Richard Smith 1590-1675
From Book Owners Online
Richard SMITH 1590-1675
Biographical Note
Of Old Jewry and Little Moorfields, Cripplegate, London. Son of Richard Smith (bap.1567, d.1638). Smith began working as a junior clerk in or about 1608 in the Poultry Counter and was appointed secondary in 1644, a position he retained until his resignation in 1655. He married Elizabeth (bap.1600, d.1664), daughter of George Deane of [location::Stepney]] in 1622. The couple had five sons and three daughters.
Books
An 'assiduous and discriminating book collector' (ODNB), Smith amassed a library of over 8000 books, manuscripts and pamphlets. His collection included works on history, theology, philology, medicine and classical literature. His library was auctioned for £1414 12s. 11d. in London, 15.5.1682.
Characteristic Markings
Smith annotated his books.
Sources
- Alston, R. C. Inventory of sale catalogues 1676-1800. St Philip, 2010.
- Beadle, R. Medieval English manuscripts at auction, 1676-c.1700, The Book Collector 53 (2004), 46-63.
- Birrell, T. A. Books and buyers in 17th-century English auction sales, in R. Myers et al (eds), Under the hammer, London, 2001, 51-64.
- Duff, E. G. The library of Richard Smith, The Library ns 8 (1907), 113-33.
- Harding, Vanessa. "Smith [Smyth], Richard (bap. 1590, d. 1675), law officer and book collector." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
- Mandelbrote, G. The organisation of book auctions in late seventeenth-century London, in R. Myers (ed), Under the hammer, London, 2001, 15-36.
- Richard Smith in Material Evidence in Incunabula.