MARCHAM

A fascinating collection of material, casting light on a furtive and little-discussed aspect of the English antiquarian book trade. (For further information see 'Anatomy of an Auction: Rare Books at Ruxley Lodge, 1919' by J. I. Freeman and A. M. Freeman, and 'Out of Print and into Profit', ed. G. Mandelbrote.) Of the eight items, all but Item Two below are in good condition, with light signs of age and wear. It would appear that some of the material at least was published, but precise details are not known.

Robert Harding Evans has been described as 'the greatest of all auctioneers of literary property'. In a career spanning three decades he oversaw the dispersal of many of the finest libraries ever assembled, from the great Roxburghe sale of 1812 to that of the Duke of Sussex in 1845, as well as those of the books of Lord Byron and the manuscripts and copyrights of Sir Walter Scott. In an undated letter to Bodley's Librarian (copy in Item Four below) Marcham states that he is 'working on Evans the auctioneer and the list will be published.

15pp., 8vo. On twelve leaves torn from an album. With minor emendations, and an essay in another hand on some reverses. Unpublished. The piece begins: 'My collection of catalogues has grown much in the same way as other collections of books. At times I have got rid of many I missed later on and it was only by long experience I found that some things are desirable. First it is better to have each sale bound by itself and this I have carried out except where some association in an existing bound volume would have been destroyed.