Sharpe, J.B. Elements of anatomy; designed for the use of students in the Fine Arts (1818)

The front pastedown has the pictorial bookplate of poet and artist William Bell Scott (1811–1890). He has written his name and the date, 1837, on the title page. The end of the book contains pages filled with his annotations and anatomical pencil sketches. These were made during a lecture by Dr. Embleton in the Newcastle upon Tyne School of Medicine and Surgery, in October 1844. Tipped-in to the book are three leaves of paper. Each has the embossed stamp of Penkill Castle, Girvan and a list of books in the library, compiled in April 1950. Bell Scott died at Penkill in 1890. He visited the castle several times after beginning a liaison with the estate owner’s sister, Alice Boyd, and painted murals in the staircase.

Provenance research also has practical implications. There is increasing recognition from librarians, booksellers, and scholars of the need to record provenance information to identify copies of books. Good provenance research prevents modern book owners from falling foul of forgery and other false practices. Attempting to reconstruct the full life story of a book is not just intellectually exciting, but a necessary component of good caretaking.

Bookplates are ownership labels that may be described as armorial (based on, or incorporating, the owner's coat of arms) or pictorial (based on a portrait, scene, or other illustration.) Often, they incorporate the owner's initials. Bookplates are commonly found stuck onto the front pastedown (the endpaper which lines the inside cover.) They were in use in Germany from 1470 but didn't really appear in Britain until much later. In Britain, armorial bookplates were widely used in the 17th and 18th centuries, giving way to pictorial bookplates in the late-19th century. The interest in collecting bookplates led to books being damaged as they were removed. They might also be obscured by library labels. Even when present, identifying owners can be difficult, as names were passed down through families and the same bookplates could remain in use for several years.

Wells, H.G. Anticipations: of the reaction of mechanical and scientific progress upon human life and thought (1902)

The front pastedown seen here has the pictorial bookplate of the writer Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936). Kipling would have been working for local newspapers in British India in 1894, when this Ex Libris (‘from the library of’) bookplate is dated. The bookplate was designed by his father, John Lockwood Kipling, an art teacher, and illustrator. Rudyard Kipling was one of the most popular writers in the late-19th and early-20th centuries. In 1907, he was the youngest person to win the Nobel Prize for Literature, aged 41. He took inspiration from British India and became a controversial figure as the 20th century continued and the political and social climates changed. His interpretation of the experiences of empire remains problematic.

Voltaire. Letters concerning the English nation (1733)

The front pastedown of this book has the armorial bookplate of Reverend Stotherd Abdy (1728–1773). Abdy was Rector of a church in Thaydon Garnons, Essex. The village is also known as Coopersale or Coopersail, as shown on his bookplate. Abdy married but left no heir. In 1775, two years after his death, his library was sold in a mixed sale in London, for fixed prices, by Samuel Baker and George Leigh.

Bookplates, incriptions, and armorial stamps are the most common ways to identify a book's previous owners, but there are other, less obvious clues as well. Monograms (designs made from two or more letters), mottoes (personal or family rules), distinctive binding styles, annotations and additional material added into the book can also point to a former owner. Sale catalogues can also provide records of a collector's library and the names of purchases when the collection is broken up. Similarly, catalogues of private libraries can provide records of collections which may now be dispersed.

The Case of Mr James Oliphant, surgeon, respecting a prosecution which he, together with his wife and maid servant, underwent in the year 1764, for the suppos’d murder of a female domestic (1768)

This pamphlet has a complicated provenance which we can piece together from a variety of sources including manuscript annotations and a cutting. Former owner James Clephan (1804–1888), a historian and editor of The Gateshead Post, has written a note that he had purchased the pamphlet from the bookseller, William Dodd, in 1869. A cutting from the sale catalogue is included of the armorial bookplate of another former owner, attorney and antiquarian, John Trotter Brockett (1788-1842).

The pamphlet has been bound into a volume with another pamphlet. On the front pastedown of the volume, is the Ex Libris (‘from the library of’) book label of merchant and archaeologist, Robert Coltman Clephan (1839–1922). A front endpaper has a long manuscript annotation signed W.B. 1930. On the facing page is the redacted name and address which identifies W.B. as property developer, Justice of the Peace and Lord Mayor, William Bramble (1861–1948).

King & Lochée. A catalogue of the extensive and valuable library of books . . . late the property of Alex. Dalrymple . . . (1809)

This item is a catalogue of books that were formerly owned by hydrographer (someone who measures and describes bodies of water) to the Admiralty, Alexander Dalrymple (1737–1808). The catalogue has been published by auctioneers King and Lochée, who were selling the library in 1809. This catalogue could be used to reconstruct Dalrymple’s now dispersed library and to inform research on the circulation of books. Tipped-in at the front of the book is a letter from Dalrymple in which he describes “old books” which he has recently purchased.

The catalogue entries have been annotated with prices and purchaser’s names. The note on the front pastedown attributes those annotations to George Baker, St. Paul’s Church Yard. George Baker (1747–1811) was a lace merchant and art collector. An annotation on the front pastedown possibly matches an inscription on the first free front endpaper. It is the inscription of William Upcott (1779–1845) who was librarian at the London Institute. The book came to Newcastle University Special Collections & Archives when books previously in the possession of bookseller Philip Robinson were bequeathed by his widow, Marjorie.

Newcastle University Special Collections & Archives holds several books that were once owned, annotated or given as gifts by 18th century poet, Alexander Pope (1688-1744). We can draw connections with books once owned by Pope that are now in other libraries and explore what Pope did with his books. For example, how he engaged with them, harnessed them as creative resources for his own writing, and used them to build and sustain friendships.

Pope became the most celebrated poet of the 18th century. From his early teens onwards, he was obsessive purchaser, reader, annotator, and designer of books. This obsession with the material form of the printed book began in his childhood and stayed with him throughout his life.

Stanley, T. The History of Philosophy: containing the lives, actions and discourses of the philosophers of every sect (1701)

Alexander Pope claimed to have learned to write by copying printed books. This inscription demonstrates Pope’s meticulous penmanship, imitating the swashes (ornamental flourishes extending beyond the body of the metal type) and serifs (smaller lines finishing the main strokes of letters) of printed lettering. The style is unique to the books that Pope purchased in 1701, when he was 13 years old, which enables us to pinpoint the date. In addition to the Latin ‘Ex Libris’ (‘from the library of’) and the Latinised version of his name, Pope added the price he paid when the book was brand new: 14 shillings. The book was evidently carefully read. In the ‘Life of Pythagoras’ chapter, Pope corrected a sentence by inserting the word ‘not’ in tiny letters.

In his will, Pope bequeathed 60 books from his library to his friend and life-long companion Martha Blount. After her death in 1763, these books were inherited by her nephew, Michael Blount. He moved them to the family home, Mapledurham House in Oxfordshire. In 1952, the antiquarian book-dealers Lionel and Philip Robinson purchased a large part of the Mapledurham library to sell to their customers. Some of the books were kept back for their personal collections and were later donated to Newcastle University’s library (renamed in honour of Philip Robinson in 1989).

Pope, A. The temple of fame: a vision (1715)

This book is a first edition of Alexander Pope’s poem, The temple of fame. On the half-title page, Martha Blount has recorded that the book was given to her by Pope. Here, Pope has written a poem that directly addresses Martha. We don’t know whether Pope’s relationship with Martha was platonic or romantic, but the book and its inscription are intimate. There are creases where the book has been folded into quarters, perhaps to be slipped into a pocket.

Pope gave books but he also received books, carefully recording when he had been given books from other authors. For example, in his copy of Matthew Prior’s Poems on Several Occasions (Rob.65), he has written “Dñm Auths’, an abbreviation of donum auctoris (‘given by the author’). And, in his copy of Richard Glover’s Leonidas (Rob. 440), Pope has written a note stating it was given to him by the author in the year that it was published.

Fénelon, F. Les avantures de Telemaque fils d’Ulysse, vol. 1 (1717)

The inscription in this book tells us that it was originally owned by the poet and dramatist John Gay (1685–1732), who has inscribed his name on the title page. Gay was a member of the Scriblerus Club, an informal association of authors who came together in the 18th century to satirize perceived abuses of learning. Pope was also a member of the Club and received the book from Gay. In 1734, Pope presented the book to Martha Blount.