Sadleir, Michael, 1888-1957

English author and publisher.

Author, publisher, and bibliographer.

Sadleir was a British novelist, bibliographer, and book collector, best known for his collection of Victorian fiction.

British author.

Michael Sadleir (1888-1957) was an English novelist, biographer, and prominent bibliographer of nineteenth-century fiction.

Sadleir was born on Dec. 25, 1888 in Oxford, England; his father was Sir Michael Sadler, Master of University College, Oxford (whose library on education UCLA acquired in 1948); the younger Michael changed the spelling of his name to avoid being confused with his father; attended Balliol College, Oxford; worked in the War Intelligence Dept. during World War I; in 1919 he was a member of the British delegation to the Versailles Peace Conference, and for a brief period, was a member of the Secretariat of the League of Nations; became a collector of first editions of Victorian fiction, a publisher with Constable, and an author; publications include Fanny by gaslight (1940); he died in Dec. 1957 in London.

Epithet: author and publisher

Author.

Michael Sadleir (1888-1957) was an English novelist, biographer, and prominent bibliographer of nineteenth-century fiction.

Michael Sadleir was born December 25, 1888 at Oxford, England. He was born Michael Sadler but changed his name to Sadleir when one of his novels was wrongly attributed to his father, who was also named Michael Sadler. He attended Rugby and Balliol College, Oxford and then joined Constable and Company, a publishing house. Michael Sadleir is best known for his work as a book collector and bibliographer. He focused on nineteenth-century fiction and was the authority on the work of Anthony Trollope. Though he wrote biographical and bibliographical works on select nineteenth-century authors, his most recognized work, XIX Century Fiction, is an account of his collecting days and a catalog of his personal collection. He sold this collection to the University of California, Los Angeles in 1951. Michael Sadleir died December 15, 1957.

Michael Sadleir, author, publisher, and bibliographer, was born on Christmas Day 1888 in Oxford, England, to Sir Michael Ernest Sadler and Mary Ann Harvey Sadler. His father was an educator, author, and art collector, and his mother was a wealthy Yorkshire heiress. An only child, Sadleir was deeply devoted to his parents. Early in life, he adopted the name Sadleir, an older spelling of Sadler, to avoid confusion with his similarly named father.

Sadleir was educated at Rugby and at Balliol College, Oxford. In 1912, while he was still at Oxford, Sadleir completed his first major work, The Political Career of Richard Brinsley Sheridan, which won the Stanhope essay prize. In the same year, he secured a position with the publishing firm of Constable and Company, Ltd. By 1920, Sadleir was chairman of the company.

In 1913, Constable sent Sadleir to the United States for training with Houghton Mifflin, a publishing company in Boston. He married Edith Tupper Carey, when he returned to England in 1914. They had three children--Michael Thomas Carey, Richard, and Ann. Both sons fought in World War II; Michael Thomas Carey was killed in action in 1942.

Sadleir's first novel, Hyssop, was published in 1915. His other novels include The Anchor (1918), Privilege (1921), These Foolish Things (1937), and Forlorn Sunset (1947). The most successful of Sadleir's novels was Fanny By Gaslight (1940).

During World War I, Sadleir worked for the War Intelligence Department, and, at the conclusion of the war, was sent to the peace conference as a member of the British delegation. After the war, he served on the Secretariat of the League of Nations and helped to organize the League's Department of Publishing and Printing. After the war, Sadleir returned to Constable and Company, and continued to work there throughout his life.

Sadleir was a prolific writer. In addition to novels, he wrote numerous articles, reviews, introductions, and pamphlets. He was also active in biography and bibliography. His work in these fields includes Excursions in Victorian Bibliography (1922); Daumier (1924); Trollope--A Retrospect (1927); Trollope--A Bibliography (1928); Evolution of Publishers' Binding Styles, 1700-1900 (1930); Bulwer and His Wife, 1803-1836 (1931); and Blessington-D'Orsay : A Masquerade (1933).

Sadleir is probably best known for his contributions to bibliography. In 1937, he was the Sandars Reader in Bibliography at Cambridge University and president of the Bibliographical Society (Great Britain) from 1944 to 1945. He was particularly interested in bibliographic studies of lesser-known nineteenth-century authors, and amassed a huge collection of the works of these authors. Nineteenth Century Fiction, a massive, two-volume catalog published in 1951, is considered to be Sadleir's bibliographic masterwork. His exacting standards for bibliography, which are reflected in this work, have had a lasting impact on modern bibliography and book collecting.

Michael Sadleir died 15 December 1957 in England.

James Sadler m. Elizabeth Barnes (Sudbury, Derbyshire, 1738)

James Sadler (d. 1800) of Snalston m. Frances Ferrebee

Joseph m. Elizabeth Bowman

Michael Thomas (surgeon of Barnsley) m. Susanna Mawer

Michael Thomas (M.D. of Barnsley) m. Annie Eliza Adams

Michael Ernest m. Mary Ann Harvey

Michael (Sadleir) m. Edith Tupper Carey

Michael Thomas Carey

Richard m. Patricia Sanderson

Anne m. Miles Hornsby

Michael Thomas (Leeds M.P) m. Ann Fenton

Michael Ferrebee m. Maria Tidd-Pratt

Emily (Bay)