Michael Sadleir (25 December 1888 – 13 December 1957), born Michael Thomas Harvey Sadler, was a British publisher, novelist, book collector, and

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 ''bibliograph ...

Biography

Michael Sadleir was born in

Oxford, England Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

, the son of Sir Michael Ernest Sadler and Mary Sadler.Michael Sadleir Papers, 1797–1958
unc.edu. Retrieved 15 July 2017. He adopted the older variant of his surname to differentiate himself from his father, a historian, educationist, and

Vice-Chancellor A vice-chancellor (commonly called a VC) serves as the chief executive of a university in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia, Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Kenya, other Commonwealth of Nati ...

of the

University of Leeds The University of Leeds is a public research university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1874 as the Yorkshire College of Science. In 1884, it merged with the Leeds School of Medicine (established 1831) and was renamed Y ...

."Monopolising the Kicks", ''

Yorkshire Evening Post The ''Yorkshire Evening Post'' (''YEP'') is a regional daily newspaper covering the City of Leeds. Founded in 1890 it is published by Yorkshire Post Newspapers, National World. Despite being having coverage and being sold across West Yorkshire ...

'', 6 April 1923, p. 8. British Newspaper Archive. Retrieved 24 February 2020. Sadleir was initially taught by Eva Gilpin in Ilkley before he was 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 ...

and was a contemporary of

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 ...

, with whom he was romantically involved, and Geoffrey Keynes. Sadleir then attended

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1263 by nobleman John I de Balliol, it has a claim to be the oldest college in Oxford and the English-speaking world. With a governing body of a master and aro ...

, where he read history and won the 1912 Stanhope essay prize on the political career of

Richard Brinsley Sheridan Richard Brinsley Butler Sheridan (30 October 17517 July 1816) was an Anglo-Irish playwright, writer and Whig politician who sat in the British House of Commons from 1780 to 1812, representing the constituencies of Stafford, Westminster and I ...

. Before the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, Sadleir and his father were keen collectors of art, and purchased works by young English artists such as

Stanley Spencer Sir Stanley Spencer, CBE Royal Academy of Arts, RA (30 June 1891 – 14 December 1959) was an English painter. Shortly after leaving the Slade School of Art, Spencer became well known for his paintings depicting Biblical scenes occurring as if ...

and Mark Gertler. They were amongst the first collectors (and certainly the first English collectors) of the paintings of the Russian-born

German Expressionist Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...

artist

Wassily Kandinsky Wassily Wassilyevich Kandinsky ( – 13 December 1944) was a Russian painter and art theorist. Kandinsky is generally credited as one of the pioneers of abstract art, abstraction in western art. Born in Moscow, he spent his childhood in ...

. In 1913, both Sadleir and his father travelled to Germany to meet Kandinsky in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

. This visit led to Sadleir translating into English Kandinsky's seminal written work on

expressionism Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...

, Concerning the Spiritual in Art in 1914. This was one of the first coherent arguments for

abstract art Abstract art uses visual language of shape, form, color and line to create a Composition (visual arts), composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world. ''Abstract art'', ''non-figurative art'', ''non- ...

in the English language and the translation by Sadleir was seen as both crucial to understanding Kandinsky's theories about abstract art and as a key text in the history of

modernism Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...

. Extracts from it were published in the

Vorticist Vorticism was a London-based Modernism, modernist art movement formed in 1914 by the writer and artist Wyndham Lewis. The movement was partially inspired by Cubism and was introduced to the public by means of the publication of the Vorticist mani ...

literary magazine '' BLAST'' in 1914, and it remained one of the most influential art texts of the first decades of the twentieth century. Sadleir began to work for the publishing firm of Constable & Co. in 1912, becoming a director in 1920, and chairman in 1954. In 1920 as editor of '' Bliss and Other Stories'' by

Katherine Mansfield Kathleen Mansfield Murry (née Beauchamp; 14 October 1888 – 9 January 1923) was a New Zealand writer and critic who was an important figure in the Literary modernism, modernist movement. Her works are celebrated across the world and have been ...

for Constable he insisted on censoring sections of her short story '' Je ne parle pas français'' which show the cynical attitudes to love and sex of the narrator. Her husband

John Middleton Murry John Middleton Murry (6 August 1889 – 12 March 1957) was an English writer. He was a prolific author, producing more than 60 books and thousands of essays and reviews on literature, social issues, politics, and religion during his lifetime. ...

persuaded Sadleir to reduce the cuts slightly (Murry and Sadleir had founded the

avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

quarterly ''

Rhythm Rhythm (from Greek , ''rhythmos'', "any regular recurring motion, symmetry") generally means a " movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions". This general meaning of regular r ...

'' in 1912). After the end of World War I, he served as a British delegate to the

Paris Peace Conference, 1919 Paris () is the capital and largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the fourth-most populous city in the European Union and the 30th most densely pop ...

, and worked at the secretariat of the newly formed

League of Nations The League of Nations (LN or LoN; , SdN) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace ...

. As a literary historian, he specialised in 19th-century English fiction, notably the work of

Anthony Trollope Anthony Trollope ( ; 24 April 1815 – 6 December 1882) was an English novelist and civil servant of the Victorian era. Among the best-known of his 47 novels are two series of six novels each collectively known as the ''Chronicles of Barsetshire ...

. Together with

Ian Fleming Ian Lancaster Fleming (28 May 1908 – 12 August 1964) was a British writer, best known for his postwar ''James Bond'' series of spy novels. Fleming came from a wealthy family connected to the merchant bank Robert Fleming & Co., and his ...

and others, Sadleir was a director and contributor to ''The Book Handbook'', later renamed ''

The Book Collector ''The Book Collector'' is a London-based journal that deals with all aspects of the book. It is published quarterly and exists in both paper and digital form. It prints independent opinions on subjects ranging from typography to national heritag ...

'', published by

Queen Anne Press The Queen Anne Press (logo stylized QAP) is a small publisher (originally a private press). History It was created in 1951 by Lord Kemsley, proprietor of ''The Sunday Times'', to publish the works of contemporary authors. In 1952, as a wedding ...

. He also conducted research on

Gothic fiction Gothic fiction, sometimes referred to as Gothic horror (primarily in the 20th century), is a literary aesthetic of fear and haunting. The name of the genre is derived from the Renaissance era use of the word "gothic", as a pejorative to mean me ...

and discovered rare original editions of the Northanger Horrid Novels mentioned in the novel ''

Northanger Abbey ''Northanger Abbey'' ( ) is a coming-of-age novel and a satire of Gothic fiction, Gothic novels written by the English author Jane Austen. Although the title page is dated 1818 and the novel was published posthumously in 1817 with ''Persuasio ...

'' by

Jane Austen Jane Austen ( ; 16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist known primarily for #List of works, her six novels, which implicitly interpret, critique, and comment on the English landed gentry at the end of the 18th century ...

. Beforehand, some of these books, with their lurid titles, were thought to be figments of Austen's imagination. Sadleir and Montague Summers demonstrated that they did really exist. In 1937, he was the Sandars Reader in Bibliography at

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

, on the subject of the "Bibliographical Aspects of the Victorian Novel". He was President of the

Bibliographical Society Founded in 1892, The Bibliographical Society is the senior learned society in the UK dealing with the study of the book and its history. The Society promotes and encourages study and research in historical, analytical, descriptive and textual ...

from 1944 to 1946. Sadleir's best-known novel was '' Fanny by Gaslight'' (1940), a fictional exploration of prostitution in Victorian London. It was adapted under that name as a 1944 film. The 1947 novel '' Forlorn Sunset'' further explored the characters of the

Victorian London During the 19th century, London grew enormously to become a global city of immense importance. It was the List of largest cities throughout history, largest city in the world from about 1825, the world's largest port, and the heart of Financial ...

underworld. His writings also include a biography of his father, published in 1949, and a privately published memoir of one of his sons, who was killed in World War II. The remarkable collection of Victorian fiction compiled by Sadleir, now at the

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

Department of Special Collections, is the subject of a catalogue published in 1951. His collection of

is at the University of Virginia Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library. Sadleir lived at Througham Court, Bisley, in

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

, a fine Jacobean farmhouse altered for him by the architect Norman Jewson, c. 1929. He sold Througham Court in 1949 and moved to Willow Farm, Oakley Green, in

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

Bibliography

*
Privilege: A Novel of the Transition
' (

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

and

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1921) (The Knickerbocker Library) *
Excursions in Victorian Bibliography
' (London: Chaundy & Cox, 1922) *
Daumier: The Man and the Artist
' (London, Halton & Truscott Smith, Ltd., 1924) *
Desolate Splendour
' (1923) *''The Noblest Frailty'' (1925) *
Trollope: A Commentary
' (1927) *
Trollope: A Bibliography
' (London: Dawsons of Pall Mall, 1928) *
The Northanger Novels
' (London: The English Association, 1927) (Pamphlet No. 68) *''Evolution of Publishers' Binding Styles'' (1930) *
Bulwer and His Wife: A Panorama, 1803-1836
' (London: Constable & Co. Ltd., 1931) *''Authors and Publishers: A Study in Mutual Esteem'' (1932) *''Blessington D'Orsay: A Masquerade'' (1933) *''Archdeacon Francis Wrangham'' (1937) *
These Foolish Things
' (London: Constable, 1937) *''Collecting "Yellowbacks"'', (London: Constable & Co., 1938) (Aspects of Book-Collecting series). *
Fanny by Gaslight
' (London: Constable & Co., 1940; New York:

Penguin Books Penguin Books Limited is a Germany, German-owned English publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers the Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the ...

, 1981) *
Things Past
' (London: Constable, 1944) *
Forlorn Sunset
' (London: Constable, 1947) *''XIX Century Fiction: A Bibliographical Record'' (Constable & Co. and

University of California Press The University of California Press, otherwise known as UC Press, is a publishing house associated with the University of California that engages in academic publishing. It was founded in 1893 to publish scholarly and scientific works by faculty ...

, 1951) * ''The Sadleir Library'' (1955)

References

External links

Online text of a brief autobiography
''Passages from the Autobiography of a Bibliomaniac''

Library collections

* More than 4600 titles mainly from the 19th century including important novelists, series, and cheaply published yellowbacks.
The Sadleir-Black Collection of Gothic Fiction
Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library at the University of Virginia. collection of Gothic fiction titles assembled by Sadleir, Arthur Hutchinson and Robert Kerr Black.
Michael Sadleir Papers, 1797–1958
description of archival material held in the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Michael Sadleir papers, MSS 2053
at L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library,

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU) is a Private education, private research university in Provo, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is the flagship university of the Church Educational System sponsore ...

Sadleir MSSSadleir MSS II
an
Sadleir MSS III
brief descriptions of manuscripts at the Lilly Library, Indiana University

Online editions

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sadleir, Michael 1888 births 1957 deaths 20th-century English businesspeople 20th-century English male writers 20th-century English novelists English non-fiction writers English publishers (people) English book and manuscript collectors English biographers English bibliographers English male novelists People educated at Rugby School Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Writers from Oxford People from Bisley, Gloucestershire English male non-fiction writers British male biographers English bibliophiles

Michael Thomas Michael or Mike Thomas may refer to: Entertainment * Michael M. Thomas (1936–2021), American novelist of financial thrillers * Michael Tilson Thomas (born 1944), American conductor, pianist, and composer * Michael Thomas (actor) (1952–2019), B ...