Henry Richard Tedder

“ During forty-five years his life and interests were divided between this country and Italy; in the one a polished Englishman, in the other a vivacious Neapolitan and a conscientious landowner. He was a notable Dante scholar, an excellent, bibliographer, a man of wide reading and intellectual sympathy, of great social tact and goodness of heart. ”

“ He was sent to school at the age of five and graduated at the university of Parma at eighteen. The excitement of politics drew him from the study of medicine when the news of the French revolution of 1830 roused all Italy. For a few months at the commencement of 1831 young Gallenga was 'a conspirator, a state prisoner, a combatant and a fugitive, and for the five ensuing years an exile' (Episodes of my Second Life, i. 3) . ”

“ He settled in New York and became the editor of the 'New York Times.' The municipal government of the city had fallen into the hands of the Tammany Ring and 'Boss' Tweed. Jennings, undeterred by threats of personal violence, and even of murder, during many months exposed the malpractices in his newspaper, and finally had the satisfaction of seeing the corrupt organisation broken up through his public-spirited and courageous efforts, and the ring-leaders, who had defrauded their fellow-citizens of millions of dollars, punished. ”

“ In the course of a successful career extending over more than fifty years he developed the most extensive trade in old books in the world. The classes to which he gave special attention were natural history, fine arts, archæology, travels, periodicals, and oriental learning, but he was chiefly known as a dealer in incunabula, fine manuscripts, bibles, liturgies, Shakespeareana, early English literature, Americana and cartography, and historic bindings. ”

“ In 1868 he married Ellen Brooker, second daughter of Lionel John Beale, and sister of Dr. Lionel S. Beale. Ancient Greek history and art were the subjects of his next two publications, perhaps the most generally interesting of his writings: 'The History of Sicily to the Athenian War, with Elucidations of the Sicilian Odes of Pindar' (1872, 8vo) , and 'The Age of Pericles: a History of the Politics and Arts of Greece from the Persian to the Peloponnesian War' (1875, 2 vols. 8vo) , the last a complete conception of the social life and art of Greece at its highest point. ”

“ A large number of precious books from the first and second Didot sales (1878-9) fell into his hands, and in September 1880 he published an immense catalogue, six and three-eighths inches thick, weighing nine pounds fifteen ounces, and containing 2,395 pages with an extensive index, perhaps the most bulky tome ever produced by a second-hand bookseller (Notes and Queries, 6th ser. iii. 341-3) .
The achievements of the Didot sales were followed by a series of triumphs as the principal purchase of rare and important articles at the following London auctions : David Laing's library (1879) ”

“ LACAITA, Sir JAMES PHILIP (1813–1895) , Italian scholar and politician, only son of Diego Lacaita of Manduria in the Terra d'Otranto, and of Agata Conti of Agnone in the Molise, was born at Manduria, in the province of Lecce, Italy, on 4 Oct. 1813. He took a law degree at the university of Naples, was admitted an advocate in 1836, and practised his profession. ”

“ As a labour of love he supplied essays on the life and plays of Shakespeare to S. W. Singer's edition of the poet published in 1856 (2nd ed. 1875) . The essays show acute criticism and thorough knowledge of Elizabethan literature, and were collected by the author in a private reprint (1858, and reissued without the life in 1875 and 1888) . A memoir on the system of proportion employed in the design of ancient Greek temples was added by him to C. R. Cockerell's 'Temples of Jupiter Panhellenius at Ægina and of Apollo Epicurius,' published in 1860. ”

“ Catalogue of Block Books and of early Productions of the Printing Press in all Countries, and a Supplement of Manuscripts' (October 1873, 8vo, pp. 167) . In this remarkable catalogue, the best of the kind that had yet been produced by a bookseller, the books are arranged under the names of towns and printers, with descriptions of nearly seventeen hundred examples from the earliest presses. ”

“ Gallenga was appointed professor of Italian language and literature at London University College in 1848, an unremunerative office which he held until 1859. A second edition of his 'Italy, Past and Present' was projected with chapters on Foscolo, Manzoni, Pellico, Mazzini, and others, forming an additional volume. This appeared in 1848 under the title of 'Present State and Prospects of Italy.' In the year of revolution Gallenga tells us that 'my country called: I must answer her cry. I was Italy's soldier and must join her standards' (ib. ii. 163) . ”

“ Lacaita was entrusted by Cavour with a delicate diplomatic negotiation in 1860 connected with schemes to prevent Garibaldi from crossing from Sicily to Calabria, and subsequently the Neapolitan government offered him the post of minister in London with the title of marquis, both of which he declined (ib. ii.208) . In December 1860, after the expulsion of the Bourbons, he revisited Naples, caused his name to be reinstated on the municipal registry, and in July 1861, while back in England, was returned as deputy to the first Italian legislature. He generally supported the new Italian government. ”

“ The career of each class of type was traced from its first use to the time when it was worn out and passed into strange hands. This inquiry was more important in his eyes than the recording of title-pages and colophons. ”

“ A somewhat squat and awkward figure, occasionally rough manners, irrepressible egotism, pithy sayings, half humorous, half sardonic, delivered in a grating voice, combined to form an interesting if not a very attractive personality. ”

“ He was apprenticed on 1 May 1840 at his father's printing firm of Blades & East, 11 Abchurch Lane, London. Shortly after the expiration of his apprenticeship he was admitted a partner in the business, and soon he and his brother conducted it under the style of Blades, East, & Blades. He turned his attention to the typography of the first English press, and in 1858 undertook to write an introductory note to a reprint of Caxton's edition of the 'Governayle of Helthe.' His Caxton studies were conducted in a thoroughly scientific manner. ”

“ Michael Kerney, who since 1862 had been Quaritch's chief cataloguer and was hence-forward his trusted literary adviser. In these and subsequent catalogues all the scholarly descriptions of the chief rarities, the manuscripts, and the oriental literature were by the same hand, whose merit and usefulness Quaritch always freely acknowledged. The purchases at Sir William Tite's sale in 1874 amounted to 9,500l., and with other additions to a rapidly growing stock were described in a large 'Supplemental Catalogue' (1877) . ”

“ I had to give up all hope of being a soldier ; but I was still a patriot, a man of action' (ib. i. 295-6) . After several efforts to obtain a professorship he came to England on 2 June 1839. He brought letters of introduction, made the acquaintance of Browning, John Kenyon, Crabb Kobinson, Rogers, and Monckton Milnes, found work as teacher and translator, and endeavoured to secure a commission in the army of the Nizam of Hyderabad. ”

“ In 1859 he went to Italy as correspondent of the 'Times' with the French army, and remained five years in the country as representative of that journal. From 1859 to 1864 he was a deputy of the Italian chamber. He was with Garibaldi as a correspondent in 1860. In 1863 he was sent by the 'Times' as war correspondent to the United States, and held the same office in Denmark in 1864. In 1865 he was a special correspondent in various continental cities, and in the following year visited Spain. ”

“ In 1877 he had charge of the city article in the 'World.' He was an active pedestrian, and published 'Field Paths and Green Lanes: being Country Walks, chiefly in Surrey and Sussex' (1877 &c. five editions) , followed by 'Rambles among the Hills in the Peak of Derbyshire and the South Downs' (1880) , with some charming wood-cuts after sketches by Mr. A. H. Hallam Murray. These volumes have nothing of the formal character of guide-books, but are racy descriptions of secluded country paths interspersed with stories of quaint rural wayfarers. ”

“ Either personally or by deputy he attended every important book auction in Europe and America, and the high prices fetched at sales during the last thirty years were largely the result of his spirited biddings. He determined that, unless amateur buyers entrusted their commissions to him, they should be unsuccessful bidders. ”

“ The papers of Sir Richard Bulstrode, who died in 1711 at the age of 101, contain his newsletters, which may be looked upon as a companion to, and a continuation of, Pepys's 'Diary.' Morrison printed for private distribution two series of handsome volumes describing the collection. The first series, in large 4to, with full descriptions of the documents and many facsimiles, was the subject of an elaborate review by M. Leopold Delisle (Journal des Savants, Aout-Septembre 1893) . ”

“ He was a man of fastidious taste, of retiring disposition, and of wide information on the subjects in which he was interested.
The catalogues of his autographs are: 1. 'Catalogue of the Collection of Autograph Letters and Historical Documents formed between 1865 and 1882, compiled and annotated under the direction of A. W. Thibaudeau' [London] , printed for private circulation, 1883-92, 6 vols. large 4to (facsimiles, the name of Thibaudean appears on the titles of vols. i-iii.; only 200 copies) . 2. Second series, 1882-93 [London] , 1893-6, A to D, 3 vols. large 8vo. 3. ”

“ Soc. Lit.' n.s. vol. v. 1854) ; 'The Eastern Pediment of the Parthenon' (from ib. n.s. vol. vii. 1862) . 'Artemis Elaphebolos: an Archæological Essay,' London, 1847, 8vo (privately printed) . 'The Portland Vase,' London, 1848, 8vo. 'Homer, his Art and Age,' London, 1848, 8vo (Nos. 3 and 4 reprinted from the 'Classical Museum') . 'The Eleventh of Pindar's Pythian Odes,' London, 1849, 8vo. 'On the Homeric Design of the Shield of Achilles,' London, 1854, large 8vo. 'Pindar and Themistocles,' London, 1862, 8vo (a prose translation of Pindar's eighth Nemean ode) . ”

“ Autobiographical Recollections in Gallenga's Episodes of my Second Life, 188i, 2 vols.; Men and Women of the Time, 14th ed. 1895, pp. 325–z6; Allibone's Dictionary, 1870, ii. 1219; Kirk's Supplement to Allibone, 1891, i. 644; Times, 19 Dec. 1895; Athenæum, 21 Dec. 1895, p. 873; Annual Register, 1895, p. 220; A. de Gubernatis, Dictionnaire International des Ecrivains du Jour, 1890, ii. 1017; A. Bertollotti, Passeggiate nel Canavese, Ivrea, 1867-9, 3 vols. 8vo ”

“ C. du Castel,' London, 1859, 4to. (These two are printed in imitation Caxton type.) 'The Life and Typography of W. Caxton, England's First Printer, with Evidence of his Typographical Connection with Colard Mansion the Printer at Bruges,' London, 1861-3, 2 vols. 4to (see also No. 12) . 'A Catalogue of Books printed by or ascribed to the Press of W. Caxton,' London, 1865, sm. 4to. 'A List of Medals, Jettons, Tokens, &c., in connection with Printers and the Art of Printing,' London, 1869, 8vo (only twenty-five copies printed) . ”