How to Form a Library, 2nd ed

by Henry B. Wheatley

The Abbotsford Club was founded in honour of Sir Walter Scott in 1834, by Mr. W.B.D.D. Turnbull. The first book (issued in 1835) was a volume of "Ancient Mysteries from the Digby MS."; "Arthur and Merlin, a Metrical Romance," was printed in 1838; "Romances of Sir Guy of Warwick and Rembrun his Son," in 1840; "The Legend of St. Katherine of Alexandra," in 1841; "Sir Degaree, a Metrical Romance of the end of the nineteenth century," in 1849. The Club was closed in 1866.

These Printing Clubs were select in their constitution, and the books being printed for the members in small numbers, they are difficult to obtain and their price is high.

With the foundation of the Camden Society an entirely new system was adopted, and the general body of book lovers, poor as well as rich, were appealed to with great success, and valuable books were supplied to the subscribers at a price which would have been impossible without such means. The Camden Society is entitled to this honour on account of the general interest of its publications, but the Surtees Society was actually the first to inaugurate the new system. The subscription fixed was double that which the founders of the Camden Society adopted, but it was, perhaps, a bolder step to start a Society, appealing to a somewhat restricted public with a two guinea subscription, than to appeal to the whole reading public with a subscription of one pound. Before saying more of the Surtees and Camden Societies, it will be necessary to mention some other printing clubs which preceded them.

The Oriental Translation Fund was established in 1828, with the object of publishing Translations from Eastern MSS. into the languages of Europe. When the issue of books was discontinued, the stock of such books as remained was sold off, and many of these can still be obtained at a cheap rate.

The Iona Club was instituted in 1833, for the purpose of investigating the History, Antiquities, and early Literature of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland, but little has been done in the way of publication. The first book was "Collectanea de Rebus Albanicis," and the second, "Transactions of the Club," vol. i. in 4 parts. A second volume was announced, but never appeared.

The Surtees Society was founded at Durham in 1834 for the publication of inedited Manuscripts, illustrative of the moral, the intellectual, the religious, and the social condition of those parts of England and Scotland included on the East, between the Humber and the Frith of Forth, and on the west, between the Mersey and the Clyde, a region which constituted the ancient kingdom of Northumberland. The Society is named after Robert Surtees, of Mainforth, author of the "History of the County Palatine of Durham." Although founded more than fifty years ago, the Society is still flourishing, and carried on with the same vigour as of old. The series of publications is a long one, and contains a large number of most important works. The second book issued was "Wills and Inventories, illustrative of the History, Manners, Language, Statistics, etc., of the Northern Counties of England, from the Eleventh Century downwards" (Part 2 was issued in 1860); the third, "The Towneley Mysteries or Miracle Plays"; the fourth, "Testamenta Eboracensia: Wills illustrative of the History, Manners, Language, Statistics, etc., of the Province of York, from 1300" (vol. 1). The second volume of this series was issued in 1855. "Anglo-Saxon and Early English Psalter" was issued in 1843-44 (2 vols.); "The Durham Household Book; or, the Accounts of the Bursar of the Monastery of Durham, from 1530 to 1534," in 1844.

The Camden Society, instituted in 1838, has issued to its subscribers a large number of books of the greatest interest on historical and literary subjects. The set of publications is so well known that it is not necessary to enumerate titles here. Among the most valuable are the several volumes devoted to the correspondence of certain old families, such as the "Plumpton Correspondence" (1839), "Egerton Papers" (1840), "Rutland Papers" (1842), and "Savile Correspondence" (1858). The Romances and Chronicles must also be mentioned, and the remarkable edition of the oldest English Dictionary, "Promptorium Parvulorum," which was fully and learnedly edited by the late Mr. Albert Way. A second series was commenced in 1871, which is still continued.

The same year which saw the foundation of the Camden Society also gave birth to The English Historical Society. Sixteen works of considerable value were issued, but the greatest of these is the grand "Codex Diplomaticus Ævi Saxonici" of the late J. Mitchell Kemble (1845-48).

The Spalding Club, named after John Spalding, Commissary Clerk of Aberdeen, and founded at Aberdeen in 1839 for the printing of the Historical, Ecclesiastical, Genealogical, Topographical, and Literary Remains of the North-Eastern Counties of Scotland, was formed on the model of the exclusive clubs; but being affected by the more democratic constitution of the later printing societies, its subscription was fixed at one guinea. Amongst the most interesting of the Club's publications are the "Sculptured Stones of Scotland" (1856), "Barbour's Brus" (1856), and the "Fasti Aberdonensis: Selections from the Records of the University and King's College of Aberdeen from 1494 to 1854" (1854).

The year 1840 saw the foundation of three very important Societies, viz. the Parker, the Percy, and the Shakespeare.