CATALOGUS LIBRORUM QUI IN BIBLIOPOLIO DANIELIS ELSEVIRII VENALES EXTANT

Amstelodami [Amsterdam]: Elseviriana, 1674. Near fine.. First edition of this catalogue of titles available from the shop of the important Dutch bookseller Daniel Elzevir - with provenance that links it from Samuel Johnson's inner circle to the Johnsonians of the 20th century. This copy was owned by Alexander Boswell, the son of James Boswell, and eventually made its way to the library of the influential Samuel Johnson collector R. B. Adam. This catalogue, with nearly 20,000 titles, has been an important resource for book historians because of its inclusion of the locations of various publishers that generally did not state this information in their books - it would have been an important bibliographic reference for a book collector like Alexander Boswell.
Alexander was the son of Samuel Johnson's friend and biographer James Boswell, and, for a time, he maintained and expanded his father's extensive Auchinleck Library. However, Alexander's death in a duel in 1822, followed closely by the death of his brother, James Boswell Jr., led to the majority of the collection being auctioned by Sotheby in 1825. This book was not included in that sale, nor does it appear in the 1893 Auchinleck Library auction which further dispersed the collection; Boswell scholar Terry Seymour speculates it did not leave the collection until the final sale of the Library in Edinburgh in 1917, part of a vast "Miscellaneous" category ("of great annoyance," (67) he notes). By 1921, it was in the possession of English lawyer, judge, and Johnsonian F. D. MacKinnon. MacKinnon gifted it that year to fellow Johnsonian R. B. Adam, whose book collecting story is similar to that of Alexander Boswell: Adam's uncle, also R. B., established a major collection of works associated with Johnson that the younger R. B. expanded upon. Adam presented this little volume to an acquaintance in 1936, with the result that it was not among the books sold to Donald and Mary Hyde in 1948.
A terrific copy in a contemporary parchment binding, with provenance illuminating networks of collectors over three centuries. 12mo, 5.25'' x 3''. Contemporary stiff parchment laced-case binding over marbled boards, with black manuscript spine lettering. Woodcut printer's ornament to title page with various woodcut initials, head-, and tailpieces throughout. 176, 86, [2], 60, 200, [4], 120, 24, 104 pages; rear flyleaf lacking. Bookplate of R. B. Adam with portrait of Samuel Johnson to front pastedown, with early ownership marks above an below, including intertwined capital DD. Ownership inscription of Alexander Boswell to front flyleaf, dated 1816 in Edinburgh. Ownership inscription of R. B. Adam to front flyleaf, "from F. D. MacKinnon / At lunch at / Simpson's in / the Strand / 8 June 1921." Ownership inscription of Donald Gilchrist below, "from R. B. Adam / Nov. 1. 1936 / commemorate the Day." Binding mildly toned with a bit of edgewear and a couple tiny spots of soil; some bowing. Turn-ins of boards lifting a touch, revealing marbling below. Leaves with scattered tiny spots of soil. Tight.