Garrick Collection

The British Library's Garrick Collection is a collection of early printed editions of English drama amassed by the actor and playwright David Garrick. The collection was bequeathed to the British Museum in 1779.

Little evidence about the provenance of Garrick's collection is found in his archives and correspondence. However, internal evidence from the books themselves suggests that a large proportion of the printed plays came from the collections of Robert and Edward Harley, the 1st and 2nd Earls of Oxford, and the bookseller and writer, Robert Dodsley. Other notable previous owners of items in the Garrick Collection include Humfrey Dyson, Richard Smith (d. 1675), Lewis Theobald, Narcissus Luttrell, Richard Warner, Thomas Astle, and William Cartwright. The latter bequeathed his library to Dulwich College Library and there is some speculation that "Garrick had free access to the library of Dulwich College ... and pillaged without scruple or remorse".

The collection, in its original state, comprised approximately 1300 individual items. However, on its arrival at the Museum it was found that the collection was incomplete, some volumes having been retained by Garrick's family. In addition to this, since becoming the property of the British Museum, some items have been sold in duplicate sales. In total more than 70 items that were originally owned by Garrick are not in his collection as it now exists in the British Library. A manuscript catalogue compiled by Edward Capell, one of Garrick's closest friends, does still survive. Entitled A catalogue of plays; the collection of David Garrick Esq, its creation was first proposed in 1756, and it formed the basis by which British Museum staff could identify what was missing when the collection came into their possession. The layout of Capell's catalogue is idiosyncratic and difficult to use. In constructing a more up-to-date catalogue George Kahrl writes that "the overall arrangement of the [Capell] catalogue baffles understanding, and as a working tool it is worthless and frustrating".

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