The Martyn Bequest: Celebrating the Aikin Family

In 2024, the College was delighted to receive an extremely generous bequest of 18th- and 19th-century books from Mr Simon Martyn. Simon, a direct descendant of the Aikin family, spent his lifetime collecting more than one hundred volumes either by or relating to the Aikins. He donated these carefully curated titles to the College along with his own detailed research and notes on Aikin family history.

The Aikins were a prominent family within the Dissenting tradition. The father, Rev. John Aikin (1713–1780), taught at Warrington Academy during the mid-eighteenth century, alongside Joseph Priestley. His children, John Aikin (1747–1822) and Anna Laetitia Barbauld (1743–1825), continued his intellectual legacy and produced influential works in literature, poetry and science. His granddaughter, Lucy Aikin (1781–1864), continued the tradition with her writings on a range of historical figures.

The Martyn bequest brilliantly reflects the diverse interests of the family. Books of poetry and history sit alongside geographical and topographical works as well as volumes related to medical subjects. The entire collection is a richly significant addition to our holdings on Dissenting history, and stands as a remarkable legacy to Simon Martyn who wished for the collection to be accessible to the wider scholarly community for generations to come. 

Collection Highlights

There are several highlights in the collection, including an exceptionally rare pamphlet on cow-pox written by Charles Rochemont Aikin (grandson of John Aikin), titled 'A Concise View of All the Most Important Facts Which Have Hitherto Appeared Concerning the Cow-Pox' (London, 1801). Published only two years after Edward Jenner’s pioneering work on vaccination, Charles Aikin’s treatise reflects his role in the Royal Jennerian Society, which provided free vaccinations for the poor of London.  Remarkably, this copy was personally owned by Anna Laetitia Barbauld and shows her signature on the flyleaf. 

The bequest also contains multiple works by Dr. John Aikin (1747–1822), Charles’ father and Rev John Aikin’s son.  He was a physician and prolific author of writings on literature, the arts, natural history, geography, and medicine. Among the works we have is the Biographical Memoirs of Medicine in Great Britain from the Revival of Literature to the Time of Harvey by John Aikin (1747-1822).  The volume is collection of biographical sketches of British medical figures from the 13th- to the 17th- century.  It was one of the first titles to try to systematically document history of medicine in Britain. We also hold his 'A Description of the Country from Thirty to Forty Miles Round Manchester' (1795), a finely illustrated volume that depicts the landscapes surrounding the newly industrialised city, combining scientific observation with an aesthetic viewpoint.

Another notable inclusion is 'Adams’s Weekly Courant' (1732), an early Chester newspaper printed by Roger Adams. Few issues of this title survive making this a rare glimpse into the print culture that sustained provincial Dissenters.

Women Writers in the Aikin Tradition

However, a particularly distinctive feature of the Martyn Collection is its strong representation of the women in the Aikin family.  The Aikins were strong supporters of female education and intellectual equality and this is reflected in the writings of Anna Laetitia Barbauld and her niece Lucy Aikin (1781–1864), both of whom are strongly represented in the collection.    

The bequest includes the monumental 50 volume set by Barbauld of The British novelists; : with an essay, and prefaces, biographical and critical, a ground breaking work which has been noted was a ‘large canon-making enterprise’ (McCarthy and Kraft). The set includes male and female authors and Barbauld includes an introduction to each author as well as a preface ‘On the origins and progress of novel-writing’. The collection also has some of Barbauld’s more political works including a rare edition of 'An Address to the Opposers of the Repeal of the Corporation and Test Acts' (1790). This was published after the attempts to repeal the Test and Corporation acts were rejected, meaning that Dissenters continued to be excluded from holding public office. 

In addition to the Mrs Barbauld titles, we also have a wonderful selection of her niece’s work. Lucy Aikin was John Aikin’s daughter and was a noted poet, historian biographer and children’s writer. She is now mostly known for her work on historical figures, including the popular two volume 'Memoirs of the Court of Queen Elizabeth' (1819), which was republished several times and translated into French and German. The Martyn donation includes Lucy’s personal notebooks tracing her own family’s history. 

The Martyn Collection integrates seamlessly with the College’s other generous donations relating to the Aikin family, including extensive material received from Mrs Brodribb and Professor William McCarthy, world-renowned expert on Barbauld. All materials from the bequest are catalogued in the Oxford University library system (SOLO) and can be located by searching for 'Martyn Collection' in the copy-specific notes field.  Additional donations and holdings relating to the Aikin-Barbauld family are also listed in SOLO.  

The Library welcomes enquiries from anyone interested in accessing the collection.  Exhibitions featuring items from the collection are planned in the coming months and further information about these events will be announced.

Simon Nicholas Cleeve Martyn (1952–2024)
Simon Martyn was a direct descendant of Dr John Aikin, his sister Anna Laetitia Barbauld, and the Rev. Gilbert Wakefield. Over the course of his life, he assembled a carefully curated collection of books and engravings related to the Aikin family. Alongside this, he conducted extensive research into the family's history, compiling detailed notes on individual members and related topics. It was his express wish that the collection be donated to the College and made accessible to scholars for future study. The College is immensely grateful for this generous bequest which, alongside other donations in this area, has enabled the development of a significant and important collection devoted to this remarkable family.