Thomas Dodd (1771–1850) was an English auctioneer and printseller.

Early life

The son of Thomas Dodd, a tailor, he was born in the parish of Christ Church,

Spitalfields Spitalfields is a district in the East End of London and within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The area is formed around Commercial Street (on the A1202 London Inner Ring Road) and includes the locale around Brick Lane, Christ Church, ...

, London, on 7 July 1771. When he was ten years old his father left home, and he was taken from school at

Shooter's Hill Shooter's Hill (or Shooters Hill) is a district in South East London within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. It borders the London Borough of Bexley. It lies north of Eltham and south of Woolwich. With a height of , it is the highest point in t ...

. His first employment was in the service of an Anglo-American colonel named De Vaux; an eccentric adventurer: he was taken about the country as a member of his band of juvenile musicians. After a time the colonel left him with a butcher; he ran away in quest of the colonel, going penniless on foot from London to Liverpool, and from there to Matlock Bath. At another time, Dodd was left with an itinerant harper at Conway. Harsh treatment induced him to seek the protection of a Welsh innkeeper; then he lived a while with a sporting parson, ultimately returning to London in 1788, and taking a menial position in the shop of his uncle, a tailor named Tooley, in Bucklersbury. His next place was as a footman. In 1794 he married his employer's wait-maid, and opened a day-school near

Battle Bridge Kings Cross is a district on either side of Euston Road, in north London, England, north of Charing Cross. It is bordered by Barnsbury to the north, Clerkenwell and Islington to the east, Holborn to the south and Euston to the west. It is ser ...

, St. Pancras. He gave up his school to accept a situation as an engrossing clerk in the enrollment office of the court of chancery.

Printseller

In 1796 Dodd took a small shop in

Lambeth Marsh Lambeth Marsh (also Lower Marsh and Lambeth Marshe) is one of the oldest settlements on the South Bank of London, England. Until the early 19th century much of north Lambeth (now known as the South Bank) was mostly marsh. The settlement of Lam ...

for the sale of old books and prints. Two years later he moved to Tavistock Street,

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist si ...

. His dealings in prints gradually extended, and his stock assumed large proportions. In 1806 he opened an auctionroom in

St Martin's Lane St Martin's Lane is a street in the City of Westminster, which runs from the church of St Martin-in-the-Fields, after which it is named, near Trafalgar Square northwards to Long Acre. At its northern end, it becomes Monmouth Street. St Martin ...

, and there he sold some famous collections, among them being that of General Dowdeswell in January 1809. In the course of his business he had large sales of prints and books at Liverpool,

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

, and elsewhere. When he was at Ludlow in 1812, he found in the possession of an innkeeper a copy of Henry Holland's ''Basioloogia'' (1618), but it was not until seven years later that he was able to buy it. Good fortune deserted him and his stock dwindled. He settled in

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 ...

about 1819 as an auctioneer, and in 1823 proposed a scheme which led to the establishment of the Royal Manchester Institution in Mosley Street, and the holding of annual exhibitions of pictures. Returning to London, he had a sale-room for two years in Leicester Street, Leicester Square, and then became for several years foreman for

Martin Colnaghi Martin Henry Colnaghi (16 November 1821 – 1908) was a British art dealer for the London-based Colnaghi. Personal life He was born on 16 November 1821 at 23 Cockspur Street, London, and baptised Martino Enrico Luigi Gaetano. He was the eldes ...

; from whose establishment he was engaged by the

Earl of Yarborough Earl of Yarborough is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1837 for Charles Anderson-Pelham, 2nd Baron Yarborough. History The Anderson-Pelham family descends from Francis Anderson of Manby, Lincolnshire. He marrie ...

to arrange and complete his collection of prints. In 1844, a widower, he was elected a brother of the Charterhouse. Dodd died on 17 August 1850 at the residence of Joseph Mayer near

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

. He was buried in

St James Cemetery St James's Cemetery is an urban park behind Liverpool Cathedral that is below ground level. Until 1825, the space was a stone quarry, and until 1936 it was used as the Liverpool city cemetery. It has been designated a Grade I Historic Park by H ...

, Liverpool.

Works

Dodd acquired a wide knowledge of engravings, and began an elaborate biographical catalogue of engravers, which eventually formed thirty folio volumes of manuscript. In 1817, Dodd spent time on a dictionary of

monogram A monogram is a motif made by overlapping or combining two or more letters or other graphemes to form one symbol. Monograms are often made by combining the initials of an individual or a company, used as recognizable symbols or logos. A series o ...

s, but a similar work by

Brulliot Franz Brulliot (16 February 1780 – 13 November 1836) was an art historian, specializing in engraving. He is known particularly for his work ''Dictionnaire des monogrammes''. Life and career Brulliot was born in Düsseldorf in 1780. His father was ...

was published about that time. Before leaving Manchester at the end of 1825 he began to publish his work entitled ''The Connoisseur's Repertorium; or a Universal Historical Record of Painters, Engravers, Sculptors, and Architects, and of their Works'', &c. The first two volumes were published in 1825, and the work was continued to the name "Barraducio" in a sixth volume, issued in 1831, when a lack of support compelled the author to abandon it. In 1839–41 Dodd made a catalogue, which remained in manuscript, of the Douce collection of fifty thousand prints in the

Bodleian Library The Bodleian Library () is the main research library of the University of Oxford, and is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. It derives its name from its founder, Sir Thomas Bodley. With over 13 million printed items, it is the second- ...

. He also arranged and catalogued

Horace Walpole Horatio Walpole (), 4th Earl of Orford (24 September 1717 – 2 March 1797), better known as Horace Walpole, was an English writer, art historian, man of letters, antiquarian, and Whigs (British political party), Whig politician. He had Strawb ...

's prints, which were sold by

George Henry Robins George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presiden ...

for £3,840. To Joseph Mayer he bequeathed his manuscript compilations and other collections, extending to about two hundred folios, and including his ''Account of Engravers''.

References

* ;Attribution T. DODD, ''The Connoisseurs Repertorium: Or a Universal Historical Record of Painters, Engravers Sculptors and Architects...from...the Twelfth Century to the Present Epoch'', Manchester 1825

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dodd, Thomas 1771 births 1850 deaths Businesspeople from London English auctioneers