The Librarian

London: Printed for and by William Savage, 1809. Three volumes, plus the first part of volume four, No. 19. 8vo. 218 x 130 mm., (8 x 5 inches). iv, 236, [2] plus 2 engraved plates; iv, 286, [2] pp., iv, 286 pp.; 48 pp. Bound in full English calf, decorated gilt spine and bands, boards with embossed and gilt fillet borders, all edges gilt; edges rubbed boards lightly rubbed, joints with minor cracks but sound. All published of this short-lived bibliographical journal, thought to have been started by the Greek scholar Richard Porson, Principal Librarian at the London Institution, and taken up by his assistant James Savage after his death. Porson, renowned for his publications on classical writers was also a distinguished calligrapher and the two engravings in this volume that illustrate his work. His letter forms were adopted by Oxford University Press and became the mostly commonly used type face used in the production of their Greek texts. The short essays that makeup the content of The Librarian reflect Porson's interests. In addition to remarks on recent publications, accounts of printers and engravers, and government documents, the text includes numerous articles on manuscript and library collections. Just in the first year of the publication, articles appear on the manuscript holdings of the Royal Society Library, the manuscripts in Lambeth, the British Museum collections, and the manuscript collection of Sir Mathew Hale, housed in Lincoln Inn. This copy from the library of A. R. A. Hobson, with his bookplate.