Edward Gordon Duff (16 February 1863 – 28 September 1924), known as Gordon Duff, was a British
bibliographer
Bibliography (from and ), as a discipline, is traditionally the academic study of books as physical, cultural objects; in this sense, it is also known as bibliology (from ). English author and bibliographer John Carter describes ''bibliography ...
and
librarian
A librarian is a person who works professionally in a library providing access to information, and sometimes social or technical programming, or instruction on information literacy to users.
The role of the librarian has changed much over time ...
known for his works on early English
printing
Printing is a process for mass reproducing text and images using a master form or template. The earliest non-paper products involving printing include cylinder seals and objects such as the Cyrus Cylinder and the Cylinders of Nabonidus. The ...
.
Career
Duff was born in Liverpool on 16 February 1863. He was educated at
Cheltenham College
("Work Conquers All")
, established =
, closed =
, type = Public school Independent School Day and Boarding School
, religion = Church of England
, president =
, head_label = Head
, head = Nicola Hugget ...
and
Wadham College, Oxford
Wadham College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is located in the centre of Oxford, at the intersection of Broad Street and Parks Road.
Wadham College was founded in 1610 by Dorothy W ...
, where he took a degree in
classics in 1887.
Duff began work on a catalogue of
incunabula in the
Bodleian Library but did not finish the project. In 1893
Enriqueta Augustina Rylands
Enriqueta Augustina Rylands (31 May 1843 – 4 February 1908) was a British philanthropist who founded the John Rylands Library in Manchester.
Early life
Enriqueta Augustina was born in Havana, Cuba, and was one of five children including José ...
appointed Duff her librarian. From 1893 to 1899, he compiled the first catalogue of the
John Rylands Library
The John Rylands Research Institute and Library is a Victorian era, late-Victorian Gothic Revival architecture, neo-Gothic building on Deansgate in Manchester, England. It is part of the University of Manchester. The library, which opened to t ...
, ''Catalogue of the Printed Books and Manuscripts in the John Rylands Library, Manchester'' (
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
: J. E. Cornish, 1899).
Henry Guppy was appointed joint librarian in 1899. Duff resigned from his position at the John Rylands Library in October 1900 and, for the rest of his life, he supported himself by doing
freelance work and by taking academic appointments. He was elected
Sandars Reader in Bibliography at the
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...
in June 1902.
Duff died at his home in Oxford on 28 September 1924.
Major works
*''Early Printed Books''.
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co., 1893.
*''Catalogue of Books in the John Rylands Library, Manchester, Printed in England, Scotland and Ireland, and of Books in English Printed Abroad to the End of the Year 1640''. Manchester: J. E. Cornish, 1895.
*''Early English Printing''. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co., 1896.
*''Catalogue of the Printed Books and Manuscripts in the John Rylands Library, Manchester''. 3 vols. 4to. Manchester: J. E. Cornish, 1899.
*''A Century of the English Book Trade: Short Notices of All Printers, Stationers, Book-binders, and Others Connected with it from the Issue of the First Dated Book in 1457 to the Incorporation of the Company of Stationers in 1557''. London: Printed for the
Bibliographical Society, by Blades, East & Blades, 1905.
*''William Caxton''. Chicago:
Caxton Club
The Caxton Club is a private social club and bibliophilic society founded in Chicago in 1895 to promote the book arts and the history of the book. To further its goals, the club holds monthly (September through June) dinner meetings and luncheo ...
, 1905.
*''The Printers, Stationers and Bookbinders of Westminster and London from 1476 to 1535''.
Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a College town, 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. Cam ...
:
University Press
A university press is an academic publishing house specializing in monographs and scholarly journals. Most are nonprofit organizations and an integral component of a large research university. They publish work that has been reviewed by schola ...
, 1906.
*''The English Provincial Printers, Stationers and Bookbinders to 1557''. (Sandars Lectures; 1911.) Cambridge: University Press, 1912.
*''Fifteenth Century English Books: a Bibliography of Books and Documents Printed in England and of Books for the English Market Printed Abroad''. (Illustrated Monographs; 18.)
ondon Printed for the Bibliographical Society at the
Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...
, 1917.
[Duff, E. Gordon (Edward Gordon). (1917)]
Fifteenth century English books; a bibliography of books and documents printed in England and of books for the English market printed abroad
ondon Printed for the Bibliographical society at the Oxford university press.Revised edition: ''Printing in England in the Fifteenth century'', a reprint of E. Gordon Duff, ''Fifteenth Century English Books'', with supplementary material compiled by Dr
Lotte Hellinga
Lotte Hellinga, FBA (née Querido, born 1932) is a book historian and expert in early printing. She is an authority on the work of William Caxton.
Early life
Lotte Hellinga was born in 1932. She studied at the University of Amsterdam under Wyt ...
. Published by the Bibliographical Society in collaboration with the British Library, 2009.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Duff, Edward Gordon
1861 births
1924 deaths
Alumni of Wadham College, Oxford
English bibliographers
English librarians
Academics from Liverpool
John Rylands Research Institute and Library
Burials in Oxfordshire
Burials at Wolvercote Cemetery