The library of the chandler John Ratcliffe (1707-76) was amassed before the onset of 'bibliomania', and perfectly illustrates the last days of a period of book collecting when scholars and commoners could hope to compete with wealthy noblemen. The collection contained over a hundred incunabula, including forty-eight Caxtons, and a fine selection of sixteenth-century English books, alongside contemporary literature and Presbyterian tracts. Many of Ratcliffe's incunabula had been purchased from James West, others from Anthony Askew. In turn, his books were acquired by a circle of his...