American Collectors and the British Market for Rare Books c. 1890-1939: Two Perspectives

Presented by Laura Cleaver and Danielle Magnusson, Institute for English Studies, University of London

The early twentieth century has been characterized as a golden age of American book collecting. Many of those books were bought in Britain, where voracious American appetites for rare books and manuscripts became a popular stereotype, often accompanied by hand-wringing about the impact on British cultural heritage. This lecture aims to go beyond these stereotypes to explore what American collectors thought they were doing as well as how their collecting was reported in the press, and why, despite occasional public protests, the British did nothing to try to prevent books and manuscripts from going to America. 

More information about the SIMS Online Lecture Series can be found here.