First English Book Auction

In September 1675, Lazarus Seaman, a noted Presbyterian divine and member of both the Westminster Assembly and the London Provincial Assembly, died, leaving behind a personal library containing over 5,000 books*, among them the minutes of the London Provincial Assembly. His friend, English Puritan Joseph Hill (1625-1707), lately returned from Holland, proposed a method of disposing of the library which was popular in Holland at the time. Thus, was born the first English book auction, which took place in October 1676 under the direction of William Cooper. Hill himself acquired the minutes of London Provincial Assembly at the auction. The auction netted £700 altogether.* Cooper's preface to the Seaman Catalogue stated:

It hath not been usual here in England to make Sale of BOOKS by way of Auction, or Who will give most for them; but it having been practised in other Countreys to the Advantage both of Buyers and Sellers; it was therefore conceived (for the encouragement of learning), to publish the Sale of these Books this manner of way; and it is hoped that this will not be unacceptable to Schollers; and therefore we thought it convenient to give an advertisement concerning the manner of proceeding therein.

The books were divided into categories such as Patres Graeci, Patres Latini, Biblia, Libri Theologici, Theologi Scholastici, Scriptores in Scripturam, etc. The highest price fetched by any book at the sale was 8£ 5s. for a long set of the works of Chrysostom in Greek and Latin, although the Walton Polyglot Bible of 1657 was a close second at 8£ 2s. Just out of curiosity, I found a 1657 edition of the latter for sale on Ebay today with a "buy it now" price of $15,500. Times have changed, but the love of books endures.

* Another source states that Seaman's library contained 15-20,000 volumes and netted £3000.