John Cole his Companies & Company

JOHN COLE his

COMPANIES

&

COMPANY The Archive of a 19th century Bookseller, Writer, Publisher, & Antiquarian

Dean Cooke Rare Books Ltd

An archive of manuscripts and printed material by the writer, publisher, bookseller, and antiquarian, John Cole (1792-1848) ARCHIVE CONTENTS

17 autograph manuscripts with additional illustrations, letters, & ephemera together with 4 printed publications, & an interesting book from Cole’s library Introduction ¶ This archive, with a multi-volume memoir at its centre, opens a window onto the culture and social milieu of a key period in English history: Romanticism, the explosion of local publishing and the flowering of touring theatre are all represented here, through the writings and tireless activities of an antiquarian with a lively mind but – according to common consensus – no head for business.

Some of the key personalities of this period – Byron, Wellington, Queen Victoria, Walter Scott – are given mention in Cole’s memoir, and he describes his encounters with notable contemporary figures such as William Wilberforce, Charles Lamb, Thomas Bewick, the Kemble acting family, and scores of characters now lesser known. In a landscape dominated by the Olympians of the period, Cole glances at some of these peaks, but devotes most of his energies to charting his local foothills.

Arguably, his most valuable role from our perspective is that of a champion of the provincial milieu in which he moved.

John Cole is best remembered as a prodigious writer and publisher on local history and rural life, mostly of Scarborough, Northamptonshire and Huntingdonshire (now part of Cambridgeshire). His publications on this and other topics amount to some 100 titles; several examples of these extremely rare books are included in this archive, but its core – six volumes of his unpublished memoir Reminiscences of Literary and Scientific Characters with whom the Writer has Entered into connexion; with Miscellaneous Memoranda, running to over six hundred manuscript pages – gives context to his published works, and provides much more besides.

The memoir also provides plentiful material for a reassessment of Cole’s reputation. He is described in most biographies as having failed in most of his enterprises and lacking the business sense required to run a bookshop or a publishing concern; true enough, he never became wealthy, and his final years were marked by poverty, but Cole’s own account presents his life and work in a different frame – a frame crowded with friendships, travels, enthusiasms and projects. Indeed, his two principal centres of operation as a bookseller and publisher – premises in Lincoln and Scarborough – enabled him to form a network of acquaintances and like-minded enthusiasts that mirror the restless, discursive arrangement of his memoir.

Cole was born in Northamptonshire (parentage unknown) and apprenticed to the bookseller, William Birdsall. He found his vocation early: in 1809, at the age of only 17, he began compiling material for a history of Northampton, which Birdsall published (without an author credit) in 1815. In the meantime, Cole also wrote a history of Ecton, a village east of Northampton; he published this himself, but not until 1825 (a copy of this forms part of the archive).

In 1817 he purchased the stock of a bookseller in Lincoln, some 90 miles north of Northampton, and married Susannah Marshall (d. 1832), daughter of James Marshall of Northampton; they had six children. Following a pattern he continued throughout much of his life – namely visiting or moving to a new place and then compiling and composing a slim volume about it – he published The History of Lincoln and Guide to its Curiosities and Antiquities in 1818.

Around 1821, Cole moved to the coastal spa town of Scarborough after purchasing the stock of a subscription library and bookshop, which he maintained as a going concern – and a kind of social hub – until 1836. His memoirs are rich in accounts of friends and acquaintances made as a result. He worked unceasingly at producing volumes of local history and topography, many designed to appeal to tourists visiting one of England’s first seaside resorts. Cole also delivered public lectures on subjects such as natural history, architecture and astronomy, incorporating a farewell address to the town into his final lecture (which he reproduces in his Reminiscences). He later returned to Northampton and continued to lecture and publish books, but turned to schoolteaching when this proved no longer viable. He died in poverty in 1848.

Local history and architecture form so much of Cole’s printed output that it’s no surprise to find lengthy accounts in the Reminiscences of his visits to towns and villages, in pursuit of places and personalities that pique his interest. He takes in large conurbations such as Nottingham, York and Lincoln, but seems more drawn to smaller communities (Ecton, Hackness, Alconbury Weston, Graffham and dozens more) and their churches, monuments and grand houses.

Luminaries & lesser lights Looking through Cole’s Reminiscences, one’s attention is naturally drawn to the presence of some prominent names (usually given in the headings for the relevant pages). Sometimes these are more in the way of sightings – glimpsing “the Duke of Wellington” at the opening of Waterloo Bridge in June 1817 (pp147-148) or witnessing the coronation of Queen Victoria – but he also relates more direct encounters; for example, with William Wilberforce, “the celebrated emancipator of slavery” (p365), who during a visit to Scarborough “wished to be introduced to me”.

Elsewhere he describes how one of his publications leads to “the correspondence & friendship of Charles Lamb, Esqr”, who presents him with a copy of his “Tragedy”, ““John Woodvill, with Fragments of Buxton”, 12 mo”, inscribed on a flyleaf “Charles Lamb with respects to the Compiler of the Antiquarians Trio” (p372-373). Cole adds: “It forms No. 154 in Biblioteca Coleiana”, one of many cross-references to his own catalogue of books.

Cole’s interest in the theatre brings him into the orbit of the Kemble theatre family, foremost “Mr Charles Kemble” who “performed at the theatre, Scarborough, during this autumn” (p387) (Cole’s aside that “Among my autographs is a note which I received from him” resonates down to present-day celebrity culture). He goes on to recall that, soon thereafter, “our lodgings were engaged for Mrs E. Kemble, widow of the late Mr S Kemble and Proprietor of the Theatres in the northern circuit viz Durham, Stockton, Scarborough, &c.” Noting the great renown that Mrs Kemble enjoyed in her prime, Cole “embraced the opportunity to collect from her own mouth, some information relative to the proceedings of her life”. There follows a biography that extends to many pages.

Later in the same volume, Cole recounts how “that celebrated engraver, Mr Thomas Bewick, paid Scarborough a visit, when I had the pleasure to enjoy much of his company and conversation.” (p454) He offers a brief sketch of Bewick (“about 6 feet, but not corpulent with features of a hard, broad cast, enlightned with an eye of much shrewdness”) and describes the Bewick family as “very friendly with us”. He notes that Bewick’s eldest daughter Jane “corrected the press for his works, and saw to the getting them up”. Bewick “remembered Oliver Goldsmith well”, and tells of how the playwright, “having fled from Edingborough to escape dunning for a suit of clothes”, surfaced in Newcastle “in a sky=blue=coloured coat, with large cuffs and buttons at the wrists, the fashionable dress of the time”, in which getup “he retired to an out=house in the vicinity of Newcastle, and there spent the night.” Their conversation ineluctably turns to printing: “Mr. Bewick observed that one hundred thousand impressions might be obtained from a single block in the hands of a careful printer; without failure of the impression” and considers “his latter editions were superior to the earlier through the improvements of typography.” (p459).

Cole relates that in the course of their discussions Bewick presents him with proof of one of his famous birds. Ever the magpie, Cole proudly tips the treasured wood engraving into his book and declares

Which indeed, it is.

Below this exalted level of fame lie many other acquaintances who make up the middle ranks of literary society – fellow practitioners of what seems to be a gentlemanly cottage industry.

These include “Mr Edward Moxon… a Bookseller of 64 New Bond Street”, publisher of “The Prospect, and other Poems” and a friend of Lamb’s (p373); Charles Frost, “an eminent attorney at law” who argued for relief of the poor and in 1827 published a history of Hull (p169); Thomas Thompson, an MP, who wrote on the history of Holderness (p171); and “Mr Adam Stark, the Author of “The History of Gainsburgh”” (Gainsborough, near Hull) and “the chief Bookseller of the place”, who “kindly presented me with a copy of an unpubd pamphlet of his own composition, entitled “Stonehenge”” (p189) – the latter an example of the culture of exchange that figures throughout Cole’s accounts and still characterises such networks today.

Clergymen form a sub-group of these fellow travellers: “The Revd John Carter”, who visits Cole’s Lincoln shop, “a great antiquary and book-lover” who “published a Romance entitled, “The Cavern of Astelphio””; Rev William Eastmead, author of “Historia Rievallensis”, a history of Kirkby

Moorside and environs (p307); “The Revd E. W. Barnard”, son-in-law of Cole’s friend Archdeacon Wrangham and author of “The Protestant Beadsman; or, a Series of Biographical Notices, commemorating the Saints & Martyrs, whose Holidays are kept by the Church of England: to which is appended, a brief Review of the Scriptural and Traditionary accounts of the Holy Angels.” (p331).

Other characters mentioned in passing populate the background of Cole’s world: a fellow named “Ross”, who was “my apprentice, he having since become an excellent classical scholar” (p155); Hermione Ballantyne, “widow of the celebrated publisher in Edinburgh”, who is among those submitting poetry for his publication “The Scarborough Album of History & Poetry” (p334); and fellow bibliomaniacs such as Shafto Craster (1755-1837), of Craster, near Alnwick, “a very liberal purchaser of Books from my Stock, to a considerable amount” (p247). In a separately purchased manuscript that now forms part of this archive, Cole humorously describes a youthful sally into the world of theatrical recitations, where we also meet “Mr Robt Birdsall”, son of William Birdsall, Cole’s first employer and evidently a fellow drama enthusiast. The work, which is entitled “In answer to a question why did you choose Selim for your first appearance?”, appears to celebrate Cole’s inauguration into the world of books and publishing.

Book Catalogues & Bibliomaniacs It is perhaps inevitable that bibliomaniacs and the subject of book collecting and cataloguing make frequent appearances throughout this archive; they are after all, the very “glue” which binds Cole’s social and intellectual life together.

Examples from the Reminiscences abound, including in May 1822, when he catalogued the “small but curious” library of John Lund and mentions a print in the collection which is “extra rare, if not unique, there being only a copy or two taken off...the plate was destroyed”. (p209). Later that year, “About the end of November, 1822, I received a note from the Revd Archdeacon Wrangham, which gave rise to the descriptive Catalogue of the Archdeacon’s Library, which I afterward published. The note, among other things expressed as follows: “I have a great many duplicates of old Books.

Would you like to have them? & on what terms – You had better come over – say, on Monday.” (p223).

Other bibliomaniacal references include a visit to London where he purchased “a large lot of curious and early printed books, including several splendidly illustrated Missals both MS and printed of different sizes. Of these I afterward formed a Catalogue which was printed and published about Christmas in this year. This brought me into connexion with celebrated Book Collectors and Literary Characters generally.

Among them was the famous Bibliomaniac, John Holmes Esqr of Retford, who lessened me of my Missal stores, among other selections which he made.” This includes a watercolour sketch of “Mr Holmes’ Library Rooms”, directly onto the page (the library was a separate gothic building on his land). (p150). Cole was also asked to produce a catalogue of all the books in the General Subscription Library at Scarborough.

O tempora, o mores Occasionally, Cole makes observations or sets down anecdotes that help us form a fuller picture of the man, and by extension the social world he inhabited: though his library carries an edition of Byron’s Beppo (included among the printed works in this archive), in which he notes the price pad for the copyright, he himself is more of a conservative.

The “Selim” memoir shows him having caught the drama bug, but the Reminiscences portray someone who has become a little uneasy over the morality of mimesis. In giving his “Opinion of the Drama” (p162), he recalls that “My taste for the Drama about this period began to decline; - I did not consider the stage in regard to its productions in general, of a sufficiently moral nature”. He praises the notorious Bardcensoring Thomas Bowdler for rendering “essential service to the rising generation by forming a family Shakespeare”.

The third volume of Reminiscences is bookended by anecdotes that illustrate the common fascination with the ‘exoticism’ of non-European cultures. In July 1822, Cole describes an exhibition in Scarborough of the preserved and heavily tattooed “head of Georges […] the chief of a Cannibal tribe of New Zealanders, by whom the crew of the Ship Boyd, Capt Thompson, of Hull, was massacred & eaten

a few years ago” (p218). Later, he sets down an account relayed to him by “The Revd R. H. White”, who, while visiting London in 1824, “enjoyed an interview with Riko Riko, or Kamehameha II King of the Sandwich Islands and his Queen” (p290). Cole adds a pencil sketch of the queen, presumably based on White’s description. He is keen to record “a curious mode of salutation” the Reverend received, “certainly not very gentle in its kind, but decidedly very effective, and forcible, it being a masculine thump on the back, startling and confusing to the visitor.” Any amusement the reader may feel over this drains away when Cole adds that the king “died in London in 1824; his wife having accompanied his Majesty, expired in town about a week previous”.

An earlier episode adds a further dimension to these encounters with ‘otherness’. Cole calls it a “trifling anecdote”, but it stands out for its abrupt shift of focus. In a three -page passage, he recalls: “During my residence at Hull a poor destitute Negro was seen wandering about” (p183).

His cause is taken up with a couple of the local clergy, and Cole has tipped in (though it has come unstuck) a note written by one to the other: “Will Mr Dikes be so good as to talk with the bearer – a poor negro”. He also adds his own pencil sketch of the man in question. “By some means he was introduced to me, & ^being destitute, I so far took compassion upon the poor

fellow as to employ him as a servant”. The “poor fellow”, whom Cole never names, then enlists in the army, and “occasionally presented himself before me in regimentals, sometimes begging a shilling or two to supply his pressing exigencies”.

Having moved to Scarborough, “one spring evening a poor black entered my Library room; & being somewhat engaged, I did not attend to his request, so fully as I have since wished that I had done.” As the man leaves, “he exclaimed, in a feeling manner […] “Ah! You not remember de poor African – You forget poor negro!”” Cole confesses that, since this encounter, “I have conceived that this might be ^the same individual, and I have subsequently very much regretted that I did not enter more fully into conversation with the poor fellow & ascertain whether he were the identical African of Hull, or not.” Cole proposes that this tale “may be allowed to suggest, that all persons have a right to receive due notice, and a proper attention to their wants”. With hindsight, it also confirms that anyone’s existence can prove precarious, since Cole himself was later reduced to penury.

Bookmaking & scrapbooking Cole’s memoir is steeped in the culture of books and bookmaking, and he seems to have embarked on new projects at the slightest provocation. Of his first visit to the fishing village of Filey, he writes that he “little thought that I should afterward become its Historian” (p223); similarly, giving a brief account of a trip to Hackness: “But I need not further describe it, as I am now collecting materials for its “History and Antiquities”” (p259). Shortly after this, he recounts beginning to read aloud for one William Abbott, an “elderly Blind Gentleman of Scarborough a sketch of whose life, I afterward published” (p274).

His Reminiscences abound with physical and production details of his many books. This account of an 1821 project is typical: “In October, I commenced the Compilation of a little work, in foolscap sva entitled, “Herveiana: or, Graphic & Literary Sketches illustrative of the Life & Writings of the Revd James Hervey, A.M.” which occupied our press until the Spring of the ensuing year […] This recd a full list of Subscribers, the subscription price being low, only 3s/.- The Revd Robert Hervey Knight, of Weston Favell kindly procured me several long lists. There was a limited impression in demy 8vo, 5/ & six copies only on coloured paper which were priced at 8/ each.” (p202) Cole’s ventures do apparently yield the occasional success: an early instance is The History of Lincoln: and Guide to its Curiosities and Antiquities, published in 1817, which “continued to have a very successful sale among the visitors of the Cathedral; one of the vergers being regular in his calls for a fresh supply” (p150). But more common are the escalating costs and production snags: having bought the Scarborough bookshop and printing equipment, he begins work on “A Descriptive Catalogue of a Select Portion of my Stock”, but after printing a mere handful of pages, “my Printer became ill: he was in fact seized with his last illness”. (p323) Even though he wins a share in a £20,000 lottery prize soon after this, Cole, in true bookseller style seems to have immediately funnelled the money into a series of rash purchases rather than put his business on a sounder footing.

Cole’s pursuits – indeed his life in general – are marked by restlessness, impulsiveness and a certain magpie tendency. The material qualities of his memoir are a perfect reflection of this: evidently written near, or after, the end of his career as a printer and publisher, it continues and elaborates on the idea of the illustrated book. Among his manuscript

pages, Cole has included hundreds of pieces of supplementary material: tipped-in newspaper clippings and engravings; watercolour sketches painted directly onto the page; loosely inserted leaves from pamphlets and other publications. In almost every case they illustrate or comment upon his written text.

These inclusions sometimes aid Cole’s discursive sallies: describing a visit from one Rev W. Hett, “one of the Vicars Choral in Lincoln”, who proves “very friendly in my shop”, he relates that, having perused a copy of an “Essay on the probability of our being known to each other in a future life”, Hett relates that he has also “written a treatise bearing on the subject, but it was his opinion that our glorified state would be of so elevated a nature, and that we should be so strongly enraptured in the beatific presence, as to leave no room for vacant thought, respecting consanguinity” (p155). Cole then loosely inserts a printed review of the pamphlet in question. And as if to complete a circle, Cole concludes by saying of Hett that “I published his two folio volumes of sermons”.

Sometimes, Cole’s additions provide a kind of postscript to the events he describes: his passage concerning Wilberforce, for example, is accompanied by a later newspaper account of the great man’s funeral; and an earlier sequence in which Cole “made arrangements with that spirited Bibliopolist Mr Isaac Wilson of Hull to catalogue his extensive collection of books” comes not just with a competent pencil sketch of Wilson but also with a tipped-in leaflet advertising the auction of the man’s library after his death (pp162 -163). With such curatorial gestures, Cole seems also to be memorialising his own career.

Conclusion This archive combines invaluable detailed records of book history including aspects of collecting, writing, and publishing with abundant personal anecdotes of 19th-century life by one of its active participants. Cole’s printed output – many titles in very small print runs – is now highly sought after, and this archive includes several examples of his books (as well as various working manuscripts of unpublished books and periodicals). The Reminiscences provide a context for his crammed publication schedule and show the extent to which his successive bookselling and printing ventures, ostensibly amounting to a tale of financial failure, were actually the focus for a thriving network of provincial book-loving amateurs and antiquaries who were part of the rank-and-file of artistic culture during an extraordinary period for English literature.

What emerges from the study of this archive is the importance of networks created through the social interactions of bookshops and exchange of literary works which combine to produce knowledge and culture. Modern scholarship increasingly understands that knowledge is not only produced by towering figures, but rather emerges from a complex context of shared endeavour and mutual interest – a context which is evidenced throughout this archive.

£20,000 (GBP)

Contents of the archive The archive comprises 17 autograph manuscripts by John Cole, together with four of his printed publications, and a copy of Byron’s Beppo, with a note on the copyright. Some of the items are recorded in Cole’s Bibliotheca Coleiana (1829), and others are included in John Taylor’s Bibliotheca Northantonensis a Catalogue of the Unique Collection of Historical MSS., Antiquarian & Topographical Publications, of John Cole (1883). The Reminiscences appears to be part of the 17 volumes of “An Account of the Life of John Cole, including Brief Notices of his Family, Friends, Associates, and the Literary Contemporaries with whom he has in any manner entered into connexion.” (Taylor. p.4).

17 manuscripts by John Cole ● In Answer to your Question why did you choose Selim for your first appearance?

[Circa 1815]. Paper watermarked 1812. Octavo (160 mm x 102 mm x 8 mm). 50 numbered pages.

Contemporary quarter-calf with marbled boards, boards detached. ● Reminiscences of Literary and Scientific Characters with whom the Writer had entered into Connexion; with Miscellaneous Memoranda.

Noted by John Cole.

These six manuscript volumes, which would have formed part of a larger group of volumes, are hugely expanded with hundreds of tipped and pasted-in press cuttings, manuscript letters, proof printings, pencil sketches, watercolours, and other pieces of ephemera. They appear to conform to the Journal on page four of Taylor’s Bibliotheca Northantonensis: “Journal (c. 1792-1840.) An Account of the Life of John Cole, including Brief Notices of his Family, Friends, Associates, and the Literary Contemporaries with whom he has in any manner entered into connexion. With Illustrative Drawings, Autograph Letters, rare Specimens from his Press, and other interesting Historical Memoranda. 17 vols.”

Volume II: 1817-22. Quarto (200 mm x 165 mm x 20 mm). Pagination pp. 143-217.

Disbound, stitching broken, leaves loose, damp stained.

Volume III: 1822-24. Quarto (200 mm x 160 mm x 17 mm). Pagination pp. 218-291.

Calf-backed marbled boards, Volume IV: 1824-28. Quarto (196 mm x 165 mm x 25 mm). Pagination pp. 292-469.

Calf-backed marbled boards, lacking spine and marbled paper to front board. Binder’s ticket: “Chesterton / Binder, / Wellingborough.”

Volume VII: 1832-33. Quarto (200 mm x 165 mm x 15 mm). Pagination pp. 694-777.

Calf-backed marbled boards.

Volume X: 1836-38. Quarto (200 mm x 165 mm x 11 mm). Pagination pp. 937-1052.

Calf-backed marbled boards.

Revised volume: 1836-37. Quarto (245 mm x 195 mm x 27 mm). Pagination pp. 5-121.

Unbound quires stitched together.

● Sketches of Armston, in the County of Northampton. by John Cole. With Drawings by his son W.L. Cole.

Slim quarto (197 mm x 166 mm 4 mm). Pagination pp. 18, ruled in red, watercolour initial and a single watercolour illustration in the text. Loosely inserted note from William Eastmead to John Cole dated “April 14 1824” regarding bookbinding materials.

Roan-backed marbled boards.

An unpublished account of Armston, a “hamlet consisting of four houses” (p.1). Cole’s son has provided a single watercolour illustration. But there are several blank leaves at the end where, presumably Cole junior would have supplied illustrations of the other three cottages. ● Sermon on Hebrews XII. v.2. Looking unto Jesus.

Slim quarto (197 x 160mm). Pages numbered to 38 (but omits 1-2). Leaves ruled in red.

Marbled paper wrappers, manuscript paper label on the upper cover.

● Untitled Study of Roman remains along the River Nene, Northamptonshire.

Slim quarto (200 mm x 160 mm x 3 mm). Pagination pp. [24], unnumbered ages, margins of each leaf ruled in red.

Marbled paper wrappers. ● The Woodford Recorder, for April [-November] 1846.

Slim quarto (229 mm x 185 mm x 5 mm). Pagination pp. 44 numbered pages (lacking 31-34), some blank. Illustrated with tipped-in pencil sketches and a full-page watercolour portrait.

Marbled paper wrappers, manuscript paper label on the upper cover, some rodent damage to the upper margin of the final few leaves (without any loss of text).

Manuscript label to front cover reads “Northamptonshire Collections, The Woodford Recorder, No. 2.” Apparently a manuscript-only publication. ● A Description of Drayton House [bound with] Genealogical account of the Mordaunts During a period of Six Centuries.

Slim quarto (229 mm x 185 mm x 4 mm). Pagination pp. 32, with a number of pencil sketches of Drayton Hall tipped in.

The ‘Genealogical account’, which has been inserted before the final leaf, comprises 14 numbered pages.

Marbled paper wrappers, manuscript paper label on the upper cover “Northamptonshire Collections, A Description of Drayton House.”

● A Description of Cranford Hall.

Slim quarto (230 mm x 187 mm x 4 mm). Pagination pp 18. Ruled in red and with a number of pencil sketches tipped in.

Marbled paper wrappers, covers detached.

Manuscript paper label to upper cover “Northamptonshire Collections, A Description of Cranford Hall.”

The following manuscripts, part of the ‘Huntingdonshire Collections’, form a series of studies of villages and buildings in the county and each manuscript is numbered individually. ● Huntingdonshire Collections. No. 8. Grove House, Herefordshire; Hamerton Church; Somersham Church; Dillington.

Slim quarto (227 mm x 190 mm x 4 mm). Pagination pp. 34. Ruled in red, with numerous pencil sketches and printed cuttings pasted in.

Marbled paper wrappers, manuscript paper label on the upper cover.

● Huntingdonshire Collections. No. 9. Seynt Andrewe’s Church; Stilton Church; Yaxley Villa; Ramsey Abbey; Alconbury Weston; Graffham.

Slim quarto (201 mm x 165 mm x 4 mm). Pagination pp. 44. Ruled in red, printed clippings, pencil and watercolour sketches.

Marbled paper wrappers, manuscript paper label on the upper cover. ● Huntingdonshire Collections. No. 13. Pidliey Church; Bluntisham Church; St. Neot’s Church; Wood Walton Church; barham Church; Easton Church; Fenny Stanton Church; Hilton Church; Molesworth Church; Brington Church; Catworth Church.

Slim quarto (230 mm x 190 mm x 5 mm). Pagination pp. 44. Ruled in red, printed clippings, pencil and watercolour sketches.

Marbled paper wrappers, manuscript paper label on the upper cover. ● Huntingdonshire Collections. Cowper; Unwin Family.

Slim quarto (225 mm x 193 mm x 6 mm). Pagination pp. 50. Illustrations.

Appalling condition: mouldy and rotten with pages obscured by damage.

Four printed books by John Cole ● Herveiana; or, Graphic and Literary Sketches illustrative of the life and writings of the Rev. James Hervey... Scarborough: 1822.

Octavo. Printed publisher’s boards, title page trimmed below “Scarborough” in publisher’s details.

Bibliotheca Coleiana 57. Cole's Herveiana, Part 1, on coloured paper, only 6 copies.

● The History and Antiquities of Ecton, in the County of Northampton. Scarborough: 1825. Octavo. Cole’s name has been struck through in the imprint. Bound in marbled boards with a green cloth spine.

Bibliotheca Coleiana 74. Note: this copy printed on green paper (which is not recorded in Bibliotheca Coleiana). ● Memoirs of the Life, Writings, and Character of the late Thomas Hinderwell, Esq. Scarborough: 1826. Octavo. Cole’s name has been scratched out from the imprint. Bound in pink boards with a pink cloth spine.

Bibliotheca Coleiana 78. Note: this copy printed on green paper (which is not recorded in Bibliotheca Coleiana).

● Historical Sketches of Scalby, Burniston, and Cloughton, with descriptive notices of Hayburn Wyke, and Stainton Dale, in the County of York. Scarborough: [1829]. Octavo. Title page trimmed below “Scarborough” in publisher’s details.

Possibly a proof copy. Pp 69-82 (part of the chapter on Cloughton) have not been bound in. Instead, pp 9-14 (printed on light blue paper) from a different work (which also concerns Cloughton) have been inserted. and one section of the text printed on light blue paper. Signature of Thomas Cole (dated 1843) in the upper margin of the title-page. Bound in buff brown boards with faded red cloth spine.

Bibliotheca Coleiana 102.

A book from Cole’s library with note about the copyright ● BYRON, George Gordon (1788-1824). Beppo, a venetian Story. Fifth Edition. London: John Murray, 1818.

Title page, half title and inner margin of several leaves torn, some pencil marking in margins. Buff boards, roan spine and corners (heavily worn and bumped).

Bookseller’s catalogue inserted at front: “Books by John Cole, Scarborough, and Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green, London. With a woodcut illustration of Cole’s Library.

Two manuscript notes to paste-down read: “The Author recd £525 for the Copyright of Beppo”, and “J: Cole’s Library Scarboro”.

Institutional holdings ● 1792-1840: diaries and papers. York Minster Archives. Add MSS 153-54. NRA 30444 ● Correspondence. Oxford University: Bodleian Library, Special Collections. MS Montagu d 23 ● Autograph collection. Oxford University: Bodleian Library, Special Collections. MS Eng lett d 228

● 1818-36: letters (17) from RH Knight. Northamptonshire Record Office. 1968/18. NRA 4039 Northants RO misc

I specialise in interesting and unusual manuscripts and antiquarian books that record their histories as material forms, through the shaping of objects and the traces left on the surface, by the conscious and unconscious acts of their creators and users.

Dean Cooke Rare Books Ltd 125 York Road, Montpelier, Bristol, BS6 5QG, UK +44 7747 188 125 www.deancooke.org dean@deancooke.org @invisibl_inks invisibl_inks