Several linked revolutions in the use, study and appreciation of older books occurred over a little more than half a century, between the 1830s and the early 1890s. Changes in the manufacture and presentation of new books in this period, dominated by mechanisation, have been much discussed elsewhere. What, on the other hand, of earlier books? What of material questions concerning these? How and where could they be studied? What opportunities were available for a population whose wealth, literacy and education were changing fundamentally? How and when did tastes and values change? How did the book trade and customers accommodate or lead change?