Wodhull, Michael (1740 -1816)

Michael Wodhull, book collector and translator, was the son of John Wodhull of Thenford Hall in Northamptonshire and his second wife Rebecca, daughter of Charles Watkins, of Aynhoe in Northamptonshire. Educated at Winchester College and Brasenose College, Oxford, where he matriculated 13 January 1758, but did not take a degree, he married, in 1761, Catherine Milcah, fourth daughter of the Reverend John Ingram of Wolford in Warwickshire. He wrote poetry, and was the first person to translate the whole of Euripides into English. The only public office he filled was that of High Sheriff for Northamptonshire which he held in 1780. He spent most of his time attending book auctions, where he always stuck strictly to his bids, never advancing them sixpence. He left his library to his wife's sister Mary Ingram. She died in 1827, leaving it to Samuel Amy Severne. Wodhull sold many of his duplicates anonymously through Leigh, Sotheby & Son on 3 March 1801 and more through the same auctioneer on 24 March 1803. The rest of his books and manuscripts remained in the Severne family until 11 January 1886, when they were sold at auction by Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge in London as the library of John Edmund Severne M.P. (collected by Michael Wodhull). The autograph letters and papers were similarly sold on 29 November 1886. The stamp was used only on the upper cover, and there are commonly full notes as to when and where the item was bought, and the cost of binding.

Seat / Residence(s): Thenford Hall, Northamptonshire
Library Auction Details: Leigh, Sotheby & Son, Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge (3 March 1801), (24 March 1803), (29 November 1886)
Stamp(s) Stamp Information
Wodhull, Michael (1740 - 1816) (Stamp 1) Title: Wodhull, Michael (1740 - 1816) (Stamp 1)
Arms: Three crescents (Wodhull) impaling Ermine on a fess three escallops (Ingram)
Crest: Out of a ducal coronet two wings addorsed
Dimensions (height x width): 73mm x 38mm
Impalement: Ermine on a fess three escallops (Ingram)
Heraldic Charges: coronet, ducal, out of a, Heraldic Charges: crescents (3), Heraldic Charges: escallops (3), Heraldic Charges: fess, on a, Heraldic Charges: wings (2)