Richard de Bury (Richardus de Bury)

Richard de Bury, whose name appears in some auction and manuscript catalogues in the Latin form Richardus de Bury, and who was born Richard Aungerville (also spelled Aungervyle), was born on or about 24 January 1287 near Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England. A minority of reference works give his birth year as 1286 or 1281, so this date should be treated as the modern reference consensus rather than a settled fact. He was raised and educated by his uncle, John de Willoughby, and afterward attended the University of Oxford, where he is recorded studying philosophy and theology. No specific degree, attendance dates, or graduation date are documented for him.

Bury rose through royal and ecclesiastical service. Sources describe him serving as a tutor to the future King Edward III, and holding high offices including Lord Chancellor of England, royal treasurer, and keeper of the privy seal; specific tenure dates for these roles beyond the bishopric are not confirmed in available sources. He served as Bishop of Durham from 1333 until his death. Older biographies describe him as joining a Benedictine community at Durham, though later scholarship has questioned whether the surviving Durham records actually support that claim. He is best known today for Philobiblon, a Latin treatise on the love of and care for books, which he completed in 1344, shortly before his death, and which was first printed in 1473 in Cologne. Richard de Bury died on 14 April 1345 at his manor at Auckland, in Durham, England, and was buried in Durham Cathedral. A minority tradition gives his death date as 24 April 1345; the 14 April 1345 date is treated here as the majority modern consensus.

There is no body of art criticism to summarize for Richardus de Bury, because no visual art corpus is attributed to him. What exists instead is book historical commentary on Philobiblon. One older scholarly introduction to a translated edition of the text characterizes Richard de Bury less as an original scholar than as a patron and encourager of scholarship, though how widely later commentators have adopted that framing is not established from the sources reviewed for this profile. No verbatim quote from a named critic writing in a major contemporary art outlet was located for this name, and none is presented here.

No art market exists for this name in the sense normally described on this page. Extensive research across auction databases, gallery listings, and museum program summaries for 2026 found no record of a work of visual art, painting, sculpture, or comparable object, sold under either "Richard de Bury" or "Richardus de Bury." The only auction activity connected to the name concerns the rare book and manuscript trade: Sotheby's has catalogued a 1473 first printed edition of Philobiblon under this name, and Christie's has separately listed a lot under the Latin form of the name, though the specific work in that listing is not identified in the sources reviewed. Neither listing's available excerpts include a confirmed hammer price, so no figure is published here. Readers looking for market activity connected to this name should consult rare book specialists rather than fine art auction records.

Collectors researching this name should understand it as a historical identity resolution question rather than an art market opportunity. Richardus de Bury, or Richard de Bury, left no documented body of visual artwork, so there is no catalogue raisonne, no studio or estate authentication process, and no gallery or museum collection of artwork to evaluate. Material connected to the name that does circulate in the market, principally early printed editions of Philobiblon, belongs to the rare book and manuscript trade and should be evaluated by specialists in that field, using standard bibliographic and provenance methods, rather than through the fine art frameworks used elsewhere on this site.