Insufficient knowledge exists about classical scholars and their private libraries, regardless of the period in which they worked. In the cases of the most innovative and most influential classicists, such unanswered – and perhaps unanswerable – questions about the content and context of their personal researches are regrettable. For Richard Porson (1759–1808), one of the most outstanding figures in the history of scholarship, and one especially remarkable for his critical acumen and intriguing personality, a rich biographical tradition provides considerable colour but scant detail. Most surprisingly, little significant progress has been made in the last 75 years in shedding further light on Porson's scholarly activities. N., particularly renowned for his immense contribution to Housman studies, now presents a major advance in our knowledge of the critic and a yet greater opportunity for future research in the field. Through many years' patient and diligent investigation, N. has brought between two covers as much information as possible about Porson's books and their diaspora.

After his sudden death, Porson's library (of towards 3,000 items) was divided between his own Cambridge college (Trinity) and Leigh and Sotheby's auction house (sold 16–23 June, 1809): although the two hundred or so more annotated (and thus more interesting) items that passed to Trinity for 1,000 guineas survive complete, of the 1,394 lots listed in the auction catalogue the great majority are now untraced. N. presents the bleak figure that 86% of the known volumes have fallen off radar since. This situation may change only slightly in the future: many Porsonian books will bear no sign of his ownership, many will stand on shelves unread, but perhaps, in light of N.'s work, some will not remain hidden for long.

N. has divided his survey into two parts. Part 1 consists of 38 chapters of detailed prolegomena on Porson and his library, primarily the acquisition, keeping and sale of his books and their subsequent fate. This valuable contextualisation is bolstered by 280 dense and rewarding endnotes and a detailed index. Part 2 represents the core of the work: an alphabetical register of Porson's books, as reconstructed primarily from Trinity's holdings and the 1809 auction catalogue. In addition to a transcription of the title-page and relevant information about format and state (where possible), N. adds information in up to six categories: (a) early owners of the book; (b) Porson's immediate source for the book; (c) concordance of the book with its appearance in the 1809 auction; (d) the buyer of the book at that sale; (e) later owners of the book; (f) current owner/location. Often there is nothing to report in categories (a) and (b); when (as usual) the present location of the book is unknown, typically only (c) and (d) appear; most books at Trinity have no mention of categories (c) to (e), since they bypassed the 1809 auction and subsequent ownership. Although it is slightly unfortunate that these separate categories are introduced in each case only by their single-letter abbreviations, once these sigla are mastered the material available is both informative and tantalising. Seven carefully compiled indexes close the book, the first six applying to categories (a) to (f), the seventh being ‘generalia’ not easily categorisable in earlier indexes. The volume is attractively printed and arranged, although it contains more typographical errors than would be expected from the editor.

The book offers much of interest to the historian of the book and its trade as well as the bibliophile; its primary value, however, is for the historian of scholarship. Porson summarised the importance of his private library in a similar vein when he observed that he ‘possessed more bad copies of good books than any private gentleman in England’. Thanks to this formidable bibliography, the materials for a thorough investigation of Porson's active engagement with his library are now there for the taking.