Many of Henry E. Huntington's obituaries referred to him as the greatest book collector the world had ever known. Certainly few could equal his determination or his willingness to commit huge amounts of money for individual volumes or whole collections. Between 1910 and 1926 he spent an estimated $17 million on books and manuscripts. During that period he completely dominated the auction rooms of New York and London and in the process amassed a library that rivaled the great collections of England and Europe.

Henry E. Huntington was born 27 February 1850 in the rural community of Oneonta, New York, the fourth child of Solon and Harriet Saunders Huntington. Solon Huntington, a descendant of an old Connecticut family, owned a general merchandise store and dabbled in real estate. Harriet Huntington, the daughter of a prominent New York physician, managed the household and raised the children in a close, church-oriented environment. The family lived...