Sir Edward Augustus Bond (31 December 18152 January 1898) was an English librarian.

Biography

Bond was born at

Hanwell Hanwell () is a town in the London Borough of Ealing, in the historic County of Middlesex, England. It is about 1.5 miles west of Ealing Broadway and had a population of 28,768 as of 2011. It is the westernmost location of the London post t ...

, London, England, the son of a schoolmaster. He was educated at

Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood Small things grow in harmony , established = , closed = , coordinates = , pushpin_map = , type = Independent day school , religion = Church ...

, and in 1832 obtained a post in the

Public Record Office The Public Record Office (abbreviated as PRO, pronounced as three letters and referred to as ''the'' PRO), Chancery Lane in the City of London, was the guardian of the national archives of the United Kingdom from 1838 until 2003, when it was ...

. In 1838, he became an assistant in the manuscript department of the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

, where he attracted the notice of his chief,

Sir Frederic Madden Sir Frederic Madden Royal Guelphic Order, KH (16 February 1801 – 8 March 1873) was an English palaeography, palaeographer. Biography Born in Portsmouth, he was the son of William John Madden (1757–1833), a Captain in the Royal Marines of Iri ...

, a leading

paleographer Palaeography ( UK) or paleography ( US; ultimately from grc-gre, , ''palaiós'', "old", and , ''gráphein'', "to write") is the study of historic writing systems and the deciphering and dating of historical manuscripts, including the analysi ...

of his day, and in 1852 he was made Egerton librarian. In 1856, he became assistant keeper of manuscripts, and in 1867 was promoted to the post of keeper. His work in reorganising the manuscript department was of lasting value, and to him is due the classified catalogue of manuscripts, and the improved efficiency and punctuality of publication of the department. In 1873, he was appointed principal librarian of the British Museum. Under his supervision, the new buildings of the White Wing were erected, to accommodate prints, drawings, manuscripts and newspapers. The purchase of the

Stowe manuscripts The Stowe manuscripts are a collection of about two thousand Irish, Anglo-Saxon and later medieval manuscripts, nearly all now in the British Library. The manuscripts date from 1154 to the end of the 14th century. The manuscripts were originally ...

was concluded while he was in office. He founded, in conjunction with Sir Edward Maunde Thompson, the Palaeographical Society, and made scientific improvements to classical

palaeography Palaeography (American and British English spelling differences#ae and oe, UK) or paleography (American and British English spelling differences#ae and oe, US; ultimately from grc-gre, , ''palaiós'', "old", and , ''gráphein'', "to write") ...

. He was made

LL.D. Legum Doctor (Latin: “teacher of the laws”) (LL.D.) or, in English, Doctor of Laws, is a doctorate-level academic degree in law or an honorary degree, depending on the jurisdiction. The double “L” in the abbreviation refers to the early ...

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

in 1879, created CB in 1885, and KCB the day before his death in January 1898. Bond published little, but he was the editor of four volumes of facsimiles of Anglo-Saxon charters from 679 to the

Conquest Conquest is the act of military subjugation of an enemy by force of arms. Military history provides many examples of conquest: the Roman conquest of Britain, the Mauryan conquest of Afghanistan and of vast areas of the Indian subcontinent, t ...

, ''The Speeches in the Trial of

Warren Hastings Warren Hastings (6 December 1732 – 22 August 1818) was a British colonial administrator, who served as the first Governor of the Presidency of Fort William (Bengal), the head of the Supreme Council of Bengal, and so the first Governor-Genera ...

'' (1859–1861), and a number of other historic documents. He married Caroline Frances Barham (22 July 18231 August 1912), second daughter of the Reverend Richard Harris Dalton Barham. s:Essays in librarianship and bibliography/The Late Sir Edward A. Bond, K.C.B., accessed 30 September 2010

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bond, Edward Augustus 1815 births 1898 deaths English librarians People from Hanwell People educated at Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood Directors of the British Museum Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath 19th-century British businesspeople