{{Short description|British writer and bibliographer (1905–1975)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2024}} {{Use British English|date=August 2024}} '''John Waynflete Carter''' (10 May 1905 – 18 March 1975) was an English writer, diplomat, bibliographer, [[book collecting|book-collector]], antiquarian [[bookseller]] and president of the [[Bibliographical Society]] in 1968.<ref>[https://bibsoc.org.uk/about/officers/past-presidents/]. Past Presidents.</ref> He was recognised as one of the most important figures in the Anglo-American book world.<ref>Dickinson, Donald C. 2004. John Carter : ''The Taste & Technique of a Bookman.'' 1st ed. New Castle, Del.: Oak Knoll Press.</ref> He was the great-grandson of [[Thomas Thellusson Carter|Canon T. T. Carter]]
== Biography == After attending [[Eton College]], he studied classics at [[King's College, Cambridge]], where he gained a double first. He then joined Scrivner's working two periods 1927–1939 and 1946–1953 building up the antiquarian bookselling side.
During [[World War II]] he worked for the [[Ministry of Information (United Kingdom)|Ministry of Information]] until 1943 and then moved to [[New York City]] to work for the [[British Information Services]] where he wrote ''Victory in Burma.'' <ref>British Information Services. 1945. ''Victory in Burma.'' New York, N.Y.: Published by British Information Services, 30 Rockefeller Plaza.</ref>
He held the [[Sandars Readership in Bibliography]] at [[Cambridge University]] in 1947 and lectured on ''Taste and technique in book collecting: a study of recent developments in Great Britain and the United States.'' The Sandars Readership is one of the major British bibliographical lecture series.<ref name="Bowman2012">{{cite book |author=Bowman, J.H. |title=British Librarianship and Information Work 2001–2005 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gfeiJ0SoeGAC&pg=PA157 |date=1 October 2012 |publisher=Ashgate |isbn=978-1-4094-8506-3 |page=157}}</ref>
He returned to Scrivner's after the War until it closed its London Office in 1953. He then worked for [[Roger Makins, 1st Baron Sherfield|Roger Makins]], [[British Ambassador to the United States]] until 1955 and was made a [[CBE]].
In 1955 he joined [[Sotheby's]] where he worked closely with [[Anthony Hobson (book historian)|Anthony Hobson]].<ref>"Anthony Robert Alwyn Hobson." ''[[The Book Collector]]'' 40 (no3) Autumn 1991:303.</ref> He was associate director until 1972.<ref>Munby, A.N.L.(1975) "John Carter." [[The Book Collector]] 24 (summer): 202-216.</ref>
Carter was the husband of the writer and curator [[Ernestine Carter]] and the brother of the printer Will Carter (1912–2001) of the [[Rampant Lions Press]], at which some of his smaller-scale works were published.
He was buried in the cemetery at Eton and Housman's poem, XLVII – FOR MY FUNERAL, "O thou that from thy mansion" was read at the service.<ref>Munby, A.N.L.(1975) "John Carter." [[The Book Collector]] 24 (summer): 202-216.</ref>
== An Enquiry into the Nature of Certain Nineteenth Century Pamphlets == Carter's 1934 exposé, ''An Enquiry into the Nature of Certain Nineteenth Century Pamphlets'', co-written with [[Graham Pollard]], exposed the [[forgery|forgeries]] of books and pamphlets by [[Harry Buxton Forman]], an editor of Keats and Shelley, and [[Thomas James Wise|Thomas J. Wise]], one of the world's most prominent [[Book collecting|book collectors]].<ref>{{citation |last1=Carter |first1=John |authorlink1=John Carter (author) |year=1934 |title=An enquiry into the nature of certain nineteenth-century pamphlets |last2=Pollard |first2=Graham |authorlink2=Graham Pollard |location=London New York |publisher=[[Constable & Co.]], [[C. Scribner's Sons]] |isbn=978-0-8383-1261-2 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/enquiryintonatur00cart }}</ref> Forman and Wise's crimes are generally regarded as one of the most notorious literary scandals of the twentieth century.<ref>Collins, John, ''Two Forgers: A Biography of Harry Buxton Forman and Thomas James Wise'', Oak Knoll Press, New Castle, Del., 1992. {{ISBN|0-85967-754-0}}</ref>
In 1983 he co-authored a sequel to the ''Enquiry.''<ref>Barker, Nicolas, John Collins, and John Carter. 1983. ''A Sequel to an Enquiry into the Nature of Certain Nineteenth Century Pamphlets by John Carter and Graham Pollard: The Forgeries of H. Buxton Forman & T.J. Wise Re-Examined.'' London: Scolar Press.</ref><ref>Richardson, John V. 1984. "Book Review: ''A Sequel to an Enquiry into the Nature of Certain Nineteenth Century Pamphlets by John Carter and Graham Pollard. The Forgeries of H. Buxton Forman & T.J. Wise Re-Examined.''" ''Albion: A Quarterly Journal Concerned with British Studies'' 16 (3): 344–45.</ref>
== Writing, editing and bibliographical work ==
Carter wrote seminal books on aspects of book collecting, notably ''ABC for Book Collectors'', a classic which was published in many editions.<ref>Dunkin, P. S. (1953). [Review of Talks on Book-Collecting, Delivered under the Authority of the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association; ''A B C for Book-Collectors'', by P. H. Muir, E. P. Goldschmidt, S. Nowell-Smith, J. Carter, H. M. Nixon, I. K. Fletcher, Ernest Weil, & J. Carter]. ''The Library Quarterly: Information, Community, Policy'', 23(4), 307–308.</ref> Carter first published the ABC in 1952 and edited five editions. Nicholas Barker produced the sixth, seventh and eighth editions (1980) and was joined by co-editor, Simran Thadani, for the ninth.<ref>Richard L."John Carter's ABC for Book Collectors, 9th Edition. Nicholas Barker and Simran Thadani, Eds. and Sidney E. Berger. The Dictionary of the Book: A Glossary for Book Collectors, Booksellers, Librarians, and Others." ''RBM : A Journal of Rare Books, Manuscripts, and Cultural Heritage'' 20, no. 1 (2019): 54-.</ref>
He served on the board of directors of the journal, ''[[The Book Collector]]'', published by [[Queen Anne Press]], a company managed by [[Ian Fleming]] creator of [[James Bond]].<ref>Lycett, Andrew. ''Ian Fleming''. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1995</ref>
In 1963 Carter was instrumental in organising [[Printing and the Mind of Man]], an exhibition of the contribution printing had made to the enlargement of human knowledge. The exhibit catalogue, printed by [[Oxford University Press]] was edited by John Carter, [[Stanley Morison]], [[Percy Muir]] and others: ''Catalogue of a display of printing mechanisms and printed materials arranged to illustrate the history of Western civilisation and the means of the multiplication of literary texts since the 15th century, organised in connection with the eleventh International Printing Machinery and Allied Trades Exhibition, under the title Printing and the Mind of Man, assembled at the British Museum and at Earls Court, London, 16–27 July 1963.''<ref>Munby, A.N.L.(1975) "John Carter." [[The Book Collector]] 24 (summer): 202-216.</ref> Carter spoke at the [[Double Crown Club]] in honour of Morrison, "The wise affair: printing and the mind of man", in 1967.<ref>Double Crown Club, National Art Library (Great Britain). Double Crown Club Collection, and Hazell, Watson & Viney. 1968. ''S.M. An Original Member of the Double Crown Club : Observations on Stanley Morison by Five Members and a Guest, given at the Club's 192nd Dinner'', 29 November 1967. [London]: [Double Crown Club].</ref>
Carter also edited the prose of the poet [[A. E. Housman]] and two editions of ''A.E. Housman: Bibliography.''<ref>Carter, John, and John Sparrow. 1982. ''A.E. Housman : Bibliography.'' 2. ed. rev. Foxbury Meadow [England]: St. Paul' Bibliographies.</ref>
He was also a humorist and writer of [[clerihews]], whimsical, four-line biographical poems, some of which were printed by Will Carter at the [[Rampant Lions Press]] in 1938.<ref>Carter, John Waynflete. 1938. ''Clerihews.''printed by Will Carter at the [[Rampant Lions Press]] Cambridge.</ref>
In 1975 he won the Gold Medal from the Bibliographical Society.<ref>{{cite web |title=Gold Medallists |url=http://www.bibsoc.org.uk/content/gold-medallists |website=The Bibliographical Society |date=8 January 2013 }}</ref>
An auction of Carter's collection of printed books was held at Sotheby's in 1976.<ref>Sotheby Parke Bernet & Co. 1976. ''Catalogue of Valuable Collection of Printed Books, the Property of the Late John Carter, Esq., C.B.E., Past President and Gold Medallist of the Bibliographical Society Sometime Sandars Reader in Bibliography in the University of Cambridge ... : Which Will Be Sold by Auction by Sotheby Parke Bernet & Co. ... At Their Large Galleries'', 34 & 35 New Bond Street, London W1A 2AA ...; Day of Sale: Wednesday, 24 March 1976. London: Sotheby Parke Bernet & Co.</ref>
== Selected works == *''[https://ilab.org/assets/documents/articles/documentation_center_files_29_2_20abc_20forbookcollectors_20bob_20fleck.pdf ABC for book collectors]''. 8th ed. edited by Nicolas Barker. New Castle, Del.: Oak Knoll Press; London: British Library, 2004. {{ISBN|0-7123-4822-0}} (British Library) {{ISBN|1-58456-112-2}} (Oak Knoll); a classic, first published in 1952. {{free access}} *''Taste and technique in book-collecting, with an epilogue''. Pinner, Middlesex: [[Private Libraries Association]], 1970 (The Sandars Lectures in Bibliography, 1947). {{ISBN|0-900002-30-1}} *{{Cite book |last1=Carter |first1=John |authorlink1=John Carter (author) |last2=Muir |first2=Percy H. |authorlink2=Percy Muir |title=[[Printing and the Mind of Man]]: A Descriptive Catalogue Illustrating the Impact of Print on the Evolution of Western Civilization During Five Centuries |publisher=[[London]]: [[Cassell (publisher)|Cassell]]; [[New York City|New York]]: [[Holt McDougal|Holt, Rinehart & Winston]] |year=1967 |oclc=576854 }} *Carter, John. 1934. ''New Paths in Book Collecting : Essays by Various Hands''; John Carter, John T. Winterlich, P.H. Muir [and Others]. London: Constable & Co. *''Binding variants in English publishing: 1820–1900''. London: Constable; New York: Ray Long & Richard R. Smith, 1932. *''More binding variants''. London: Constable, 1938. *''Publisher's cloth ... 1820–1900''. New York: Bowker; London: Constable, 1935. Reprinted 1970.
== References == {{Reflist}}
== Bibliography == *Dickinson, Donald C., ''John Carter: the taste & technique of a bookman''. Oak Knoll Press, New Castle, Del., 2004. {{ISBN|1-58456-137-8}} *Munby, A.N.L. (1975) "John Carter." ''The Book Collector'' 24 (summer): 202-216.
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Carter, John}} [[Category:1905 births]] [[Category:1975 deaths]] [[Category:People educated at Eton College]] [[Category:Alumni of King's College, Cambridge]] [[Category:English bibliographers]] [[Category:English book and manuscript collectors]] [[Category:English booksellers]] [[Category:20th-century English male writers]] [[Category:20th-century English businesspeople]] [[Category:Presidents of the Bibliographical Society]]