James Bindley (1737–1818) was an English official and antiquary, known as a book collector. James Bindley Say

Life

The second son of John Bindley, a distiller, of St. John Street,

Smithfield, London Smithfield, properly known as West Smithfield, is a district located in Central London, part of Farringdon Without, the most westerly ward of the City of London, England. Smithfield is home to a number of City institutions, such as St Barth ...

, he was born in London on 16 January 1737. He was educated at

Charterhouse School (God having given, I gave) , established = , closed = , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , president ...

under Lewis Crusius, and then went to

Peterhouse, Cambridge Peterhouse is the oldest constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England, founded in 1284 by Hugh de Balsham, Bishop of Ely. Today, Peterhouse has 254 undergraduates, 116 full-time graduate students and 54 fellows. It is quite ...

, where he was elected to a fellowship (B.A. 1759, M.A. 1762). In 1765 Bindley succeeded his elder brother John Bindley as one of the commissioners of the stamp duties, and in that capacity he served for upwards of fifty-three years. He was the senior commissioner from 1781 until his death, which occurred at his house in Somerset Place on 11 September 1818. A monument to his memory, by Josephus Kendrick, was erected in the church of St. Mary-le-Strand. At his death he was the "father" of the

Society of Antiquaries of London A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Societ ...

, having been elected a fellow in 1765.

Collector

Bindley formed a collection of rare books, engravings, and medals, which were sold by auction after his death. Two series of sales, by

Samuel Sotheby Samuel Sotheby (1771–1842) was an English auctioneer and antiquary. Background Samuel Sotheby's uncle, John Sotheby (1740–1807), was partner and nephew of Samuel Baker, who founded at York Street, Covent Garden, in 1744 the first English sal ...

and

Robert Harding Evans Robert Harding Evans (1778–1857) was an English bookseller and auctioneer. Life Evans was the son of Thomas Evans (1742–1784). After an education at Westminster School he was apprenticed to Thomas Payne of the Mews Gate, and succeeded to t ...

, raised over £20,000. He read John Nichols's ''Literary Anecdotes'', which are dedicated to him, in proof, and the subsequent ''Illustrations of the Literary History of the Eighteenth Century'', suggesting emendations and adding notes. In the same way he assisted, at close of his life, his friend William Bray, in the publication of ''

Evelyn's Diary The ''Diary'' of John Evelyn (31 October 1620 – 27 February 1706), a gentlemanly Royalist and ''virtuoso'' of the seventeenth century, was first published in 1818 (2nd edition, 1819) under the title ''Memoirs Illustrative of the Life and Writing ...

''.

Works

The only work Bindley published was ''A Collection of the Statutes now in force relating to the Stamp Duties'', London, 1775.

References

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Bindley, James 1737 births 1818 deaths People educated at Charterhouse School English book and manuscript collectors Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London Fellows of Peterhouse, Cambridge

Life

Collector

Works

See also

References