items. It was an era renown for its ostentatious aristocratic consumerism and extravagant enjoyment of life, but also one that saw society tormented by tides of moral, financial and political anxieties 1 Eighteen Twelve was also the year in which the first steam-driven press was being given its trial run and when the mass production of books was becoming a reality causing men of letters to voice their concerns about the quantities of books that were threatening to overwhelm the discerning reader and reduce the claim of erudition to a hollow boast at best. The members of the Roxburghe club, the group of wealthy book-collectors who gathered to dine and celebrate books, were revelling in the printed word and the more labour intensive and antiquated its method of production the better in their eyes. As harmless and wholesome as this pastime may appear to modern eyes, their club met with almost instant hostility and ridicule to a degree that was seldom directed towards other, less salubrious clubs and pastimes. Many people in this period were disgusted by the extravagances of the times and criticised the moral turpitude of the aristocracy.
Uploads
Papers by Shayne F Husbands