Bernard Alexander Christian Quaritch ( ; April 23, 1819 – December 17, 1899) was a German-born British bookseller and collector. The company established by Bernard Quaritch in 1847 lives on in London as Bernard Quaritch Ltd, dealing in rare books and manuscripts, as well as publishing books.

Early life

Quaritch was born in Worbis, Germany. After being apprenticed to a bookseller, he went to London in 1842, and was employed by

Henry Bohn Henry George Bohn (4 January 179622 August 1884) was a British publisher. He is principally remembered for the ''Bohn's Libraries'' which he inaugurated. These were begun in 1846, targeted the mass market, and comprised editions of standard works ...

, the publisher.

Work in London

Grave of Bernard Quaritch in Highgate Cemetery

In 1847 he started a bookseller's business off

Leicester Square Leicester Square ( ) is a pedestrianised square in the West End of London, England. It was laid out in 1670 as Leicester Fields, which was named after the recently built Leicester House, itself named after Robert Sidney, 2nd Earl of Leicester ...

, becoming naturalized as a British subject. In 1848 he started to issue a monthly ''Catalogue of Foreign and English Books''. About 1858 he began to purchase rare books, one of the earliest of such purchases being a copy of the ''

Mazarin Bible The Gutenberg Bible (also known as the 42-line Bible, the Mazarin Bible or the B42) was the earliest major book printed using mass-produced movable metal type in Europe. It marked the start of the "Gutenberg Revolution" and the age of printed b ...

'' (usually known as the Gutenberg Bible), and within a period of forty years he possessed six separate copies of this rare and valuable edition. In 1860 he moved to

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, ...

. In 1873 he published the ''Bibliotheca Xylographica, Typographica et Palaeographica'', a remarkable catalogue of early productions of the printing press of all countries. He became a regular buyer at all the principal book-sales of Europe and

America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, and from time to time published a variety of other catalogues of old books. Amongst these may be mentioned the ''Supplemental Catalogue'' (1877), and in 1880 an immense catalogue of considerably over 2,000 pages. The last complete catalogue of his stock was published in 1887-88 under the title ''General Catalogue of Old Books and Manuscripts'', in seven volumes, increased with subsequent supplements to twelve. All these catalogues are of considerable bibliographical value. By this time Quaritch had developed the largest trade in old books in the world. Among the books that he published was Edward Fitzgerald's translation of

Omar Khayyám Ghiyāth al-Dīn Abū al-Fatḥ ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm Nīsābūrī (18 May 1048 – 4 December 1131), commonly known as Omar Khayyam ( fa, عمر خیّام), was a polymath, known for his contributions to mathematics, astronomy, philosophy, an ...

's poetry collection Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. He was also the agent for the publications of the British Museum and the Society of Antiquaries. He died at Hampstead, London, leaving the business to his son

Bernard Alfred Quaritch Bernard Alfred Quaritch (13 January 1871 – 27 August 1913) was the son of antiquarian book dealer Bernard Quaritch, and continued his father's business in London until his own death in Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of th ...

, who died in 1913. Both father and son are buried together on the western side of Highgate Cemetery. The business survives to this day.

Works and publications

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References

External links

* of Bernard Quaritch Ltd * *
Digitised book sales catalogues
{{DEFAULTSORT:Quaritch, Bernard 1819 births 1899 deaths Burials at Highgate Cemetery People from Leinefelde-Worbis People from the Province of Saxony British bibliographers German bibliographers English booksellers German booksellers Antiquarian booksellers British booksellers German male non-fiction writers 19th-century English businesspeople German emigrants to England

Early life

Work in London

Works and publications

See also

References

Further reading

External links