William Upcott (1779-1845) rose from humble origins to become a major collector of coins, prints, drawings and, above all, autographs. His journals, from 1803 to 1809, chronicle his time as a lowly bookseller's assistant in London and then as an assistant at the London Institution. They offer a detailed, non-elite account of a London life, interspersed with forays into the provinces to visit relatives in Oxfordshire and Northamptonshire and to pursue his trade as a cataloguer and organiser of people's collections, most notably to Shugborough Hall in Staffordshire. His later 'Tour of the Peak' in 1823 evidences his growing expertise and his open acceptance by his fellow enthusiasts. The diaries are lively and engaging narratives of his life and activities in a world that he increasingly made his own, overcoming his deficiencies to become an accomplished bibliophile and collector.
