Brooke, Thomas <1st Baronet>
Owner Id4180
TypePerson
GenderMale
Biographical dates - Period of existence1830 - 1908
Other InformationHe was the first (and only) baronet in the Brooke baronetcy of Armitage Bridge. He has a brief entry in De Ricci, English Collectors: "In the same decades [1880s-1890s] flourished yet another great bibliophile, Sir Thomas Brooke (1830-1908), of Armitage Bridge House, Huddersfield, for many years the best customer of the firm of Ellis. After his death, in 1908, his library was divided and has come on to the market in several sales.” The sales are listed in a footnote; but clearly many books were inherited by his brothers, Sir John Arthur Brooke, 1st baronet in the Brooke baronetcy of Almondbury (http://data.cerl.org/owners/4510 ); and the Rev. Charles Edward Brooke (http://data.cerl.org/owners/4179 ) - it seems that Charles Edward may have been left the books with religious relevance, as many of those are in Keble College, the bequest of Charles Edward. The Keble website has this note about their medieval mss: “[many from] Rev. Charles Edward Brooke, who had inherited the liturgical books and manuscripts collected by his brother Sir Thomas Brooke, one of the great bibliophiles of the 19th century."
And some apparently went to the Rev. W. Ingham Brooke (perhaps another brother), as well as to Sir Thomas’s third wife, Mary - see list of sales below.
In William Jackson’s annotated copy of De Ricci, he notes, after mentioning a few high-spot gifts to institutions, “The remainder mainly to his brother John Arthur B.” - one Harvard copy has that provenance. But clearly many went to others, as the sales and Keble College bequest demonstrate.
The sales were (as listed by De Ricci):
[i] Sotheby,29 November 1909: "A Baronet deceased".
[ii] Sotheby, 1 March 1913: "A Gentleman" [Rev. W. Ingham Brooke].
[iii] Sotheby, 24 November 1913: "Lady Brooke”
[iv] Sotheby, 13 December 1920, lots 240-248: “Mary Lady Brooke”
I think this must be Sir Thomas’s third wife, Mary Foster, who survived him, but about whom I know nothing more.
[v] Sotheby, 25 May 1921: "Sir John Arthur Brooke” (1575 lots, the new owner having added many fine books to his share of Sir Thomas's collection)
[vi] Sotheby, 19 December 1921, lots 316-452: "Rev W. Ingham Brooke”
[vii] Hodgson, 14 November 1923, lots 502-578: “Rev. W. Ingham Brooke”
De Ricci also notes: “Sir Thomas also had printed privately 100 copies of A catalogue of the manuscripts and printed books collected by Thomas Brooke, F.S.A., and preserved at Armitage Bridge House, near Huddersfield (London, 1891, 2 vols. 8vo).” [John Lancaster 08/03/2018]
Brooke purchased the Pillone Library in toto in 1874; it was retained by the family until Humphrey Brooke, the heir of the collection, entrusted the sale to Alan Keen, who compiled a catalogue of its contents (The Venetian Library Collected at the Close of the Sixteenth Century by Doctor Odorico Pillone and the Sides and Edges Painted by Cesare Vecellio, London 1951). The collection was then purchased in 1957 by the French bookseller Pierre Berès, who immediately put it on sale, publishing a catalogue with the help of Italian art historian Lionello Venturi.
Other Identifierhttp://thesaurus.cerl.org/record/cnp01256028
Activity
Start (year)1830
End (year)1908
MARC Area Codee-uk-en
PlaceHuddersfield (Geonames Id: 2646458)
Profession / Type of InstitutionBusiness
CharacterisationAristocracy
Last Edit2021-05-21 12:27:05