John Hudson 1662-1719

John HUDSON 1662-1719

Biographical Note

Born at Wythop, Cumberland, son of James Hudson. Admitted a a servitor at Queen’s College, Oxford in 1676, and elected a taberder; BA 1681, MA 1684, BD and DD 1701. He became a fellow of University College, Oxford in 1686, and was Principal of St Mary Hall, Oxford from 1713 until his death. He married Margaret Knapp.

Hudson’s was a life devoted to and dominated by books, as a classical scholar who published several editions and was closely involved with scholarly projects of others, and as the Bodleian’s Librarian, from 1701. Active in trying to expand its collections, he donated nearly 600 of his own books, and solicited the donations of others. He was dubbed ‘the Bookseller’ for his selling off the entire stock of the Oxford University press warehouse which he had acquired with two others in 1713.

Books

His will concluded with the wish that ‘University College may have soe many of my Books as they have not in the Library’. Many of the books selected were theological; the gift was marked by a printed gift label (Lee 300). Over 35 of these University College books are currently listed in the Oxford Libraries’ Online catalogue (SOLO). Books not selected by the College were auctioned in Oxford, beginning 21 March 1720; no catalogue survives, but the sale was advertised in the Evening Post.

Sources

• Will of John Hudson, The National Archives PROB 11/574/474.
• Harmsen, T. ‘Hudson, John (1662–1719), librarian and classical scholar’. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
• Alston, R. C., Inventory of sale catalogues ... 1676-1800, St Philip, 2010.
• Lee, B. N. Early printed book labels. Pinner, 1976.
• Morgan, P., Oxford libraries outside the Bodleian, 2nd edn, Oxford, 1980.
• Philip, I. The Bodleian library in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Oxford, 1983.