Augustus Theodore Bartholomew

Augustus Theodore Bartholomew

Augustus Theodore (Theo) Bartholomew was born on 26 August 1882 and passed away on 14 March 1933. He worked as a librarian at Cambridge University Library from 1900 until the day he died in 1933. During his time there, he made friends with many important people.

One of his friends was Siegfried Sassoon, a well-known writer. He was also friends with Forrest Reid, a novelist, and Charles Sayle, a poet and librarian. Theo worked together with Henry Festing Jones to edit the writings of Samuel Butler. These were published between 1923 and 1926. Additionally, Theo gathered information for a possible biography about Frederick Rolfe.

Life

Augustus Theodore Bartholomew was born in Walthamstow and grew up in a family of eight children. His father passed away before he was born, so his mother moved the family to Fowlmere near Cambridge. Bartholomew left school early because his family did not have much money. At the age of 17, he took a job as a helper at the University Library in Cambridge.

He loved books and joined the university’s Baskerville Club in 1903. Bartholomew worked at the library for many years and became Under-Librarian in 1913. He made many friends, including the writer Siegfried Sassoon, and helped with the publication of his poetry. Bartholomew also collected interesting books and worked on projects with famous writers and their works.

Literary work

Augustus Theodore Bartholomew was a librarian at Cambridge University Library. He helped with important books and collected information about writers. He worked on the books of a famous writer, Samuel Butler (novelist). They published these books between 1923 and 1926.

Bartholomew also started to collect materials about another writer, Frederick Rolfe, who had died in 1913. But he stopped this work. Later, someone else used his notes to write a book about Rolfe.

Later life, and death

In 1926, Bartholomew started feeling very sad. He agreed to get help through talking and support, as long as it didn’t change who he was. In his remaining years, he focused on making his new home in Millington Road neat and comfortable. He had a good sense of style from his family, who made fine furniture, and he used his love for books and art to decorate his house.

In 1932, he began having terrible headaches from high blood pressure. A year later, he passed away at the age of 50. One of his friends, Keynes, who helped with his affairs, described him as someone very kind and wise, whose small office at the library was always open to visitors. Bartholomew’s diaries from 1904 to 1925 are kept at Cambridge University Library, and he is often mentioned in the diaries of his friend Charles Sayle. An article about him appeared in The Book Collector in Autumn 2016.