Bohn was born in
London. He was the son of a
German bookbinder who had settled in
England. In 1831, he began his career as a dealer in rare books and
remainders. In 1841 he issued his
"Guinea" Catalogue of books, a monumental work containing 23,208 items. Bohn was noted for his book auction sales: one held in 1848 lasted four days, the catalogue comprising twenty
folio pages. Printed on this catalogue was the information: "Dinner at 2 o'clock, dessert at 4, tea at 5, and supper at 10." In 1846, he also started publishing ''The British Florist; Or, Lady's Journal of Horticulture'', which had six volumes with illustrations and plates (coloured). The name of Bohn is principally remembered by the important ''Bohn's Libraries'' which he inaugurated: these were begun in 1846 and comprised editions of standard works and translations, dealing with
history,
science,
classics,
theology, and
archaeology, consisting in all of 766 volumes. His authors included
Julia Corner, who created educational books about India and China for him in the 1850s. The reasons for the success of ''Bohn's Libraries'' may have included their marketing to a general mass readership with volumes selling at low prices, their "lack of literary pretensions", and their "policy of a widespread, but restrained expurgation". One of Bohn's most useful and laborious undertakings was his revision (6 vols. 1864) of ''The Bibliographer's Manual of English Literature'' (1834) by
W. T. Lowndes. The plan includes bibliographical and critical notices, particulars of prices, etc., and a considerable addition to the original work. It had been one of Bohn's ambitions to found a great publishing house, but, finding that his sons had no taste for the trade, he sold his ''Bohn's Libraries
in 1864 to Messrs. Bell and Daldy, afterwards G. Bell & Sons. At that time the Bohn's Libraries'' included more than 600 titles. In subsequent years, he disposed of all his copyrights and business properties, finally realizing £73,000 overall. Bohn was a man of wide culture and many interests. He himself made considerable contributions to his
Libraries, he collected pictures, china and ivories, and was a famous rose-grower. He died at
Twickenham and was buried at
West Norwood Cemetery. ==Works==