John Waynflete Carter (1905-1975), bibliographer and bookseller, was born at Eton on 10 May 1905. He was educated at Eton College and King's College, Cambridge, and in 1927 joined the London branch of Scribner's, the New York bookdealers. During the Second World War, he worked for British information services in London and New York. He returned to Scribner's in 1946, where he was the managing director until 1953. Thereafter, he was assistant to the British ambassador in Washington, 1953-1955, and an associate director at Sotheby's, 1956-1972. Carter was the Sandars Reader in Bibliography at Cambridge University in 1947. He published books and articles on A.E. Housman, book collecting and bibliographical topics, and contributed to the Book collector and the Times literary supplement . His works include Books and book collecting (1948) and ABC for book collectors (1952). He was also the author, with Graham Pollard, of An enquiry into t he nature of certain nineteenth-century pamphlets (1934), an exposure of the forger T.J. Wise. Carter died at St George's Nursing Home, Westminster, on 18 March 1975.
From the guide to the John Carter: Papers, c. 1946-1974, (Cambridge University Library, Department of Manuscripts and University Archives)
