A CATALOGUE OF THE LIBRARY OF THE LATE JOHN DUKE OF ROXBURGHE ... WHICH WILL BE SOLD BY AUCTION AT HIS GRACE'S LATE RESIDENCE IN ST. JAMES SQUARE ...

London: Printed by W. Bulmer and Co., 1812.. 17,[3],[xxi]-xxiv,284 (i.e. 285)pp. Octavo. Old calf and marbled boards, rebacked somewhat to style in half calf with modern endsheets at some point in the last century, gilt label. Forecorners worn, an array of small nicks and scrapes to spine, uniform tanning to textblock, small water-stain to preliminary blank, but a good, sound copy. Priced throughout in an early hand. First edition of the catalogue of this landmark sale, with the bookplates of R.G. Adams and Thomas R. Adams. Tipped in front is a sheet of typescript of R.G. Adams's notes on this copy, signed in ink with initials and dated 10 September 1942, with an additional note in manuscript about the 1819 Marlborough sale. As with many copies, this copy is bound without the slightly later supplement (iv,20pp) and the printed price list (73pp). Adams records the provenance of this copy (he acquired it from Peter Bailey as a discard from the Bay City Public Library) and compares it to copies at the Clements and at the Univ. of Michigan General Library. The catalogue was arranged by G. and W. Nicol and conducted by Robert H. Evans. The main sale took place beginning 18 May 1812, "and the Forty-one following days, Sundays excepted." On page 173 an early manuscript note about the sale of the Valdarfer Boccaccio (Venice, 1471) and its 1819 ("last June") resale fills the lower margin; a small newspaper clipping, docketed in R.G. Adam's hand, is laid in the gutter there and has offset to the facing pages. John Ker, Third Duke of Roxburghe (1740-1804) assembled one of the great libraries of its era, including the 1471 Boccaccio (noted in its entry as the only perfect copy known) in company with 9,352 other titles listed in this main catalogue of the sale. One evening in the course of the sale a group of bibliophiles met for dinner, thus establishing the precedent for what would become the oldest continuing private association of book collectors, the Roxburghe Club. Randolph Adams, esteemed bibliographer and historian, served as the first Director of the Clements Library (1923-1951), establishing it as one of the great North American research libraries. His son Thomas followed in his father's footsteps as bibliographer and historian, making major contributions to the development of several major research libraries during his tenure at each. A good association copy.