Who was John Wolfe Barry? We didn’t know anything about Sir John other than he had put his bookplates in a five-volume series of books titled “Boswell’s Life of Johnson.” It turns out that Barry purchased the books used. We know that because they were published in 1831, and he was born in 1836. Barry was the son of famous architect Sir Charles Barry and was quite accomplished himself: He was the lead engineer on London’s Tower Bridge and designed the mechanisms that allow it to be raised and lowered.
It’s always a good idea to Google names you find in books.