Finding Aid for the Bentley Family papers, 1849-1970
Processed by Whitney Braun in the Center for Primary Research and Training (CFPRT), with assistance from Kelley Wolfe Bachli,
2009; machine-readable finding aid created by Caroline Cubé.
UCLA Library Special Collections
UCLA Library Special Collections staff
Room A1713, Charles E. Young Research Library
Box 951575
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575
Email: spec-coll@library.ucla.edu
URL: http://www.library.ucla.edu/libraries/special/scweb/
© 2009
The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
Descriptive Summary
Title: Bentley Family papers
Date (inclusive): 1849-1970
Collection number: 1474
Creator:
Bentley family.
Extent:
2 document boxes and 1 half document box (1.25 linear ft.)
Abstract: The Bentley family was prominent in the nineteenth-century publishing industry. Richard Bentley (1794-1871), after joining
his brother Samuel in a successful printing business (1819), partnered with Henry Colburn (1829) to begin the long-running
Standard Novels series. After dissolving the partnership with Colburn (1832), Richard began
Bentley's Miscellany (1837), which boasted Charles Dickens then W.H. Ainsworth as editors. Richard's son George Bentley (1828-1895) then grandson
Richard Bentley (1854-1936) ran Richard Bentley & Son until 1898, when it was sold to Macmillans. The collection consists
of diaries, business- and farm-related records, texts written or published by the Bentley family, and works on Bentley family
history.
Language: Finding aid is written in
English.
Repository:
University of California, Los Angeles. Library Special Collections.
Los Angeles, California 90095-1575
Physical location: Stored off-site at SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact the UCLA Library Special
Collections Reference Desk for paging information.
Administrative Information
Restrictions on Access
COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF: Open for research. Advance notice required for access. Contact the UCLA Library Special
Collections Reference Desk for paging information.
Restrictions on Use and Reproduction
Property rights to the physical object belong to the UCLA Library Special Collections. Literary rights, including copyright,
are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright
and pursue the copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.
Provenance/Source of Acquisition
Justin G. Schiller, purchase, 1977.
Processing Note
Processed by Whitney Braun in the Center for Primary Research and Training (CFPRT), with assistance from Kelley Wolfe Bachli,
2009.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Bentley Family papers (Collection 1474). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research
Library.
UCLA Catalog Record ID
Biography
The Bentley family was a prominent nineteenth-century British publishing family. Richard Bentley (1794-1871) joined his brother
Samuel Bentley in a successful printing business in 1819. From 1829 to 1832, Richard partnered with publisher Henry Colburn
to form Colburn & Bentley. The pair began the series Standard Novels, the successful monthly reprints that ended in 1854 with
126 volumes (and included authors such as William Godwin, Jane Austen, Victor Hugo, Washington Irving, Leigh Hunt, Letitia
Landon, and Harriet Beecher Stowe). After the split with Colburn, Richard continued to publish, and in 1837 he created the
successful
Bentley's Miscellany. Both Charles Dickens and W.H. Ainsworth edited the periodical at various points (with Dickens's Oliver Twist first appearing
in its pages), and George Cruikshank contributed illustrations. In 1866, Richard merged
Bentley's Miscellany with
Temple Bar, and his son George Bentley (1828-1895) became editor the following year, also taking on the leadership of Richard Bentley
& Son. George's son, Richard Bentley (1854-1936) then ran the business from the mid-1880s until selling it to Macmillans in
1898.
Scope and Content
Collection consists of manuscript and printed material relating to Richard Bentley (1794-1871), George Bentley (1828-1895),
and Richard Bentley (1854-1936), as well as Richard Bentley publishing and Richard Bentley & Son publishing. Manuscript materials
include diaries, farm and garden records, collected quotations from literary works, literary essays and humorous journals,
lists of works published by Richard Bentley and other firms, stock certificates, and correspondence. Published works in the
collection (often with inscriptions) include texts written or published by the Bentley family, various works related to Bentley
family history and current family circumstances (as well as works on Upton and Slough, England), works given to the Bentleys,
and printing catalogues.
Organization and Arrangement
The collection is organized into two series:
- Manuscript Material (Boxes 1, 3)
- Printed Works (Boxes 2, 3)
Indexing Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Subjects
Bentley family --Archives.
Bentley, Richard, 1794-1871.
Bentley, George, 1828-1895.
Bentley, R. (Richard), 1854-1936.
Publishers and publishing --England --Archival resources.
Items Removed from the Collection
Two books were removed from the collection and individually cataloged.
- Lindsay, Lady.
Caroline. London: Richard Bentley and Son, 1888. UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library.
- Lord, Walter Frewen.
The Lost Empires of the Modern World: Essays in Imperial History. London: Richard Bentley and Son, 1897. UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library.
Related Material
Box 1, Folder 1
George Bentley (1828-1895), Deliciae Litterariae
1857-ca. 1886
Scope and Content Note
Manuscript collection of quotations from various sources. Includes printed excerpts, list of remuneration of authors, an illustration.
Last dated entry is 1886. 507 pp.
Box 1, Folder 2
Account of "Trent Affair" with Farm Record, Upton
1861 December 4 (Trent Affair); ca. 1911-1932 (Farm Record)
Scope and Content Note
Manuscript book containing brief account of Trent Affair and British ministers. 3pp. Other side of book contains entries on
Upton farm and farm animals, pertaining to
period 1911-1932. Detailed records of cows.
Box 1, Folder 3
Diary of Richard Bentley (1854-1936), vol. 1
1854 May-1870 September
Scope and Content Note
Includes Bentley's own illustrations (often maps), as well as published illustrations/engravings; Bentley's note published
in the Aberystwyth Observer (1869); list of
Masters at Tonbridge School (1870); genealogies of the Bentley, Watkin (of Cynnull Mawr and Moelcernai), and Botten families;
expenses from 1864-1870; index to the first volume;
genealogy of languages. 82 pp.
Box 1, Folder 4
Diary of Richard Bentley (1854-1936), vol. 2
1870 September-1873 May
Scope and Content Note
Includes Bentley's own illustrations (often maps), as well as published illustrations/engravings; printed portraits of Richard
Bentley (1794-1871); marriage and death
announcements (Richard Bentley, Charlotte Bentley, Napoleon III, others); barometrical chart by George Bentley (1872); expenditures
for 1872; address locations of family members
(Christmas 1872); index to the second volume. 75 pp.
Box 1, Folder 5
Diary of Richard Bentley (1854-1936), vol. 4
1873 July-1875 September
Scope and Content Note
Includes photographs, published illustrations/engravings, Bentley's illustrations, address locations of family members (Christmas
1874), list of Burlington Street
establishment (Christmas 1874), expenditures for 1874, index to the fourth volume, genealogy of the Bentley family. 58 pp.
Box 1, Folder 6
Diary of Richard Bentley (1854-1936), vol. 5
1875 September-1877
Scope and Content Note
Includes photographs; barometrical readings for Penmaenmawr, North Wales (1875 September); Great Eastern Railway notices;
notes for continuation of journal
(1876 July-September); death notice of Charlotte Maria Bentley; marriage notice of Frances Mary Bentley (1877). 132 pp, incomplete.
Box 1, Folder 7
Note-Book, Vol. 1
1875
Scope and Content Note
Manuscript book containing reflections on the lives and works of Jean-Jacques Rousseau (14 pp.) and Samuel Pepys (4 pp.).
Title page inscribed "Upton, Slough.
1875."
Box 1, Folder 8
Library List
1868 January- ca. 1869
Scope and Content Note
Manuscript book. Title page reads "Wanted An Atlas" and "Library List January 1868." Contains lists grouped under headings:
Historical Works; Biographical Works;
Essays, Sketches, etc.; Works of Fiction; Poetry; Miscellaneous; Divinity; Voyages and Travels; Dramatic Works; Dictionaries,
etc.; and Classical Works. Includes lists "Pamphlets
found"; "Register of books lent, etc" (1869); printed list of "Books sold by Auction Wednesday, 25th August 1869"; manuscript
and printed lists of Standard Novels; various publishers'
and authors' works; "books bought on April 21st, 1868 At the sale of Thomas Bottens"; "Six Shilling Series."
Box 1, Folder 9
Valentine, and note from John J. Sprigge
1858 (Valentine), 1922 May 9 (note)
Scope and Content Note
Box contains both Valentine and note. Text on box reads "Anagram on my name by Mr. George Johnson brother of our friend Mr.
Cuthbert Johnson on 1858."
Probably by George Bentley. Elaborate Valentine has feathers and cloth flowers, contains lines of written text with first
letters spelling "Bentley." Note, probably to Richard Bentley
(1854-1936), from John J. Sprigge regards membership ticket and subscription to Slough Cricket Club.
Box 1, Folder 10
Rose list
1867-1878
Scope and Content Note
Manuscript book entitled "Rose Leaves." Detailed record of roses, characteristics, dates planted and bloomed, location. Includes
charts of garden (1875, 1876) and
loose papers with lists of roses and chart of "new garden" (1878 April).
Box 1, Folder 11
Address book
ca. 1891
Scope and Content Note
Manuscript address book, entries organized alphabetically by last name. Note regarding W.D. Edwards, candidate for clerkship.
By Richard Bentley (1854-1936),
according to dealer.
Box 1, Folder 12
George Bentley (1828-1895), A Common Place Book
undated
Scope and Content Note
Manuscript collection of quotations from various sources. Includes cyanotype and printed excerpts, with two excerpts dated
1878 and 1887. 179 pp, plus index.
Box 3, Folder 3
The Slough Gazette and North Buckinghamshire Journal, No. 2-5, by Richard Bentley (1854-1936)
1867 February 1-1867 May 1
Scope and Content Note
Humorous manuscript journal with illustrations.
Box 3, Folder 4
Richard Bentley (1854-1936), stock certificates and receipt
1882 June 14-1886 March 17
Scope and Content Note
Manuscript records of financial transactions with stockbrokers Haggard, Hale & Pixley
Box 3, Folder 5
Letter from [Walter] Frewen Lord to Mr. [Richard] Bentley
1897 November 12
Box 3, Folder 6
Letter from Henry Romeike to Mary Russell Mitford, c/o Bentley & Son
1883 December 22
Scope and Content Note
Romeike promotes his news-clipping agency.
Box 2, Folder 1
R.C. Jebb. Bentley. In English Men of Letters, edited by John Morley. London: Macmillan and Co. 228 pp.
1882 (Bentley), 1883 August 11 (review clipping)
Scope and Content Note
Contains clipping of review of Bentley's Plautine Emendations, by E.A. Sonnenschein, in The Academy, No. 588
Box 2, Folder 2
Robert Cradock Nichols. Memoir of the late John Gough Nichols, F.S.A. Westminster. 45 pp.
1874 June
Scope and Content Note
Inscribed "To George Bentley [Esq.] from Mrs. John Gough Nichols, Holmwood Park, October 26th, 1874."
Box 2, Folder 3
Richard Bentley (1854-1936). Walter Bentley, Viceroy of Brittany. [Guildford: Billing.] 44 pp.
1910 July
Box 2, Folder 4
Robert Bell. Wayside Pictures through France, Belgium, and Holland. London: Richard Bentley. 456 pp.
1849
Scope and Content Note
Inscribed by Richard Bentley (1794-1871): "To my dear Sister Isabelle. Richard Bentley."
Box 2, Folder 5
Rev. Samuel Bentley. A Guide to the Village of Bosbury in Herefordshire. Malvern: Miss Baylis; Ledbury: Mr. Tilley. 27 pp.
ca. 1890s
Scope and Content Note
Includes illustrations.
Box 2, Folder 6
Richard Bentley (1854-1936). John Bentley, Knight, Vice-Admiral of the White and One Time an Extra Commissioner of the Navy.
Guildford, UK: Billing and Sons. 112 pp.
Scope and Content Note
Title page notes "Seventy-five copies printed at Guildford, 1921."
Box 2, Folder 7
Sotheby & Co. Catalogue of Valuable Printed Books, Autograph Letters and Historical Documents. [London: Robert Stockwell Ltd.]
157 pp.
1970
Scope and Content Note
Description of contents on title page. Days of sale: 1970 October 26-27. Contains note to Mrs. L.R. Bentley regarding listing
of her property as items 438 (autograph
receipt of Richard Bentley (1662-1742), dated 1732 May 23, concerning his edition of Paradise Lost) and 439 (documents of
Richard L'Estrange, dated 1688 March 26, assigning rights to
books to Richard Bentley, Jacob Tonson, Joseph Hindmarsh).
Box 2, Folder 8
George Bentley. After Business: Papers Written in the Intervals of Work. [Edinburgh, R. &R. Clark.] 162 pp. Copy 1.
1883
Box 2, Folder 9
George Bentley. After Business: Papers Written in the Intervals of Work. [Edinburgh, R. &R. Clark.] 162 pp. Copy 2.
1883
Scope and Content Note
Contains note "I thought that this little book might be useful sometimes, though I know that Dick has the best ones on the
subject - Its size attracted me - G.B."
Box 2, Folder 10
George Bentley. After Business: Papers Written in the Intervals of Work. [Edinburgh, R. &R. Clark.] 162 pp. Copy 3.
1883
Scope and Content Note
Inscribed: "To Richard Bentley with the affectionate love of the Author. Feby 21 1884."
Box 2, Folder 11
George Bentley. After Business: Papers Written in the Intervals of Work. [Edinburgh, R. & R. Clark.] 162 pp. Copy 4.
1883
Scope and Content Note
Inscribed: "To my dear Aunt with the affectionate love of the Author."
Box 2, Folder 12
Susanna Cottee, James Munnings. James Munnings: An Outline of his Life. To Which is Added, His "Attempts at Sermons." Privately
printed. 106 pp.
1877
Scope and Content Note
Preface by George Bentley.
Box 2, Folder 13
John Nichols, Alexander Chalmers. Tributes of Respect to John Nichols. Birth Day & Other Poems. Memoir of Joseph Cradock.
88 pp.
Scope and Content Note
Includes illustrations and correspondence. Note pasted inside reads "For R Bentley [...] B Nichols, affectionate Regards."
Box 2, Folder 14
Richard Bentley (1854-1936). Some Stray Notes upon Slough and Upton, Collected from Various Sources. Privately printed. 79
pp. Copy 1.
1892
Box 3, Folder 1
John Murray. Variations on Number Fifty. [London: John Murray.] 24 pp.
1964
Scope and Content Note
"This Limited Edition compiled and printed by John Murray VII for his friends and the friends of Fifty Albemarle Street."
Contains illustrations and inscription: "To Mrs.
Bentley with very affectionate thoughts from all the Murrays. Xmas 1964. Young John's first production!"
Box 3, Folder 2
Proof binding for Miss Tod and the Prophets, by Mrs. Hugh Bell. Bentley.
ca. 1898
Scope and Content Note
Bound with blank pages. Contains handwritten note "Size-Copy 'Miss Todd.'"
Box 3, Folder 7
The Will of Thomas Bentley, M.D., Second President of the Royal College of Physicians and Doctor to King Henry VIII, with
a Brief Note on His Career. 28 pp. 2 copies.
printed in 1913
Scope and Content Note
Probably by Richard Bentley, according to dealer.
Box 3, Folder 8
Notes and Queries. Vol. 171. No. 8. [London: Rolls House Publishing Co. Ltd.] 20 pp.
1936 August 22
Scope and Content Note
Contains article "Richard Bentley, 1854-1936: A Bookman's Tribute," by Michael Sadleir (pp. 131-133).
Box 3, Folder 9
Monographs I, II, III, V regarding members of the Bentley family.
undated
Scope and Content Note
Monograph I titled "John Bentley." 4 pp. Monograph II titled "Sir Walter Bentley: Captain of the Duchy of Brittany, and Lieutenant
of the King." 4 pp. Monograph III
titled "William Bentley: Merchant and Ship-Owner." 4 pp. Monograph V titled "Some Ecclesiastical Notes" and includes sections
on Thomas Bentley, D.D.; Rev. Peter Bentley; and The
Abbot of Welbeck. 4 pp.
Box 3, Folder 10
Tear-sheets from book Men of Business, pp. 145-156, 159-164. Sections on William (b. 1601) and Edward (1817-1861) Bentley,
Robert Bentley (1825-1893), Holman Bentley, Edward Bentley (b.
1753).
undated
Scope and Content Note
Entries "William and Edward Bentley" and "Edward Bentley" include some ink corrections and note "Revise 22-7-96."
Box 3, Folder 11
Thomas Carlyle and Anne Benson Procter. Letters addressed to Mrs. Basil Montagu and B.W. Procter by Mr. Thomas Carlyle. London:
Printed for private circulation by Chiswick Press. 33
pp.
1881
Scope and Content Note
Preface by Anne Benson Procter. Inscribed "Mr. Bentley from Mr. Kemble."
Box 3, Folder 12
Richard Bentley (1854-1936). Some Stray Notes upon Slough and Upton, Collected from Various Sources. Privately printed. 79
pp. Copy 2.
1892
Scope and Content Note
Copy is unbound and uncut.
Box 3, Folder 13
A List of Electro- and Stereo-Type Plates, Papier-Mache Moulds, and also Illustration Blocks in Wood or Metal (not Steel-
or Copper-Plates, or Litho-Stones), the Property of, or Partly Owned by,
Messrs. Richard Bentley & Son. 16 pp.
1883 January, February
Scope and Content Note
Cover states "Part I. Private."
Box 3, Folder 14
A List of Steel and Copper Plates, Lithographic Stones, Negatives, &c. (not Illustrations 'worked in or with the text'), the
Property of, or Partly Owned by, Messrs. Richard Bentley and Son, Now in
the hands of various Firms. [England.] 123 pp.
1884 May, June
Scope and Content Note
Cover states "Part II. Private."
