| AdminHistory | Born in Oxfordshire, 1779; natural son of the portrait painter Ozias Humphry, who bequeathed him his miniatures, pictures, drawings, and engravings, and an extensive correspondence with many leading men; Upcott derived from him a passion for collecting; worked as a bookseller, first as assistant to R H Evans of Pall Mall and later to John Wright of Piccadilly; appointed assistant to the librarian of the London Institution, 1806; the Guildhall Library originated in a suggestion by him, and he superintended the arrangement of its books, 1828; his collections were extensive; while at the London Institution, he was robbed of his entire collection of coins and other curiosities, but more than 500 of its proprietors voted £500 for his reimbursement, 1833; resigned his office, 1834; lived for the rest of his life at 102 Upper Street, Islington, known as 'Autograph Cottage' privately printed a catalogue of the letters and manuscripts he had been collecting for more than 25 years, hoping that they might be bought for some public institution, 1836; his finds included the original manuscript of Chatterton's 'Amphitryon', purchased by the British Museum, 1841; died unmarried at Islington, 1845; his library, manuscripts, prints and drawings were sold by Sotheby at Evans' auction-rooms, 1846; many of his manuscripts were bought by the British Museum. Publications: reprinted Andrew Borde's 'Boke of the Introduction of Knowledge' (1814); assisted Southey with Sir Thomas Malory's 'King Arthur' (1817); 'Bibliographical Account of the Principal Works relating to English Topography' (3 volumes, 1818); edited Edmund Carter's 'History of the County of Cambridge' (1819); revised for the press Evelyn's 'Diary' (1818); edited Evelyn's 'Miscellaneous Writings' (1825); assisted in the publication of the 'Garrick Correspondence'; assisted in the preparation of the 'Catalogue of the London Institution'. |
| CustodialHistory | With the bookplate of F Hendriks. Part of the library of Charles Kay Ogden (1889-1957), linguistic psychologist, founder of the Orthological Institute and originator of the language system Basic English, whose interests in language systems are reflected in the subject matter of his collection, which comprised individual manuscripts and manuscript collections dating from the 14th to the 20th century. Formerly Ogden A160. |