# John Carter (writer)

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British writer and bibliographer (1905–1975)

**John Waynflete Carter** (10 May 1905 – 18 March 1975) was an English writer, diplomat, bibliographer, [book-collector](/source/Book_collecting), antiquarian [bookseller](/source/Bookseller) and president of the [Bibliographical Society](/source/Bibliographical_Society) in 1968.[1] He was recognised as one of the most important figures in the Anglo-American book world.[2] He was the great-grandson of [Canon T. T. Carter](/source/Thomas_Thellusson_Carter)

## Biography

After attending [Eton College](/source/Eton_College), he studied classics at [King's College, Cambridge](/source/King's_College%2C_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](/source/World_War_II) he worked for the [Ministry of Information](/source/Ministry_of_Information_(United_Kingdom)) until 1943 and then moved to [New York City](/source/New_York_City) to work for the [British Information Services](/source/British_Information_Services) where he wrote *Victory in Burma.* [3]

He held the [Sandars Readership in Bibliography](/source/Sandars_Readership_in_Bibliography) at [Cambridge University](/source/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.[4]

He returned to Scrivner's after the War until it closed its London Office in 1953. He then worked for [Roger Makins](/source/Roger_Makins%2C_1st_Baron_Sherfield), [British Ambassador to the United States](/source/British_Ambassador_to_the_United_States) until 1955 and was made a [CBE](/source/CBE).

In 1955 he joined [Sotheby's](/source/Sotheby's) where he worked closely with [Anthony Hobson](/source/Anthony_Hobson_(book_historian)).[5] He was associate director until 1972.[6]

Carter was the husband of the writer and curator [Ernestine Carter](/source/Ernestine_Carter) and the brother of the printer Will Carter (1912–2001) of the [Rampant Lions Press](/source/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.[7]

## 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](/source/Graham_Pollard), exposed the [forgeries](/source/Forgery) of books and pamphlets by [Harry Buxton Forman](/source/Harry_Buxton_Forman), an editor of Keats and Shelley, and [Thomas J. Wise](/source/Thomas_James_Wise), one of the world's most prominent [book collectors](/source/Book_collecting).[8] Forman and Wise's crimes are generally regarded as one of the most notorious literary scandals of the twentieth century.[9]

In 1983 he co-authored a sequel to the *Enquiry.*[10][11]

## 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.[12] 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.[13]

He served on the board of directors of the journal, *[The Book Collector](/source/The_Book_Collector)*, published by [Queen Anne Press](/source/Queen_Anne_Press), a company managed by [Ian Fleming](/source/Ian_Fleming) creator of [James Bond](/source/James_Bond).[14]

In 1963 Carter was instrumental in organising [Printing and the Mind of Man](/source/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](/source/Oxford_University_Press) was edited by John Carter, [Stanley Morison](/source/Stanley_Morison), [Percy Muir](/source/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.*[15] Carter spoke at the [Double Crown Club](/source/Double_Crown_Club) in honour of Morrison, "The wise affair: printing and the mind of man", in 1967.[16]

Carter also edited the prose of the poet [A. E. Housman](/source/A._E._Housman) and two editions of *A.E. Housman: Bibliography.*[17]

He was also a humorist and writer of [clerihews](/source/Clerihews), whimsical, four-line biographical poems, some of which were printed by Will Carter at the [Rampant Lions Press](/source/Rampant_Lions_Press) in 1938.[18]

In 1975 he won the Gold Medal from the Bibliographical Society.[19]

An auction of Carter's collection of printed books was held at Sotheby's in 1976.[20]

## Selected works

- *[ABC for book collectors](https://ilab.org/assets/documents/articles/documentation_center_files_29_2_20abc_20forbookcollectors_20bob_20fleck.pdf)*. 8th ed. edited by Nicolas Barker. New Castle, Del.: Oak Knoll Press; London: British Library, 2004. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-7123-4822-0](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-7123-4822-0) (British Library) [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [1-58456-112-2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/1-58456-112-2) (Oak Knoll); a classic, first published in 1952.

- *Taste and technique in book-collecting, with an epilogue*. Pinner, Middlesex: [Private Libraries Association](/source/Private_Libraries_Association), 1970 (The Sandars Lectures in Bibliography, 1947). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-900002-30-1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-900002-30-1)

- [Carter, John](/source/John_Carter_(author)); [Muir, Percy H.](/source/Percy_Muir) (1967). *[Printing and the Mind of Man](/source/Printing_and_the_Mind_of_Man): A Descriptive Catalogue Illustrating the Impact of Print on the Evolution of Western Civilization During Five Centuries*. [London](/source/London): [Cassell](/source/Cassell_(publisher)); [New York](/source/New_York_City): [Holt, Rinehart & Winston](/source/Holt_McDougal). [OCLC](/source/OCLC_(identifier)) [576854](https://search.worldcat.org/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

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** [\[1\]](https://bibsoc.org.uk/about/officers/past-presidents/). Past Presidents.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Dickinson, Donald C. 2004. John Carter : *The Taste & Technique of a Bookman.* 1st ed. New Castle, Del.: Oak Knoll Press.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** British Information Services. 1945. *Victory in Burma.* New York, N.Y.: Published by British Information Services, 30 Rockefeller Plaza.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Bowman2012_4-0)** Bowman, J.H. (1 October 2012). [*British Librarianship and Information Work 2001–2005*](https://books.google.com/books?id=gfeiJ0SoeGAC&pg=PA157). Ashgate. p. 157. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-4094-8506-3](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-4094-8506-3).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** "Anthony Robert Alwyn Hobson." *[The Book Collector](/source/The_Book_Collector)* 40 (no3) Autumn 1991:303.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** Munby, A.N.L.(1975) "John Carter." [The Book Collector](/source/The_Book_Collector) 24 (summer): 202-216.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** Munby, A.N.L.(1975) "John Carter." [The Book Collector](/source/The_Book_Collector) 24 (summer): 202-216.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** [Carter, John](/source/John_Carter_(author)); [Pollard, Graham](/source/Graham_Pollard) (1934), [*An enquiry into the nature of certain nineteenth-century pamphlets*](https://archive.org/details/enquiryintonatur00cart), London New York: [Constable & Co.](/source/Constable_%26_Co.), [C. Scribner's Sons](/source/C._Scribner's_Sons), [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-8383-1261-2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-8383-1261-2) {{[citation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Citation)}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility ([help](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:CS1_errors#invalid_isbn_date))

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** Collins, John, *Two Forgers: A Biography of Harry Buxton Forman and Thomas James Wise*, Oak Knoll Press, New Castle, Del., 1992. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-85967-754-0](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-85967-754-0)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** 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.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** 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.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-12)** 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.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-13)** 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-.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-14)** Lycett, Andrew. *Ian Fleming*. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1995

1. **[^](#cite_ref-15)** Munby, A.N.L.(1975) "John Carter." [The Book Collector](/source/The_Book_Collector) 24 (summer): 202-216.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-16)** 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].

1. **[^](#cite_ref-17)** Carter, John, and John Sparrow. 1982. *A.E. Housman : Bibliography.* 2. ed. rev. Foxbury Meadow [England]: St. Paul' Bibliographies.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-18)** Carter, John Waynflete. 1938. *Clerihews.*printed by Will Carter at the [Rampant Lions Press](/source/Rampant_Lions_Press) Cambridge.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-19)** ["Gold Medallists"](http://www.bibsoc.org.uk/content/gold-medallists). *The Bibliographical Society*. 8 January 2013.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-20)** 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.

## Bibliography

- Dickinson, Donald C., *John Carter: the taste & technique of a bookman*. Oak Knoll Press, New Castle, Del., 2004. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [1-58456-137-8](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/1-58456-137-8)

- Munby, A.N.L. (1975) "John Carter." *The Book Collector* 24 (summer): 202-216.

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