Charles Edward Sayle (6 December 1864 – 4 July 1924) was an English

Uranian poet The Uranians were a late-19th-century and early-20th-century clandestine group of up to several dozen male homosexual poets and prose writers who principally wrote on the subject of the love of (or by) adolescent boys. In a strict definition they ...

, literary scholar and

librarian A librarian is a person who professionally works managing information. Librarians' common activities include providing access to information, conducting research, creating and managing information systems, creating, leading, and evaluating educat ...

. He was the youngest son of

Robert Sayle Robert Sayle was a department store in Cambridge, England, founded by Robert Sayle (1816–1883). In 1934, it was purchased by Selfridges, who sold it to the John Lewis Partnership in 1939. In 2007, it reopened as a John Lewis store. History ...

, the founder of a

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

department store, and Priscilla Caroline Sayle. Educated at

Rugby School Rugby School is a Public school (United Kingdom), private boarding school for pupils aged 13–18, located in the town of Rugby, Warwickshire in England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independ ...

, he matriculated in 1883 at

New College, Oxford New College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by Bishop William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as New College's feeder school, New College was one of the first col ...

. He returned to Cambridge and was engaged on cataloguing work in the libraries of

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College, formally the College of St John the Evangelist in the University of Cambridge, is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch L ...

and the

Union Society Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Union ...

. In 1893 he entered

Cambridge University Library Cambridge University Library is the main research library of the University of Cambridge. It is the largest of over 100 libraries Libraries of the University of Cambridge, within the university. The library is a major scholarly resource for me ...

and served as an under-librarian. His life was devoted to the library and to bibliography. He edited the ''Annals'' of the library, and his chief works for it were a ''Catalogue of Early English Printed Books'', four vols., 1900–1907; a ''Catalogue of the Bradshaw Collection of Irish Books'', three vols., 1916. He also made a catalogue of early printed books in the McClean Bequest to the Fitzwilliam Museum; and edited the works of

Thomas Browne Sir Thomas Browne ( "brown"; 19 October 160519 October 1682) was an English polymath and author of varied works which reveal his wide learning in diverse fields including science and medicine, religion and the esoteric. His writings display a d ...

. His works include ''Bertha: a story of love'' (1885), ''Wicliff: an historical drama'' (1887), ''Erotidia'' (1889), ''Musa Consolatrix'' (1893), ''Private Music'' (1911) and ''Cambridge Fragments'' (1913). He also edited an anthology of verse, ''In Praise of Music'' (1897) and compiled ''Annals of Cambridge University Library; 1278–1900'' (1916). He edited the 3-volume ''Works of Sir Thomas Browne''; volumes I & II were published in 1904 by Grant Richards in London; volume III was published in 1907 by John Grant in Edinburgh. Charles Sayle's

salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon A beauty salon or beauty parlor is an establishment that provides Cosmetics, cosmetic treatments for people. Other variations of this type of business include hair salons, spas, day spas, ...

, a circle of bright, handsome and predominantly homosexual young men who congregated at his house on

Trumpington Street Trumpington Street is a major historic street in central Cambridge, England. At the north end it continues as King's Parade where King's College is located. To the south it continues as Trumpington Road (the A1134), an arterial route out ...

, Cambridge, included

Rupert Brooke Rupert Chawner Brooke (3 August 1887 – 23 April 1915The date of Brooke's death and burial under the Julian calendar that applied in Greece at the time was 10 April. The Julian calendar was 13 days behind the Gregorian calendar.) was an En ...

George Mallory George Herbert Leigh-Mallory (18 June 1886 – 8 or 9 June 1924) was an English Mountaineering, mountaineer who participated in the first three British Mount Everest expeditions from the early to mid-1920s. He and climbing partner An ...

, Augustus Bartholomew, Jacques Raverat and

Geoffrey Keynes Sir Geoffrey Langdon Keynes ( ; 25 March 1887, Cambridge – 5 July 1982, Cambridge) was a British surgeon and author. He began his career as a physician in World War I, before becoming a doctor at St Bartholomew's Hospital in London, where he ...

. Sayle's publisher was

Bernard Quaritch Bernard Alexander Christian Quaritch ( ; April 23, 1819 – December 17, 1899) was a German-born British bookseller and collector. The company established by Bernard Quaritch in 1847 lives on in London as Bernard Quaritch Ltd, dealing in rare ...

, a bookseller who specialised in unpopular but praiseworthy scholastic publications.Arthur Freeman, 'Quaritch, Bernard Alexander Christian (1819–1899)’,

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from History of the British Isles, British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') ...

, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Oct 2009

Notes

External links

* *
Sayle's 1893 volume of poems, ''Musa Consolatrix'', downloadable at Google Books

Obituary in ''The Times'', 5 July 1924; Issue 43696; pg. 16
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sayle, Charles Edward British gay writers 1864 births 1924 deaths English librarians English LGBTQ poets English male poets Writers from Cambridge People associated with the University of Cambridge People educated at Rugby School