The library of Dr John Maund (1823-1858) was advertised for sale by auction in Melbourne, along with other property including household furniture, horses, and surgical instruments, a few weeks after his death in April 1858. Maund, an Englishman who had completed his medical training in Scotland, had spent about five years in the colony of Victoria working as a physician in the government medical establishment, before his sudden death at the age of 35.
In all, some 348 titles from Maund’s library, comprising at least 529 volumes, were advertised for auction, arranged in 111 lots. The majority of the books advertised were medical texts, along with some general scientific and reference works. The auction catalogue does not provide much evidence that reading for leisure was part of Maund’s life: alongside some volumes of the Illustrated London News and Punch, a twelve-volume set of Walter Scott’s ever-popular Waverley novels were the only imaginative literature advertised for sale.
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