Anne Lister's Library

Marlene Oliveira

Published on 12 November, 2024
Cover image:  Photo by Prateek Katyal on Unsplash 

"O books, books! Ye are my spirit's oil"

Anne Lister was a lover of learning and, especially, reading. One could say that her lifelong love affair with books was steadier than her relationships with the women she loved throughout her life. Books provided entertainment when Anne was bored, solace and connection when she felt neglected, and sometimes served as conversation starters for covert, and not so covert, flirtations. 

In short, Anne Lister was very well-read and kept her reading materials as diverse as her interests. Topics ranged from the daily local and national news to scientific books and essays written by the leading minds of her time. However, first and foremost, books were a useful source of knowledge that helped Anne in her daily life. She devoured volumes about anatomy, geology, and other natural sciences, and, occasionally, Anne also read fiction books and poetry. It is due to the effect a romance has on her that she once declared she’d read primarily non-fiction works:

“In the evening and during supper read from page 101. to 215. end of volume 3 Léontine de Blondheim — It is altogether a very interesting thing and I have read it with a sort of melancholy feeling the very germ of which I thought had died forever — I cried a good deal over the second and more over the third this morning and as soon as I was alone during supper Arlhofe reminds me of L—[Charles Lawton] Leontine of π [Mariana] and Wallerstein of myself I find my former feelings are too soon awakened and I have still more romance than can let me bear the stimulus the fearful rousing of novel reading — I must not indulge it I must keep to graver things and strongly occupy myself with other thoughts and with perpetual exertions”


14 February 1821 (SH:7/ML/E/5/0005)

Anne’s voracious appetite for a good book and her interest in diverse subjects led her to acquire enough books and other printed materials to create a sizable library during her lifetime, with items stored both at Shibden Hall and at her apartment in Paris. A vast list of books read, and sometimes also reviewed, by Anne Lister herself is compiled and freely available on our very own Bookshelf project. 

Yet, despite having amassed what is commonly understood as a rather large library, very few surviving books can today be traced back to Anne’s collection. This begs the question: what happened to Anne Lister's extensive library?

The scattering of Anne Lister's library

After Anne Lister died in 1840, her personal effects were subject to a clause on her will, stating:

“I do hereby give and bequeath all my monies, securities for money, goods, chattels, personal estate and effects whatsoever and wheresoever unto the said Ann Walker, Jonathan Gray and William Gray, their executors, administrators and assigns in trust with all convenient speed after my decease and to sell, dispose of, collect and get in, and convert the same into money and thereof to pay my just debts, funeral and testamentary expenses and any legacies which I may bequeath by any codicil or testamentary writing.”


The National Archives (PROB 11/1944/273) © Crown copyright. 

Licensed under the Open Government Licence v 3.0. 

In essence, everything from Anne’s personal property and possessions could therefore be sold, and the sale proceeds would then be used to pay her debts, funeral expenses, and any legacies she chose to bequeath to family or friends. Being part of her personal effects, Anne's books were within the scope of this clause, which meant they could be sold at any point in time, should Anne's executors deem it necessary. In 1844, this was put in effect when William Gray Jr.¹ sold a few rings and coins to pay for legal expenses (Gray Jr. 18 May 1844). 

In 1846, Anne’s books were the topic of a letter from William Gray Jr. and Robert Parker. 

“Capt[ai]n Sutherland has sent me a valuation of the Books amounting to a/c [account] £160 but he says he wont have them. What must I do? Sell them by auction at Halifax? I see no other course; they appear to me trashy.” 

Letter from William Gray Jr. to Robert Parker, 18 April 1846 (FW:120/51/64)

William Gray eventually decided to sell the books from Anne’s library and, to do so, an auction was held at the Northgate Hotel at the start of June of the same year. Several lots containing books from Anne Lister's Shibden Hall library were auctioned then. Even though more information about this auction has not surfaced, a catalogue of the items up for sale is part of the Shibden Hall collection (reference SH:3/L/92). 

The first cover of the catalogue and the conditions of the sale of the Shibden Hall Library belonging to Anne Lister in 1846. Images courtesy of West Yorkshire Archive Service, Calderdale (SH:3/L/92). 

Over the three days of the auction, approximately 1877 items² were put up for sale in a total of 476 lots. These lots were divided into three batches, one for each auction day. The days with more lots up for sale were the first and the last day of the auction, with 160 lots each. The second day had “only” 156 lots of items up for auction. 

Despite most lots containing solely books, other types of items were sold at this auction. These included magazines and other periodicals (both bound and in numbers), maps, and folios. Anne’s linguistics skills were reflected in her library, so the catalogue of this auction of her books naturally lists titles in English, French, and Latin, as well as dictionaries and grammar books for languages such as Hebrew, German, and Russian. 

Among the books auctioned were the following titles:

There were also a few lots that included works of famous authors, such as Shakespeare, Ovid, and Molière, among others. An entire lot was dedicated to music and two others were comprised of travel guides to locations both in the British Isles and abroad. Given the number of volumes and other items that were auctioned during those three days, it is likely that a large number of items originally belonging to Anne Lister’s library were sold in 1846. However, no document has surfaced yet to give us a more detailed overview of what was actually sold as well as an estimate of how much money was earned by conducting this auction. 

Footnotes

1846 auction items in Anne Lister's journals

Given the span of Anne Lister’s journals, counting how many books auctioned in 1846 can be traced back to journal entries can be rather time-consuming. In order to make this task more manageable and obtain an initial count, we cross-referenced the 1846 auction lots from the catalogue with the entries already listed in the Anne Lister bookshelf project. 

Before we look closely at the results of this experiment, it is important to point out we are working with incomplete datasets. The bookshelf is an ongoing project that continues to grow thanks to Packed with Potential contributors and the 1846 catalogue includes many lots with incomplete or very vague descriptions that make it impossible to accurately identify the items included in them. Therefore, we can only extract a partial count of books that were both mentioned in Anne’s journals and in the 1846 auction catalogue. 

Despite this, the following details were observed by comparing the available data: 

Using the existing data, we can also count the number of records per decade that are included in lots of the 1846 auction. By doing so, we identified:

It's not surprising that there is a stronger correlation between the two datasets when it comes to the books read by Anne in the 1820s and 1830s, as these decades are more extensively covered in Anne's journals. It's important to note also that the lack of entries for the 1840s does not necessarily mean that there is no overlap between these datasets. This is likely due to limitations in accessing information from volume 24 in recent years as a full transcript of this volume only became available in September 2024. As transcripts of this volume are now available and contributors read it in the coming months or years, we will probably discover a list of titles mentioned then that were also auctioned in 1846.

Surviving books from Anne's library

Anne's library may be long gone, but some books that once belonged to her are still part of library and museum collections today. We have compiled a non-exhaustive list of surviving books that have emerged in the past few years.

Book of Common Prayer

A book of common prayer is usually the name given to various liturgical books related to Anglicanism or to churches historically connected with it. The original version of this liturgical book was published in 1549 and served the purpose of directing the worship of the Anglican Church. It contained complete versions of the daily and Sunday services, all written in English. 

In Anne's time, the books of common prayer available to her would differ from the original as they'd include the revisions from the 1550s and early to mid-1600s, which eliminated the prayers for the dead as well as other references and Roman Catholic forms. 

This book in Anne's journal

“V [Vere] bought and gave me at Richmond a prayer book”

22 September 1831 (SH:7/ML/E/14/0120)

Acquired: Gift from Vere Hobart at Richmond in 1831.

Purpose: To bring to church or to read prayers at home. 

Current known location: Halifax, United Kingdom

Accessible to the public? No 

Title page of a Book of Common Prayer dated c. 1760.  Image source: Wikimedia Commons (Public Domain).

“The History of Ireland” by S. Barlow, AM

This work is published in two volumes and divided in three parts. Put together, these three parts narrate the historical events of Ireland from its earlier days to 1814. These volumes also include geographical information about this country and an overview of its culture. 

This book in Anne's journal

Though this book is not mentioned specifically, Anne writes that she bought £15 worth of books. Based on the signature and date on the books, it is likely that these volumes were acquired at the same book sale. 

“off to the book sale at Powell’s – looking over the books – the sale began at 1 and lasted till 4 ½ when I came away – bought £15 worth of books – Smart’s British prose writers 25 volumes 18 mo (duodecimo) or small 12 mo (duodecimo) in green morocco £4.4.0 Sir Walter Scott’s Border antiquities 2 volumes 4to (quarto) morocco £3.18.0 published at 10 guineas? – etc etc”

4 January 1832 (SH:7/ML/E/15/0006)

Acquired: Bought at a book sale at Powell’s, in Hastings. 

Purpose: Leisure reading 

Current known location: Halifax, United Kingdom

Accessible to the public? No 

This book in Bankfield Museum's "Anne Lister in Her Words" exhibition (March 2024). Photo by Jude Dobson.

“Itinéraire du Curieux Dans Le Cimetière du Père La Chaise” by F. R. Marchant de Beaumont

This book includes a short history of the Père Lachaise cemetery in Paris and includes a proposed itinerary for any curious visitors who may have wished to have a look around the grounds in the 1820s. It also includes illustrations and descriptions of select tombs present in the cemetery at the time, as well as some transcripts of monumental inscriptions.

This book in Anne's journal

“walked along the Quais — bought on this side, near, the pont neuf bought 3rd edition manual on Itinéraire du curieux dans le cimétière du Père la chaise, then went to Perrelet’s —”

7 July 1829 (SH:7/ML/E/12/0052)

Acquired: Bought in Paris on the 7th of July 1829

Purpose: Information 

Current known location: Halifax, United Kingdom

Accessible to the public? No 

This book in Bankfield Museum's "Anne Lister in Her Words" exhibition (March 2024). Photo by Jude Dobson.

"Principia Hebraica" by Thomas Keyworth

This grammar is designed to assist those interested in learning Hebrew at the beginning of the 19th century. The book contains a fundamental grammar and a grammatical analysis of 564 verses taken from Hebrew Psalms. 

This book in Anne's journal

Anne ordered this on the 3rd of February 1818:

“Called at Whitley’s and ordered a new Hebrew grammar just come out, 1 volume 8vo [octavo] 15 shillings, Principia Hebraica by T.K. and D.J. –” (SH:7/ML/E/2/0008)

Picked up the book on the 17th of the same month:

“In the afternoon walked to Halifax – Got Principia Hebraica, 1 volume 8vo [octavo] 15 shillings –” (SH:7/ML/E/2/0012)

From then on, Anne uses this book extensively as she learns Hebrew throughout 1818. Afterwards, she mentioned this book again in October 1819, when she read a review of it (REF).

Acquired: Bought at Whitley’s in Halifax on the 17th of February 1818.

Purpose: Education 

Current known location: Munich, Germany 

Accessible to the public? Yes 

Front page and signature on the "Principia Hebraica" that once belonged to Anne Lister. Image courtesy of Bayerische Staatsbibliothek (No Copyright - Non-Commercial Use Only). 

“Instruction Pour Les Voyageurs et Pour Les Employés Dans Les Colonies” 

This pamphlet serves as a guide for travellers who intend to gather and ship objects or other specimens to be studied in France.  It contains instructions for gathering specimens and packing them safely and transporting them to France, as well as guidelines for producing notes that should accompany these specimens. The book also includes guidelines to assist in identifying objects and specimens that may be of special interest. 

This book in Anne's journal

“before and after cut open the 2 volumes of the history of the Jardin du Roi, and read the first 19 pp[ages] translating here and there to my aunt of the pamphlet Monsieur Royer gave me this morning Instruction pour les voyageurs on the manner getting preserving and sending to the museum different objects of natural history”


4 July 1829 (SH:7/ML/E/12/0051)

Acquired: Given to Anne in Paris by Monsieur Royer, who worked at the Jardin des Plantes

Purpose: Education

Current known location: Leeds, United Kingdom

Accessible to the public? Yes

Front page of this pamphlet, including Anne Lister's signature. Photo by Marlene Oliveira. Reproduced with the permission of Special Collections & Galleries, Leeds University Library (Classmark: Pamphlets Leeds Phil. and Lit. E/MUS - Special Collections, University of Leeds).

Are there other books that used to belong to Anne Lister?

The short answer is we don't know, but we'd love to find out if any other books that once belonged to Anne Lister’s library still survive today! If you're aware of one such book that is not listed above, please feel free to get in touch.

References

Acknowledgements

I want to express my gratitude to Steph Gallaway for proofreading the text on this page and for being genuinely enthusiastic about the whole concept. I also want to thank Jude Dobson for kindly photographing the books that were on display during the "Anne Lister in Her Words" exhibition at Bankfield Museum and for allowing me to reuse them here. Additionally, I would like to extend my thanks to the team at Special Collections - University of Leeds for granting permission to reproduce the photo of the first page of the pamphlet held there. Finally, I want to thank the team at West Yorkshire Archive Service Calderdale for allowing me to reproduce the pages from the 1846 auction catalogue.