Henry Kernot

{{Short description|English-born American author, and publisher (1806–1874)}} {{Infobox person | name = Henry Kernot | image = | caption = | birth_date = {{birth date|1806|10|20}} | birth_place = London, England | death_date = {{death date and age|1874|10|21|1806|10|20}} | death_place = New York City, United States | occupation = Bookseller; author; cataloguer; publisher | notable_works = * ''Bibliotheca Diabolica'' (1874) | parents = | relatives = | years_active = 1830s–1874 }}

'''Henry Kernot''' (October 20, 1806 – October 21, 1874) was an English-born American bookseller, author, cataloguer, and publisher.<ref name="app">{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/appletonscyclop09fiskgoog/page/n580/mode/2up?q=Kernot%2C+Henry |title=Appleton's Cyclopædia of American Biography |publisher=D. Appleton and Company |year=1888 |editor-last=Wilson |editor-first=James Grant |editor-link=James Grant Wilson |volume=III |location=New York |pages=525 |editor-last2=Fiske |editor-first2=John |via=Internet Archive}}</ref> He authored ''Bibliotheca Diabolica'', an annotated bibliography of books about the devil, in 1874.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E1EXAAAAYAAJ |title=Bibliotheca Diabolica: Being a Choice Selection of the Most Valuable Books Relating to the Devil; His Origin, Greatness, and Influence ... With Some Curious Volumes on Dreams and Astrology. In Two Parts, Pro and Con - Serious and Humorous. Chronologically Arranged with Notes, Quotations and Proverbs, and a Copious Index |publisher=Scribner, Welford & Armstrong |year=1874}}</ref><ref name="NewO741011">{{Cite news |date=1874-10-11 |title=Diabolical Literature |page=3 |newspaper=The New Orleans Bulletin |location=New Orleans, Louisiana |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/119801334/diabolical-literature/ |access-date=2023-02-27 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

== Life and career == Kernot was born in London, England, to a French Huguenot family, on October 20, 1806.<ref name=":0">{{Cite magazine |date=1874-10-31 |title=Obituary: Henry Kernot |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_publishers-weekly_1874-10-31_6_18/page/482/mode/2up |magazine=Publishers Weekly |pages=482–483 |access-date=2023-02-27}}</ref> He began his career as a bookseller in Europe, working at shops in Soho, Covent Garden, and Dublin, before moving to the United States in 1836.<ref name="app" /><ref name=":0" /> Initially working at a small bookstore, he quickly became clerk and editor at Wiley and Putnam.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="NewY460625">{{Cite news |date=1846-06-25 |title=Mr. Kernot's New Up-Town Book Store |page=2 |newspaper=New-York Tribune |location=New York, New York |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/119801620/mr-kernots-new-up-town-book-store/ |access-date=2023-02-27 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> Kernot opened his own bookstore in New York City in 1846.<ref name="NewY460625" /> He later worked at D. Appleton & Company before joining Scribner, Welford and Armstrong in 1868, where he worked until his death.<ref name=":0" />

Over the course of his career, Kernot wrote or acted as publisher for several books and periodicals. Beginning in 1850, he published Donald Grant Mitchell's periodical ''Lorgnette.''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Marvel |first=Ik |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w3Hoih0FUugC&dq=henry+kernot&pg=PR15 |title=Reveries of a Bachelor, or, A Book of the Heart |publisher=Charles Scribner's Sons |year=1890 |edition=New and Revised |location=New York |pages=xiv-xv |author-link=Ik Marvel}}</ref><ref name="Even500302">{{Cite news |date=1850-03-02 |title=New Publications |page=2 |newspaper=The Evening Post |location=New York, New York |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/119801524/new-publications/ |access-date=2023-02-27 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> In 1851, he published George Clayton Jr.'s ''Angelology: Remarks and Reflections''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Clayton Jr. |first=George |url=https://archive.org/details/angelologyremar00claygoog/page/n9/mode/2up?q=kernot |title=Angelology: Remarks and Reflections |publisher=Henry Kernot |year=1851 |location=New York |at=Frontispiece}}</ref> Also in 1851, he published a satirical book entitled ''The New Dido''.<ref name="NewY510205">{{Cite news |date=1851-02-05 |title=New Publications |page=7 |newspaper=New-York Tribune |location=New York, New York |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/119801501/new-publications/ |access-date=2023-02-27 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

In 1874, Kernot compiled an annotated bibliography of books about the devil entitled ''Bibliotheca Diabolica.'' Despite ostensibly being a catalog for Scribner, Welford and Armstrong, the book was positively received.<ref name="Buff741111">{{Cite news |date=1874-11-11 |title=Literary Gleanings |page=1 |newspaper=The Buffalo Commercial |location=Buffalo, New York |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/119801472/literary-gleanings/ |access-date=2023-02-27 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref name="York750108">{{Cite news |date=1875-01-08 |title=The Devil in Literature |page=4 |newspaper=York Democratic Press |location=York, Pennsylvania |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/119801587/the-devil-in-literature/ |access-date=2023-02-27 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> A brief review in ''The Journal of Speculative Philosophy'' described it as "the most complete and valuable one ever published."<ref>{{Cite journal |date=October 1874 |title=Book Notices |journal=The Journal of Speculative Philosophy |volume=8 |issue=4 |pages=379–380 |jstor=25665898 |jstor-access=free}}</ref>

His catalogue of books on the devil was illustrated with historical images and was divided into a section of serious depictions and satirical. According to a review of it, Kernot was well known among bibliophiles "for the extent and accuracy of his knowledge on books." <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/119801334/diabolical-literature/|title=Diabolical Literature|work=The New Orleans Bulletin |date=October 11, 1874|pages=3|via=newspapers.com}}</ref>

He died of pneumonia on October 21, 1874.<ref name=":0" /> He was buried at Mission Chapel in New York.<ref name="NewY741028">{{Cite news |date=1874-10-28 |title=New-York |page=8 |newspaper=The New York Times |location=New York, New York |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/119818706/new-york/ |access-date=2023-02-27 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> Some of his correspondence is held by the New York Public Library.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Kernot, Henry |url=https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/3c9e8210-7a87-0133-4600-00505686a51c |access-date=2023-02-27 |website=NYPL Digital Collections}}</ref>

==Bibliography==

=== As publisher ===

*''Lorgnette'', a society pamphlet by Donald Grant Mitchell

=== As writer/editor === *''Catalogue of English, French and American Books'', a general annotated bibliography<ref name="NewY440417">{{Cite news |date=1844-04-17 |title=Catalogue of English, French and American Books |page=2 |newspaper=New-York Tribune |location=New York, New York |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/119801645/catalogue-of-english-french-and/ |access-date=2023-02-27 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> *''Bibliotheca Diabolica'', a list of books about the devil<ref>{{Cite news |date=1874-10-27 |title=Various Matters |at=p. 2, col. 3 |work=The Portland Daily Press |url=https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83016025/1874-10-27/ed-1/seq-2/ |access-date=2023-02-26}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kernot, Henry}} Category:1806 births Category:1874 deaths Category:19th-century English male writers Category:English people of French descent Category:English emigrants to the United States Category:Deaths from pneumonia in New York (state) Category:19th-century American publishers (people)