Difference between revisions of "Main Page"

From Book Owners Online
(15 intermediate revisions by the same user not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
 
__NOTITLE__
 
__NOTITLE__
<p id="lead"><i>Book Owners Online</i> is a [https://www.bookowners.online/Category:All_Owners directory of historical book owners], with information about their libraries, and signposts to further sources. It currently has entries for over 1850 British owners of the 17th and 18th centuries, and is being expanded. [https://bookowners.online/Contact Feedback] from users is welcome, via the site or our [https://www.facebook.com/groups/424763118619629 Facebook] group.</p>
+
<p id="lead"><i>Book Owners Online</i> is a [https://www.bookowners.online/Category:All_Owners directory of historical book owners], with information about their libraries, and signposts to further sources. It currently has entries for over 2000 British owners of the 17th and 18th centuries, and is being expanded. [https://bookowners.online/Contact Feedback] from users is welcome, via the site or our [https://www.facebook.com/groups/424763118619629 Facebook] group.</p>
  
[[file:William-dugdale-detail.jpg | thumb| 480px| link= |[[Sir William Dugdale]]: etching by Wenceslaus Hollar, 1656 ([https://bookowners.online/File:William-dugdale-detail.jpg detail])]]
+
[[file:William-dugdale-detail.jpg | thumb| 480px| link= |[[William Dugdale 1605-1685|Sir William Dugdale]]: etching by Wenceslaus Hollar, 1656 ([https://bookowners.online/File:William-dugdale-detail.jpg detail])]]
  
 
Book owners played an essential role in creating the documentary heritage we value today. Our libraries, curating our collective printed and written memory, were built on countless donations or purchases from individuals over the centuries.  Books which they kept and valued have significantly shaped ideas about our literary legacy.
 
Book owners played an essential role in creating the documentary heritage we value today. Our libraries, curating our collective printed and written memory, were built on countless donations or purchases from individuals over the centuries.  Books which they kept and valued have significantly shaped ideas about our literary legacy.
Line 24: Line 24:
 
<div class="two-columns">
 
<div class="two-columns">
  
<div class="teaser">[[File:HarleyStamp.jpg | link=Robert Harley 1661-1724 | 720px]]
+
<div class="teaser">[[File:P1180631(1).JPG | link=John Morris ca.1580-1658 | 720px]]
  
[[Robert Harley 1661-1724 | Ink stamps to mark book ownership were common from the later 18th century onwards, and are sometimes found earlier; black or red ink is usual, but Robert Harley used a facsimile signature stamped in gold.]]</div>
+
[[John Morris ca.1580-1658 | John Morris (d.1658), whose wealth came from piping water round London, had over 1500 books, absorbed by the Royal Library; he wrote his name on his titlepages in different languages, depending on that of the book]]</div>
  
  
<div class="teaser">[[File:PlumeThomas1.JPG| link=Thomas Plume| 720px]]
+
<div class="teaser">[[File:BridgewaterPressmark.jpg| link=John Egerton 1646-1701 | 720px]]
  
[[Thomas Plume | Some, but not all, of the books given to Thomas Plume's Library at Maldon by its founder, in 1704, have a code looking like a conjoined P and L, but we don't know its significance.]]</div>
+
[[John Egerton 1646-1701 | Distinctive early shelfmarks written in books can be a sign of their provenance; one like this shows that a book was once in the Bridgewater Library, of the Egerton family ]]</div>
  
 
</div>
 
</div>

Revision as of 06:27, 5 October 2021

Book Owners Online is a directory of historical book owners, with information about their libraries, and signposts to further sources. It currently has entries for over 2000 British owners of the 17th and 18th centuries, and is being expanded. Feedback from users is welcome, via the site or our Facebook group.

Sir William Dugdale: etching by Wenceslaus Hollar, 1656 (detail)

Book owners played an essential role in creating the documentary heritage we value today. Our libraries, curating our collective printed and written memory, were built on countless donations or purchases from individuals over the centuries. Books which they kept and valued have significantly shaped ideas about our literary legacy.

Key questions which BOO seeks to answer include “did this person own books?”, "how many and what kind?", "what happened to them?", and “where do I look for more information?”. At a time of growing interest in provenance studies, private libraries, and work on the material book, it fills a gap in our book historical reference sources. There are many online sites which start from books or libraries and provide provenance data, but BOO starts with owners.

Getting Around the Site

Featured Articles