Current Catalogues

Catalogue 192 - Spring 2011

Regular customers at Tom Cook's College Gateway Bookshop in the 1960s & '70s will recall his Saturday custom of lacing the morning coffee with a generous splash of rum. The extent to which this additional lubrication opened wallets or eased the consciences of committed collectors is difficult to gauge. His best customer needed little persuasion to add the treasures Tom produced from the 'garden room' store to his rapidly growing library of Suffolk books. In time Tony Copsey assembled the best Suffolk collection in private hands. His enthusiasm for printing history led to a further remarkable collection of Suffolk imprints. So it is no surprise that Tony has now added to his two books on Suffolk Authors a wonderfully detailed and thoroughly illustrated Biographical Dictionary of those involved in all aspects of the book trade in Ipswich. Its dust-wrapper features Samuel Read's 1833/4 painting of Westgate Street. In the handsome building on the left the book-binder Edward Shalders (1794-1842) ran a book and music circulating library from 1825. The year 1831 was not a good one; first the Reverend Thomas Cobbold, for 53 years incumbent at the Tower church, dropped dead in his shop. Then in December he lost valuable books in a break-in. Tony Copsey's Suffolk Book Trades history will be completed with a second volume in 2012.

Part I - Books A - E
Part II - Books F - L
Part III - Books M - Z
Part IV - Our New Publication.