Sir Charles Edmund Isham (1819-1903), 10th Baronet, Isham Baronetcy of Lamport in the County of Northampton, was a landowner and gardener based at Lamport Hall, Northampton. He is credited with beginning the tradition of garden gnomes in the United Kingdom when he introduced a number of terracotta figures from Germany in the 1840s.[1]
[edit] Isham Collection
In 1867 several extremely rare books and manuscripts were rediscovered in the library and loft of his family home.[2] These included a fragment of Thomas Edwards' Cephalus and Procris; Narcissus which had been lost for 200 years and was the only existing part until a full copy was subsequently discovered at the Cathedral Library at Peterborough.[3]
Also discovered were first editions of Milton's Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained in their original sheepskin bindings.[4]
Further discoveries included:
- Emaricdulfe (1598) by E.C. Esquire
- Fidessa (1596) by Bartholomew Griffin
- Laura (1597) by Robert Tofte
- Cynthia (1598) by Richard Barnfield
for each of which only one or two other copies were known. The above four works found their way into the Britwell Court Library before being sold in February 1922 to A.S.W. Rosenbach for £3,600.[2]
[edit] References
- ^ Bruce A. Bailey, ‘Isham, Sir Charles Edmund, tenth baronet (1819–1903)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004
- ^ a b The Times, 7 February 1922; p14; The Sale Room. Rarities From The Britwell Court Library
- ^ Charlotte Carmichael Stopes; Thomas Edwards, Author of "Cephalus and Procris, Narcissus"; The Modern Language Review, Vol. 16, No. 3/4 (Jul. - Oct., 1921), pp. 209-223
- ^ The Times, 27 November 1935; p11; The Sale Room Disposal Of Terry Library