Gabriel Harvey 1552/3-1631

Gabriel HARVEY 1552/3-1631

Biographical Note

Writer, scholar, and (briefly) barrister in the Court of Arches.

Books

Harvey has long been celebrated and studied as a book owner for his voluminous annotations, usually in a clear and distinctive hand. He acquired books throughout his life - he was buying books in the 1570s, and in the 1620s - but we do not have an inventory, or any certain knowledge of the size of his library; it is usually thought to have been over 1000 volumes, possibly as many as 3000. It was dispersed soon after his death and examples are now widely scattered around the world; it covered a wide range of subjects, as would be expected, embracing science, mathematics and medicine as well as theology, history, geography, classics literature and law.

Characteristic Markings

Harvey regularly inscribed his books with his name and date of purchase. He often wrote extensive annotations, relating to the text, commenting on it, or supplementing it; he also used a series of astrological symbols as marginal marks to indicate the subject.

Sources

• Jardine, L. & A. Grafton, “Studied for action”; how Gabriel Harvey read his Livy, Past and present 129 (1990), 30-78.
• Scott-Warren, Jason. "Harvey, Gabriel (1552/3–1631), scholar and writer." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
• Shaddy, R. Gabriel Harvey in W. Baker (ed), Pre-19th century British book collectors, 1999, 131-46.
• Stern, V. Gabriel Harvey: his life, marginalia and library, 1979.