Edward Gordon Duff (16 February 1863 – 28 September 1924), known as Gordon Duff, was a British

bibliographer Bibliography (from and ), as a discipline, is traditionally the academic study of books as physical, cultural objects; in this sense, it is also known as bibliology (from ). English author and bibliographer John Carter describes ''bibliography ...

and

librarian A librarian is a person who works professionally in a library providing access to information, and sometimes social or technical programming, or instruction on information literacy to users. The role of the librarian has changed much over time ...

known for his works on early English

printing Printing is a process for mass reproducing text and images using a master form or template. The earliest non-paper products involving printing include cylinder seals and objects such as the Cyrus Cylinder and the Cylinders of Nabonidus. The ...

Career

Duff was born in Liverpool on 16 February 1863. He was educated at

Cheltenham College ("Work Conquers All") , established = , closed = , type = Public school Independent SchoolDay and Boarding School , religion = Church of England , president = , head_label = Head , head = Nicola Huggett ...

and

Wadham College, Oxford Wadham College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is located in the centre of Oxford, at the intersection of Broad Street and Parks Road. Wadham College was founded in 1610 by Doroth ...

, where he took a degree in classics in 1887. Duff began work on a catalogue of

incunabula In the history of printing, an incunable or incunabulum (plural incunables or incunabula, respectively), is a book, pamphlet, or broadside that was printed in the earliest stages of printing in Europe, up to the year 1500. Incunabula were pro ...

in the

Bodleian Library The Bodleian Library () is the main research library of the University of Oxford, and is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. It derives its name from its founder, Sir Thomas Bodley. With over 13 million printed items, it is the sec ...

but did not finish the project. In 1893

Enriqueta Augustina Rylands Enriqueta Augustina Rylands (31 May 1843 – 4 February 1908) was a British philanthropist who founded the John Rylands Library in Manchester. Early life Enriqueta Augustina was born in Havana, Cuba, and was one of five children including José ...

appointed Duff her librarian. From 1893 to 1899, he compiled the first catalogue of the

John Rylands Library The John Rylands Research Institute and Library is a late-Victorian neo-Gothic building on Deansgate in Manchester, England. It is part of the University of Manchester. The library, which opened to the public in 1900, was founded by Enriqu ...

, ''Catalogue of the Printed Books and Manuscripts in the John Rylands Library, Manchester'' (

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

: J. E. Cornish, 1899). Henry Guppy was appointed joint librarian in 1899. Duff resigned from his position at the John Rylands Library in October 1900 and, for the rest of his life, he supported himself by doing

freelance ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance ...

work and by taking academic appointments. He was elected

Sandars Reader in Bibliography The Sandars Readership in Bibliography is an annual lecture series given at Cambridge University. Instituted in 1895 at the behest of Mr Samuel Sandars of Trinity College (1837–1894), who left a £2000 bequest to the University, the series has c ...

at the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

in June 1902. Duff died at his home in Oxford on 28 September 1924.

Major works

*''Early Printed Books''.

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co., 1893. *''Catalogue of Books in the John Rylands Library, Manchester, Printed in England, Scotland and Ireland, and of Books in English Printed Abroad to the End of the Year 1640''. Manchester: J. E. Cornish, 1895. *''Early English Printing''. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co., 1896. *''Catalogue of the Printed Books and Manuscripts in the John Rylands Library, Manchester''. 3 vols. 4to. Manchester: J. E. Cornish, 1899. *''A Century of the English Book Trade: Short Notices of All Printers, Stationers, Book-binders, and Others Connected with it from the Issue of the First Dated Book in 1457 to the Incorporation of the Company of Stationers in 1557''. London: Printed for the

Bibliographical Society Founded in 1892, The Bibliographical Society is the senior learned society dealing with the study of the book and its history in the United Kingdom. Largely owing to the efforts of Walter Arthur Copinger, who was supported by Richard Cople ...

, by Blades, East & Blades, 1905. *''William Caxton''. Chicago:

Caxton Club The Caxton Club is a private social club and bibliophilic society founded in Chicago in 1895 to promote the book arts and the history of the book. To further its goals, the club holds monthly (September through June) dinner meetings and luncheo ...

, 1905. *''The Printers, Stationers and Bookbinders of Westminster and London from 1476 to 1535''.

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge beca ...

University Press A university press is an academic publishing house specializing in monographs and scholarly journals. Most are nonprofit organizations and an integral component of a large research university. They publish work that has been reviewed by scholars ...

, 1906. *''The English Provincial Printers, Stationers and Bookbinders to 1557''. (Sandars Lectures; 1911.) Cambridge: University Press, 1912. *''Fifteenth Century English Books: a Bibliography of Books and Documents Printed in England and of Books for the English Market Printed Abroad''. (Illustrated Monographs; 18.) ondon Printed for the Bibliographical Society at the

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print book ...

, 1917.Duff, E. Gordon (Edward Gordon). (1917)
Fifteenth century English books; a bibliography of books and documents printed in England and of books for the English market printed abroad
ondon Printed for the Bibliographical society at the Oxford university press.
Revised edition: ''Printing in England in the Fifteenth century'', a reprint of E. Gordon Duff, ''Fifteenth Century English Books'', with supplementary material compiled by Dr

Lotte Hellinga Lotte Hellinga, FBA (née Querido, born 1932) is a book historian and expert in early printing. She is an authority on the work of William Caxton. Early life Lotte Hellinga was born in 1932. She studied at the University of Amsterdam under Wyt ...

. Published by the Bibliographical Society in collaboration with the British Library, 2009.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Duff, Edward Gordon 1861 births 1924 deaths Alumni of Wadham College, Oxford English bibliographers English librarians Academics from Liverpool John Rylands Research Institute and Library Burials in Oxfordshire Burials at Wolvercote Cemetery