Sir Edward Augustus Bond (31 December 18152 January 1898) was an English librarian.

Biography

Bond was born at

Hanwell Hanwell () is a town in the London Borough of Ealing. It is about west of Ealing Broadway and had a population of 28,768 as of 2011. It is the westernmost location of the London post town. Hanwell is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086. St ...

, London, England, the son of a schoolmaster. He was educated at

Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood Merchant Taylors' School is an 11–18 boys Public school (United Kingdom), public day school, founded in 1561 in London. The school has occupied various campuses. From 1933 it has been at Sandy Lodge, a site close to Northwood, London, Nort ...

, and in 1832 obtained a post in the

Public Record Office The Public Record Office (abbreviated as PRO, pronounced as three letters and referred to as ''the'' PRO), Chancery Lane in the City of London, was the guardian of the national archives of the United Kingdom from 1838 until 2003, when it was m ...

. In 1838, he became an assistant in the manuscript department of the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

, where he attracted the notice of his chief, Sir Frederic Madden, a leading

paleographer Palaeography ( UK) or paleography ( US) (ultimately from , , 'old', and , , 'to write') is the study and academic discipline of historical writing systems. It encompasses the historicity of manuscripts and texts, subsuming deciphering and dati ...

of his day, and in 1852 he was made Egerton librarian. In 1856, he became assistant keeper of manuscripts, and in 1867 was promoted to the post of keeper. His work in reorganising the manuscript department was of lasting value, and to him is due the classified catalogue of manuscripts, and the improved efficiency and punctuality of publication of the department. In 1873, he was appointed principal librarian of the British Museum. Under his supervision, the new buildings of the White Wing were erected, to accommodate prints, drawings, manuscripts and newspapers. The purchase of the

Stowe manuscripts The Stowe manuscripts are a collection of about two thousand Irish, Anglo-Saxon and later medieval manuscripts, nearly all now in the British Library. The manuscripts date from 1154 to the end of the 14th century. The manuscripts were originally ...

was concluded while he was in office. He founded, in conjunction with Sir Edward Maunde Thompson, the

Palaeographical Society Palaeography ( UK) or paleography ( US) (ultimately from , , 'old', and , , 'to write') is the study and academic discipline of historical writing systems. It encompasses the historicity of manuscripts and texts, subsuming deciphering and dati ...

, and made scientific improvements to classical

palaeography Palaeography (American and British English spelling differences#ae and oe, UK) or paleography (American and British English spelling differences#ae and oe, US) (ultimately from , , 'old', and , , 'to write') is the study and academic disciplin ...

. He was made

LL.D. A Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) is a doctoral degree in legal studies. The abbreviation LL.D. stands for ''Legum Doctor'', with the double “L” in the abbreviation referring to the early practice in the University of Cambridge to teach both canon law ...

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 ...

in 1879, created CB in 1885, and KCB the day before his death in January 1898. Bond published little, but he was the editor of four volumes of facsimiles of

Anglo-Saxon charters Anglo-Saxon charters are documents from the early medieval period in England which typically made a grant of land or recorded a privilege. The earliest surviving charters were drawn up in the 670s: the oldest surviving charters granted land to ...

from 679 to the

Conquest Conquest involves the annexation or control of another entity's territory through war or Coercion (international relations), coercion. Historically, conquests occurred frequently in the international system, and there were limited normative or ...

, ''The Speeches in the Trial of

Warren Hastings Warren Hastings (6 December 1732 – 22 August 1818) was a British colonial administrator, who served as the first governor of the Presidency of Fort William (Bengal), the head of the Supreme Council of Bengal, and so the first governor-gener ...

'' (1859–1861), and a number of other historic documents. These included ''Chronica Monasterii de Melsa...'' (3 vols, 1866–8), the 14th-century chronicles of

Meaux Abbey Meaux Abbey (archaic, also referred to as ''Melsa'') was a Cistercian abbey founded in 1151 by William le Gros, 1st Earl of Albemarle ( Count of Aumale), Earl of York and 4th Lord of Holderness, near Beverley in the East Riding of Yorkshire, ...

. He married Caroline Frances Barham (22 July 18231 August 1912), second daughter of the Reverend Richard Harris Dalton Barham. s:Essays in librarianship and bibliography/The Late Sir Edward A. Bond, K.C.B., accessed 30 September 2010

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bond, Edward Augustus 1815 births 1898 deaths English librarians People from Hanwell People educated at Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood Directors of the British Museum Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath 19th-century British businesspeople