During the French Revolution, English collectors seized rare books from dissolved monasteries, often through theft or coercion. New research reveals the dark origins of these collections.
Monasteries looted during European upheaval
During the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars, wealthy English collectors seized rare books from European monasteries that were being dissolved. An investigation has revealed that some of these acquisitions were made under duress or through theft.A costly acquisition of the Gutenberg Bible
In 1790, the London bookseller Thomas Payne sold the Gutenberg Bible to George John Spencer, second Earl Spencer, for 370 pounds. This sum was enormous at the time, and the Bible was rebound in luxurious material, erasing any traces of its previous ownership.Revealing erased history with modern technology
Nearly 230 years later, multispectral imaging has uncovered the erased inscriptions of the Bible, revealing it once belonged to the Augustinian monks of Colmar. This discovery is part of a new book examining how British collectors acquired rare books from dismantled monasteries across Europe.French Revolution and the nationalization of religious property
In the year before the Bible was sold, the French revolutionary government declared all ecclesiastical property belonged to the nation. Monasteries like Colmar were inventoried, their religious inhabitants expelled, and their books transferred to the state. The monastery closed in 1791.Monks forced to sell their treasures
It is likely that Payne or his agent acquired the Bible from the monks while their community was under threat. The monks, desperate for survival, probably sold it for far less than Payne later charged the Earl Spencer.A continent-wide looting of monastic libraries
Between 1789 and 1815, monasteries across Europe were stripped of their books and closed. Some were targeted by authorities, others by war. Wealthy British collectors took advantage, using agents to buy, coerce, or steal rare books from threatened libraries.The rise of bibliomania in England
This period saw the term "bibliomania" emerge, describing the obsession of wealthy English collectors with acquiring the oldest and rarest books. The Earl Spencer, one of the richest, amassed a library of over 20,000 volumes, many acquired through questionable means.Uncovering the Earl Spencer's dubious acquisitions
Recent research into the Earl Spencer’s correspondence and financial records has traced how he acquired books under duress. His library, now in public institutions, includes works that were once part of monastic collections that no longer exist.The legacy of looted monastic collections
Many of the rare books now in Anglophone research libraries were taken from monasteries in Alsace, Swabia, and Tuscany. These collections, though now preserved, were acquired through morally questionable or illegal means.Reckoning with a contested heritage
As discussions about the restitution of looted antiquities grow, the history of how some of the world's rarest books came to be in Anglophone countries must be acknowledged. The injustices of the past demand recognition, even as the original institutions that housed these books have largely disappeared.
