The Private Diaries of Robert Proctor: CILIP in London meeting June 9, 2009

Speaker: John Bowman

Three thousand incunabula (or early printed books) in the Bodleian were catalogued in 1891-3 by Robert Proctor, who included notes upon these in his Index of Early Printed Books in the British Museum (1898). He also prepared for the Bibliographical society in 1900 an illustrated monograph entitled The Printing of Greek in the Fifteenth Century. This able bibliographer met with a mysterious end in the Tyrol in 1903, and his Bibliographical Essays, which everywhere reveal the wide knowledge of an expert, were collected two years later. A useful Register of National Bibliography was produced in two volumes in 1905 by William Prideaux Courtney.

In 1899 Proctor started to keep a private diary, and this lasted until his death in 1903. John Bowman will talk about the man and his work, and about some of the sources he has used in editing the diaries for publication, many of which would have been unavailable before the advent of the internet.

Until his recent retirement, John Bowman was Lecturer in Library and Information Studies at University College London.

This talk will be of particular value to anyone registered for CILIP Chartership and can contribute towards CPD requirements.

CILIP in London evening meetings are free and open to all with a professional interest in the topic. Refreshments will be available afterwards. As space is limited, please let us know if you are coming: contact [email protected]. It would be helpful to tell us how you found out about the event.

Official Website: http://www.cilip.org.uk/branches/byregion/london/events/June09.htm