John Shorter 1625-1688

Sir John SHORTER 1625-88

Sir John Shorter's bookplate (British Museum Franks Collection *469)

Biographical Note

Son of John Shorter of Staines, Middlesex, baker. Apprenticed to James Sherley, goldsmith, 1641 (freed 1649), after which he developed a successful career as a goldsmith and merchant in London. Alderman of London 1676, Lord Mayor 1687-88.

Books

Shorter had an engraved armorial bookplate dated 1687 (Franks *469). His will has no mention of books (though it reveals extensive wealth and property), and he was described by John_Evelyn_1620-1706 as "a very odd ignorant mechanic". No books with the bookplate have been traced and it has been suggested that Shorter provides an example of a wealthy grandee who perhaps owned books more for show than for reading.

Sources

• Will of Sir John Shorter, The National Archives PROB 11/392/393.
• Gambier Howe, E. R. J. Franks bequest: catalogue of British and American book plates bequeathed to the ... British Museum. London, 1903.
• Pearson, D., Book ownership in Stuart England, Oxford, 2021/forthcoming.
• Woodhead, J. The rulers of London 1660-1689. London, 1965, p.149.