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<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>
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<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 2400 British owners from the 16th to the 18th centuries, and is being expanded. [https://bookowners.online/Contact Feedback] from users is welcome, via the site, our [https://forms.gle/tJyBvaibJhrVKwH39 anonymous user survey], [https://twitter.com/BookOwners Twitter] 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])]]
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[[file:William-dugdale-detail.jpg | thumb| 480px| link= |[[William Dugdale 1605-1685|William Dugdale 1605-1685|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.
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<div class="two-columns"> [[About | <dl><dt>About this Site</dt>  
 
<div class="two-columns"> [[About | <dl><dt>About this Site</dt>  
 
<dd>Book Owners Online is a publication of the Bibliographical Society in partnership with the UCL Centre for Lives and Letters (CELL), with a rationale developed by David Pearson.</dd></dl>]] [[User Guide | <dl><dt>What's in BOO</dt>  
 
<dd>Book Owners Online is a publication of the Bibliographical Society in partnership with the UCL Centre for Lives and Letters (CELL), with a rationale developed by David Pearson.</dd></dl>]] [[User Guide | <dl><dt>What's in BOO</dt>  
<dd>Book Owners Online is built around a backbone of named owners of libraries, who died between 1610 and 1715, for each of whom there is an entry with a standard structure.</dd></dl>]] [[Searching and Browsing |<dl><dt>How to use BOO</dt>  
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<dd>Book Owners Online is built around a backbone of named owners of libraries, who died between the 16th and 18th centuries, for each of whom there is an entry with a standard structure.</dd></dl>]] [[Searching and Browsing |<dl><dt>How to use BOO</dt>  
 
<dd>Book Owners Online works much like Wikipedia. Search using simple keywords in the box above, or browse using special semantic features.</dd></dl>]]
 
<dd>Book Owners Online works much like Wikipedia. Search using simple keywords in the box above, or browse using special semantic features.</dd></dl>]]
 
[[Editorial Team| <dl><dt>Editorial Team</dt>  
 
[[Editorial Team| <dl><dt>Editorial Team</dt>  
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<div class="teaser">[[File:HarleyStamp.jpg | link=Robert Harley 1661-1724 | 720px]]
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<div class="teaser">[[File:P1180658(3).JPG | link=Richard Heber 1774-1833 | 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>
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[[Richard Heber 1774-1833 | Books from the huge library of Richard Heber (1774-1833), with over 150,000 books, can often be recognised by his tiny but distinctive handwriting on a flyleaf; the "Bibliotheca Heberiana" ink stamp was added selectively after his death to help sell the books]]</div>
  
  
<div class="teaser">[[File:PlumeThomas1.JPG| link=Thomas Plume | 720px]]
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<div class="teaser">[[File:Bedwell-BLSloaneMS1796.jpg | link=William Bedwell ca.1563-1632 | 720px]]
  
[[Thomas Plume | Some, but not all, of the books given to Thomas Plume's Library at Maldon (Essex) by its founder, in 1704, have a code looking like a conjoined P and L, but we don't know its significance.]]</div>
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[[William Bedwell ca.1563-1632 | The manuscripts of William Bedwell (ca.1563-1632) are notable for his idiosyncratic Arabic handwriting, and his decorative use of coloured inks and ornaments]]</div>
  
 
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Revision as of 09:00, 26 May 2022

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 2400 British owners from the 16th to the 18th centuries, and is being expanded. Feedback from users is welcome, via the site, our anonymous user survey, Twitter or our Facebook group.

William Dugdale 1605-1685|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.

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