James Bindley (1737–1818) was an English official and antiquary, known as a book collector. James Bindley Say

Life

The second son of John Bindley, a distiller, of St. John Street,

Smithfield, London Smithfield, properly known as West Smithfield, is a district located in Central London, part of Farringdon Without, the most westerly Wards of the City of London, ward of the City of London, England. Smithfield is home to a number of City in ...

, he was born in London on 16 January 1737. He was educated at

Charterhouse School Charterhouse is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Godalming, Surrey, England. Founded by Thomas Sutton in 1611 on the site of the old Carthusian monastery in Charter ...

under Lewis Crusius, and then went to

Peterhouse, Cambridge Peterhouse is the oldest Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England, founded in 1284 by Hugh de Balsham, Bishop of Ely. Peterhouse has around 300 undergraduate and 175 graduate stud ...

, where he was elected to a fellowship (B.A. 1759, M.A. 1762). In 1765 Bindley succeeded his elder brother John Bindley as one of the commissioners of the

stamp duties Stamp duty is a tax that is levied on single property purchases or documents (including, historically, the majority of legal documents such as cheques, receipts, military commissions, marriage licences and land transactions). Historically, a p ...

, and in that capacity he served for upwards of fifty-three years. He was the senior commissioner from 1781 until his death, which occurred at his house in Somerset Place on 11 September 1818. A monument to his memory, by

Josephus Kendrick Flavius Josephus (; , ; ), born Yosef ben Mattityahu (), was a History of the Jews in the Roman Empire, Roman–Jewish historian and military leader. Best known for writing ''The Jewish War'', he was born in Jerusalem—then part of the Judaea ...

, was erected in the church of St. Mary-le-Strand. At his death he was the "father" of the

Society of Antiquaries of London The Society of Antiquaries of London (SAL) is a learned society of historians and archaeologists in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1707, received its royal charter in 1751 and is a Charitable organization, registered charity. It is based ...

, having been elected a fellow in 1765.

Collector

Bindley formed a collection of rare books, engravings, and medals, which were sold by auction after his death. Two series of sales, by

Samuel Sotheby Samuel Sotheby (1771–1842) was an English auctioneer and antiquary. Background Samuel Sotheby's uncle, John Sotheby (1740–1807), was partner and nephew of Samuel Baker, who founded at York Street, Covent Garden, in 1744 the first English sale ...

and

Robert Harding Evans Robert Harding Evans (1778–1857) was an English bookseller and auctioneer. Life Evans was the son of Thomas Evans (1742–1784). After an education at Westminster School he was apprenticed to Thomas Payne of the Mews Gate, and succeeded to th ...

, raised over £20,000. He read John Nichols's ''Literary Anecdotes'', which are dedicated to him, in proof, and the subsequent ''Illustrations of the Literary History of the Eighteenth Century'', suggesting emendations and adding notes. In the same way he assisted, at close of his life, his friend William Bray, in the publication of ''

Evelyn's Diary The ''Diary'' of John Evelyn (31 October 1620 – 27 February 1706), a gentlemanly Royalist and ''virtuoso'' of the seventeenth century, was first published in 1818 (2nd edition, 1819) under the title ''Memoirs Illustrative of the Life and Writin ...

''.

Works

The only work Bindley published was ''A Collection of the Statutes now in force relating to the Stamp Duties'', London, 1775.

References

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Bindley, James 1737 births 1818 deaths People educated at Charterhouse School English book and manuscript collectors Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London Fellows of Peterhouse, Cambridge

Life

Collector

Works

See also

References