Bennett, Richard
Owner Id4532
TypePerson
GenderMale
Biographical dates - Period of existence1849-1911
Other Information(Horwich, near Bolton, Lancashire 1849 - Thornby Hall, Northampton, after 1911); armorial bookplate with the motto «honestus bene dictus»; RICHARD BENNETT, A catalogue of the early printed books and illuminated manuscripts collected by Richard Bennett, Guildford, Billing and Sons, 1900. Described by DE RICCI, pp. 172-173, as eccentric, Bennett was a keen collector of illuminated manuscripts and incunabula only up to 13 inches tall; he purchased several volumes at the Ashburnham sale, through Pickering - nearly all the Caxtons, and all of William Morris’s collection in 1897 for £18,000, reselling what he did not want to keep via Sotheby on 5 Dec. 1898. Bennett was also a collector of Chinese porcelain. By 1881 he was living at Great Lever Hall and was the owner or manager of John Smith Junior & Co., a bleaching and chemical manufacturing company in Great Lever. During 1890/91, Bennett moved to Southport and then to Manchester and by 1902 he was living at Thornby Hall in Northamptonshire, his residence when, in 1911, his porcelain collection was sold to William Hesketh Lever by Gorer for £275,000; see EDGAR GORER, Catalogue of the Collection of old Chinese Porcelains formed by Richard Bennett, Esq. Thornby Hall, Northampton, New York, Dreicer & Co., [1911]; OLIVER IMPEY, 'Lever as a collector of Chinese porcelain' in Art and Business in Edwardian England: The Making of The Lady Lever Art Gallery, ed. Edward Morris, «Journal of the History of Collections», volume 4, number 2, 1992, p. 234; http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/ladylever/collections/chinese/dealersessay/ with a picture of his label.
Bennett’s library was acquired by J. P. Morgan Sr in 1902 for £140,000; see Dondi, Printed Books of Hours, no. 28c
Other Identifierhttp://thesaurus.cerl.org/record/cnp00128612
https://williammorrislibrary.wordpress.com/
Activity
Start (year)1849
End (year)1911
NoteDeceased after 1911
MARC Area Codee-uk
PlaceManchester (Geonames Id: 2643123)
Profession / Type of InstitutionBusiness
CharacterisationNo characterisation/lay
Last Edit2017-05-27 10:38:08