Thomas Frognall Dibdin : Bibliographer & Bibliomaniac Extraordinary 1776 - 1847

Private Libraries Association, Pinner, first edition, 1967. Limited edition of 1400 copies of which 500 were for sale. Printed boards, 8vo,. 45 pp, ills. A lively and readable account of Dibdin. From the text: "The facts about Dibdin's life have never been fully explored. A few brief pen-portraits exist from some who knew him slightly but nothing from any who knew him well. It quickly became the fashion to disparage him, and the early Victorians chose to regard him as an ignorant though rather amusing pretender, a snob, a sycophant and a suitable object for sneers and humorous anecdote. The only substantial source of information is his own Reminiscences of a Literary Life published in 1836. For the last eleven years of his life we must make what we can of an extensive correspondence scattered throughout the collections of papers of a number of his better-known contemporaries. Fortunately this period is represented by a small but accessible collection of letters written to his life-long friend, Dr Bliss, Public Registrar of Oxford, which has been preserved in the British Museum together with some of his printed sermons, pamphlets and prospectuses. These letters tell a story of poverty and illness which more than balances the picture of exuberant success presented by his autobiography. The Literary Reminiscences is a scarce book, and searching through collections of correspondence is a time-consuming task. The following pages, therefore, may be acceptable as a résumé of a life which must be of interest to anyone who enjoys the excitement of books. Very Good in a torn, creased and somewhat marked dustwrapper.