Robert Harding Evans

Robert Harding Evans
Born	1778 England
Died	1857-04-25 Edward Street, Hampstead Road, London, England
Occupation(s)	Bookseller, auctioneer
Known for	Bookselling and auctioneering of notable English libraries

Robert Harding Evans (1778–1857) was a distinguished English bookseller and auctioneer.

Life

The son of bookseller Thomas Evans, Robert Harding Evans received his education at Westminster School before undertaking an apprenticeship with Thomas Payne located at the Mews Gate. He eventually took over the bookselling enterprise previously owned by James Edwards in Pall Mall, London.

Evans began his notable career as an auctioneer in 1812, starting with the sale of the library belonging to the Duke of Roxburghe. Throughout his career, he conducted several important auctions, including those of Colonel Stanley (1813), Stanesby Alchorne (1813), John Towneley (1814), and James Edwards (1815). Among other major sales were the duplicate volumes from the Duke of Devonshire’s collection (1815), the library of the Duke of Grafton (1815), Field-marshal Junot’s vellum-bound books (1816), the Borromeo assortment of novels and romances (1817), and General Francisco de Miranda’s collections held in 1828 and 1833.

He also managed auctions for the White Knights library of George Spencer-Churchill, 5th Duke of Marlborough, as well as collections from James Bindley, John Dent, George Hibbert, Dudley Long North, and portions of Richard Heber’s library in 1836. The British Museum acquired his auction catalogues that featured his own annotations. Between 1812 and 1847, Evans oversaw numerous prominent English library sales.

Although recognized for his expertise and captivating auctioneering manner, Evans struggled with financial management, which led to monetary troubles. Subsequent efforts to re-enter the bookselling market on Bond Street, in collaboration with his two sons, did not prove successful.

Evans passed away on 25 April 1857 at Edward Street, Hampstead Road, London. His widow Susanna died in Fulham on 31 January 1861.

Works

Evans was responsible for publishing and editing various works:

• Bishop Burnet's History of his own Time, London, 1809, in four volumes.
• Hakluyt's Collection of the Early Voyages, Travels, and Discoveries of the English Nation, a new edition with additions, London, 1809–12, five volumes.
• Essays on Song-writing, revised edition with additions and a supplement by John Aikin, London, 1810.
• Old Ballads by Thomas Evans, expanded and revised edition by his son, London, 1810, four volumes.
• Euripidis Opera, Gr. et Lat., Glasgow, 1821, nine volumes, prepared in collaboration with Andrew and John Morison Duncan.
• Historical and Descriptive Account of the Caricatures of James Gillray, London, 1851 (co-authored with Thomas Wright).

Two political writings are attributed to Robert Harding Evans (1784–1821), who edited parliamentary reports:

• Six Letters of Publicola on the Liberty of the Subject and the Privileges of the House of Commons, published anonymously in London, 1810;
• A Letter on the Expediency of a Reform in Parliament, addressed to Lord Erskine, London, 1817.

References

Attribution