Founded in 1761 in
York by Henry Sotheran, the company established a presence in London in 1815. Over the decades, Sotheran's acquired and sold several notable libraries, including that of
Laurence Sterne in 1768 and
Charles Dickens in 1870. In 1892, it managed to secure
Althorp's complete library, including its very rare collection of
Caxtons, for £210,000 (equivalent to almost £33.5 million in 2024); the collection was sold to
Enriqueta Augustina Rylands, who erected in
Manchester a permanent memorial of her
husband in the
John Rylands Library. In 1896, Sotheran's sold to
J. P. Morgan a
Gutenberg Bible on vellum, for £2,750, and an even more expensive collection of
Byron manuscripts; the following year, it secured the
Warwick Castle Shakespeare Library for
Henry Clay Folger. Following the death of Henry 'Cecil' Sotheran (1861–1928), the last member of the Sotheran family to run the firm, Sotheran's was purchased by the bookseller
Gabriel Wells. Among the investors was the banker and collector
Anthony de Rothschild, a connection that ultimately led to the Rothschild banking firm acquiring the company outright in 1957. Sotheran's has since remained independently owned. == Luxury Bindings ==