47th Annual Conference on Book Trade History looks at the Story of Auction Catalogues
Battling Over Books: Auction Catalogues and Their Contexts, 1676-2026 is the subject of the 47th Annual Conference on Book Trade History taking place in London later this year.
Running November 22-23 under the aegis of the Institute of English Studies at Stationers' Hall, the conference will mark the 350th anniversary of the first known printed English auction catalogue, the sale by William Cooper of the library of Dr Lazarus Seaman that began in Warwick Lane, London, on October 31, 1676.
"Auction catalogues, particularly when annotated, are a rich source for a range of book trade activities," say the organisers. "They shed light on changing practices and expectations of sales. Auctions were and are places where buyers, sellers and auctioneers come together, not only in the sale room, but before and after sales, from negotiating a sale and producing the catalogue to collecting books and paying for them."
Speakers include Laura Cleaver, Meg Ford, Rhiannon Lawrence-Francis, Giles Mandelbrote, Hannah Morcos, Yelda Nasifoglu, Nigel Ramsay, and Henry Woudhuysen, who will look at auctions in England (London and at country houses) and France, and the challenges of establishing sales in the United States in the 19th and 20th centuries.
