John Bagford
.
An antiquarian collector,
who had a mania for mutilating all the books
he could lay hands on, in order to collect
title-pages, old types, printers’ colophons, etc.
Bagford was born at London in October, 1675.
He was bred a shoemaker, but afterwards
became a bookseller, and a great collector of
curiosities.
He was employed by Moore, Bishop
of Norwich, and the Earl of Oxford, to enrich
their libraries with scarce books and MSS.
For his services the bishop placed him in the
Charterhouse.
He died May 15, 1716.
His
collections respecting the history of typography
are preserved among the Harleian MSS., and
there are two volumes by him in the University
Library at Cambridge (Dd. x. 56, 57).
The
title of one of the latter will give a fair idea of
the extent of Bagford’s orthographical acquirements.
It is as follows: “The Hihstory
of Tipography, its Originall and prograse from
athentick recordes, maniscriptes, and printed
bookes, collected with grate paynes, by Jo.
Bagford.”