Author: HARLEIAN COLLECTION.
Title: A Catalogue of the Harleian Collection of Manuscripts, Purchased by Authority of Parliament, for the use of the Public; and Preserved in the British Museum.
Description: Printed by Dryden Leach. 1759. First Edition, 2 vols., folio, half-titles, 2 fine engraved portraits of Harley, [ii],16,21-29pp., leaf (numbered vii-viii), [515] leaves; [ii],[455] leaves, recent green morocco, five raised bands, ruled in gilt, leather labels. Harley was one of the greatest collectors of his day. He began collecting in about 1705 and by the time of his death in 1724 he had built up a magnificent library containing over 40,000 books and 6,000 manuscripts. In this he was greatly assisted by his librarian, Humphrey Wanley, whose diary for the years 1715-26 contains much interesting detail about the growth of the library. Harley's collection passed on his death to his son Edward Harley, 2nd Earl of Oxford, who continued to add to it during his lifetime. Like his father he was a keen collector and was a ready and often over-generous buyer. By the time of his death he had increased the library to a total of over 50,000 books, 41,000 prints, 350,000 pamphlets, and 7,639 manuscript volumes. The books, prints, and pamphlets were bought in 1742 by Thomas Osborne the bookseller for £13,000. The manuscripts were sold to the nation in 1753 for £10,000, and now form the Harleian Collection in the British Library. This catalogue was begun in 1708, by Humphrey Wanley, and on his death in 1726, after an interval of some years, it was resumed by Mr. Casley, continued by Mr. Hockley, and completed by the succeeding librarians of the British Museum.

Keywords: MANUSCRIPTS LIBRARY CATALOGUE BRITISH MUSEUM ANTIQUARIAN