Collection ID: LMC 2014
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Collection context

Summary

Creator:
Thompson, Henry Yates, 1838-1928
Abstract:
The Thompson, H.Y. mss., 1917-1922, consist primarily of correspondence between Henry Yates Thompson, 1838-1928, book collector, and the executives of Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge, friends, and advisers.
Extent:
1 Box (1 standard)
Language:
English .
Preferred citation:

[Item], Thompson, H.Y. mss., Lilly Library, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana.

Background

Biographical / Historical:

Henry Yates Thompson, 1838-1928, was a book collector who specialized in illuminated manuscripts.

Yates Thompson's father, Samuel Henry Thompson, was partner in the bank of Arthur Heywood, Sons & Co. His maternal grandfather was Joseph Brooks Yates, a West India merchant and antiquary, who when Yates Thompson was 18, left him 10 medieval manuscripts, sparking a lifelong passion for collecting.

In 1878, Yates Thompson married Elizabeth Murray Smith, 1854-1941. From his father in law, George Smith, founder of the Dictionary of National Biography, he received the Pall Mall Gazette, which he sold in 1892 to devote his attention to collecting illuminated manuscripts.

Much of his collection went to auction at Sotheby's in 1919, 1920, and 1921. An additional 46 manuscripts were bequeathed to the British Museum by Elizabeth.

Scope and Content:

The Thompson, H.Y. mss., 1917-1922, consist primarily of correspondence between Henry Yates Thompson, 1838-1928, book collector, and the executives of Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge, friends, and advisers. It relates to the dispersal by auction of Thompson's collection of fine illuminated manuscripts, with a few early printed books, in 1919, 1920, and 1921. The letters give an insight into the economics and the personalities involved in a major transaction.

Included are also many of Thompson's drafts, retained copies, and memos concerning conversations and meetings.

A paper entitled "Portman Square to New Bond Street; or how to make money though rich" by Josiah Quincy Bennett is about Henry Yates Thompson and the material in this collection. It is in a folder which precedes the correspondence.

Among the correspondents are Sir Clement Anderson Montague Barlow, Sir Sydney Carlyle Cockerell, A. Danlos, E.H. Dring, Belle da Costa Greene, Geoffrey Dudley Hobson, Montague Rhodes James, C.W. McCarthy, Henry Martin, Ant. W.M. Mensing, Henry Auguste Omont, Charles William Dyson Perrins, Jean Schopfer, Sir Emery Walker, Sir George Frederic Warner.

Acquisition information:
Acquired: Gift. 1966.
Physical location:
Lilly - Stacks

Access

RESTRICTIONS:

This collection is open for research.

Many collections are housed offsite; retrieval requires advance notice. Please make an appointment a minimum of one week in advance of your visit.

TERMS OF ACCESS:

Photography and digitization may be restricted for some collections. Copyright restrictions may apply. Before publishing, researchers are responsible for securing permission from all applicable rights holders, then filling out the Permission to Publish form.

PREFERRED CITATION:

[Item], Thompson, H.Y. mss., Lilly Library, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana.

CAMPUS:
Indiana University Bloomington
LOCATION OF THIS COLLECTION:
1200 East Seventh Street
Bloomington, Indiana 47405-5500, USA
CAMPUS:
Indiana University Bloomington
CONTACT:
(812) 855-2452
liblilly@indiana.edu