John Winter Jones (16 June 1805 – 7 September 1881) was an English librarian. He was Principal Librarian 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 docume ...

between 1866 and 1873. He was the first President of the

Library Association The Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals, since 2017 branded CILIP: The library and information association (pronounced ), is a professional body for librarians, information specialists and knowledge managers in the ...

in the U.K.

Biography

Jones was born in

Lambeth Lambeth () is a district in South London, England, in the London Borough of Lambeth, historically in the County of Surrey. It is situated south of Charing Cross. The population of the London Borough of Lambeth was 303,086 in 2011. The area ex ...

, London and he was prevented from joining the legal profession due to a problem with his speech. He had been educated at St Paul's School in London and then starting to train in the law at Lincoln's Inn before becoming the travelling secretary to the Charity Commissioners (c.1835–37). His father was literary and had been editor of the ''

Naval Chronicle The ''Naval Chronicle'' was a British periodical published monthly between January, 1799 and December, 1818 (Huntington). It contained information about the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom, including biographies, histories, news, and essays on ...

'' and the '' European Magazine''. He joined the British Museum in April 1837. He was central in determining their rules for cataloguing. Following the death of

Richard Garrett Richard Garrett may refer to: *Richard Garrett (author) (born 1920), English author, prisoner of war *Richard Garrett (1755–1839), agricultural machinery manufacturer, founder of Richard Garrett & Sons, Leiston, Suffolk *Richard Garrett (1779–18 ...

he was appointed Assistant Keeper of Printed Books in 1850, Keeper (1856–66) (following the promotion of

Anthony Panizzi Sir Antonio Genesio Maria Panizzi (16 September 1797 – 8 April 1879), better known as Anthony Panizzi, was a naturalised British citizen of Italian birth, and an Italian patriot. He was a librarian, becoming the Principal Librarian (i.e. head ...

), and then Principal Librarian in charge of the museum (1866–78). Jones enjoyed a large budget of £10,000 to spend on books alone. This figure had been negotiated by his predecessor, Sir

, who had been knighted for his efforts as the Chief Librarian. Jones approved every purchase that was made. Jones was appointed President of the

in 1877. He edited works for the

Hakluyt Society The Hakluyt Society is a text publication society, founded in 1846 and based in London, England, which publishes scholarly editions of primary records of historic voyages, travels and other geographical material. In addition to its publishing ...

. He contributed over 200 articles for the ''Biographical Dictionary of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge''.

Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge The Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge (SDUK) was founded in London in 1826, mainly at the instigation of Whig MP Henry Brougham, with the object of publishing information to people who were unable to obtain formal teaching or who pr ...

,
Biographical Dictionary of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge
'. London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, 1843. John Winter Jones was the nephew of the editor Stephen Jones (1763–1827).

Bibliography

* . *

Richard Hakluyt Richard Hakluyt (; 1553 – 23 November 1616) was an English writer. He is known for promoting the English colonization of North America through his works, notably ''Divers Voyages Touching the Discoverie of America'' (1582) and ''The Pri ...

and J. Winter Jones,
Divers voyages touching the discovery of America and the islands
'. London:

, 1850. * J. Winter Jones,
Observations on the origin of the division of man's life into stages
'. London: F. S. Ellis, 1861. Reprinted from '' Archaeologia'', Volume XXII. * J. Winter Jones,
A Guide to the Print Book Collection to the Public
', London: Woodfall and Kinder, 1862. Printed for the British Museum. * J. Winter Jones, Preface. In: British Museum, Department of Printed Books,
List of books forming the reference library in the reading room of the British Museum
', 4th edition. British Museum, 1910. Printed for the Trustees of the British Museum.

References

External links

Online books by John Winter JonesLetter from John T. Wood to J. Winter Jones, Principal Librarian of The British Museum

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

, 27 October 1868 {{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, John Winter 1805 births 1881 deaths Directors of the British Museum English curators English librarians English non-fiction writers People educated at St Paul's School, London English male non-fiction writers Burials at Kensal Green Cemetery 19th-century British businesspeople