The Book Collector Podcast

Today's podcast focuses on Cyril Wilkinson (1888 - 1960), a colonel, a distinguished student of Literature, a Fellow at Worcester College, Oxford, and a pre-eminent eccentric. We begin with his obituary, written by Nicolas Barker for The Book Collector in 1966, and published again in 2019 by Bernard Quaritch Ltd in 'At First All Went Well and Other Brief Lives'. This is followed (at the 10min mark...

For this, our 40th Podcast, we present one legend writing of another. John Carter wrote this article in tribute to Percy Muir in the year of his 80th birthday. It appeared in our Winter issue of 1974, and is read by James Fleming.

Time for another instalment of Biblio-Vignettes from The Book Collector. This anecdotal series was written by Ann Baer. This episode includes 'Everyman's Daughter', 'Hare and Hounds in the Lake District' and 'Ce N'est Pas Laguerre'. they are all read by Sarah Bennett.

The obituary of the renowned publisher, Sir Rupert Hart-Davis, was written by Nicolas Barker and appeared in our Spring issue for 2000. It was also published by Quaritch in 'At First All Went Well'. It is read by James Fleming, whose uncle Peter Fleming was a good friend of Sir Rupert.

Written by Alan Walbank for The Book Collector's Spring 1957 issue, James Fleming now reads 'Country Collecting' in a time of national lockdown, taking us on a dreamy, nostalgic journey through country bookshops.

From The Book Collector's 'Unfamiliar Libraries' series which ran from the 1960s - 1980s, and included thirty entries in all. Barnbougle Castle in Scotland featured as number seven in the series. The library houses some of the Rosebery family collection, including a large collection of Napoleonica, and this account, from our Spring 1962 issue, was written by Countess Eva Rosebery. It is read here...

Appearing in our Summer issue for 1953, this article speaks of the relationship between printmaker, Eric Gill, and the author, Robert Gibbings, who was Artistic Director of the Golden Cockerel Press between 1924 - 1933. The article - available via our digital archive - includes some lovely examples of Gill's illustrative prints. It is read by James Fleming.

'Hawkshaw Rides Again', written by John Carter, first appeared in our Summer 1963 issue. It is read here by James Fleming.

This is the third collection of Biblio-vignettes, recorded for The Book Collector Podcasts. The original articles were written by Ann Baer, formerly Ann Sidgwick, and they are read here by Sarah Bennett. This collection includes 'Misaddressed Letters', 'Hand-to-Mouth at Gregynog' and 'A. H. Bullen's Hope Eternal'.

This article describes a collection of books from William Beckford's library, found in Barnbougle and sold by the Rosebery family. Barnbougle, a tower house on the southern shore of the Firth of Forth in Scotland, was rebuilt in 1881 by the 5th Earl of Rosebery, who served as Prime Minister from 1894–1895. The article is written by Countess Eva Rosebery, who married the Sixth Earl of Rosebery in 1...

Kate Rooksby reads for us the Obituary of Albinia (Tilly) de la Mare, the English librarian and palaeographer who specialised in Italian Renaissance manuscripts. This obituary was published in our Spring 2002 issue and is written by Nicolas Barker.

This is the second part of our Fourth Leaders series, taken from the short articles written for The Times in the 1950s. In 1958 the title was changed from 'Fourth Leaders' to 'Mainly Personal'. These pieces, read by James Fleming, include: 'Wrestling in Turkey' 'Ghost Ship, Very Much Alive' 'Mr. Ruskin's Tea Shop'

This is Part 2 of our Biblio-Vignettes series, written by Ann Baer for The Book Collector between 2010 - 2014. This Podcast includes the following three charming 'vignettes': Bewick Off A Barrow Frank, Hugh and Jeremy A Table Outside in Tunbridge Wells They are all read by Sarah Bennett.

This article from The Book Collector's Summer 1959 issue is written by John Dreyfus and discusses the then-newly-released bibliography of John Baskerville's books by Dr Philip Gaskell. It is read by James Fleming.

Between 2010 and 2014 Ann Baer wrote a series of anecdotal stories for The Book Collector, known as the Biblio-vignettes. Now, as Ann approaches her 106th birthday, we are recording these sixteen vignettes in a series of Podcasts. This is the first, a reading by Sarah Bennett of the first four: Painting for John Hayward The 'Gravy Soup' Plagiarism Mr Tennyson's Pudding Bernard Shaw's Beard

John Windle reads 'How I shot JR', an essay by Eric Korn that was written for the TLS and later published in 'Remainders' in 1989. In this essay, Korn muses on his foray into theatre in 1988. His translation of Jean Racine's 'Andromaque' for Jonathan Miller left critics baffled and he states: "I wasn't unduly alarmed by the prospect of critical abuse. I was doomed."

This week should have seen the streets of Bath enlivened with the regency spirit of the Jane Austen Festival. Unfortunately this 20th Anniversary event became another casualty of the COVID-19 crisis and was cancelled.  In place of the festival we have a small offering on Jane Austen from The Book Collector archives. Tom Fleming reads 'Jane Austen in Europe', which was written by David Gilson for o...

Written by Peter Fleming in 1953, these extracts from The Times 4th Leaders include '7000 Puzzles' and 'The Intrepid Advertiser'. They are read by James Fleming.

'Ian Fleming – The Notes' is a collection of notes by John Pearson, taken during his research for his 1966 biography of Ian Fleming, 'The Life of Ian Fleming'. Pearson had been Ian Fleming’s assistant at 'The Sunday Times' and later became the third official author of the 'James Bond' series, and wrote 'James Bond: The Authorised Biography of 007' in 1973. This podcast is taken from a chapter of '...

This obituary for William (Bill) Dailey was written for our Spring 2018 issue. Bill was a bookseller and long-time ABAA member(W&V Dailey, later Dailey Rare Books), and his sudden death in December 2017 was a great loss, and cause of great sadness to many. In a tribute written for the ABAA, John Windle said "Bill had an eye for the unusual, the strange, the weird even, in books, art, and people. H...

Percy Muir and John Carter were both hugely influential to The Book Collector, and the post-war book world in general. "If the book trade was the vehicle by which they left their mark, it was a mark that extended far beyond the trade, influencing collectors and libraries and through them a world that stretched beyond the boundaries of academic life to those who never knew or have even heard of the...

Written by H. Montgomery Hyde for The Book Collector’s Winter 1967 issue, this article details the Lamb House library of Henry James, Hyde's distant cousin. Hyde was an author, biographer, book collector barrister and politician, serving as Ulster Unionist MP for Belfast North. He was considered the most vocal of any MP on homosexual law reform in the 1950s and ultimately lost his seat as a result...

"Nice chap. Shame about the books." This obituary for the 'hypnotic, manic and unrelenting' Eric Korn appeared in our Winter 2014 issue. Written by Ian Jackson, it is a witty and heartfelt gem of a tribute to this unique character from the world of book collecting. It is read by John Windle.

This is part two of the Josiah Kirby Lilly article by David Randall, from our Autumn 1957 issue. It is read by James Fleming.

This year the Lilly Library in Indiana celebrates 60 years. It is the home of the book collection of Ian Fleming, our founder, and so has always been of great interest to The Book Collector. This article, from our Autumn issue of 1957, is by David Randall and looks are the remarkable collection of Josiah Kirby (JK) Lilly. This Podcast comes in two parts. This, the first, is read by English actor,...