George Offor

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George Offor (1787– 7 August 1864) was an English book-collector who accumulated a massive personal library.[1]

Offor entered business as a bookseller at Tower Hill, London. He studied Hebrew, Greek and Latin and became an expert in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century English literature and theological writings.[2]

Works[edit]

John Bunyan[edit]

He had compiled the complete works of John Bunyan. However some of them were destroyed in a fire.[3]

He spent his days reading, researching, recording, comparing, and editing the works of Bunyan. Offor's diligent labour concluded in 1854 with the printing of the three-volume, 2,800 page Works of John Bunyan. Now over a century and a half old, Offor's final product remains the most popular definitive collection of Bunyan in print.

Auction[edit]

After his death, his huge collection of books was to be auctioned on 27 June 1865, for 11 days by Sotheby's.[3][4] However, on 29 June, a fire consumed nearly all the items that were for sale.[5]

Bibliography[edit]

  • George Offor (1816). A Catalogue of New and Second-Hand Books.
  • George Offor (1822). Salvation, received by Faith, communicating Peace. The substance of a Sermon, occasioned by the death of Elizabeth Offor, With a memoir of her life. J. Gladding.
  • William Tyndale (1836). George Offor (ed.). The New Testament of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. S. Bagster.
  • Roger Williams (1848). The Bloudy Tenet of Persecution. Hanserd Knollys Society.
  • Increase Mather (1856). George Offor (ed.). Remarkable Providences illustrative of the earlier days of American colonisation. J.R. Smith.
  • John Bunyan (1850). George Offor (ed.). The Works of John Bunyan: With an introduction to each treatise, notes, and a sketch of his life, times, and contemporaries. Vol. 1. Blackie and son.
  • John Bunyan (1862). George Offor (ed.). The Whole Works of John Bunyan. Vol. 2. Blackie.
  • John Bunyan (1853). George Offor (ed.). The Works of John Bunyan: Allegorical, figurative, and symbolical. Vol. 3. Blackie and son.

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Mr George Offor". The Morning Post. 20 August 1864. p. 5.
  2. ^ "Offor, George (1787–1864)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. 2004. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/20569. Retrieved 25 December 2012. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  3. ^ a b Curiosmith Bookshop
  4. ^ Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge (1865). "Catalogue of the Important and Valuable Library of the Late George Offor". Internet Archive.
  5. ^ Gordon Goodwin (1895). George Offor. Vol. XLII. Dictionary of National Biography. pp. 6–.

External links[edit]