Francis Douce (1757 - 1834)

Francis Douce

Francis Douce was a British antiquarian and curator of the British Museum, historian and writer.

Francis Douce studied law, but he loved books much more. He became a prominent member of the Society of Antiquaries and served as Keeper of Manuscripts at the British Museum from 1799 to 1811, but was forced to resign because of a quarrel with one of the trustees.

Francis Douce was an avid book collector and bibliophile. After leaving his post at the museum, he concentrated on adding to his collection of antiquarian books and manuscripts. And he also wrote scholarly works, most notably Illustrations of Shakespeare and Ancient Manners (1807) and A Dissertation on the Various Variants of the Dance of Death (1833). When Douce died in 1834, he left his extensive and valuable book collection of over 19,000 printed works to the Bodleian Library in Oxford.