John Evan Bedford Library of Furniture History
Description
Private library of archive and printed material relating to all aspects of furniture history and design belonging to the antiques dealer John (Victor) Bedford (1941-2019). The archival collection includes trade cards, billheads, accounts, advertisements, posters, inventories, indentures, estate papers and files of reference material (cuttings from trade and auction catalogues etc) relating to furniture design, production, ownership and sale in the UK and abroad. A particular strength is cabinet-furniture making in Birmingham (UK). The printed collection comprises over 5500 items, including books and printed ephemera, from the seventeenth century onwards, many of them extremely rare and in some cases unique. They cover all aspects of furniture-making from interiors and furnishings, lighting and metalwork, drapery and upholstery to architectural and garden design. The book collection contains trade directories, trade catalogues, pattern books, books of ornament, drawing books, manuals, inventories of country houses, auction catalogues and modern reference works. Also includes: 1) papers relating to the administration of the collection, including purchases 2) index cards and indexing/cataloguing notes relating to the organisation of the collection 3) personal papers of John Bedford, relating to him and his family 4) the archives of furniture historians Pauline Agius and Edward T. Joy Biography The John Evan Bedford Library of Furniture History was developed by the antiques dealer, John Victor Bedford (1941-2019) over a period of 45 years. It was named in memory of his father, Dr D. Evan Bedford, CBE, MA, FRCP, who gifted his own library of cardiology to the Royal College of Physicians in 1971.
Metadata
| Identifier | fjx69mq2 |
| IRN | 663651 |
| Class Mark | MS 2241 |
| Level | Collection |
| Type of Record | Archives - ISAD(G) |
| Peristent Link | http://prototype1.library.leeds.ac.uk/fjx69mq2 |
| Collection(s) | Art and Antique Market, John Evan Bedford Library of Furniture History |
| Category | Archive Manuscript |
| Repackaged Estimate Shelving (linear) | width Linear metres height Linear metres |
| Creator(s) | Bedford, John Victor - Evan Bedford Library of Furniture History |
| Date | c.1680-c.2017 |
| Size and Medium | 231 boxes, cuttings, index cards, photographs, posters, manuscript papers, business cards, brochures, c.5500 print items |