Crofton Collection
The Crofton Collection consists primarily of the little books owned by Cecil F. Crofton who died in 1935 aged 76. Crofton was an actor, especially of comic roles, whose theatrical heyday was 1882-1896. He donated this cabinet collection to Senate House Library in 1932. A small amount of additional material has been purchased or transferred to the Crofton Collection by the Library.
The collection comprises 327 titles ranging between 88 mm and 151 mm
in height. It specialises in literature, especially English literature
of the 18th century (including translations by Pope and Dryden of classical
works), with some French literature of the 17th and 18th centuries (especially
Moliere, Corneille and Florian), and other European literature, with some
translations between European languages. It includes devotional and theological
works and travel.
Notable features are multiple editions of single works, and examples of
the 32mo Diamond
Classics published by William Pickering.
The books have been catalogued on the Main Library Catalogue and are also available via COPAC. To gain an overview of the collection, do a mixed classmark search on [C.C.]. An author search on "Crofton, Cecil" as former owner will isolate items from the original collection.
shl.specialcollections@london.ac.uk 
020 7862 8470
