R. B. Freeman | |
|---|---|
 Freeman in London, 1974. | |
| Born | 1 April 1915 London, England |
| Died | 1 September 1986 (aged 71) London, England |
| Nationality | British |
| Alma mater | Magdalen College, Oxford |
| Known for | The Works of Charles Darwin: An Annotated Bibliographical Handlist; Charles Darwin: A Companion; Philip Henry Gosse: A Bibliography |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Zoology, natural history, bibliography |
| Institutions | University College London |
Richard Broke Freeman (1 April 1915 – 1 September 1986) was a zoologist, historian of zoology, bibliographer of natural history and book collector.[1] Known professionally as R. B. Freeman, he compiled comprehensive reference works on Charles Darwin[2] and on P. H. Gosse.[3] He was “a meticulous scholar”[2] and a “brilliant bibliographer” who showed “a genuine modesty about his great erudition.”[4] "It is darkly rumored among antiquarian booksellers that R. B. Freeman once missed a completely unrecorded and absurdly rare 1859 second issue of the first edition of The Origin of Species", a reviewer wrote in the Times Literary Supplement, "but this is also said to be the only mistake he has made during a lifetime of persistent scholarship and imaginative detective work in libraries, bookshops, sale-rooms, the attics of country houses and the trunks of the great-aunts of great men."[5]
- ^ "Mr Richard Broke Freeman", Archives of Natural History, Vol. I, Part 3, October 1986, p. 338.
- ^ a b John van Wyhe, "Preface to the second online edition (2007)", Charles Darwin: A Companion – The Complete Work of Charles Darwin Online, November 2007.
- ^ R. B. Freeman and Douglas Wertheimer, Philip Henry Gosse: A Bibliography (London: Dawson, 1980).
- ^ W.A. Smeaton, “Obituary: Richard Broke Freeman”, The British Journal for the History of Science vol. 21, March 1988, p. 101.
- ^ Redmond O'Hanlon, review of R. B. Freeman, British Natural History Books 1495–1900: A Handlist, in Times Literary Supplement, 20 February 1981, p. 191.