Unusual Things in Unusual Places

In April 2006 Holloways of Banbury held an Antique Furniture Sale, which contained a single lot of a box of Lewis Carroll books. They all had one thing in common – they came from the estate of Sir Harold Hartley, the famous scientist and Lewis Carroll collector. One of the books was a People’s edition of Through the Looking Glass signed by John Tenniel; several had Hartley’s bookplate; there was a copy of the Bumpus special edition 1932 Lewis Carroll Centenary catalogue signed by all the executive committee; and others. The highlight was the two volume Parrish collection catalogue set with an original slipcase and a memoranda note, although not naming him, but to “you and all your family”. The set was numbered in red ink “10”, a low number signifying an important collector.

Shown in the pictures is Harold Hartley’s “The Pursuing Conscience” bookplate. It was a good find in an unusual sale. I found it using the search engine at www.the-saleroom.com using the search word Tenniel, because Carroll had been mis-spelt Carrol.