Percy Society

Percy Society was a literary society that existed in London 1840-1852.

Lady Braybrooke founded in 1840 together with twelve bibliophile colleagues - including William Chappell ( 1809-1888 ), John Payne Collier ( 1789-1883 ), Thomas Crofton Croker ( 1789-1854 ), James Orchard Halliwell - Phillipps ( 1820-1899 ), Charles Mackay (1812-1889), Edward Francis Rimbault (1816-1876), and Thomas Wright (1810-1877) - in London, Percy Society; named after the writer Thomas Percy ( 1729-1811 ). The number of members was limited to 500.

Each member was encouraged to be produced at its own expense facsimiles of original literary texts. The Committee of the Company discussed the upcoming release each and voted on it. One focus of these publications was the Elizabethan theater, as well as anthologies of religious as well as secular songs were published. The originals, which were intended for a new edition, came from the private collections of members, or prestigious institutions, such as the Bodleian Library, Ashmolean Museum Pepys Library ( Magdalene College, University of Cambridge ) or the Douce Collection.

In 1852, the Percy Society disbanded. As in 1868, the English philologist Frederic James Furnivall ( 1825-1910 ), the Ballad Society founded, we saw this quite as legitimate successor. The Ballad Society but cared only about saving and the rediscovery of songs.