Bibliophile Harry Widener (born 3 January 1885) died on Titanic with a copy of Francis Bacon’s Essaies purchased from bookseller Bernard Quaritch (whose firm is now based in Bedford Row, Bloomsbury) in his pocket. In death, this quiet young man, dubbed the “American Lycidas” for his lost promise like the subject of John Milton’s poem, was reinvented as a new kind of cultural hero. He is commemorated in the Harry Elkins Widener Memorial Library at Harvard University, which opened on 24 June 1915 and houses his book collection, many of whose authors had connections with Holborn and Hampstead. Titanic was also carrying a copy of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, bound in Holborn and purchased by Widener’s friend Gabriel Wells (1861-1946), who was born as Gábor Weisz in Balassagyarmat, Hungary.

Kevin Brown is Trust Archivist to Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and Curator of the Alexander Fleming Laboratory Museum, St Mary’s Hospital, Paddington. He is the author of books on the history of medicine, and military and maritime history. (Pen & Sword History, 2025). His latest book is Titanic, ship of lost illusions: a floating microcosm of Edwardian society (Pen & Sword History, 2025).