A British Book Collector celebrates one of the finest collections of manuscripts and rare books in the north west of England. From the turn of the twentieth century through the Second World War, Robert Edward Hart, a ropemaker of Blackburn, Lancashire, quietly amassed a phenomenal collection of medieval manuscripts and early printed books.

In this volume, leading scholars from the fields of the history of art, and the history of the book, examine anew the internationally important manuscripts and rare printed books in Hart’s collection, and the practice of collecting itself in the context of the waning of the industrial revolution. Copiously illustrated with colour prints, this volume marks R.E. Hart’s achievement as a collector who collected for himself, and for his community for posterity.