William Henry James Weale

William Henry James Weale (8 March 1832 – 26 April 1917 ) was a British art historian who lived and worked most of his life in Bruges and was one of the first to research the Early Netherlandish painting (then better known as "Flemish Primitives") extensively. He was also a pioneer in the study of early bookbinding, and a staunch promoter of Gothic Revival architecture.

Biography Weale was born in Marylebone, London, in 1832 as the son of James Weale (died 1838) and Susan de Vezian (died 1855). His father was the librarian to John Baker Holroyd, 1st Earl of Sheffield and had a large book collection of his own. Weale studied at King's College London between 1843 and 1848. He was the headmaster at a school in Islington.

In 1854, he married Helena Amelia Walton, and the next year, after the death of his mother, they moved to Bruges.

In 1865 Weale founded together with Guido Gezelle the magazine Rond den Heerd. The same year, he formed the Société Archéologique in Bruges. Other magazines he founded were Le Beffroi and La Flandre, and he also published in major art and literary magazines such as Athenaeum and the Gazette des Beaux-Arts. 1922: Early stamped bookbindings in the British Museum (completed by Lawrence Taylor after Weale's death)