William Harrison Ainsworth Book Collection
Date range: 1769-2007
Medium: Printed
Number of items: 121 items.
Dating mainly from the 1820s to the 1890s, this collection of works by and about the Manchester-born novelist William Harrison Ainsworth (1805-82) was assembled over a 50-year period by the Connecticut businessman and collector, Joseph Palmer Hunt (1927-2011). It was purchased in 2008 from the booksellers Bernard Quaritch, who acquired the collection from Hunt in 2005.
Ainsworth was known for his historical novels, especially those set in his native Lancashire. First editions of all 42 of Ainsworth’s novels are represented, the vast majority in their original cloth and paper bindings. These include the first book edition of The Lancashire Witches (1849) which was printed for private circulation among Ainsworth’s friends. Like several of Ainsworth’s works, this novel was first published serially. Poems and juvenilia by Ainsworth are also included, together with annuals and anthologies to which he contributed. Several of the works are signed or inscribed by the author.
Additional material includes several books published by Ainsworth at Old Bond Street, London (the premises of his father-in-law, John Ebers), a run of Ainsworth’s Magazine which he edited, two books previously owned by Ainsworth, plus a few secondary publications concerning the author and his works. The collection supplements other Ainsworth material held by the Library, including a collection of manuscript and archive material also collected by Joseph P. Hunt.
See also:
Further information:
Recorded in Library Search.
Location:
<< Back to A-Z list