Peter Stockham (1928-2003) became one of the leading experts on children's publishing. He was also a publisher of facsimiles, most notably of chapbooks and ballads.
He worked at the campus bookshop at the University of Keele before becoming assistant manager at Una Dillon's bookshop in Malet Street. He became managing director of the company when Una Dillon retired in 1967. In 1975 he left Dillon's and with his wife Anne he started a business in Cecil Court as an independent second hand and antiquarian bookseller. In 1988 they decided to transfer the business to Lichfield, the city in which Peter had been educated. Here he built up his amazing collection of books and produced annotated catalogues. Sadly, declining health meant that the shop had to be sold in 2001.
The collection was donated to Oxford Brookes by Peter's two daughters. It consists of books and magazines about children's literature and publishing and a collection of original children's books, mainly nineteenth and early twentieth century. There are also examples of Peter's facsimiles and some ephemera. The children's books in the collection have now been catalogued and can be searched on Library Search, there is also a collection finding aid (Word document) for the original children's books. The supporting literature in the collection is in the process of being catalogued.
This collection can be accessed in the Special Collections Reading Room.
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