Chapbooks at King's and beyond

Title page and frontispiece of: The History of Fair RosamondIt is believed that the chapbooks in the collections at King’s were donated in the early 19th century by the antiquarian, Philip Hammersley Leathes (1770-1838).

Leathes was a London based antiquarian and collector, and was a member of King’s College London. He established a book prize for medical students and in 1837 agreed to leave his books and papers to the College on condition that he would be allowed to reside there. His papers and correspondence are held in our Archives department.

The chapbooks he donated were bound into six volumes in the early 20th century and now form part of the Rare books collection. The library also holds other works formerly owned by Leathes, which are recorded on the Library catalogue and can be consulted in the Foyle Special Collections Library. To search for these works, use the Advanced search option and employ the ‘Former owner’ search filter to retrieve a list. Some of the sales catalogues Leathes owned have extensive annotations to them, indicating prices and names of purchasers - but the chapbooks remain largely unmarked.

Contemporary and other chapbooks

Versions of chapbooks existed in many countries across Europe and publications such as Atkinson and Roud’s Cheap print and the people: European perspectives on popular Literature (2019) are evidence of continuing academic interest in this area. An update on this title, taking in additional countries is planned. Further relevant publications are listed in the Bibliography.

There is growing academic interest in a contemporary equivalent of the chapbook, the market fiction of West Africa. Perhaps best exemplified in the Onitsha market literature produced in Nigeria during the 1950s and 1960s, this genre’s colourful language and often racy plotlines provide an interesting parallel with the chapbooks of 18th century England.

Further information

For further information please contact us ›