John Martin (1791–1855) was an English bookseller, librarian and writer, known as a bibliographer.

Life

Born on 16 September 1791, he was son of John Martin of 112 Mount Street,

Grosvenor Square Grosvenor Square is a large garden square in the Mayfair district of London. It is the centrepiece of the Mayfair property of the Duke of Westminster, and takes its name from the duke's surname "Grosvenor". It was developed for fashionable re ...

, London. After assisting

John Hatchard John Hatchard (1769–1849) was an English publisher and bookseller, in Piccadilly, London. The Hatchards bookshop there is still in business. Early life Hatchard had a trial at the works of the printer Thomas Bensley. He then served on appren ...

, bookseller in

Piccadilly Piccadilly () is a road in the City of Westminster, London, to the south of Mayfair, between Hyde Park Corner in the west and Piccadilly Circus in the east. It is part of the A4 road that connects central London to Hammersmith, Earl's Court, ...

, he went into business on his own account in Holles Street,

Cavendish Square Cavendish Square is a public garden square in Marylebone in the West End of London. It has a double-helix underground commercial car park. Its northern road forms ends of four streets: of Wigmore Street that runs to Portman Square in the much lar ...

; but soon afterwards entered into partnership with John Rodwell in

New Bond Street Bond Street in the West End of London links Piccadilly in the south to Oxford Street in the north. Since the 18th century the street has housed many prestigious and upmarket fashion retailers. The southern section is Old Bond Street and the l ...

. He retired from business in 1826, but continued bibliographical pursuits. Until 1845 Martin acted as secretary to the Artists' Benevolent Fund. In 1836 he was appointed librarian to the

Duke of Bedford Duke of Bedford (named after Bedford, England) is a title that has been created six times (for five distinct people) in the Peerage of England. The first and second creations came in 1414 and 1433 respectively, in favour of Henry IV's third so ...

Woburn Abbey Woburn Abbey (), occupying the east of the village of Woburn, Bedfordshire, England, is a country house, the family seat of the Duke of Bedford. Although it is still a family home to the current duke, it is open on specified days to visitors, a ...

, and settled at

Froxfield Froxfield is a village and civil parish in the English county of Wiltshire. The parish is on the Wiltshire-West Berkshire border, and the village lies on the A4 national route about west of Hungerford and east of Marlborough. Froxfield vill ...

, in the parish of

Eversholt Eversholt is a village and civil parish located in Bedfordshire, England. It was mentioned in the Domesday Book and is over 1000 years old. "Eversholt" comes from Anglo-Saxon meaning "wood of the wild boar". Overview For many years, most ...

, nearby. He visited nearly every church in

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council wa ...

, and wrote a description of each in a series of articles which appeared in the ''Bedford Times'' and ''Northampton Mercury''. Martin died on 30 December 1855 at Froxfield, and was buried in Eversholt churchyard. He was a Fellow of both 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 ...

and the

Linnean Society The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature colle ...

Works

In 1834 Martin published the results of research, his ''Bibliographical Catalogue of Books privately printed'', 2nd edit., 1854. The first edition contained an account of private presses and book clubs omitted in the second edition. He wrote also a ''History and Description of Woburn and its Abbey; a new edition'', Woburn, 1845. The first edition was in 1831, by John Docwra Parry. At the request of

Lord John Russell John Russell, 1st Earl Russell, (18 August 1792 – 28 May 1878), known by his courtesy title Lord John Russell before 1861, was a British Whig and Liberal statesman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1846 to 1852 and ag ...

, Martin compiled an ‘Enquiry into the authority for a statement in Echard's History of England regarding William, lord Russell,’ which was printed for private circulation in 1852, and published in 1856. It related to the fabricated

Popish Plot The Popish Plot was a fictitious conspiracy invented by Titus Oates that between 1678 and 1681 gripped the Kingdoms of England and Scotland in anti-Catholic hysteria. Oates alleged that there was an extensive Catholic conspiracy to assassinate C ...

, and the assertion that the early Whig

William Russell, Lord Russell William Russell, Lord Russell (29 September 163921 July 1683) was an English politician. He was a leading member of the Country Party, forerunners of the Whigs, who during the reign of King Charles II, laid the groundwork for opposition in t ...

interfered to prevent the mitigation of the punishment of being

hanged, drawn and quartered To be hanged, drawn and quartered became a statutory penalty for men convicted of high treason in the Kingdom of England from 1352 under Edward III of England, King Edward III (1327–1377), although similar rituals are recorded during the rei ...

for

high treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...

, in the case of Viscount Stafford, on the presentation of the petition of Sheriffs

Slingsby Bethel Slingsby Bethel (1617–1697) was a Member of Parliament with republican sympathies, during the period of the English Civil War. Early life Slingsby Bethel was the third son of Sir Walter Bethel of Alne, North Yorkshire, who married Mary, the s ...

and

Henry Cornish Henry Cornish (died 1685) was a London alderman, executed in the reign of James II of England. Life He was a well-to-do merchant of London, and alderman of the ward of St Michael Bassishaw; in the ''London Directory'' for 1677 he is described as ...

to the House of Commons on 23 December 1680. Martin also furnished notes to Lord John Russell's edition of

Rachel Russell, Lady Russell Rachel, Lady Russell ( Wriothesley ; – 29 September 1723) was an English noblewoman, heiress, and author. Her second husband was William, Lord Russell, who was implicated in the Rye House Plot and later executed. A collection of the many ...

's ''Letters'', 1853; and in 1855 he published a translation of

François Guizot François Pierre Guillaume Guizot (; 4 October 1787 – 12 September 1874) was a French historian, orator, and statesman. Guizot was a dominant figure in French politics prior to the Revolution of 1848. A conservative liberal who opposed the a ...

's essay on the ''Married Life of Rachel, Lady Russell''. Martin edited

Thomas Gray Thomas Gray (26 December 1716 – 30 July 1771) was an English poet, letter-writer, classics, classical scholar, and professor at Pembroke College, Cambridge, Pembroke College, Cambridge. He is widely known for his ''Elegy Written in a Country ...

's ''Bard'' (1837), and Gray's '' Elegy in a Country Churchyard'' (1839 and 1854), with illustrations from drawings by the Hon. Mrs. John Talbot, and the ''Seven Ages of Shakspeare'' (1840 and 1848), illustrated with wood engravings.

Church descriptions

Martin's newspaper articles on Bedfordshire churches, 1845–47 and 1852–54, are reprinted, along with near contemporary notes and descriptions by Archdeacon

Henry Bonney Henry Kaye Bonney Doctor of Divinity, D.D. (22 May 1780 – 24 December 1862) was an English churchman, photographer and author. Life Bonney was born on 22 May 1780, the son of Henry Kaye Bonney, rector of Kings Cliffe, Northamptonshire, and pre ...

and Sir Stephen Glynne, and relevant archival records, in the following volumes: * * * *

Family

Martin's wife died in 1836, and of six children, three survived him. His eldest son, John Edward Martin, librarian to the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wal ...

, died on 20 July 1893, aged 71.

Notes

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, John 1791 births 1855 deaths English librarians English bibliographers Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London English male non-fiction writers