Series: 1, 1889 - 1976

The George Chapman Singer Collection on Thomas J. Wise contains letters, handwritten and typescript drafts of articles, galleys, and article reprints concerning the British bibliographer (and forger) Thomas J. Wise. In particular, the collection focuses on Wise's printing of correspondence between John Ruskin and Frederick D. Maurice which concerned the contents of Ruskin's "Notes on the Construction of Sheepfolds." In 1975, Singer published an article in "The Private Library" chronicling the shady back-story of Wise's publication of the letters originally held by John Furnivall. Singer had collected the relevant correspondence and used the source material for research in his article.

In addition to the material related to the 'Sheepfolds' publication there are 29 letters between Wise and University of Cape Town professor Oswald Doughty concerning research related to Dante Gabriel Rosetti. Further, the collection contains letters from Wise to poet Edmund Gosse, Herman M. Schroeter, S.R. Hutt and F. Britten Austin.

Also included in the collection are three letters from illustrator Walter Crane to Wise's collaborator Harry Buxton Forman concerning the use of Crane's illustrations for an essay on the books of William Morris.

Finally, the collection contains correspondence and bills with rare book and manuscript dealers in the United States and England. These papers document Singer's efforts at creating a collection related to Thomas J. Wise.