History of the Goldsmiths' Library

Foxwell - The Bibliophile

Despite the heavy demands of his academic calling, Foxwell's real passion was always for the hunting and gathering of books, particularly in the field of economics. He was a dedicated book-collector and bibliophile, and, even more than this, an instructed and deeply informed collector, not simply as a bibliographer but as an eminent scholar in the field.

Whenever and wherever he could, he hunted books with energy and skill. He used lunch hours, periods between lectures, and holidays to haunt bookshops and street book-stalls. No present pleased him more than a book.

Yet Foxwell was far from wealthy and this fact makes it even more extraordinary that 'he managed to carry on as one of the largest scale book-collectors in the world', as Keynes phrased it in his obituary. It is indeed extraordinary, but it must be remembered that Foxwell was not collecting in a high-priced field.

While others were after treasures, Foxwell was spending far less. His first purchase was Lardner's Railway Economy, which he bought in 1875 for 6d, and it was certainly not the only one to cost so little.

Since Foxwell's collecting was in large numbers of small purchases which were often cash transactions, there are few records of his dealings with booksellers. He would sometimes dispose of unwanted books by selling them; and it is known from a letter of 22 July 1901 to E.R.A. Seligman, that he did at times send such books to one bookseller.

"The Goldsmiths' Company have bought my library", he wrote. "If it finds a home near me I, shall probably sell my duplicates shall probably sell some 'triplicates' in any case. I have an arrangement with Wm. Muller, 59 Castle Street East, Oxford Street, W., by which I hand them over to him; to avoid disputes between would-be purchasers. I will tell Muller to send you his catalogues."

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