author
Henry Stevens
1819–1886
A sharp-eyed American bibliographer and rare-book dealer, he spent much of his career in London tracking down early books and manuscripts tied to the history of the Americas. His work helped shape major research collections and made him a trusted guide for serious book collectors.
1 Audiobook
Thomas Hariot, the Mathematician, the Philosopher and the Scholar
by Henry Stevens
About the author
Born in Barnet, Vermont, on August 24, 1819, he studied at Middlebury before graduating from Yale in 1843 and then pursuing law briefly in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Instead of staying with law, he moved toward books and historical research, developing the expertise that would define his life.
After settling in London in 1845, he became known as a bookseller, bibliographer, and collector with a special talent for finding rare works on early America, voyages, and the English Bible. He helped build important collections for figures and institutions including John Carter Brown, James Lenox, the Smithsonian Institution, and the Library of Congress.
He also wrote and compiled bibliographical works of his own, often in the form of detailed catalogues and historical notes. Remembered as an energetic and influential bookman on both sides of the Atlantic, he died on February 28, 1886.