MURRAY'S FAMILY LIBRARY (JOHN MURRAY)
Series Note: "Murray's Family Library was a series of non-fiction works published from 1829 to 1834, by John Murray, in 51 volumes. The series editor was John Gibson Lockhart, who also wrote the first book, a biography of Napoleon. The books were priced at five shillings; Murray's approach, which did not involve part-publication, is considered a fundamentally more conservative business model, and intention, than used by the contemporary library of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge. (...)
"In 1834 Murray sold out to Thomas Tegg. Further volumes were added to the Library, under Tegg's management. There was a total of 80 volumes, by 1847." -- Wikipedia
(A) The Original Library (under management of John Murray)
Volume Number(s) /Title / Author / Year
I and II
The Life of Napoleon Buonaparte
John Gibson Lockhart
1829
III
The Life and Actions of Alexander the Great
John Williams
1829
IV, X, XIII, XIX, XXVII and XXXVIII
Lives of the Most Eminent British Painters, Sculptors and Architects
Allan Cunningham
1829–31
V, VI and IX
The History of the Jews
Henry Hart Milman
Vol. V published in August 1829
VII, LI
The Natural History of Insects
Anonymous (various authors including Robert Ferguson)
1829
VIII
The Court and Camp of Buonaparte
Anonymous (S. Dunham Whitehead)
1829
XI
The Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus (abridged)
Washington Irving
1830
XII
The Life of Nelson, third edition
Robert Southey
1830
XIV
Lives of Eminent British Physicians
Anonymous (William Macmichael and others; memoir of Caleb Hillier Parry by his son W. C. Parry)
1830
XV, XLVIII, XLIX, L
The History of British India
George Robert Gleig
1830
XVI
Letters on Demonology and Witchcraft
Walter Scott
1830
XVII
Life of Bruce the African Traveller
Francis Bond Head
1830
XVIII
Companions of Columbus
Irving
1830
XX, XXXII
Sketches from Venetian History
Anonymous, (Edward Smedley)
Vol. XX was published in 1831
XXI
History of England
Francis Palgrave
1831
XXII, XXXIV, XXXVII
Lives of Scottish Worthies
Patrick Fraser Tytler
Vol. XXII was published in 1831
XXIII
Family Tour through South Holland
Anonymous (John Barrow)
1831
XXIV
Life of Sir Isaac Newton
David Brewster
1831
XXV
The Eventful History of the Mutiny and Piratical Seizure of HMS Bounty
Sir John Barrow, 1st Baronet
1831
XXVI and XXVII
Reformation in England
John James Blunt
Vol. XXVI was published in December 1831
XXVIII, XXVIX, XXX
Adventures in the Niger
John Lander and Richard Lander. Editor: Alexander Bridport Becher.
1832
XXXI
The Trials of Charles I, and of some of the Regicides
Anonymous (Charles Edward Dodd)
1832
XXXIII
Letters on Natural Magic
Brewster
1832
XXXV
Life of Peter the Great
Sir John Barrow
1832
XXXVI
Six Months in the West Indies
Henry Nelson Coleridge
1832
XXXIX, XL
Sketch Book
Irving
1834
XLI, XLII, XLIII, XLIV, XLV, XLVI
Universal History
Alexander Fraser Tytler
1834
XLVII
Fairy Legends and Traditions of the South of Ireland, 2nd edition.
Crofton Croker. Illustrated by Daniel Maclise.
1834.
(B) Subsequent Additions (under management of Thomas Tegg)
Volume Number(s) /Title / Author / Year
LII
History of the Plague
Daniel Defoe. Notes by E. W. Brayley.
Year: __.
LIII, LIV
Life and Times of George Washington
Cyrus R. Edmonds
Year: __.
LV
Irving Knickerbocker's History of New York
Author: __.
Year: __.
LVI, LVII, LVIII
A Compendium of Natural Philosophy
John Wesley
Year: __.
LIX, LX
Bonaparte's Campaigns in Russia
Philippe-Paul de Ségur
Year: __.
LXI
Life of Ali Pasha, of Tepelini
Richard Alfred Davenport
1837
LXII
Lives and Exploits of Banditti and Robbers
Charles Macfarlane
Year: __.
LXIII
Sketches of Imposture, Decepture and Credulity
Davenport
Year: __.
LXIV
History of the Bastile
Davenport
1838
LXV
Life of Gustavus Adolphus
James Francis Hollings
Year: ___.
LXVI
Chronicles of London Bridge
Richard Thomson
Year: ___.
LXVII
Life of John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough
Charles Bucke
Year: ___.
LXVII
The Life and Writings of Miguel de Cervantes (1839), based on Martín Fernández de Navarrete
Thomas Roscoe
1839
LXIX
Cicero's Life
Hollings
1839
LXX, LXXI
Ruins of Ancient Cities
Bucke
1840
LXXII
Life and Times of Richard I
William Edmonstoune Aytoun
1840
LXXIII
Life of Mahomet
Samuel Green
1840
LXXIV, LXXV
Narrative of Perils and Sufferings
Davenport
Year: ___.
LXXVI, LXXVI, LXVIII
Classical Tour through Italy, 8th edition
John Chetwode Eustace
1841
LXXIX
Lives of Individuals who have Raised Themselves from Poverty to Eminence or Fortune
Davenport
Year: ___.
LXXX
History of the Mutiny at Spithead and the Nore
Anonymous (William Johnson Neale)
1842
Further Reading
Scott Bennett. "John Murray's Family Library and the Cheapening of Books in Early Nineteenth Century Britain", Studies in Bibliography, Vol. 29, (1976), pp. 139–166. Published by: Bibliographical Society of the University of Virginia.
Robert A. Gross and Mary Kelley. An Extensive Republic: Print, Culture, and Society in the New Nation, 1790-1840. UNC Press Books, 2010. ISBN 978-0-8078-3339-1.
N. N. Felte. Modes of Production of Victorian Novels. University of Chicago Press, 1989. ISBN 978-0-226-24118-0.
Also see Notes section of article "Murray's Family Library" ( Wikipedia )
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