Sunday 11 June 2017

ARTICLE OF THE DAY

Sir Thomas Phillips and His Multitude of Books




 Sir Thomas Phillipps, 1st Baronet (2 July 1792 — 6 February 1872) was an English antiquary and book collector who amassed the largest collection of manuscript material in the 19th century, due to his severe condition of bibliomania. He was an illegitimate son of a textile manufacturer and inherited a substantial estate, which he spent almost entirely on vellum manuscripts, and, when out of funds, borrowed heavily to buy manuscripts, thereby putting his family deep into debt. Phillipps recorded in an early catalogue that his collection was instigated by reading various accounts of the destruction of valuable manuscripts.

No comments: