Chapter 8

=The Drawing Room.=

HISTORY OF THE BIBLIOMANIA, OR ACCOUNT OF BOOK COLLECTORS, CONCLUDED.

Some in Learning's garb With formal hand, and sable-cinctur'd gown, And rags of mouldy volumes.

AKENSIDE; _Pleasures of Imagination_, b. iii., v. 96.

=The Drawing Room.=

HISTORY OF THE BIBLIOMANIA, OR ACCOUNT OF BOOK-COLLECTORS, CONTINUED.

Volatile as the reader may comceive [Transcriber's Note: conceive] the character of Lisardo to be, there were traits in it of marked goodness and merit. His enthusiasm so frequently made him violate the rules of severe politeness; and the quickness with which he flew from one subject to another, might have offended a narrator of the gravity, without the urbanity, of Lysander; had not the frankness with which he confessed his faults, and the warmth with which he always advocated the cause of literature, rendered him amiable in the eyes of those who thoroughly knew him. The friends, whose company he was now enjoying, were fully competent to appreciate his worth. They perceived that Lisardo's mind had been rather brilliantly cultivated; and that, as his heart had always beaten at the call of virtue, so, in a due course of years, his judgment would become matured, and his opinions more decidedly fixed. He had been left, very early in life, without a father, and bred up in the expectation of a large fortune; while the excessive fondness of his mother had endeavoured to supply the want of paternal direction, and had encouraged her child to sigh for every thing short of impossibility for his gratification.

In consequence, Lisardo was placed at College upon the most respectable footing. He wore the velvet cap, and enjoyed the rustling of the tassels upon his silk gown, as he paraded the High street of Oxford. But although he could translate Tacitus and Theocritus with creditable facility, he thought it more advantageous to gratify the cravings of his body than of his mind. He rode high-mettled horses; he shot with a gun which would have delighted an Indian prince; he drank freely out of cut-glasses, which were manufactured according to his own particular taste; and wines of all colours and qualities sparkled upon his table; he would occasionally stroll into the Bodleian Library and Picture Gallery, in order to know whether any acquisitions had been recently made to them; and attended the Concerts when any performer came down from London. Yet, in the midst of all his gaiety, Lisardo passed more sombrous than joyous hours: for when he looked into a book, he would sometimes meet with an electrical sentence from Cicero, Seneca, or Johnson, from which he properly inferred that life was uncertain, and that time was given us to prepare for eternity.

He grew dissatisfied and melancholy. He scrambled through his terms; took his degree; celebrated his anniversary of twenty-one, by drenching his native village in ale which had been brewed at his birth; added two wings to his father's house; launched out into coin and picture collecting; bought fine books with fine bindings; then sold all his coins and pictures; and, at the age of twenty-five, began to read, and think, and act for himself.

At this crisis, he became acquainted with the circle which has already been introduced to the reader's attention; and to which circle the same reader may think it high time now to return.

Upon breaking up for THE DRAWING ROOM, it was amusing to behold the vivacity of Lisardo; who, leaping about Lysander, and expressing his high gratification at the discourse he had already heard, and his pleasure at what he hoped yet to hear, reminded us of what Boswell has said of Garrick, who used to flutter about Dr. Johnson, and try to soften his severity by a thousand winning gestures.

The doors were opened; and we walked into Lorenzo's Drawing Room. The reader is not to figure to himself a hundred fantastical and fugitive pieces of furniture, purchased at Mr. Oakley's, and set off with curtains, carpet, and looking-glasses--at a price which would have maintained a country town of seven hundred poor with bread and soup during the hardest winter--the reader will not suppose that a man of Lorenzo's taste, who called books his best wealth, would devote two thousand pounds to such idle trappings; which in the course of three years, at farthest, would lose their comfort by losing their fashion. But he will suppose that elegance and propriety were equally consulted by our host.

Accordingly, a satin-wood book-case of 14 feet in width and 11 in height, ornamented at the top with a few chaste Etruscan vases--a light blue carpet, upon which were depicted bunches of grey roses, shadowed in brown--fawn-coloured curtains, relieved with yellow silk and black velvet borders--alabaster lamps shedding their soft light upon small marble busts--and sofas and chairs corresponding with the curtains--(and upon which a visitor might sit without torturing the nerves of the owner of them) these, along with some genuine pictures of Wouvermans, Berghem, and Rysdael, and a few other (subordinate) ornaments, formed the furniture of Lorenzo's Drawing Room. As it was _en suite_ with the library, which was fitted up in a grave style or character, the contrast was sufficiently pleasing.

Lisardo ran immediately to the book-case. He first eyed, with a greedy velocity, the backs of the folios and quartos; then the octavos; and, mounting an ingeniously-contrived mahogany rostrum, which moved with the utmost facility, he did not fail to pay due attention to the duodecimos; some of which were carefully preserved in Russia or morocco backs, with water-tabby silk linings, and other appropriate embellishments. In the midst of his book-reverie, he heard, on a sudden, the thrilling notes of a harp--which proceeded from the further end of the library!--it being Lorenzo's custom, upon these occasions, to request an old Welch servant to bring his instrument into the library, and renew, if he could, the strains of "other times." Meanwhile the curtains were "let fall;" the sofa wheeled round;

--and the cups That cheer, but not inebriate,

with "the bubbling and loud hissing urn," "welcomed the evening in." Lorenzo brought from his library a volume of Piranesi, and another of engravings from the heads of Vandyke. Lisardo, in looking at them, beat time with his head and foot; and Philemon and Lysander acknowledged that Dr. Johnson himself could never have so much enjoyed the beverage which was now before them.

If it should here be asked, by the critical reader, why our society is not described as being more congenial, by the presence of those "whom man was born to please," the answer is at once simple and true--Lorenzo was a bachelor; and his sisters, knowing how long and desperate would be our discussion upon the black letter and white letter, had retreated, in the morning, to spend the day with Lisardo's mother--whither ---- ---- had been invited to join them.

The harper had now ceased. The tea-things were moved away; when we narrowed our circle, and, two of us upon the sofa, and three upon chairs, entreated Lysander to resume his narrative; who, after "clearing his pipes (like Sir Roger de Coverley) with a loud hem or two," thus proceeded.

"I think we left off," said Lysander, "with seating HENRY THE EIGHTH upon the throne of England. It will be as well, therefore, to say something of this monarch's pretensions to scholarship and love of books. Although I will not rake together every species of abuse which has been vented against him by one Anthony Gilbie,[291] yet Henry must be severely censured, in the estimation of the most candid inquirer, for that gross indifference which he evinced to the real interests of literature, in calmly suffering the libraries of convents and monasteries to be pillaged by the crafty and rapacious. He was bibliomaniac enough to have a few copies of his own work, in defence of the Roman Catholic exposition of the Sacrament, struck off UPON VELLUM:[292] but when he quarrelled with the Roman pontiff about his divorce from Queen Catharine, in order to marry Anne Boleyn,[293] he sounded the tocsin for the eventful destruction of all monastic libraries: and although he had sent Leland, under an express commission, to make a due examination of them, as well as a statistical survey of the realm, yet, being frustrated in the forementioned darling object, he cared for nothing about books, whether _upon vellum_ or _large paper_. But had we not better speak of the book ravages, during the reformation, in their proper place?"

[Footnote 291: "In the time (saith he) of King HENRIE THE EIGHT, when by Tindall, Frith, Bilney, and other his faithful seruantes, God called England to dresse his vineyarde, many promise ful faire, whome I coulde name, but what fruite followed? Nothing but bitter grapes, yea, bryers and brambles, the wormewood of auarice, the gall of crueltie, the poison of filthie fornication, flowing from head to fote, the contempt of God, and open defence of the cake idole, by open proclamation to be read in the churches in steede of God's Scriptures. Thus was there no reformation, but a deformation, in the time of the tyrant and lecherouse monster. The bore I graunt was busie, wrooting and digging in the earth, and all his pigges that followed him, but they sought onely for the pleasant fruites, that they winded with their long snoutes; and for their own bellies sake, they wrooted up many weeds; but they turned the grounde so, mingling goode and badde togeather, sweet and sower, medecine and poyson, they made, I saye, suche confusion of religion and lawes, that no good thinge could growe, but by great miracle, under suche gardeners. And no maruaile, if it be rightlye considered. For this bore raged against God, against the Divell, against Christe, and against Antichrist, as the fome that he cast oute against Luther, the racing out of the name of the pope, and yet allowing his lawes, and his murder of many Christian souldiars, and of many Papists, doe declare and evidentlie testifie unto us; especially the burning of Barnes, Jerome, and Garrette, their faithfull preachers of the truthe, and hanging the same daye for the maintenaunce of the pope, Poel, Abel, and Fetherstone, dothe clearlie painte his beastlines, that he cared for no religion. This monsterous bore for all this must needes be called the head of the church in paine of treason, displacing Christ, our onely head, who ought alone to haue this title." _Admonition to England and Scotland, &c._, Geneva, 1558, p. 69. Quoted by Stapleton in his _Counter Blaste to Horne's Vayne Blaste_, Lovan., 1567, 4to., fol. 23. Gilbie was a Protestant; upon which Stapleton who was a rigid Roman Catholic, shrewdly remarks in the margin: "See how religiously the Protestantes speak of their princes!"]

[Footnote 292: Mr. Edwards informs me that he has had a copy of the "_Assertio Septem Sacramentorum aduersus Martin Lutherum_," &c. (printed by Pynson in 4to., both with and without date--1521), UPON VELLUM. The presentation copy to Henry, and perhaps another to Wolsey, might have been of this nature. I should have preferred a similar copy of the small book, printed a few years afterwards, in 12mo., of Henry's Letters in answer to Luther's reply to the foregoing work. This is not the place to talk further of these curious pieces. I have seen some of Pynson's books printed upon vellum; which are not remarkable for their beauty.]

[Footnote 293: Those readers who are not in possession of Hearne's rare edition of _Robert de Avesbury_, 1720, 8vo., and who cannot, in consequence, read the passionate letters of Henry VIII. to his beloved Boleyn, which form a leading feature in the Appendix to the same, will find a few extracts from them in the _British Bibliographer_; vol. ii., p. 78. Some of the monarch's signatures, of which Hearne has given fac-similes, are as follow:

When one thinks of the then imagined happiness of the fair object of these epistles--and reads the splendid account of her coronation dinner, by Stow--contrasting it with the melancholy circumstances which attended her death--one is at loss to think, or to speak, with sufficient force, of the fickleness of all sublunary grandeur! The reader may, perhaps, wish for this, "coronation dinner?" It is, in part, strictly as follows: "While the queen was in her chamber, every lord and other that ought to do service at the coronation, did prepare them, according to their duty: as the Duke of Suffolk, High-Steward of England, which was richly apparelled--his doublet and jacket set with orient pearl, his gown crimson velvet embroidered, his courser trapped with a close trapper, head and all, to the ground, of crimson velvet, set full of letters of gold, of goldsmith's work; having a long white rod in his hand. On his left-hand rode the Lord William, deputy for his brother, as Earl Marshall, with ye marshal's rod, whose gown was crimson velvet, and his horse's trapper purple velvet cut on white satin, embroidered with white lions. The Earl of Oxford was High Chamberlain; the Earl of Essex, carver; the Earl of Sussex, sewer; the Earl of Arundel, chief butler; on whom 12 citizens of London did give their attendance at the cupboard; the Earl of Derby, cup-bearer; the Viscount Lisle, panter; the Lord Burgeiny, chief larder; the Lord Broy, almoner for him and his copartners; and the Mayor of Oxford kept the buttery-bar: and Thomas Wyatt was chosen ewerer for Sir Henry Wyatt, his father." "When all things were ready and ordered, THE QUEEN, under her canopy, came into the hall, and washed; and sat down in the middest of the table, under her cloth of estate. On the right side of her chair stood the Countess of Oxford, widow: and on her left hand stood the Countess of Worcester, all the dinner season; which, divers times in the dinner time, did hold a fine cloth before the Queen's face, when she list to spit, or do otherwise at her pleasure. And at the table's end sate the Archbishop of Canterbury, on the right hand of the Queen; and in the midst, between the Archbishop and the Countess of Oxford, stood the Earl of Oxford, with a white staff, all dinner time; and at the Queen's feet, under the table, sate two gentlewomen all dinner time. When all these things were thus ordered, came in the Duke of Suffolk and the Lord William Howard on horseback, and the Serjeants of arms before them, and after them the sewer; and then the knights of the Bath, bringing in the _first course_, which was eight and twenty dishes, besides subtleties, and ships made of wax, marvellous gorgeous to behold: all which time of service, the trumpets standing in the window, at the nether end of the hall, played," &c. _Chronicles_; p. 566: edit. 1615, fol.]

LORENZ. As you please. Perhaps you will go on with the mention of some distinguished patrons 'till you arrive at that period?

LYSAND. Yes; we may now as well notice the efforts of that extraordinary _bibliomaniacal triumvirate_, Colet, More, and Erasmus.

PHIL. Pray treat copiously of them. They are my great favourites. But can you properly place Erasmus in the list?

LYSAND. You forget that he made a long abode here, and was Greek professor at Cambridge. To begin, then, with the former. COLET, as you well know, was Dean of St. Paul's; and founder of the public school which goes by the latter name. He had an ardent and general love of literature;[294] but his attention to the improvement of youth, in superintending appropriate publications, for their use, was unremitting. Few men did so much and so well, at this period: for while he was framing the statutes by which his little community was to be governed, he did not fail to keep the presses of Wynkyn De Worde and Pynson pretty constantly at work, by publishing the grammatical treatises of Grocyn, Linacre, Stanbridge, Lilye, Holte, Whittington, and others--for the benefit, as well of the public, as of his own particular circle. I take it, his library must have been both choice and copious; for books now began to be multiplied in an immense ratio, and scholars and men of rank thought _a Study_, or _Library_, of some importance to their mansions. What would we not give for an authenticated representation of Dean Colet in his library,[295] surrounded with books? You, Lisardo, would be in ecstacies with such a thing!

[Footnote 294: How anxiously does COLET seem to have watched the progress, and pushed the sale, of his friend Erasmus's first edition of the Greek Testament! "Quod scribis de Novo Testamento intelligo. Et libri novae editionis tuae _hic avide emuntur et passim leguntur_!" The entire epistle (which may be seen in Dr. Knight's dry Life of Colet, p. 315) is devoted to an account of Erasmus's publications. "I am really astonished, my dear Erasmus (does he exclaim), at the fruitfulness of your talents; that, without any fixed residence, and with a precarious and limited income, you contrive to publish so many and such excellent works." Adverting to the distracted state of Germany at this period, and to the wish of his friend to live secluded and unmolested, he observes--"As to the tranquil retirement which you sigh for, be assured that you have my sincere wishes for its rendering you as happy and composed as you can wish it. Your age and erudition entitle you to such a retreat. I fondly hope, indeed, that you will choose this country for it, and come and live amongst us, whose disposition you know, and whose friendship you have proved." There is hardly a more curious picture of the custom of the times relating to the education of boys, than the Dean's own Statutes for the regulation of St. Paul's School, which he had founded. These shew, too, the _popular books_ then read by the learned. "The children shall come unto the school in the morning at seven of the clock, both winter and summer, and tarry there until eleven; and return again at one of the clock, and depart at five, &c. In the school, no time in the year, they shall use tallow candle, in no wise, but _only wax candle_, at the costs of their friends. Also I will they bring no meat nor drink, nor bottle, nor use in the school no breakfasts, nor drinkings, in the time of learning, in no wise, &c. I will they use no cockfighting, nor riding about of victory, nor disputing at Saint Bartholomew, which is but foolish babbling and loss of time." The master is then restricted, under the penalty of 40 shillings, from granting the boys a holiday, or "remedy" (play-day), as it is here called, "except the king, an archbishop, or a bishop, present in his own person in the school, desire it." The studies for the lads were "Erasmus's _Copia_ et _Institutum Christiani Hominii_ (composed at the Dean's request), _Lactantius_, _Prudentius_, _Juvencus_, _Proba_ and _Sedulius_, and _Baptista Mantuanus_, and such other as shall be thought convenient and most to purpose unto the true Latin speech; all barbary, all corruption, all Latin adulterate, which ignorant blind fools brought into this world, and with the same hath distained and poisoned the old Latin speech, and the _veray_ Roman tongue, which in the time of Tully, and Sallust, and Virgil, and Terence, was used--I say, that filthiness, and all such abusion, which the later blind world brought in, which more rather may be called BLOTERATURE than LITERATURE, I utterly banish and exclude out of THIS SCHOOL." Knight's _Life of Colet_, 362, 4. The sagacious reader will naturally enough conclude that boys, thus educated, would, afterwards, of necessity, fall victims to the ravages of the BIBLIOMANIA!]

[Footnote 295: I wish it were in my power to come forward with any stronger degree of probability than the exhibition of the subjoined cut, of what might have been the interior of _Dean Colet's Study_. This print is taken from an old work, printed in the early part of the sixteenth century, and republished in a book of Alciatus's emblems, translated from the Latin into Italian, A.D. 1549, 8vo. There is an air of truth about it; but the frame work is entirely modern, and perhaps not in the purest taste. It may turn out that this interior view of a private library is somewhat too perfect and finished for the times of Colet, in this country; especially if we may judge from the rules to be observed in completing a public one, just about the period of Colet's death: "Md. couenawntyd and agreid wyth Comell Clerke, for the making off the dextis in the library, (of Christ Church College, Oxford) to the summe off xvi, after the maner and forme as they be in Magdalyn college, except the popie heedes off the seites, this to be workmanly wrought and clenly, and he to have all manner off stooff foond hym, and to have for the makyng off one dexte xs. the sum off the hole viii. li. Item: borowd att Magdaleyn college one c. off v. d nayle, a c. off vi. d nayle, dim. c. x. d. nayle."--_Antiquities of Glastonbury_; edit. Hearne, p. 307.

LIS. Pray don't make such tantalizing appeals to me! Proceed, proceed.

LYSAND. Of this amiable and illustrious character I will only further observe that he possessed solid, good sense--unaffected and unshaken piety--a love towards the whole human race--and that he dignified his attachment to learning by the conscientious discharge of his duty towards God and man. He sleeps in peace beneath a monument, which has been consecrated by the tears of all who were related to him, and by the prayers of those who have been benefitted by his philanthropy.

Of SIR THOMAS MORE,[296] where is the schoolboy that is ignorant? He was unquestionably, next to Erasmus, the most brilliant scholar of his age: while the precious biographical memoirs of him, which have luckily descended to us, place his character, in a domestic point of view, beyond that of all his contemporaries. Dr. Wordsworth[297] has well spoken of "the heavenly mindedness" of More: but how are bibliomaniacs justly to appreciate the classical lore, and incessantly-active book-pursuits,[298] of this scholar and martyr! How he soared "above his compeers!" How richly, singularly, and curiously, was his mind furnished! Wit, playfulness, elevation, and force--all these are distinguishable in his writings, if we except his polemical compositions; which latter, to speak in the gentlest terms, are wholly unworthy of his name. When More's head was severed from his body, virtue and piety exclaimed, in the language of Erasmus,--"He is dead: More, whose breast was purer than snow, whose genius was excellent above all his nation."[299]

[Footnote 296: In the first volume of my edition of SIR THOMAS MORE'S _Utopia_, the reader will find an elaborate and faithful account of the biographical publications relating to this distinguished character, together with a copious _Catalogue Raisonne_ of the engraved portraits of him, and an analysis of his English works. It would be tedious to both the reader and author, here to repeat what has been before written of Sir Thomas More--whose memory lives in every cultivated bosom. Of this edition of the Utopia there appeared a flimsy and tart censure in the _Edinburgh Review_, by a critic, who, it was manifest, had never examined the volumes, and who, when he observes upon the fidelity of Bishop Burnet's translation of the original Latin of More, was resolved, from pure love of Whiggism, to defend an author at the expense of truth.]

[Footnote 297: I have read this newly published biographical memoir of Sir Thomas More: which contains nothing very new, or deserving of particular notice in this place.]

[Footnote 298: A bibliomanical anecdote here deserves to be recorded; as it shews how More's love of books had infected even those who came to seize upon him to carry him to the Tower, and to endeavour to inveigle him into treasonable expressions:--"While Sir Richard Southwell and Mr. Palmer were bussie in _trussinge upp his bookes_, Mr. Riche, pretending," &c.--"Whereupon Mr. Palmer, on his desposition, said, that he was soe bussie about the _trussinge upp Sir Tho. Moore's bookes_ in a sacke, that he tooke no heed to there talke. Sir Richard Southwell likewise upon his disposition said, that because he was appoynted only to looke to the conveyance _of his bookes_, he gave noe ear unto them."--_Gulielmi Roperi Vita D.T. Mori_; edit Herne, p. 47, 51.]

[Footnote 299: Epistle Dedicatory to Ecclesiastes: quoted in that elegant and interesting quarto volume of the "_Lives of British Statesmen_," by the late Mr. Macdiarmid; p. 117.]

How can I speak, with adequate justice, of the author of these words!--Yes, ERASMUS!--in spite of thy timidity, and sometimes, almost servile compliances with the capricious whims of the great; in spite of thy delicate foibles, thou shalt always live in my memory; and dear to me shall be the possession of thy intellectual labours! No pen has yet done justice to thy life.[300] How I love to trace thee, in all thy bookish pursuits, from correcting the press of thy beloved Froben, to thy social meetings with Colet and More! You remember well, Lisardo,--we saw, in yonder room, a _large paper_ copy of the fine Leyden edition of this great man's works! You opened it; and were struck with the variety--the solidity, as well as gaiety, of his productions.

[Footnote 300: It were much to be wished that Mr. Roscoe, who has so successfully turned his attention to the history of _Italian Literature_, of the period of Erasmus, would devote himself to the investigation of the philological history of the German schools, and more especially to the literary life of the great man of whom Lysander is above speaking. The biographical memoirs of Erasmus by Le Clerc, anglicised and enlarged by the learned Jortin, and Dr. Knight's life of the same, can never become popular. They want method, style and interest. Le Clerc, however, has made ample amends for the defectiveness of his biographical composition, by the noble edition of Erasmus's works which he put forth at Leyden, in the year 1703-6, in eleven volumes folio: of which volumes the reader will find an excellent analysis or review in the _Act. Erudit._, A.D. 1704, &c. Le Clerc, _Bibl. Choisie_, vol. i., 380; Du Pin's _Bibl. Eccles._, vol. xiv., and _Biblioth. Fabric_, pt. i., 359; from which latter we learn that, in the public library, at Deventer, there is a copy of Erasmus's works, in which those passages, where the author speaks freely of the laxity of the monkish character, have been defaced, "charta fenestrata." A somewhat more compressed analysis of the contents of these volumes appeared in the _Sylloge Opusculorum Hist.-Crit., Literariorum, J.A. Fabricii, Hamb._ 1738, 4to., p. 363, 378--preceded, however, by a pleasing, yet brief account of the leading features of Erasmus's literary life. Tn one of his letters to Colet, Erasmus describes himself as "a very poor fellow in point of fortune, and wholly exempt from ambition." A little before his death he sold his library to one John a Lasco, a Polonese, for only 200 florins. (Of this amiable foreigner, see Stypye's [Transcriber's Note: Strype's] _Life of Crammer_ [Transcriber's Note: Cranmer]; b. ii., ch. xxii.) Nor did he--notwithstanding his services to booksellers--and although every press was teeming with his lucubrations--and especially that of Colinaeeus--(which alone put forth 24,000 copies of his _Colloquies_) ever become much the wealthier for his talents as an author. His bibliomaniacal spirit was such, that he paid most liberally those who collated or described works of which he was in want. In another of his letters, he declares that "he shall not recieve [Transcriber's Note: receive] an _obolus_ that year; as he had spent more than what he had gained in rewarding those who had made book-researches for him;" and he complains, after being five months at Cambridge, that he had, fruitlessly, spent upwards of fifty crowns. "Noblemen," says he, "love and praise literature, and my lucubrations; but they praise and do not reward." To his friend Eobanus Hessus (vol. vi., 25), he makes a bitter complaint "de Comite quodam." For the particulars, see the last mentioned authority, p. 363, 4. In the year 1519, Godenus, to whom Erasmus had bequeathed a silver bowl, put forth a facetious catalogue of his works, in hexameter and pentameter verses; which was printed at Louvain by Martin, without date, in 4to.; and was soon succeeded by two more ample and methodical ones by the same person in 1537, 4to.; printed by Froben and Episcopius. See Marchand's _Dict. Bibliogr. et Histor._, vol. i., p. 98, 99. The bibliomaniac may not object to be informed that Froben, shortly after the death of his revered Erasmus, put forth this first edition of the entire works of the latter, in nine folio volumes; and that accurate and magnificent as is Le Clerc's edition of the same (may I venture to hint at the rarity of LARGE PAPER copies of it?), "it takes no notice of the _Index Expurgatorius_ of the early edition of Froben, which has shown a noble art of curtailing this, as well as other authors." See _Knight's Life of Erasmus_, p. 353. The mention of Froben and Erasmus, thus going down to immortality together, induces me to inform the curious reader that my friend Mr. Edwards is possessed of a chaste and elegant painting, by Fuseli, of this distinguished author and printer--the portraits being executed after the most authentic representations. Erasmus is in the act of calmly correcting the press, while Froben is urging with vehemence some emendations which he conceives to be of consequence, but to which his master seems to pay no attention! And now having presented the reader (p. 221, ante) with the _supposed_ study of Colet, nothing remains but to urge him to enter in imagination, with myself, into the _real_ study of Erasmus; of which we are presented with the exterior in the following view--taken from Dr. Knight's _Life of Erasmus_; p. 124.

I shall conclude this ERASMIANA (if the reader will premit [Transcriber's Note: permit] me so to entitle it) with a wood-cut exhibition of a different kind: it being perhaps the earliest portrait of Erasmus published in this country. It is taken from a work entitled, "_The Maner and Forme of Confesion_," printed by Byddell [Transcriber's Note: Byddel], in 8vo., without date; and is placed immediately under an address from Erasmus, to Moline, Bishop of Condome; dated 1524; in which the former complains bitterly of "the pain and grief of the reins of his back." The print is taken from a tracing of the original, made by me, from a neat copy of Byddel's edition, in the collection of Roger Wilbraham, Esq. I am free to confess that it falls a hundred degrees short of Albert Durer's fine print of him, executed A.D. 1526.

LIS. Let me go and bring it here! While you talk thus, I long to feast my eyes upon these grand books.

LYSAND. You need not. Nor must I give to Erasmus a greater share of attention than is due to him. We have a large and varied field--or rather domain--yet to pass over. Wishing, therefore, Lorenzo speedily to purchase a small bronze figure of him, from the celebrated large one at Rotterdam, and to place the same upon a copy of his first edition of the _Greek Testament_ printed _upon vellum_,[301] by way of a pedestal--I pass on to the notice of other bibliomaniacs of this period.

[Footnote 301: In the library of York cathedral there is a copy of the first edition of Erasmus's Greek and Latin Testament, 1516, fol., struck off UPON VELLUM. This, I believe, was never before generally known.]

Subdued be every harsher feeling towards WOLSEY, when we contemplate even the imperfect remains of his literary institutions which yet survive! That this chancellor and cardinal had grand views, and a magnificent taste, is unquestionable: and I suppose few libraries contained more beautiful or more numerous copies of precious volumes than his own. For, when in favour with his royal master, Henry VIII., Wolsey had, in all probability, such an ascendency over him as to coax from him almost every choice book which he had inherited from his father, Henry VII.; and thus I should apprehend, although no particular mention is made of his library in the inventories of his goods[302] which have been published, there can be no question about such a character as that of Wolsey having numerous copies of the choicest books, bound in velvet of all colours, embossed with gold or silver, and studded even with precious stones! I conceive that his own _Prayer Book_ must have been gorgeous in the extreme! Unhappy man--a pregnant and ever-striking example of the fickleness of human affairs, and of the instability of human grandeur! When we think of thy baubles and trappings--of thy goblets of gold, and companies of retainers--and turn our thoughts to Shakspeare's shepherd, as described in the soliloquy of one of our monarchs, we are fully disposed to admit the force of such truths as have been familiar to us from boyhood, and which tell us that those shoulders feel the most burdened upon which the greatest load of responsibility rests. Peace to the once proud, and latterly repentant, spirit of Wolsey!

[Footnote 302: In the last _Variorum edition of Shakspeare_, 1803, vol. xv., p. 144, we are referred by Mr. Douce to "the particulars of this inventory at large, in Stowe's _Chronicle_, p. 546, edit. 1631:" my copy of Stowe is of the date of 1615; but, not a syllable is said of it in the place here referred to, or at any other page; although the account of Wolsey is ample and interesting. Mr. Douce (_ibid._) says that, among the _Harl. MSS._ (no. 599) there is one entitled "An Inventorie of Cardinal Wolsey's rich householde stuffe; temp. Hen. VIII.; the original book, as it seems, kept by his own officers." In Mr. Gutch's _Collectanea Curiosa_, vol. ii., 283-349, will be found a copious account of Wolsey's plate:--too splendid, almost, for belief. To a life and character so well known as are those of Wolsey, and upon which Dr. Fiddes has published a huge folio of many hundred pages, the reader will not here expect any additional matter which may convey much novelty or interest. The following, however, may be worth submitting to his consideration. The Cardinal had poetical, as well as political, enemies. Skelton and Roy, who did not fail to gall him with their sharp lampoons, have shewn us, by their compositions which have survived, that they were no despicable assailants. In the former's "_Why come ye not to Court?_" we have this caustic passage:

He is set so high In his hierarchy Of frantic _frenesy_ And foolish fantasy, That in chamber of stars All matters there he mars, Clapping his rod on the _borde_ No man dare speake a word; For he hath all the saying Without any _renaying_: He rolleth in his records He saith: "How say ye my lords? Is not my reason good?" Good!--even good--Robin-hood? Borne upon every side _With pomp and with pride, &c._ To drink and for to eat Sweet _ypocras_, and sweet meat, To keep his flesh chaste In Lent, for his repast He eateth capons stew'd Pheasant and partidge mewed.

WARTON'S _Hist. Engl. Poetry_, vol. ii., 345.

Steevens has also quoted freely from this poem of Skelton; see the editions of _Shakspeare_, 1793, and 1803, in the play of "King Henry VIII." Skelton's satire against Wolsey is noticed by our chronicler Hall: "In this season, the cardinal, by his power legantine, dissolved the convocation at Paul's, called by the Archbishop of Canterbury; and called him and all the clergy to his convocation to Westminster, which was never seen before in England; whereof Master Skelton, a merry poet, wrote:

Gentle Paul lay down thy _sweard_ For Peter of Westminster hath shaven thy beard."

_Chronicle_, p. 637, edit. 1809.

In Mr. G. Ellis's _Specimens of the Early English Poets_, vol. ii., pp. 7, 8, there is a curious extract from the same poet's "_Image of Ypocrycye_"--relating to Sir Thomas More--which is printed for the first time from "an apparently accurate transcript" of the original, in the possession of Mr. Heber. From the last mentioned work (vol. ii., p. 11, &c.), there is rather a copious account of a yet more formidable poetical attack against Wolsey, in the "_Rede me and be not wroth_," of William Roy: a very rare and precious little black-letter volume, which, although it has been twice printed, is scarcely ever to be met with, and was unknown to Warton. It will, however, make its appearance in one of the supplemental volumes of Mr. Park's valuable reprint of the _Harleian Miscellany_. While the cardinal was thus attacked, in the biting strains of poetry, he was doomed to experience a full share of reprobation in the writings of the most popular theologians. William Tyndale stepped forth to shew his zeal against papacy in his "_Practise of Popishe Prelates_," and from this work, as it is incorporated in those of Tyndale, Barnes, and Frith, printed by Day in 1572, fol., the reader is presented with the following amusing specimen of the author's vein of humour and indignation: "And as I heard it spoken of divers, he made, by craft of necromancy, graven imagery to bear upon him; wherewith he bewitched the king's mind--and made the king to doat upon him, more than he ever did on any lady or gentlewoman: so that now the king's grace followed him, as he before followed the king. And then what he said, that was wisdom; what he praised, that was honourable only." Practise of Popishe Prelates, p. 368. At p. 369, he calls him "Porter of Heaven." "There he made a journey of gentlemen, arrayed altogether in silks, so much as their very shoes and lining of their boots; more like their mothers than men of war: yea, I am sure that many of their mothers would have been ashamed of so nice and wanton array. Howbeit, they went not to make war, but peace, for ever and a day longer. But to speak of the pompous apparel of my lord himself, and of his chaplains, it passeth the xij Apostles. I dare swear that if Peter and Paul had seen them suddenly, and at a blush, they would have been harder in belief that they, or any such, should be their successors than Thomas Didimus was to believe that Christ was risen again from death." _Idem_, p. 370,--"for the worship of his hat and glory of his precious shoes--when he was pained with the cholic of an evil conscience, having no other shift, because his soul could find no other issue,--he took himself a medicine, _ut emitteret spiritum per posteriora_." Exposition upon the first Ep. of St. John, p. 404. Thomas Lupset, who was a scholar of Dean Colet, and a sort of _eleve_ of the cardinal, (being appointed tutor to a bastard son of the latter) could not suppress his sarcastical feelings in respect of Wolsey's pomp and severity of discipline. From Lupset's works, printed by Berthelet in 1546, 12mo., I gather, in his address to his "hearty beloved Edmond"--that "though he had there with him plenty of books, yet the place suffered him not to spend in them any study: for you shall understand (says he) that I lie waiting on my LORD CARDINAL, whose hours I must observe to be always at hand, lest I should be called when I am not by: the which should be taken for a fault of great negligence. Wherefore, that I am now well satiated with the beholding of these gay hangings, that garnish here every wall, I will turn me and talk with you." (_Exhortacion to yonge men_, fol. 39, rev.) Dr. Wordsworth, in the first volume of his _Ecclesiastical Biography_, has printed, for the first time, the genuine text of Cavendish's interesting life of his reverend master, Wolsey. It is well worth perusal. But the reader, I fear, is beginning to be outrageous (having kept his patience, during this long-winded note, to the present moment) for some _bibliomaniacal_ evidence of Wolsey's attachment to gorgeous books. He is presented, therefore, with the following case in point. My friend Mr. Ellis, of the British Museum, informs me that, in the splendid library of that establishment, there are two copies of Galen's "_Methodus Medendi_," edited by Linacre, and printed at Paris, in folio, 1519. One copy, which belonged to Henry the Eighth, has an illuminated title, with the royal arms at the bottom of the title-page. The other, which is also illuminated, has the cardinal's cap in the same place, above an empty shield. Before the dedication to the king, in the latter copy, Linacre has inserted an elegant Latin epistle to WOLSEY, in manuscript. The king's copy is rather the more beautiful of the two: but the _unique_ appendage of the Latin epistle shews that the editor considered the cardinal a more distinguished bibliomaniac than the monarch.]

We have now reached the REFORMATION; upon which, as Burnet, Collier, and Strype, have written huge folio volumes, it shall be my object to speak sparingly: and chiefly as it concerns the history of the Bibliomania. A word or two, however, about its origin, spirit, and tendency.

It seems to have been at first very equivocal, with Henry the Eighth, whether he would take any decisive measures in the affair, or not. He hesitated, resolved, and hesitated again.[303] The creature of caprice and tyranny, he had neither fixed principles, nor settled data, upon which to act. If he had listened to the temperate advice of CROMWELL or CRANMER,[304] he would have attained his darling object by less decisive, but certainly by more justifiable, means. Those able and respectable counsellors saw clearly that violent measures would produce violent results; and that a question of law, of no mean magnitude, was involved in the very outset of the transaction--for there seemed, on the one side, no right to possess; and, on the other, no right to render possession.[305]

[Footnote 303: "The king seemed to think that his subjects owed an entire resignation of their reasons and consciences to him; and, as he was highly offended with those who still adhered to the papal authority, so he could not bear the haste that some were making to a further reformation, before or beyond his allowance. So, in the end of the year 1538, he set out a proclamation, in which he prohibits the importing of all foreign books, or the printing of any at home without license; and the printing of any parts of the scripture, 'till they were examined by the king and his council," &c. "He requires that none may argue against the presence of Christ in the Sacrament, under the pain of death, and of the loss of their goods; and orders all to be punished who did disuse any rites or ceremonies not then abolished; yet he orders them only to be observed without superstition, only as remembrances, and not to repose in them a trust of salvation."--Burnet's _Hist. of the Reformation_. But long before this obscure and arbitrary act was passed, Henry's mind had been a little shaken against papacy from a singular work, published by one Fish, called "_The Supplication of Beggers_." Upon this book being read through in the presence of Henry, the latter observed, shrewdly enough, "If a man should pull down an old stone wall, and begin at the lower part, the upper part thereof might chance to fall upon his head." "And then he took the book, and put it into his desk, and commanded them, upon their allegiance, that they should not tell to any man that he had seen this book." Fox's _Book of Martyrs_; vol. ii., p. 280: edit. 1641. Sir Thomas More answered this work (which depicted, in frightful colours, the rapacity of the Roman Catholic clergy), in 1529; see my edition of the latter's _Utopia_; vol. i., xciii.]

[Footnote 304: "These were some of the resolute steps King Henry made towards the obtaining again this long struggled for, and almost lost, right and prerogative of kings, in their own dominions, of being supreme, against the encroachments of the bishops of Rome. Secretary CROMWEL had the great stroke in all this. All these counsels and methods were struck out of his head." Strype's _Ecclesiastical Memorials_; vol. i., p. 205. When great murmurs ensued, on the suppression of the monasteries, because of the cessation of hospitality exercised in them, "CROMWELL advised the king to sell their lands, at very easie rates, to the gentry in the several counties, obliging them, since they had them upon such terms, to keep up the wonted hospitality. This drew in the gentry apace," &c. Burnet's _Hist. of the Reformation_; vol. i., p. 223. "ARCHBISHOP CRANMER is said to have counselled and pressed the king to dissolve the monasteries; but for other ends (than those of personal enmity against 'the monks or friars'--or of enriching himself 'with the spoils' of the same); viz. that, out of the revenues of these monasteries, the king might found more bishoprics; and that dioceses, being reduced into less compass, the diocesans might the better discharge their office, according to the scripture and primitive rules.----And the archbishop hoped that, from these ruins, there would be new foundations in every cathedral erected, to be nurseries of learning for the use of the whole diocese." Strype's _Life of Archbishop Cranmer_, p. 35.]

[Footnote 305: "A very rational doubt yet remained, how religious persons could alienate and transfer to the king a property, of which they themselves were only tenants for life: and an act of parliament was framed in order to remove all future scruples on this head, and 'settle rapine and sacrilege,' as Lord Herbert terms them, 'on the king and his heirs for ever.'----It does not appear to have been debated, in either house, whether they had a power to dispossess some hundred thousand persons of their dwellings and fortunes, whom, a few years before, they had declared to be good subjects: if such as live well come under that denomination."--"Now," says Sir Edward Coke, "observe the conclusion of this tragedy. In that very parliament, when the great and opulent priory of St. John of Jerusalem was given to the king, and which was the last monastery seized on, he demanded a fresh subsidy of the clergy and laity: he did the same again within two years; and again three years after; and since the dissolution exacted great loans, and against law obtained them."--_Life of Reginald Pole_; vol. i., p. 247-9: edit. 1767, 8vo. Coke's 4th _Institute_, fol. 44.]

LATIMER, more hasty and enthusiastic than his episcopal brethren, set all the engines of his active mind to work, as if to carry the point by a _coup de main_; and although his resolution was, perhaps, upon more than one occasion, shaken by the sufferings of the innocent, yet, by his example, and particularly by his sermons,[306] he tried to exasperate every Protestant bosom against the occupiers of monasteries and convents.

[Footnote 306: "It was once moved by LATYMER, the good bishop of Worcester, that two or three of these foundations might be spared in each diocese, for the sake of hospitality. Which gave the foresaid bishop occasion to move the Lord Crumwell once in the behalf of the _Priory of Malvern_." Strype's _Ecclesiastical Memorials_, vol. i., 259. Latimer's letter is here printed; and an interesting one it is. Speaking of the prior, he tells Cromwell that "The man is old, a good housekeeper, feedeth many; and that, daily. For the country is poor, and full of penury." But the hospitality and infirmities of this poor prior were less likely to operate graciously upon the rapacious mind of Henry than "the 500 marks to the king, and 200 marks more to the said Lord Crumwell," which he tendered at the same time. See Strype, _ibid._ For the credit of Latimer, I hope this worthy prior was not at the head of the priory when the former preached before the king, and thus observed: "To let pass the _solempne_ and nocturnal bacchanals, the prescript miracles, that are done upon certain days in the West part of England, who hath not heard? I think ye have heard of Saint _Blesis's_ heart, which is _at Malvern_, and of Saint Algar's bones, how long they deluded the people!" See Latimer's _Sermons_: edit. 1562, 4to.: fol. 12, rect. In these Sermons, as is justly said above, there are many cutting philippics--especially against "in-preaching prelates;" some of whom Latimer doth not scruple to call "minters--dancers--crouchers--pamperers of their paunches, like a monk that maketh his jubilee--mounchers in their mangers, and moilers in their gay manors and mansions:" see fol. 17, rect. Nevertheless, there are few productions which give us so lively and interesting a picture of the manners of the age as the SERMONS OF LATIMER; which were spoilt in an "_editio castrata_" that appeared in the year 1788, 8vo. But Latimer was not the only popular preacher who directed his anathemas against the Roman Catholic clergy. The well known JOHN FOX entered into the cause of the reformation with a zeal and success of which those who have slightly perused his compositions can have but a very inadequate idea. The following curious (and I may add very interesting) specimen of Fox's pulpit eloquence is taken from "_A Sermon of Christ crucified, preached at Paule's Crosse, the Friday before Easter, commonly called Good Fridaie_:"--"Let me tell you a story, which I remember was done about the beginning of Queen Mary's reign, anno 1554. There was a certain message sent, not from heaven, but from Rome: not from God, but from the pope: not by any apostle, but by a certain cardinal, who was called Cardinal Poole, Legatus a latere, Legatus natus, a legate from the pope's own white side, sent hither into England. This cardinal legate, first coming to Dover, was honourably received and brought to Greenwich: where he again, being more honourably received by lords of high estate, and of the Privy Council (of whom some are yet alive) was conducted thence to the privy stairs of the queen's court at Westminster, no less person than King Philip himself waiting upon him, and receiving him; and so was brought to the queen's great chamber, she then being, or else pretending, not to be well at ease. Stephen Gardiner, the bishop of Winchester, and Lord Chancellor of England, receiving this noble legate in the king and the queen's behalf, to commend and set forth the authority of this legate, the greatness of his message, and the supreme majesty of the sender, before the public audience of the whole parliament at that time assembled, there openly protested, with great solemnity of words, what a mighty message, and of what great importance was then brought into the realm, even the greatest message (said he) that ever came into England, and therefore desired them to give attentive and inclinable ears to such a famous legation, sent from so high authority." "Well, and what message was this? forsooth, that the realm of England should be reconciled again unto their father the pope; that is to say, that the queen, with all her nobility and sage council, with so many learned prelates, discreet lawyers, worthy commons, and the whole body of the realm of England, should captive themselves, and become underlings to an Italian stranger, and friarly priest, sitting in Rome, which never knew England, never was here, never did, or shall do, England good. And this forsooth (said Gardiner) was the greatest ambassage, the weightiest legacy that ever came to England: forgetting belike either this message of God, sent here by his apostles unto vs, or else because he saw it made not so much for his purpose as did the other, he made the less account thereof." "Well, then, and will we see what a weighty message this was that Gardiner so exquisitely commended? first, the sender is gone, the messenger is gone, the queen is gone, and the message gone, and yet England standeth not a rush the better. Of which message I thus say, answering again to Gardiner, _per inversionem Rhetoricam_, that, as he sayeth, it was the greatest--so I say again, it was the lightest--legacy; the most ridiculous trifle, and most miserablest message, of all other that ever came, or ever shall come, to England, none excepted, for us to be reconciled to an outlandish priest, and to submit our necks under a foreign yoke. What have we to do more with him than with the great Calypha of Damascus? If reconciliation ought to follow, where offences have risen, the pope hath offended us more than his coffers are able to make us amends. We never offended him. But let the pope, with his reconciliation and legates, go, as they are already gone (God be thanked): and I beseech God so they may be gone, that they never come here again. England never fared better than when the pope did most curse it. And yet I hear whispering of certain privy reconcilers, sent of late by the pope, which secretly creep in corners. But this I leave to them that have to do with all. Let us again return to our matter."--_Imprinted by Jhon Daie_, &c., 1575, 8vo., sign. A. vij.-B. i.]

With Henry, himself, the question of spiritual supremacy was soon changed, or merged (as the lawyers call it) into the exclusive consideration of adding to his wealth. The Visitors who had been deputed to inspect the abbies, and to draw up reports of the same (some of whom, by the bye, conducted themselves with sufficient baseness[307]), did not fail to inflame his feelings by the tempting pictures which they drew of the riches appertaining to these establishments.[308] Another topic was also strongly urged upon Henry's susceptible mind: the alleged abandoned lives of the owners of them. These were painted with a no less overcharged pencil:[309] so that nothing now seemed wanting but to set fire to the train of combustion which had been thus systematically laid.

[Footnote 307: Among the visitors appointed to carry into execution the examination of the monasteries, was a Dr. London; who "was afterwards not only a persecutor of Protestants, but a suborner of false witnesses against them, and was now zealous even to officiousness in suppressing the monasteries. He also studied to frighten the abbess of Godstow into a resignation. She was particularly in Cromwell's favour:" &c. Burnet: _Hist. of the Reformation_, vol. iii., p. 132. Among Burnet's "Collection of Records," is the letter of this said abbess, in which she tells Cromwell that "Doctor London was suddenly _cummyd_ unto her, with a great rout with him; and there did threaten her and her sisters, saying that he had the king's commission to suppress the house, spite of her teeth. And when he saw that she was content that he should do all things according to his commission, and shewed him plain that she would never surrender to his band, being her ancient enemy--then he began to entreat her and to inveigle her sisters, one by one, otherwise than ever she heard tell that any of the king's subjects had been handel'd;" vol. iii., p. 130. "Collection." It is not very improbable that this treatment of Godstow nunnery formed a specimen of many similar visitations. As to London himself, he ended his days in the Fleet, after he had been adjudged to ride with his face to the horse's tail, at Windsor and Oakingham. Fox in his _Book of Martyrs_, has given us a print of this transaction; sufficiently amusing. Dod, in his _Church History_, vol. i., p. 220, has of course not spared Dr. London. But see, in particular, Fuller's shrewd remarks upon the character of these visitors, or "emissaries;" _Church History_, b. vi., pp. 313, 314.]

[Footnote 308: "The yearly revenue of all the abbies suppressed is computed at L135,522_l._ 18_s._ 10_d._ Besides this, the money raised out of the stock of cattle and corn, out of the timber, lead, and bells; out of the furniture, plate, and church ornaments, amounted to a vast sum, as may be collected from what was brought off from the monastery of St. Edmonsbury. Hence, as appears from records, 5000 marks of gold and silver, besides several jewels of great value, were seized by the visitors." Collier's _Ecclesiastical History_, vol. ii., 165. See also Burnet's similar work, vol. i., p. 223. Collier specifies the valuation of certain monasteries, which were sufficiently wealthy; but he has not noticed that of St. Swithin's in Winchester--of which Strype has given so minute and interesting an inventory. A lover of old coins and relics may feed his imagination with a gorgeous picture of what might have been the "massive silver and golden crosses and shrines garnished with stones"--but a tender-hearted bibliomaniac will shed tears of agony on thinking of the fate of "A BOOK OF THE FOUR EVANGELISTS, WRITTEN AL WITH GOLD; AND THE UTTER SIDE OF PLATE OF GOLD!" _Life of Cranmer_, _Appendix_, pp. 24-28.]

[Footnote 309: The amiable and candid Strype has polluted the pages of his valuable _Ecclesiastical Memorials_ with an account of such horrid practices, supposed to have been carried on in monasteries, as must startle the most credulous Anti-Papist; and which almost leads us to conclude that _a legion of fiends_ must have been let loose upon these "Friar Rushes!" The author tells us that he takes his account from authentic documents--but these documents turn out to be the letters of the visitors; and of the character of one of these the reader has just had a sufficient proof. Those who have the work here referred to, vol. i., p. 256-7, may think, with the author of it, that "this specimen is enough and too much." What is a little to be marvelled at, Strype suffers his prejudices against the conduct of the monks to be heightened by a letter from one of the name of Beerly, at Pershore; who, in order that he might escape the general wreck, turned tail upon his brethren, and vilified them as liberally as their professed enemies had done. Now, to say the least, this was not obtaining what Chief Baron Gilbert, in his famous Law of Evidence, has laid it down as necessary to be obtained--"the best possible evidence that the nature of the case will admit of." It is worth remarking that Fuller has incorporated a particular account of the names of the abbots and of the carnal enormities of which they are supposed to have been guilty; but he adds that he took it from the 3d edition of Speed's _Hist. of Great Britain_, and (what is worth special notice) that it was not to be found in the prior ones: "being a posthume addition after the author's death, attested in the margine with the authority of Henry Steven his _Apologie for Herodotus_, who took the same out of an English book, containing the _Vileness discovered at the Visitation of Monasteries_." _Church History_, b. vi., pp. 316, 317.]

A pause perhaps of one moment might have ensued. A consideration of what had been done, in these monasteries, for the preservation of the literature of past ages, and for the cultivation of elegant and peaceful pursuits, might, like "the still small voice" of conscience, have suspended, for a second, the final sentence of confiscation. The hospitality for which the owners of these places had been, and were then, eminently distinguished; but more especially the yet higher consideration of their property having been left with them only as a sacred pledge to be handed down, unimpaired, to their successors--these things,[310] one would think, might have infused some little mercy and moderation into Henry's decrees!

[Footnote 310: There are two points, concerning the subversion of monasteries, upon which all sensible Roman Catholics make a rest, and upon which they naturally indulge a too well-founded grief. The dispersion of books or interruption of study; and the breaking up of ancient hospitality. Let us hear Collier upon the subject: "The advantages accruing to the public from these religious houses were considerable, upon several accounts. To mention some of them: The temporal nobility and gentry had a creditable way of providing for their younger children. Those who were disposed to withdraw from the world, or not likely to make their fortunes in it, had a handsome retreat to the cloister. Here they were furnished with conveniences for life and study, with opportunities for thought and recollection; and, over and above, passed their time in a condition not unbecoming their quality."--"The abbies were very serviceable places for the education of young people: every convent had one person or more assigned for this business. Thus the children of the neighbourhood were taught grammar and music without any charge to their parents. And, in the nunneries, those of the other sex learned to work and read English, with some advances into Latin," &c.--"Farther, it is to the abbies we are obliged for most of our historians, both of church and state: these places of retirement had both most learning and leisure for such undertakings: neither did they want information for such employment," _Ecclesiastical History_, vol. ii., 165. A host of Protestant authors, with Lord Herbert at the head of them, might be brought forward to corroborate these sensible remarks of Collier. The hospitality of the monastic life has been on all sides admitted; and, according to Lord Coke, one of the articles of impeachment against Cardinal Wolsey was that he had caused "this hospitality and relief to grow into decay and disuse;" which was "a great cause that there were so many vagabonds, beggars, and thieves;"--_Fourth Institute_; p. 91, edit. 1669. So that the author of an ancient, and now rarely perused work had just reason, in describing the friars of his time as "living in common upon the goods of a monastery, either gotten by common labour, or else upon lands and possessions where with the monastery was endowed." _Pype or Tonne of the Lyfe of Perfection_; fol. clxxii., rev. 1532, 4to. And yet, should the active bibliomaniac be disposed to peruse this work, after purchasing Mr. Triphook's elegant copy of the same, he might probably not think very highly of the author's good sense, when he found him gravely telling us that "the appetite of clean, sweet, and fair, or fine cloaths, and oft-washing and curious _pykyng_ of the body, is an enemy of chastity," fol. ccxxix. rect. The DEVASTATION OF BOOKS was, I fear, sufficiently frightful to warrant the following writers in their respective conclusions. "A judicious author (says Ashmole) speaking of the dissolution of our monasteries, saith thus: Many manuscripts, guilty of no other superstition then (having) _red letters_ in the front, were condemned to the fire: and here a principal key of antiquity was lost, to the great prejudice of posterity. Indeed (such was learning's misfortune, at that great devastation of our English libraries, that) where a _red letter_ or a mathematical diagram appeared, they were sufficient to entitle the book to be popish or diabolical." _Theatrum Chemicum_; prolegom. A. 2. rev. "The avarice of the late intruders was so mean, and their ignorance so undistinguishing, that, when the books happened to have COSTLY COVERS, they tore them off, and threw away the works, or turned them to the vilest purposes." _Life of Reginald Pole_; vol. i., p. 253-4, edit. 1767, 8vo. The author of this last quotation then slightly notices what Bale has said upon these book-devastations; and which I here subjoin at full length; from my first edition of this work:--"Never (says Bale) had we been offended for the loss of our LIBRARIES, being so many in number, and in so desolate places for the more part, if the chief monuments and most notable works of our excellent writers had been preserved. If there had been, in every shire of England, but one SOLEMPNE LIBRARY, to the preservation of those noble works, and preferment of good learning in our posterity, it had been yet somewhat. But to destroy all, without consideration, is, and will be, unto England, for ever, a most horrible infamy among the grave seniors of other nations. A great number of them, which purchased those superstitious mansions, reserved of those library-books some to serve the _jakes_, some to scour their candlesticks, and some to rub their boots: some they sold to the grocers and soap sellers; some they sent over sea to the book-binders, not in small number, but at times whole ships full, to the wondering of the foreign nations. Yea, the Universities of the realm are not all clear of this detestable fact. But cursed is that belly which seeketh to be fed with such ungodly gains, and shameth his natural country. I know a merchant man, which shall at this time be nameless, that _bought the contents of two noble libraries for forty shillings price_; a shame it is to be spoken! This stuff hath he occupied in the stead of grey paper, by the space of more than ten years, and yet he hath store enough for as many years to come!" Preface to _Leland's Laboryouse Journey_, &c., 1549, 8vo. Reprint of 1772; sign. C.]

PHIL. But what can be said in defence of the dissolute lives of the monks?

LYSAND. Dissoluteness shall never be defended by me, let it be shewn by whom it may; and therefore I will not take the part, on this head, of the tenants of old monasteries. But, Philemon, consider with what grace could this charge come from HIM who had "shed innocent blood," to gratify his horrid lusts?

LIS. Yet, tell me, did not the dissolution of these libraries in some respects equally answer the ends of literature, by causing the books to come into other hands?

LYSAND. No doubt, a few studious men reaped the benefit of this dispersion, by getting possession of many curious volumes with which, otherwise, they might never have been acquainted. If my memory be not treacherous, the celebrated grammarian ROBERT WAKEFIELD[311] was singularly lucky in this way. It is time, however, to check my rambling ideas. A few more words only, and we cease to sermonize upon the Reformation.

[Footnote 311: "This ROBERT WAKEFIELD was the prime linguist of his time, having obtained beyond the seas the Greek, Hebrew, Chaldaic, and Syriac tongues. In one thing he is to be commended, and that is this, that he carefully preserved divers books of Greek and Hebrew at the dissolution of religious houses, and especially some of those in the library of Ramsey abbey, composed by Laurence Holbecke, monk of that place, in the reign of Henry IV. He died at London 8th October, 1537, leaving behind him the name of _Polypus_, as Leland is pleased to style him, noting that he was of a witty and crafty behaviour." Wood's _Hist. of Colleges and Halls_, p. 429, Gutch's edit.]

PHIL. There is no occasion to be extremely laconic. The evening has hardly yet given way to night. The horizon, I dare say, yet faintly glows with the setting-sun-beams. But proceed as you will.

LYSAND. The commotions which ensued from the arbitrary measures of Henry were great;[312] but such as were naturally to be expected. At length Henry died, and a young and amiable prince reigned for a few months. Mary next ascended the throne; and the storm took an opposite direction. Then an attempt was made to restore chalices, crucifixes, and missals. But the short period of her sovereignty making way for the long and illustrious one of her sister Elizabeth, the Cecils and Walsinghams[313] united their great talents with the equally vigorous ones of the Queen and her favourite archbishop Parker, in establishing that form of religion which, by partaking in a reasonable degree of the solemnity of the Romish church, and by being tempered with great simplicity and piety in its prayers, won its way to the hearts of the generality of the people. Our _Great English Bibles_[314] were now restored to their conspicuous situations; and the Bibliomania, in consequence, began to spread more widely and effectively.

[Footnote 312: Fuller has devoted one sentence only, and that not written with his usual force, to the havoc and consternation which ensued on the devastation of the monasteries. _Ch. Hist._, b. vi., p. 314. Burnet is a little more moving: _Hist. of the Reformation_; vol. i., p. 223. But, from the foregoing premises, the reader may probably be disposed to admit the conclusion of a virulent Roman Catholic writer, even in its fullest extent: namely, that there were "subverted monasteries, overthrown abbies, broken churches, torn castles, rent towers, overturned walls of towns and fortresses, with the confused heaps of all ruined monuments." _Treatise of Treasons_, 1572, 8vo., fol. 148, rev.]

[Footnote 313: There are few bibliographers at all versed in English literature and history, who have not heard, by some side wind or other, of the last mentioned work; concerning which Herbert is somewhat interesting in his notes: _Typographical Antiquities_, vol. iii., p. 1630. The reader is here presented with a copious extract from this curious and scarce book--not for the sake of adding to these ponderous notes relating to the REFORMATION--(a subject, upon which, from a professional feeling, I thought it my duty to say something!)--but for the sake of showing how dexterously the most important events and palpable truths may be described and perverted by an artful and headstrong disputant. The work was written expressly to defame ELIZABETH, CECIL, and BACON, and to introduce the Romish religion upon the ruins of the Protestant. The author thus gravely talks

"_Of Queen Mary and her Predecessors._

"She (Mary) found also the whole face of the commonwealth settled and acquieted in the ancient religion; in which, and by which, all kings and queens of that realm (from as long almost before the conquest as that conquest was before that time) had lived, reigned, and maintained their states; and the terrible correction of those few that swerved from it notorious, as no man could be ignorant of it. As King John, without error in religion, for contempt only of the See Apostolic, plagued with the loss of his state, till he reconciled himself, and acknowledged to hold his crown of the Pope. King Henry VIII., likewise, with finding no end of heading and hanging, till (with the note of tyranny for wasting his nobility) he had headed him also that procured him to it. Fol. 85, 86.

"_Libellous Character of Cecil._

"In which stem and trunk (being rotten at heart, hollow within, and without sound substance) hath our spiteful pullet (CECIL) laid her ungracious eggs, mo than a few: and there hath hatched sundry of them, and brought forth chickens of her own feather, I warrant you. A hen I call him, as well for his cackling, ready and smooth tongue, wherein he giveth place to none, as for his deep and subtle art in hiding his serpentine eggs from common men's sight: chiefly for his hennish heart and courage, which twice already hath been well proved to be as base and deject at the sight of any storm of adverse fortune, as ever was hen's heart at the sight of a fox. And, had he not been by his confederate, as with a dunghill cock, trodden as it were and gotten with egg, I doubt whether ever his hennish heart, joined to his shrewd wit, would have served him, so soon to put the Q.'s green and tender state in so manifest peril and adventure. Fol. 88, rect.

"_Libellous Characters of Cecil and N. Bacon._

"Let the houses and possessions of these two Catalines be considered, let their furniture, and building, let their daily purchases, and ready hability to purchase still, let their offices and functions wherein they sit, let their titles, and styles claimed and used, let their places in council, let their authority over the nobility, let their linking in alliance with the same, let their access to the prince, let their power and credit with her: let this their present state, I say, in all points (being open and unknown to no men) be compared with their base parentage and progeny, (the one raised out of the robes, and the other from a _Sheeprive's_ son) and let that give sentence as well of the great difference of the tastes, that the several fruits gathered of this tree by your Q., and by them do yield, as whether any man at this day approach near unto them in any condition wherein advancement consisteth. Yea, mark you the jollity and pride that in this prosperity they shew; the port and countenance that every way they carry; in comparison of them that be noble by birth. Behold at whose doors your nobility attendeth. Consider in whose chambers your council must sit, and to whom for resolutions they must resort; and let these things determine both what was the purpose indeed, and hidden intention of that change of religion, and who hath gathered the benefits of that mutation: that is to say, whether for your Q., for your realms, or for their own sakes, the same at first was taken in hand, and since pursued as you have seen. For according to the principal effects of every action must the intent of the act be deemed and presumed. For the objected excuses (that they did it for conscience, or for fear of the French) be too frivolous and vain to abuse any wise man. For they that under King Henry were as catholic, as the six articles required: that under King Edward were such Protestants as the Protector would have them; that under Q. Mary were Catholics again, even to creeping to the Cross: and that under Q. Elizabeth were first Lutheran, setting up Parker, Cheiny, Gest, Bill, &c., then Calvinists, advancing Grindall, Juell, Horne, &c.: then Puritans, maintaining Sampson, Deering, Humfrey, &c.; and now (if not Anabaptists and Arians) plain Machiavellians, yea, that they persuade in public speeches that man hath free liberty to dissemble his religion, and for authority do allege their own examples and practice of feigning one religion for another in Q. Mary's time (which containeth a manifest evacuation of Christ's own coming and doctrine, of the Apostles, preaching and practice, of the blood of the martyrs, of the constancy of all confessors; yea, and of the glorious vain deaths of all the stinking martyrs of their innumerable sects of hereticks, one and other having always taught the confession of mouth to be as necessary to salvation as the belief of heart): shall these men now be admitted to plead conscience in religion; and can any man now be couzined so much, as to think that these men by conscience were then moved to make that mutation?" Fol. 96, 97. "At home, likewise, apparent it is how they provided, every way to make themselves strong there also. For being by their own marriages allied already to the house of Suffolk of the blood royal, and by consequence thereof to the house of Hertford also, and their children thereby incorporated to both: mark you how now by marriage of their children with wily wit and wealth together, they wind in your other noblest houses unto them that are left, I mean in credit and countenance. Consider likewise how, at their own commendation and preferment, they have erected, as it were, almost a new half of your nobility (of whom also they have reason to think themselves assured) and the rest then (that were out of hope to be won to their faction) behold how, by sundry fine devices, they are either cut off, worn out, fled, banished or defaced at home," &c., fol. 105, rect. The good LORD BURGHLEY, says Strype, was so moved at this slander that he uttered these words: "God amend his spirit, and confound his malice." And by way of protestation of the integrity and faithfulness of both their services, "God send this estate no worse meaning servants, in all respects, than we two have been." _Annals of the Reformation_, vol. ii., 178. Camden's _Hist. of Q. Elizabeth_, p. 192,--as quoted by Herbert.]

[Footnote 314: "All curates must continually call upon their parochians to provide a book of the _Holy Bible in English_, of THE LARGEST FORM, within 40 days next after the publication hereof, that may be chained in some open place in the church," &c. Injunctions by Lee, Archbishop of York: Burnet's _Hist. of the Reformation_, vol. iii., p. 136, Collections. This custom of fixing a great bible in the centre of a place of worship yet obtains in some of the chapels attached to the colleges at Oxford. That of Queen's, in particular, has a noble brazen eagle, with outstretched wings, upon which the foundation members read the lessons of the day in turn.]

LOREN. Had you not better confine yourself to personal anecdote, rather than enter into the boundless field of historical survey?

LYSAND. I thank you for the hint. Having sermonized upon the general features of the Reformation, we will resume the kind of discourse with which we at first set out.

PHIL. But you make no mention of the number of curious and fugitive pamphlets of the day, which were written in order to depreciate and exterminate the Roman Catholic religion? Some of these had at least the merit of tartness and humour.

LYSAND. Consult Fox's _Martyrology_,[315] if you wish to have some general knowledge of these publications; although I apprehend you will not find in that work any mention of the poetical pieces of Skelton and Roy; nor yet of Ramsay.

[Footnote 315: The curious reader who wishes to become master of all the valuable, though sometimes loose, information contained in this renowned work--upon which Dr. Wordsworth has pronounced rather a warm eulogium (_Ecclesiastical Biography_, vol. i., p. xix.)--should secure the _first_ edition, as well as the latter one of 1641, or 1684; inasmuch as this first impression, of the date of 1563, is said by Hearne to be "omnium optima:" see his Adami de Domerham, _Hist. de reb. gest. Glaston._, vol. i., p. xxii. I also learn, from an original letter of Anstis, in the possession of Mr. John Nichols, that "the late editions are not quite so full in some particulars, and that many things are left out about the Protector Seymour."]

LOREN. Skelton and Roy are in my library;[316] but who is RAMSAY?

[Footnote 316: Vide p. 226, ante.]

LYSAND. He wrote a comical poetical satire against the Romish priests, under the title of "_A Plaister for a galled Horse_,"[317] which Raynald printed in a little thin quarto volume of six or seven pages.

[Footnote 317: In Herbert's _Typographical Antiquities_, vol. i., p. 581, will be found rather a slight notice of this raw and vulgar satire. It has, however, stamina of its kind; as the reader may hence judge:

Mark the gesture, who that lyst; First a shorne shauelynge, clad in a clowt, Bearinge the name of an honest priest, And yet in no place a starker lowte. A whore monger, a dronkard, ye makyn him be snowte-- At the alehouses he studieth, till hys witte he doth lacke. Such are your minysters, to bringe thys matter about: But guppe ye god-makers, beware your galled backe.

Then wraped in a knaues skynne, as ioly as my horse, Before the aulter, in great contemplacion Confessinge the synnes of his lubbrysh corse To god and all saynctes, he counteth hys abhomination Then home to the aulter, with great saintification With crosses, and blesses, with his boy lytle Jacke: Thus forth goeth syr Jhon with all his preparation. But guppe ye god-makers, beware your galled backe.

Then gloria in excelsis for ioye dothe he synge More for his fat liuinge, than for devocion: And many there be that remember another thinge Which syng not wyth mery hart for lacke of promocion Thus some be mery, some be sory according to their porcion Then forth cometh collects, bounde up in a packe, For this sainct and that sainct, for sickenes, and extorcion But guppe ye god-makers, beware your galled backe.

Stanzas, 17, 18, 19.

At the sale of Mr. Brand's books, in 1807, a copy of this rare tract, of six or seven pages, was sold for 3_l._ 17_s._ 6_d._ Vide _Bibl. Brand_, part i., no. 1300. This was surely more than both plaister and horse were worth! A poetical satire of a similar kind, entitled "_John Bon and Mast Person_," was printed by Daye and Seres; who struck off but a few copies, but who were brought into considerable trouble for the same. The virulence with which the author and printer of this lampoon were persecuted in Mary's reign is sufficiently attested by the care which was taken to suppress every copy that could be secured. The only perfect known copy of this rare tract was purchased at the sale of Mr. R. Forster's books, for the Marquis of Bute; and Mr. Stace, the bookseller, had privilege to make a fac-simile reprint of it; of which there were six copies struck off UPON VELLUM. It being now rather common with book-collectors, there is no necessity to make a quotation from it here. Indeed there is very little in it deserving of republication.]

LOREN. I will make a memorandum to try to secure this "comical" piece, as you call it; but has it never been reprinted in our "_Corpora Poetarum Anglicorum_?"

LYSAND. Never to the best of my recollection. Mr. Alexander Chalmers probably shewed his judgment in the omission of it, in his lately published collection of our poets. A work, which I can safely recommend to you as being, upon the whole, one of the most faithful and useful, as well as elegant, compilations of its kind, that any country has to boast of. But I think I saw it in your library, Lorenzo?--

LOREN. It was certainly there, and bound in stout Russia, when we quitted it for this place.

LIS. Dispatch your "gall'd horse," and now--having placed a justly merited wreath round the brow of your poetical editor, proceed--as Lorenzo has well said--with personal anecdotes. What has become of Wyatt and Surrey--and when shall we reach Leland and Bale?

LYSAND. I crave your mercy, Master Lisardo! One at a time. Gently ride your bibliomaniacal hobby-horse!

WYATT and SURREY had, beyond all question, the most exquisitely polished minds of their day. They were far above the generality of their compeers. But although Hall chooses to notice _the whistle_[318] of the latter, it does not follow that I should notice his _library_, if I am not able to discover any thing particularly interesting relating to the same. And so, wishing every lover of his country's literature to purchase a copy of the poems of both these heroes,[319] I march onward to introduce a new friend to you, who preceded Leland in his career, and for an account of whom we are chiefly indebted to the excellent and best editor of the works of Spencer and Milton. Did'st ever hear, Lisardo, of one WILLIAM THYNNE?

[Footnote 318: About the year 1519, Hall mentions the Earl of Surrey "on a great coursir richely trapped, and a greate whistle of gold set with stones and perle, hanging at a great and massy chayne baudrick-wise." Chronicles: p. 65, a. See Warton's _Life of Sir Thomas Pope_: p. 166, note o., ed. 1780. This is a very amusing page about the custom of wearing whistles, among noblemen, at the commencement of the 16th century. If Franklin had been then alive, he would have had abundant reason for exclaiming that these men "paid too much for their _whistles_!"]

[Footnote 319: Till the long promised, elaborate, and beautiful edition of the works of SIR THOMAS WYATT and LORD SURREY, by the Rev. Dr. Nott,[E] shall make its appearance, the bibliomaniac must satisfy his book-appetite, about the editions of the same which have already appeared, by perusing the elegant volumes of Mr. George Ellis, and Mr. Park; _Specimens of the Early English Poets_; vol. ii., pp. 43-67: _Royal and Noble Authors_, vol. i., pp. 255-276. As to early black letter editions, let him look at _Bibl. Pearson_, no. 2544; where, however, he will find only the 7th edition of 1587: the first being of the date of 1557. The eighth and last edition was published by Tonson, in 1717, 8vo. It will be unpardonable not to add that the Rev. Mr. Conybeare is in possession of a perfect copy of Lord Surrey's Translation of a part of the Aeneid, which is the third only known copy in existence. Turn to the animating pages of Warton, _Hist. Engl. Poetry_; vol. iii., pp. 2-21, about this translation and its author.]

[Footnote E: Conducting this celebrated book through the press occupied Dr. Nott several years; it was printed by the father of the printer of this work, in two large 4to. volumes--and was just finished when, in the year 1819, the Bolt Court printing-office, and all it contained, was destroyed by fire. Only _two_ copies of the works of Wyatt and Surrey escaped, having been sent to Dr. Nott by the printer, as _clean sheets_.]

LIS. Pray make me acquainted with him.

LYSAND. You will love him exceedingly when you thoroughly know him; because he was the first man in this country who took pains to do justice to Chaucer, by collecting and collating the mutilated editions of his works. Moreover, he rummaged a great number of libraries, under the express order of Henry VIII.; and seems in every respect (if we may credit the apparently frank testimony of his son[320]), to have been a thoroughbred bibliomaniac. Secure Mr. Todd's _Illustrations of Gower and Chaucer_, and set your heart at ease upon the subject.

[Footnote 320: "--but (my father, WILLIAM THYNNE) further had commissione to serche all the libraries of England for Chaucer's works, so that oute of all the abbies of this realme (which reserved any monuments thereof), he was fully furnished with multitude of bookes," &c. On Thynne's discovering Chaucer's Pilgrim's Tale, when Henry VIII. had read it--"he called (continues the son) my father unto hym, sayinge, 'William Thynne, I doubt this will not be allowed, for I suspecte the byshoppes will call thee in question for yt.' To whome my father beinge in great fauore with his prince, sayed, 'yf your Grace be not offended, I hope to be protected by you.' Whereupon the kinge bydd hym goo his waye and feare not," &c. "But to leave this, I must saye that, in those many written bookes of Chaucer, which came to my father's hands, there were many false copyes, which Chaucer shewethe in writinge of Adam Scriuener, of which written copies there came to me, after my father's death, some fyve and twentye," &c. _Illustrations of Gower and Chaucer_; pp. 11, 13, 15. Let us not hesitate one moment about the appellation of _Helluo Librorum_,--justly due to MASTER WILLIAM THYNNE!]

But it is time to introduce your favourite LELAND: a bibliomaniac of unparalleled powers and unperishable fame. To entwine the wreath of praise round the brow of this great man seems to have been considered by Bale among the most exquisite gratifications of his existence. It is with no small delight, therefore, Lorenzo, that I view, at this distance, the marble bust of Leland in yonder niche of your library, with a laureate crown upon its pedestal. And with almost equal satisfaction did I observe, yesterday, during the absence of Philemon and Lisardo at the book-sale, the handsome manner in which Harrison,[321] in his _Description of England_, prefixed to Holinshed's Chronicles, has spoken of this illustrious antiquary. No delays, no difficulties, no perils, ever daunted his personal courage, or depressed his mental energies. Enamoured of study, to the last rational moment of his existence, Leland seems to have been born for the "Laborious Journey" which he undertook in search of truth, as she was to be discovered among mouldering records, and worm-eaten volumes. Uniting the active talents of a statist with the painful research of an antiquary, he thought nothing too insignificant for observation. The confined streamlet or the capacious river--the obscure village or the populous town--were, with parchment rolls and oaken-covered books, alike objects of curiosity in his philosophic eye! Peace to his once vexed spirit!--and never-fading honours attend the academical society in which his youthful mind was disciplined to such laudable pursuits!

[Footnote 321: "One helpe, and none of the smallest, that I obtained herein, was by such commentaries as LELAND had sometime collected of the state of Britaine; books vtterlie mangled, defaced with wet and weather, and finallie vnperfect through want of sundrie volumes." _Epistle Dedicatorie_; vol. i., p. vi., edit. 1807. The history of this great man, and of his literary labours, is most interesting. He was a pupil of William Lilly, the first head-master of St. Paul's school; and, by the kindness and liberality of a Mr. Myles, he afterwards received the advantage of a college education, and was supplied with money in order to travel abroad, and make such collections as he should deem necessary for the great work which even then seemed to dawn upon his young and ardent mind. Leland endeavoured to requite the kindness of his benefactor by an elegant copy of Latin verses, in which he warmly expatiates on the generosity of his patron, and acknowledges that his acquaintance with the _Almae Matres_ (for he was of both Universities) was entirely the result of such beneficence. While he resided on the continent, he was admitted into the society of the most eminent Greek and Latin scholars, and could probably number among his correspondents the illustrious names of Budaeus, Erasmus, the Stephenses, Faber and Turnebus. Here, too, he cultivated his natural taste for poetry; and, from inspecting the FINE BOOKS which the Italian and French presses had produced, as well as fired by the love of Grecian learning, which had fled, on the sacking of Constantinople, to take shelter in the academic bowers of the Medici--he seems to have matured his plans for carrying into effect the great work which had now taken full possession of his mind. He returned to England, resolved to institute an inquiry into the state of the LIBRARIES, ANTIQUITIES, RECORDS, and WRITINGS then in existence. Having entered into holy orders, and obtained preferment at the express interposition of the king (Henry VIII.), he was appointed his antiquary and library-keeper; and a royal commission was issued, in which Leland was directed to search after "ENGLAND'S ANTIQUITIES, and peruse the libraries of all cathedrals, abbies, priories, colleges, &c., as also all the places wherein records, writings, and secrets of antiquity were reposited." "Before Leland's time," says Hearne--in a strain which makes one shudder--"all the literary monuments of antiquity were totally disregarded; and students of Germany, apprized of this culpable indifference, were suffered to enter our libraries unmolested, and to cut out of the books, deposited there, whatever passages they thought proper--which they afterwards published as relics of the ancient literature of their own country." _Pref. to the Itinerary._ Leland was occupied, without intermission, in his laborious undertaking, for the space of six years; and, on its completion, he hastened to the metropolis to lay at the feet of his sovereign the result of his researches. As John Kay had presented his translation of the _Siege of Rhodes_ to Edward IV., as "A GIFT of his labour," so Leland presented his Itinerary to Henry VIII., under the title of _A New Year's Gift_; and it was first published as such by Bale in 1549, 8vo. "Being inflamed," says the author, "with a love to see thoroughly all those parts of your opulent and ample realm, in so much that all my other occupations intermitted, I have so travelled in your dominions both by the sea coasts and the middle parts, sparing neither labour nor costs, by the space of six years past, that there is neither cape nor bay, haven, creek, or pier, river, or confluence of rivers, breaches, wastes, lakes, moors, fenny waters, mountains, valleys, heaths, forests, chases, woods, cities, burghes, castles, principal manor places, monasteries, and colleges, but I have seen them; and noted, in so doing, a whole world of things very memorable." Leland moreover tells his majesty--that "By his laborious journey and costly enterprise, he had conserved many good authors, the which otherwise had been like to have perished; of the which part remained in the royal palaces, part also in his own custody," &c. As Leland was engaged six years in this literary tour, so he was occupied for a no less period of time in digesting and arranging the prodigious number of MSS. which he had collected. But he sunk beneath the immensity of the task. The want of amanuenses, and of other attentions and comforts, seems to have deeply affected him. In this melancholy state, he wrote to Archbishop Cranmer a Latin epistle, in verse, of which the following is the commencement--very forcibly describing his situation and anguish of mind:

Est congesta mihi domi supellex Ingens, aurea, nobilis, venusta, Qua totus studeo Britanniarum Vero reddere gloriam nitori; Sed fortuna meis noverca coeptis Jam felicibus invidet maligna.

Quare, ne pereant brevi vel hora Multarum mihi noctium labores Omnes---- CRANMERE, eximium decus priorum! Implorare tuam benignitatem Cogor.

The result was that Leland lost his senses; and, after lingering two years in a state of total derangement, he died on the 18th of April, 1552. "Proh tristes rerum humanarum vices! proh viri optimi deplorandam infelicissimamque sortem!" exclaims Dr. Smith, in his preface to Camden's Life, 1691, 4to. The precious and voluminous MSS. of Leland were doomed to suffer a fate scarcely less pitiable that [Transcriber's Note: than] that of their owner. After being pilfered by some, and garbled by others, they served to replenish the pages of Stow, Lambard, Camden, Burton, Dugdale, and many other antiquaries and historians. "Leland's Remains," says Bagford, "have been ever since a standard to all that have any way treated of the Antiquities of England. Reginald Wolfe intended to have made use of them, although this was not done 'till after his death by Harrison, Holinshed, and others concerned in that work. Harrison transcribed his Itinerary, giving a Description of England by the rivers, but he did not understand it. They have likewise been made use of by several in part, but how much more complete had this been, had it been finished by himself?" _Collectanea_: Hearne's edit., 1774; vol. i., p. LXXVII. Polydore Virgil, who had stolen from these Remains pretty freely, had the insolence to abuse Leland's memory--calling him "a vain-glorious man;" but what shall we say to this flippant egotist? who according to Caius's testimony (_De Antiq. Cantab. Acad._, lib. 1.) "to prevent a discovery of the many errors of his own History of England, collected and burnt a greater number of ancient histories and manuscripts than would have loaded a waggon." There are some (among whom I could number a most respectable friend and well qualified judge) who have doubted of the propriety of thus severely censuring Polydore Virgil; and who are even sceptical about his malpractices. But Sir Henry Savile, who was sufficiently contemporaneous to collect the best evidence upon the subject, thus boldly observes: "Nam Polydorus, ut homo Italus, et in rebus nostris hospes, et (quod caput est) neque in republica versatus, nec magni alioqui vel judicii vel ingenii, pauca ex multis delibans, et falsa plerumque pro veris amplexus, historiam nobis reliquit cum caetera mendosam tum exiliter sane et jejune conscriptam." _Script. post. Bedam._, edit. 1596; pref. "As for Polydore Virgil, he hath written either nothing or very little concerning them; and that so little, so false and misbeseeming the ingenuitie of an historian, that he seemeth to have aimed at no other end than, by bitter invectives against Henry VIII., and Cardinal Wolsey, to demerit the favour of Queen Mary," &c., Godwyn's translation of the _Annales of England_; edit. 1630, author's Preface. "It is also remarkable that Polydore Virgil's and Bishop Joscelin's edition of Gildas's epistle differ so materially that the author of it hardly seems to be one and the same person." This is Gale's opinion: _Rer. Anglican. Script. Vet._; vol. i., pref., p. 4. Upon the whole--to return to Leland--it must be acknowledged that he is a melancholy, as well as illustrious, example of the influence of the BIBLIOMANIA! But do not let us take leave of him without a due contemplation of his expressive features, as they are given in the frontispiece of the first volume of the Lives of Leland, Hearne, and Wood. 1772, 8vo.

BALE follows closely after Leland. This once celebrated, and yet respectable, writer had probably more zeal than discretion; but his exertions in the cause of our own church can never be mentioned without admiration. I would not, assuredly, quote Bale as a decisive authority in doubtful or difficult cases;[322] but, as he lived in the times of which he in a great measure wrote, and as his society was courted by the wealthy and powerful, I am not sure whether he merits to be treated with the roughness with which some authors mention his labours. He had, certainly, a tolerable degree of strength in his English style; but he painted with a pencil which reminded us more frequently of the horrific pictures of Spagnoletti than of the tender compositions of Albano. That he idolized his master, Leland, so enthusiastically, will always cover, in my estimation, a multitude of his errors: and that he should leave a scholar's inventory (as Fuller saps [Transcriber's Note: says]), "more books than money behind him," will at least cause him to be numbered among the most renowned bibliomaniacs.

[Footnote 322: Like all men, who desert a religion which they once enthusiastically profess, Bale, after being zealous for the papal superstitions, holding up his hands to rotten posts, and calling them his "fathers in heaven," (according to his own confession) became a zealous Protestant, and abused the church of Rome with a virulence almost unknown in the writings of his predecessors. But in spite of his coarseness, positiveness, and severity, he merits the great praise of having done much in behalf of the cause of literature. His attachment to Leland is, unquestionably, highly to his honour; but his biographies, especially of the Romish prelates, are as monstrously extravagant as his plays are incorrigibly dull. He had a certain rough honesty and prompt benevolence of character, which may be thought to compensate for his grosser failings. His reputation as a _bibliomaniac_ is fully recorded in the anecdote mentioned at p. 234, ante. His "magnum opus," the _Scriptores Britanniae_, has already been noticed with sufficient minuteness; vide p. 31, ante. It has not escaped severe animadversion. Francis Thynne tells us that Bale has "mistaken infynyte thinges in that booke de Scriptoribus Anglie, being for the most part the collections of Lelande." _Illustrations of Gower and Chaucer_; p. 23. Picard, in his wretched edition of _Gulielmus Neubrigensis_ (edit. 1610, p. 672), has brought a severe accusation against the author of having "burnt or torn all the copies of the works which he described, after he had taken the titles of them;" but see this charge successfully rebutted in Dr. Pegge's _Anonymiana_; p. 311. That Bale's library, especially in the department of manuscripts, was both rich and curious, is indisputable, from the following passage in _Strype's Life of Archbishop Parker_. "The archbishop laid out for BALE'S rare collection of MSS. immediately upon his death, fearing that they might be gotten by somebody else. Therefore he took care to bespeak them before others, and was promised to have them for his money, as he told Cecil. And perhaps divers of those books that do now make proud the University Library, and that of Benet and some other colleges, in Cambridge, were Bale's," p. 539. It would seem, from the same authority, that our bibliomaniac "set himself to search the libraries in Oxford, Cambridge, London (wherein there was but one, and that a slender one), Norwich, and several others in Norfolk and Suffolk: whence he had collected enough for another volume De Scriptoribus Britannicis." _Ibid._ The following very beautiful wood-cut of Bale's portrait is taken from the original, of the same size, in the _Acta Romanorum Pontificum_; Basil, 1527, 8vo. A similar one, on a larger scale, will be found in the "_Scriptores_," &c., published at Basil, 1557, or 1559--folio. Mr. Price, the principal librarian of the Bodleian Library, shewed me a rare head of Bale, of a very different cast of features--in a small black-letter book, of which I have forgotten the name.

Before I enter upon the reign of Elizabeth, let me pay a passing, but sincere, tribute of respect to the memory of CRANMER; whose _Great Bible_[323] is at once a monument of his attachment to the Protestant religion, and to splendid books. His end was sufficiently lamentable; but while the flames were consuming his parched body, and while his right hand, extended in the midst of them, was reproached by him for its former act of wavering and "offence," he had the comfort of soothing his troubled spirit by reflecting upon what his past life had exhibited in the cause of learning, morality, and religion.[324] Let his memory be respected among virtuous bibliomaniacs!

[Footnote 323: I have perused what Strype (_Life of Cranmer_, pp. 59, 63, 444), Lewis (_History of English Bibles_, pp. 122-137), Johnson (_Idem opus_, pp. 33-42), and Herbert (_Typog. Antiquities_, vol. i., p. 513,) have written concerning the biblical labours of Archbishop Cranmer; but the accurate conclusion to be drawn about the publication which goes under the name of CRANMER'S, or THE GREAT BIBLE, [Transcriber's Note: 'is' missing in original] not quite so clear as bibliographers may imagine. However, this is not the place to canvass so intricate a subject. It is sufficient that a magnificent impression of the Bible in the English language, with a superb frontispiece (which has been most feebly and inadequately copied for Lewis's work), under the archiepiscopal patronage of CRANMER, did make its appearance in 1539: and it has been my good fortune to turn over the leaves of the identical copy of it, printed UPON VELLUM, concerning which Thomas Baker expatiates so eloquently to his bibliomaniacal friend, Hearne. _Rob. of Gloucester's Chronicle_; vol. i., p. xix. This copy is in the library of St. John's College, Cambridge; and is now placed upon a table, to the right hand, upon entering of the same: although formerly, according to Bagford's account, it was "among some old books in a private place nigh the library." _Idem_; p. xxii. There is a similar copy in the British Museum.]

[Footnote 324: "And thus"--says Strype--(in a strain of pathos and eloquence not usually to be found in his writings) "we have brought this excellent prelate unto his end, after two years and a half hard imprisonment. His body was not carried to the grave in state, nor buried, as many of his predecessors were, in his own cathedral church, nor inclosed in a monument of marble or touchstone. Nor had he any inscription to set forth his praises to posterity. No shrine to be visited by devout pilgrims, as his predecessors, S. Dunstan and S. Thomas had. Shall we therefore say, as the poet doth:

Marmoreo Licinus tumulo jacet, at Cato parvo, Pompeius nullo. Quis putet esse Deos?

No; we are better Christians, I trust, than so: who are taught, that the rewards of God's elect are not temporal but eternal. And Cranmer's martyrdom is his monument, and his name will outlast an epitaph or a shrine." _Life of Cranmer_; p. 391. It would seem, from the same authority, that RIDLEY, LATIMER, and CRANMER, were permitted to dine together in prison, some little time before they suffered; although they were "placed in separate lodgings that they might not confer together." Strype saw "a book of their diet, every dinner and supper, and the charge thereof,"--as it was brought in by the bailiffs attending them.

_Dinner Expenses of Ridley, Latimer, and Cranmer._

Bread and Ale ii_d._ Item, Oisters i_d._ Item, Butter ii_d._ Item, Eggs ii_d._ Item, Lyng viii_d._ Item, A piece of fresh Salmon x_d._ Wine iii_d._ Cheese and pears ii_d._

_Charges for burning Ridley and Latimer._

_s._ _d._ For three loads of wood fagots 12 0 Item, One load of furs fagots 3 4 For the carriage of the same 2 0 Item, A Post 1 4 Item, Two chains 3 4 Item, Two staples 0 6 Item, Four Labourers 2 8

_Charges for burning Cranmer._

_s._ _d._ For an 100 of wood fagots, 06 0 For an 100 and half of furs fagots 03 4 For the carriage of them 0 8 To two labourers 1 4

I will draw the curtain upon this dismal picture, by a short extract from one of Cranmer's letters, in which this great and good man thus ingeniously urges the necessity of the Scriptures being translated into the English language; a point, by the bye, upon which neither he, nor Cromwell, nor Latimer, I believe, were at first decided; "God's will and commandment is, (says Cranmer) that when the people be gathered together, the minister should use such language as the people may understand, and take profit thereby; or else hold their peace. For as an harp or lute, if it give no certain sound that men may know what is stricken, who can dance after it--for all the sound is vain; so is it vain and profiteth nothing, sayeth Almighty God, by the mouth of St. Paul, if the priest speak to the people in a language which they know not." _Certain most godly, fruitful, and comfortable letters of Saintes and holy Martyrs, &c._, 1564; 4to., fol. 8.]

All hail to the sovereign who, bred up in severe habits of reading and meditation, loved books and scholars to the very bottom of her heart! I consider ELIZABETH as a royal bibliomaniac of transcendent fame!--I see her, in imagination, wearing her favourite little _Volume of Prayers_,[325] the composition of Queen Catherine Parr, and Lady Tirwit, "bound in solid gold, and hanging by a gold chain at her side," at her morning and evening devotions--afterwards, as she became firmly seated upon her throne, taking an interest in the embellishments of the _Prayer Book_,[326] which goes under her own name; and then indulging her strong bibliomaniacal appetites in fostering the institution "for the erecting of _a Library and an Academy for the study of Antiquities and History_."[327] Notwithstanding her earnestness to root out all relics of the Roman Catholic religion (to which, as the best excuse, we must, perhaps, attribute the sad cruelty of the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots), I cannot in my heart forbear to think but that she secured, for her own book-boudoir, one or two of the curious articles which the commissioners often-times found in the libraries that they inspected: and, amongst other volumes, how she could forbear pouncing upon "_A great Pricksong Book of parchment_"--discovered in the library of All Soul's College[328]--is absolutely beyond my wit to divine!

[Footnote 325: Of this curious little devotional volume the reader has already had some account (p. 119, ante); but if he wishes to enlarge his knowledge of the same, let him refer to vol. lx. pt. ii. and vol. lxi. pt. i. of the _Gentleman's Magazine_. By the kindness of Mr. John Nichols, I am enabled to present the bibliomaniacal virtuoso with a fac-simile of the copper-plate inserted in the latter volume (p. 321) of the authority last mentioned. It represents the GOLDEN COVER, or binding, of this precious manuscript. Of the Queen's attachment to works of this kind, the following is a pretty strong proof: "In the Bodl. library, among the MSS. in mus. num. 235, are the _Epistles of St. Paul, &c._, printed in an old black letter in 12o. which was _Queen Elizabeth's own book_, and her own hand writing appears at the beginning, viz.: "August. I walke many times into the pleasant fieldes of the Holy Scriptures, where I plucke up the goodliesome herbes of sentences by pruning: eate them by reading: chawe them by musing: and laie them up at length in the hie seate of memorie by gathering them together: that so having tasted their sweetenes I may the lesse perceave the bitterness of this miserable life." The covering is done in needle work by the Queen [then princess] herself, and thereon are these sentences, viz. on one side, on the borders; CELVM PATRIA: SCOPVS VITAE XPVS. CHRISTVS VIA. CHRISTO VIVE. In the middle a heart, and round about it, ELEVA COR SVRSVM IBI VBI E.C. [est Christus]. On the other side, about the borders, BEATVS QVI DIVITIAS SCRIPTVRAE LEGENS VERBA VERTIT IN OPERA. In the middle a star, and round it, VICIT OMNIA PERTINAX VIRTVS with E.C., _i.e._ as I take it, ELISABETHA CAPTIVA, or [provided it refer to Virtus] ELISABETHAE CAPTIVAE, she being, then, when she worked this covering, a prisoner, if I mistake not, at Woodstock." _Tit. Liv. For. Jul. vit. Henrici_ v., p. 228-229.

[Footnote 326: In the PRAYER-BOOK which goes by the name of QUEEN ELIZABETH'S, there is a portrait of her Majesty kneeling upon a superb cushion, with elevated hands, in prayer. This book was first printed in 1575; and is decorated with wood-cut borders of considerable spirit and beauty; representing, among other things, some of the subjects of Holbein's dance of death. The last impression is of the date of 1608. Vide _Bibl. Pearson_; no. 635. The presentation copy of it was probably printed UPON VELLUM.[F]]

[Footnote 327: The famous John Dee entreated QUEEN MARY to erect an institution similar [Transcriber's Note: 'to' missing in original] the one above alluded to. If she adopted the measure, Dee says that "her highnesse would have a most NOTABLE LIBRARY, learning wonderfully be advanced, the passing excellent works of our forefathers from rot and worms preserved, and also hereafter continually the whole realm may (through her grace's goodness) use and enjoy the incomparable treasure so preserved: where now, no one student, no, nor any one college, hath half a dozen of those excellent jewels, but the whole stock and store thereof drawing nigh to utter destruction, and extinguishing, while here and there by private men's negligence (and sometimes malice) many a famous and excellent author's book is rent, burnt, or suffered to rot and decay. By your said suppliant's device your Grace's said library might, in very few years, most plentifully be furnisht, and that without any one penny charge unto your Majesty, or doing injury to any creature." In another supplicatory article, dated xv. Jan. 1556, Dee advises copies of the monuments to be taken, and the original, after the copy is taken, to be restored to the owner. That there should be "allowance of all necessary charges, as well toward the riding and journeying for the recovery of the said worthy monuments, as also for the copying out of the same, and framing of necessary stalls, desks, and presses."--He concludes with proposing to make copies of all the principal works in MS. "in the NOTABLEST libraries beyond the sea"--"and as concerning all other excellent authors printed, that they likewise shall be gotten in wonderful abundance, their carriage only to be chargeable." He supposes that three months' trial would shew the excellence of his plan; which he advises to be instantly put into practice "for fear of the spreading of it abroad might cause many to hide and convey away their good and ancient writers--which, nevertheless, were ungodly done, and a certain token that such are not sincere lovers of good learning." [In other words, not sound bibliomaniacs.] See the Appendix to Hearne's edition of _Joh. Confrat. Monach. de Reb. Glaston._ Dee's "supplication" met with no attention from the bigotted sovereign to whom it was addressed. A project for a similar establishment in Queen Elizabeth's reign, when a Society of Antiquaries was first established in this kingdom, may be seen in Hearne's _Collection of Curious Discourses of Antiquaries_; vol. ii., p. 324,--when this library was "to be entitled THE LIBRARY OF QUEEN ELIZABETH, and the same to be well furnished with divers ancient books, and rare monuments of antiquity," &c., edit. 1775.]

[Footnote 328: In Mr. Gutch's _Collectanea Curiosa_, vol. ii., p. 275, we have a "Letter from Queen Elizabeth's high commissioners, concerning the superstitious books belonging to All Soul's College:" the "schedule" or list returned was as follows:

Three mass books, old and new, and 2 portmisses Item, 8 grailes, 7 antiphoners of parchment and bound ---- 10 Processionals old and new ---- 2 Symnalls ---- an old manual of paper ---- an Invitatorie book ---- 2 psalters--and one covered with a skin ---- _A great pricksong book of parchment_ ---- One other pricksong book of vellum covered with a hart's skyn ---- 5 other of paper bound in parchment ---- The Founder's mass-book in parchment bound in board ---- In Mr. Mill his hand an antiphoner and a legend ---- A portmisse in his hand two volumes, a manual, a mass-book, and a processional.]

[Footnote F: The two following pages are appropriated to copies of the frontispiece (of the edit. of 1608), and a page of the work, from a copy in the possession of the printer of this edition of the _Bibliomania_.

LOREN. You are full of book anecdote of Elizabeth: but do you forget her schoolmaster, ROGER ASCHAM?

LYSAND. The master ought certainly to have been mentioned before his pupil. Old Roger is one of my most favourite authors; and I wish English scholars in general not only to read his works frequently, but to imitate the terseness and perspicuity of his style. There is a great deal of information in his treatises, respecting the manners and customs of his times; and as Dr. Johnson has well remarked, "his philological learning would have gained him honour in any country."[329] That he was an ardent bibliomaniac, his letters when upon the continent, are a sufficient demonstration.

[Footnote 329: ROGER ASCHAM is now, I should hope, pretty firmly established among us as one of the very best classical writers in our language. Nearly three centuries are surely sufficient to consecrate his literary celebrity. He is an author of a peculiar and truly original cast. There is hardly a dull page or a dull passage in his lucubrations. He may be thought, however, to have dealt rather harshly with our old romance writers; nor do I imagine that the original edition of his _Schoolmaster_ (1571), would be placed by a _Morte d'Arthur_ collector alongside of his thin black-letter quarto romances. Ascham's invectives against the Italian school, and his hard-hearted strictures upon the innocent ebullitions of Petrarch and Boccaccio, have been noticed, with due judgment and spirit, by Mr. Burnet, in his pleasing analysis of our philosopher's works. See _Specimens of English Prose Writers_; vol. ii., p. 84. Our tutor's notions of academical education, and his courteous treatment of his royal and noble scholars, will be discoursed of anon; meantime, while we cursorily, but strongly, applaud Dr. Johnson's almost unqualified commendation of this able writer; and while the reader may be slightly informed of the elegance and interest of his epistles; let the bibliomaniac hasten to secure Bennet's edition of Ascham's works (which incorparates [Transcriber's Note: incorporates] the notes of Upton upon the Schoolmaster, with the Life of, and remarks upon Ascham, by Dr. Johnson), published in a handsome quarto volume [1761]. This edition, though rather common and cheap, should be carefully reprinted in an octavo volume; to harmonize with the greater number of our best writers published in the same form. But it is time to mention something of the author connected with the subject of this work. What relates to the BIBLIOMANIA, I here select from similar specimens in his English letters, written when he was abroad: "Oct. 4. at afternoon I went about the town [of Bruxelles]. I went to the frier Carmelites house, and heard their even song: after, I desired to see the LIBRARY. A frier was sent to me, and led me into it. There was not one good book but _Lyra_. The friar was learned, spoke Latin readily, entered into Greek, having a very good wit, and a greater desire to learning. He was gentle and honest," &c. pp. 370-1. "Oct. 20. to Spira: a good city. Here I first saw _Sturmius de Periodis_. I also found here _Ajax_, _Electra_, and _Antigone_ of _Sophocles_, excellently, by my good judgment, translated into verse, and fair printed this summer by Gryphius. Your stationers do ill, that at least do not provide you the register of all books, especially of old authors," &c., p. 372. Again: "Hieronimus Wolfius, that translated Demosthenes and Isocrates, is in this town. I am well acquainted with him, and have brought him twice to my lord's to dinner. He looks very simple. He telleth me that one Borrheus, that hath written well upon Aristot. priorum, &c., even now is printing goodly commentaries upon Aristotle's Rhetoric. But Sturmius will obscure them all." p. 381. These extracts are taken from Bennet's edition. Who shall hence doubt of the propriety of classing Ascham among the most renowned bibliomaniacs of the age?]

From the tutor of Elizabeth let us go to her prime minister, CECIL.[330] We have already seen how successfully this great man interposed in matters of religion; it remains to notice his zealous activity in the cause of learning. And of this latter who can possibly entertain a doubt? Who that has seen how frequently his name is affixed to Dedications, can disbelieve that Cecil was a LOVER OF BOOKS? Indeed I question whether it is inserted more frequently in a diplomatic document or printed volume. To possess all the presentation copies of this illustrious minister would be to possess an ample and beautiful library of the literature of the sixteenth century.

[Footnote 330: The reader, it is presumed, will not form his opinion of the bibliomaniacal taste of this great man, from the distorted and shameful delineation of his character, which, as a matter of curiosity only, is inserted at p. 237, ante. He will, on the contrary, look upon Cecil as a lover of books, not for the sake of the numerous panegyrical dedications to himself, which he must have so satisfactorily perused, but for the sake of the good to be derived from useful and ingenious works. With one hand, this great man may be said to have wielded the courageous spirit, and political virtue, of his country--and with the other, to have directed the operations of science and literature. Without reading the interesting and well-written life of Cecil, in Mr. Macdiarmid's _Lives of British Statesmen_ (a work which cannot be too often recommended, or too highly praised), there is evidence sufficient of this statesman's bibliomaniacal passion and taste, in the FINE OLD LIBRARY which is yet preserved at Burleigh in its legitimate form--and which, to the collector of such precious volumes, must have presented a treat as exquisite as are the fresh blown roses of June to him who regales himself in the flowery fragrance of his garden--the production of his own manual labour! Indeed Strypes tells us that Cecil's "library was a very choice one:" his care being "in the preservation, rather than in the private possession of (literary) antiquities." Among other curiosities in it, there was a grand, and a sort of presentation, copy of Archbishop Parker's Latin work of the _Antiquity of the British Church_; "bound costly, and laid in colours the arms of the Church of Canterbury, empaled with the Archbishop's own paternal coat." Read Strype's tempting description; _Life of Parker_; pp. 415, 537. Well might Grafton thus address Cecil at the close of his epistolary dedication of his _Chronicles_: "and now having ended this work, and seeking to whom I might, for testification of my special good-will, present it, or for patronage and defence dedicate it, and principally, for all judgment and correction to submit it--among many, I have chosen your MASTERSHIP, moved thereto by experience of your courteous judgment towards those that travail to any honest purpose, rather helping and comforting their weakness, than condemning their simple, but yet well meaning, endeavours. By which, your accustomed good acceptation of others, I am the rather boldened to beseech your Mastership to receive this my work and me, in such manner as you do those in whom (howsoever there be want of power) there wanteth no point of goodwill and serviceable affection." Edit. 1809, 4to. If a chronicler could talk thus, a poet (who, notwithstanding the title of his poem, does not, I fear, rank among Pope's bards, that "sail aloft among _the Swans of Thames_,") may be permitted thus to introduce Cecil's name and mansion:

Now see these Swannes the new and worthie seate Of famous CICILL, treasorer of the land, Whose wisedome, counsell skill of Princes state The world admires, then Swannes may do the same: The house itselfe doth shewe the owner's wit, And may for bewtie, state, and every thing, Compared be with most within the land,

Vallan's _Tale of Two Swannes_, 1590, 4to., reprinted in _Leland's Itinerary_; vol. v. p. xiii, edit. 1770.]

But the book-loving propensities of Elizabeth's minister were greatly eclipsed by those of her favourite archbishop, PARKER:

clarum et venerabile nomen Gentibus, et multum nostrae quod proderat urbi.

For my part, Lorenzo, I know of no character, either of this or of any subsequent period, which is more entitled to the esteem and veneration of Englishmen. Pious, diffident, frank, charitable, learned, and munificent, Parker was the great episcopal star of his age, which shone with undiminished lustre to the last moment of its appearance. In that warm and irritable period, when the Protestant religion was assailed in proportion to its excellence, and when writers mistook abuse for argument, it is delightful to think upon the mild and temperate course which this discreet metropolitan pursued! Even with such arrant bibliomaniacs as yourselves, Parker's reputation must stand as high as that attached to any name, when I inform you that of his celebrated work upon the "_Antiquity of the British Church_"[331] are only twenty copies supposed to have been printed. He had a private press, which was worked with types cast at his own expense; and a more determined book-fancier, and treasurer of ancient lore, did not at that time exist in Great Britain.

[Footnote 331: This is not the place to enter minutely into a bibliographical account of the above celebrated work; such account being with more propriety reserved for the history of our _Typographical Antiquities_. Yet a word or two may be here said upon it, in order that the bibliomaniac may not be wholly disappointed; and especially as Ames and Herbert have been squeamishly reserved in their comunications [Transcriber's Note: communications] respecting the same. The above volume is, without doubt, one of the scarcest books in existence. It has been intimated by Dr. Drake, in the preface of his magnificent reprint of it, 1729, fol., that only 20 copies were struck off: but, according to Stype [Transcriber's Note: Strype], Parker tells Cecil, in an emblazoned copy presented to him by the latter, that he had not given the book to _four_ men in the whole realm: and peradventure, added he, "it shall never come to sight abroad, though some men, smelling of the printing of it, were very desirous cravers of the same." _Life of Parker_, p. 415. This certainly does not prove any thing respecting the number of copies printed; but it is probable that Dr. Drake's supposition is not far short of the truth. One thing is remarkable: of all the copies known, no two are found to accord with each other. The archbishop seems to have altered and corrected the sheets as they each came from the press. The omission of the Archbishop's own life in this volume, as it contained the biography of 69 archbishops, exclusively of himself, was endeavoured to be supplied by the publication of a sharp satirical tract, entitled, "_The life off the 70 Archbishop of Canterbury, presenttye sittinge Englished, and to be added to the 69 lately sett forth in Latin_," &c., 12mo., 1574. After this title page there is another. "_Histriola, a little storye of the acts and life of Mathew, now Archbishoppe of Canterb._" This latter comprehends 17 leaves, and was written either by the archbishop himself, or by his Chaplain Joscelyne; but whether it be at all like a distinct printed folio tract, of twelve leaves and a half, which was kept carefully undispersed in the archbishop's own possession, 'till his death--being also a biography of Parker--I am not able to ascertain. The following extracts from it (as it is a scarce little volume) may be acceptable,

_Archbishop Parker's early Studies and popular Preaching._

"But now, he being very well and perfectly instructed in the liberal sciences, he applied all his mind to the study of divinity, and to the reading of the volumes of the ecclesiastical fathers; and that so earnestly that, in short space of time, he bestowed his labour not unprofitably in this behalf; for, after the space of four or five years, he, issuing from his secret and solitary study into open practice in the commonwealth, preached every where unto the people with great commendation; and that in the most famous cities and places of this realm, by the authority of King Henry VIII., by whose letters patent this was granted unto him, together with the license of the Archbishop of Canterbury. In execution of this function of preaching, he gained this commodity; that the fame of him came unto the ears of King Henry," &c. Sign. A. iij. recto.

_His attention to Literature and Printing, &c._

"----he was very careful, and not without some charges, to seek the monuments of former times; to know the religion of the ancient fathers, and those especially which were of the English church. Therefore in seeking up the Chronicles of the Britons and English Saxons, which lay hidden every where contemned and buried in forgetfulness, and through the ignorance of the languages not well understanded, his own especially, and his mens, diligence wanted not. And to the end that these antiquities might last long, and be carefully kept, he caused them, being brought into one place, _to be well bound and trimly covered_. And yet, not so contented, he endeavoured to set out in print certain of those ancient monuments, whereof he knew very few examples to be extant; and which he thought would be most profitable for the posterity, to instruct them in the faith and religion of the elders. [Orig. 'to instructe them in the faythe and religion off the elders.] Hereupon, he caused the perpetual histories of the English affairs, by _Mathaeus Parisiensis_, once a monk of Saint Alban's, and _Mathaeus Florilegus_, a monk of Saint Peter in Westminster, written in Latin, to be printed; after he had diligently conferred them with the examples which he could get in any place; to the end that, as sincerely as might be, as the authors first left them, he might deliver them into other men's hands. Lastly, that he might not be unmindful of those monuments which, both in antiquity, worthiness, and authority, excelled all other, or rather wherewith none are to be compared (I mean the Holy Scriptures) here he thought to do great good if, by his number, he increased the _Holy Bibles_, which shortly would be wanting to many churches, if this discommodity were not provided for in time. Therefore it seemed good unto him, first, with his learned servants, to examine thoroughly the English translation; wherein he partly used the help of his brethren bishops, and other doctors; with whom he dealt so diligently in this matter that they disdained not to be partners and fellows with him of his labor. And now all their work is set out in very fair forms and letters of print," &c. Sign. C. rect. & rev.

_His work De Antiquitate Ecclesiae Britannicae._

"----Much more praiseworthy is she (the 'Assyrian Queen of Babylon,') than he, whosoever it was, that of late hath set forth, to the hurt of christian men, certain rhapsodies and shreds of the old forworn stories, almost forgotten--had he not (Parker) now lately awakened them out of a dead sleep, and newly sewed them together in one book printed; whose glorious life promiseth not mountains of gold, as that silly heathen woman's (the aforesaid Queen) tomb, but beareth Christ in the brow, and is honested with this title in the front, 'De Antiquitate,' &c." Sign. C. iiij. rev. The satirical part, beginning with "To the Christian Reader," follows the biography from which these extracts have been taken. It remains to observe, that our ARCHBISHOP was a bibliomaniac of the very first order; and smitten with every thing attached to a BOOK, to a degree beyond any thing exhibited by his contemporaries. Parker did not scruple to tell Cecil that he kept in his house "drawers of pictures, wood-cutters, painters, limners, writers, and book-binders,"--"one of these was LYLYE, an excellent writer, that could counterfeit any antique writing. Him the archbishop customarily used to make old books compleat,"--&c. _Strype's Life of Parker_; pp. 415, 529. Such was his ardour for book-collecting that he had agents in almost all places, abroad and at home, for the purpose of securing everything that was curious, precious, and rare: and one of these, of the name of Batman (I suppose the commentator upon Bartholomaeus) "in the space of no more than four years, procured for our archbishop to the number of 6700 books." _Id._ p. 528. The riches of his book bequests to Cambridge are sufficiently described by Strype; pp. 501, 518, 519, 529, &c. The domestic habits and personal appearance of PARKER are described by his biographer (p. 504) as being simple and grave. Notwithstanding his aversion to wearing silk, to plays and jests, and hawks and hounds (even when he was a young man), I take it for granted he could have no inward dislike to the beautiful and appropriate ceremony which marked his consecration, and which is thus narrated by the lively pen of Fuller: "The east part of the chapel of Lambeth was hung with tapestry, the floor spread with red cloth, chairs and cushions are conveniently placed for the purpose: morning prayers being solemnly read by Andrew Peerson, the archbishop's chaplain, Bishop Scory went up into the pulpit, and took for his text, _The Elders which are among you I exhort, who also am an elder; and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, &c._ Sermon ended, and the sacrament administered, they proceed to the consecration. The ARCHBISHOP had his rochet on, with HEREFORD; and the suffragan of Bedford, CHICHESTER, wore a silk cope; and COVERDALE a plain cloth gown down to his ancles. All things are done conformable to the book of ordination: Litany sung; the Queen's patent for Parker's consecration audibly read by Dr. Vale: He is presented: the oath of supremacy tendered to him; taken by him; hands reverently imposed on him; and all with prayers begun, continued, concluded. In a word, though here was no theatrical pomp to made it a popish pageant; though no sandals, gloves, ring, staff, oil, pall, &c., were used upon him--yet there was ceremony enough to clothe his consecration with decency, though not to clog it with superstition." _Church History_, b. ix., p. 60. But the virtues of the primate, however mild and unostentatious, were looked upon with an envious eye by the maligant observer of human nature; and the spontaneous homage which he received from some of the first noblemen in the realm was thus lampooned in the satirical composition just before noticed:

_Homage and Tribute paid to Archbishop Parker._

"The next is, what great tributes every made bishop paid him. How they entertained his whole household or court, for the time, with sumptuous feasting. How dearly they redeemed their own cloaths, and carpets, at his chaplain's hands. What fees were bestowed on his crucifer, marshall, and other servants. All which plentiful bounty, or rather, he might have said, largess, is shrunk up, he saith, to a small sum of ten pounds, somewhat beside, but very small, bestowed, he might have said cast away, upon the archbishop's family, &c.--The same earl (of Gloucester) must be his steward and chief cupbearer, the day of his inthronization: This is not to be called gracious Lords, as the Lords of the earth, but this is to be beyond all grace; and to be served of these gracious Lords, and to be their Lord paramount. In this roll of his noble tenants, the next are the Lord Strangways, the Earl of Oxford, the Lord Dacy, all which (saith he) owe service to that Archbishop. Then descendeth he to the gifts that every his suffragan provincial bishop bestoweth on him, in their life, and at their death: some their palfrey with saddle and furniture; some their rings, and some their seals. Among the rest, the Bishop of Rochester, who is there called specially his chaplain, giveth him a brace of dogs. These be trim things for prelates to give or receive; especially of them to make such account as to print them among such special prerogatives." Sign. D. iiij. v. Yet even to this libel was affixed the following epitaph upon Parker; which shews that truth "is great, and will prevail."

Matthew Parker liued sober and wise Learned by studie, and continuall practise, Louinge, true, off life uncontrold The courte did foster him, both young and old. Orderly he delt, the ryght he did defend, He lyved unto God, to God he mad his ende.

Let us take leave of this amiable, erudite, and truly exemplary, character, by contemplating his features--according to the ensuing cut of Tyson's fac-simile of the rare ancient print, prefixed to some of the copies of the _Antiquity of the British Church_; premising that the supposed original painting of Parker, at Benet College, Cambridge, is nothing more than one of the aforesaid ancient prints, delicately coloured: as a tasteful antiquary, of the first authority, discovered, and mentioned to me.

PHIL. You have called the reign of Henry the Seventh the AUGUSTAN-BOOK-AGE; but, surely, this distinction is rather due to the aera of Queen Elizabeth?

LYSAND. Both periods merit the appellation. In Henry's time, the invention of printing was of early growth; but the avidity of readers considerable. The presses of Rome, Venice, and Paris, sent forth their costly productions; and a new light, by such means, was poured upon the darkened mind. Our own presses began to contribute to the diffusion of this light; and, compared with the preceding part of the fifteenth century, the reign of Henry VII. was highly distinguished for its bibliomaniacal celebrity. Undoubtedly, the aera of Queen Elizabeth was the GOLDEN AGE of Bibliomaniacism.

Do not let me forget, in my rambling method of treating of books and book-men, the name and celebrity of the renowned DR. JOHN DEE. Let us fancy we see him in his conjuring cap and robes--surrounded with astrological, mathematical, and geographical instruments--with a profusion of Chaldee characters inscribed upon vellum rolls--and with his celebrated _Glass_ suspended by magical wires. Let us then follow him into his study at midnight, and view him rummaging his books; contemplating the heavens; making calculations; holding converse with invisible spirits; writing down their responses: anon, looking into his correspondence with _Count a Lasco_ and the emperors Adolphus and Maximilian; and pronouncing himself, with the most heartfelt complacency, the greatest genius of his age![332] In the midst of these self-complacent reveries, let us imagine we see his wife and little ones intruding; beseeching him to burn his books and instruments; and reminding him that there was neither a silver spoon, nor a loaf of bread, in the cupboard. Alas, poor DEE!--thou wert the dupe of the people and of the Court: and, although Meric Casaubon has enshrined thy conjurations in a pompous folio volume, thy name, I fear, will only live in the memory of bibliomaniacs!

[Footnote 332: Those who are fond of copious biographical details of astrologers and conjurers will read, with no small pleasure and avidity, the long gossipping account of DEE, which Hearne has subjoined to his edition of _John Confrat. Monach. de rebus gestis Glaston._, vol. ii.; where twelve chapters are devoted to the subject of our philosopher's travels and hardships. Meric Casaubon--who put forth a pompous folio volume of "_A true and faithful relation of what passed for many yeers between Dr. John Dee and some spirits_:" 1659--gravely assures us, in an elaborate, learned, and rather amusing preface, that the volume contains what "he thinks is not to be paralleled in that kind by any book that hath been set out in any age to read:" sign A. This is true enough; for such a farago of incongruous, risible, and horrible events, are no where else recorded. "None but itself can be its parallel." Casaubon wrote a professed dissertation (1652, 8vo.) upon witches, and nothing seemed to be too unpalatable for his credulity to swallow. A compressed and rather interesting account of Dee, who was really the weakest as well as the ablest scholar and philosopher of his day, will be found in Ashmole's _Theatrum Chemicum_, p. 480. From the substance of these authorities, the reader is presented with the following sketch. The first chapter in Hearne's publication, which treats of the "entrance and ground plot of his first studies," informs us that he had received his Latin education in London and Chelmsford: that he was born in July, 1527, and at 15 years of age was entered at the University of Cambridge, 1542. In the three following years, "so vehemently was he bent to study that, for those years, he did inviolably keep this order; only to sleep 4 hours every night; to allow to meat and drink (and some refreshing after) 2 hours every day; and of the other 18 hours, all (excepting the time of going to, and being at, divine service) was spent in his studies and learning." In May, 1547, after having taken his Bachelor's decree, he went abroad. "And after some months spent about the Low Countries, he returned home, and brought with him the first astronomer's staff in brass, that was made of Gemma Frisius devising; the two great globes of Gerardus Mercator's making, and the astronomer's ring of brass, as Gemma Frisius had newly framed it." Dee's head now began to run wild upon astronomy, or rather astrology; and the tremendous assistance of the "occult art" was called in to give effect to the lectures which he read upon it at home and abroad. "He did set forth (and it was seen of the University) a Greek comedy of Aristophanes, named, in Greek, [Greek: eirene], in Latin, _Pax_; with the performance of the _Scarabaeus_ his flying up to Jupiter's palace, with a man and his basket of victuals on his back: whereat was great wondering and many vain reports spread abroad of the means how that was effected. In that college (Trinity, for he had now left St. John's), by his advice and endeavours, was their Christmas magistrate first named and confirmed an EMPEROR." The first emperor of this sort, (whose _name_, it must be confessed, is rather unpopular in a University) he takes care to inform us, "was one Mr. Thomas _Dun_, a very goodly man of person, stature, and complexion, and well learned also." Dee afterwards ranks these things among "his boyish attempts and exploits scholastical." In 1548 he was made Master of Arts, and in the same year "went over beyond the seas again, and never after that was any more student in Cambridge." Abroad, almost every emperor and nobleman of distinction, according to his own account, came to see and hear him. "For recreation, he looked into the method of the civil law, and profitted therein so much that, in _Antinomiis_, imagined to be in the law, he had good hap to find out (well allowed of) their agreements; and also to enter into a plain and due understanding of diverse civil laws, accounted very intricate and dark." At Paris, when he gave lectures upon Euclid's elements, "a thing never done publicly in any university in Christendom, his auditory in Rhemes college was so great, and the most part elder than himself, that the mathematical schools could not hold them; for many were fain, without the schools, at the windows, to be _Auditores et Spectatores_, as they could best help themselves thereto. And by the first four principal definitions representing to their eyes (which by imagination only are exactly to be conceived) a greater wonder arose among the beholders than of his _Aristophanes Scarabaeus_ mounting up to the top of Trinity Hall, _ut supra_." Notwithstanding the tempting offers to cause him to be domiciled in France and Germany, our astrologer, like a true patriot, declined them all. The French king offered an annual stipend of 200 French crowns; a Monsieur Babeu, Monsieur de Rohan, and Monsieur de Monluc, offered still greater sums, but were all refused. In Germany he was tempted with the yearly salary of 3000 dollars; "and lastly, by a messenger from the Russie or Muscovite Emperor, purposely sent with a very rich present unto him at Trebona castle, and with provision for the whole journey (being above 1200 miles from the castle where he lay) of his coming to his court at Moscow, with his wife, children, and whole family, there to enjoy at his imperial hands 2000 lib. sterling yearly stipend; and of his Protector yearly a thousand rubles; with his diet also to be allowed him free out of the emperor's own kitchen: and to be in dignity with authority amongst the highest sort of the nobility there, and of his Privy Counsellors."--But all this was heroically declined by our patriotic philosopher. Lord Pembroke and Lord Leicester introduced Dee to the notice of Q. Elizabeth, before her coronation. At which time her Majesty used these words--"_Where my brother hath given him a crown, I will give him a noble!_" Before the accession of Elizabeth, he was imprisoned on being accused of destroying Queen Mary by enchantment. "The Queen Elizabeth herself became a prisoner in the same place (Hampton Court) shortly afterwards; and Dee had for bedfellow one Barthelet Green, who was afterwards burnt." Dee himself was examined by Bishop Bonner. On the deanery of Gloucester becoming void in 1564, Dee was nominated to fill it: but the same deanery was afterwards bestowed on Mr. Man, who was sent into Spain in her Majesty's service. "And now this Lent, 1594, when it became void again (says Dee), I made a motion for it, but I came too late; for one that might spend 400 or 500 lib. a year already, had more need of it than I belike; or else this former gift was but words only to me, and the fruit ever due to others, that can espy and catch better than I for these 35 years could do." Mistris Blanche a Parry came to his house with an offer from the Queen of "any ecclesiastical dignity within her kingdom, being then, or shortly becoming, void and vacant"--but "Dee's most humble and thankful answer to her Majesty, by the same messenger, was that _cura animarum annexa_ did terrifie him to deal with." He was next promised to "have of her Majesty's gift other ecclesiastical livings and revenues (without care of souls annexed) as in her Majesty's books were rated at two hundred pounds yearly revenue; of which her Majesty's gift he never as yet had any one penny." In Oct. 1578, he had a consultation with Mr. Doctor Bayly, her Majesty's physician, "about her Majestie's grievous pangs and pains by reason of the toothake and rheum," &c. "He set down in writing, with hydrographical and geographical description, what he then had to say or shew, as concerning her Majesty's title royal to any foreign countries. Whereof two parchment great rolls full written, of about XII WHITE VELLUM SKINS, were good witnesses upon the table before the commissioners." Dee had refused an hundred pounds for these calligraphical labours. A list of his printed and unprinted works: the former 8 (ending with the year 1573), the latter 36 (ending with the year 1592), in number. Anno 1563, Julii ultimo, the Earl of Leicester and Lord Laskey invited themselves to dine with Dee in a day or two; but our astrologer "confessed sincerely that he was not able to prepare them a convenient dinner, unless he should presently sell some of his plate or some of his pewter for it. Whereupon," continues Dee, "her Majesty sent unto me very royally within one hour after forty angels of gold, from Sion; whither her Majesty was now come by water from Greenwich." A little before Christmas, 1599, Dee mentions a promise of another royal donation of 100_l._--"which intent and promise, some once or twice after, as he came in her Majesty's sight, she repeated unto him; and thereupon sent unto him _fifty pounds_ to keep his Christmas with that year--but what, says he, is become of the other fifty, truly I cannot tell! If her Majesty can, it is sufficient; '_Satis, cito, modo, satis bene_, must I say.'" In 1591, his patroness, the Countess of Warwick, made a powerful diversion at Court to secure for him the mastership of St. Cross, then filled by Dr. Bennet, who was to be made a bishop.--The queen qualified her promise of Dee's having it with a nota bene, _if he should be fit for it_. In 1592, the Archbishop of Canterbury openly "affirmed that the mastership of St. Crosse was a living most fit for him; and the Lord Treasurer, at Hampton Court, lately to himself declared, and with his hand very earnestly smitten on his breast used these very words to him--'_By my faith_, if her Majestie be moved in it by any other for you, I will do what I can with her Majestie to pleasure you therein, Mr. Dee.'" But it is time to gratify the BIBLIOMANIAC with something more to his palate. Here followeth, therefore, as drawn up by our philosopher himself, an account of

DEE'S LIBRARY:

"4000 _Volumes_--printed and unprinted--bound and unbound--valued at 2000 _lib._

1 Greek, 2 French, and 1 High Dutch, volumes of MSS., alone worth 533 _lib._ 40 years in getting these books together."

Appertaining thereto,

_Sundry rare and exquisitely made Mathematical Instruments._

_A radius Astronomicus_, ten feet long.

_A Magnet Stone, or Loadstone_; of great virtue--"which was sold out of the library for _v shill._ and for it afterwards (yea piece-meal divided) was more than xx _lib._ given in money and value."

"_A great case or frame of boxes_, wherein some hundreds of very rare evidences of divers Irelandish territories, provinces, and lands, were laid up. Which territories, provinces, and lands were therein notified to have been in the hands of some of the ancient Irish princes. Then, their submissions and tributes agreed upon, with seals appendant to the little writings thereof in parchment: and after by some of those evidences did it appear how some of those lands came to the Lascies, the Mortuomars, the Burghs, the Clares," &c.

"_A box of Evidences_ antient of some Welch princes and noblemen--the like of Norman donation--their peculiar titles noted on the forepart with chalk only, which on the poor boxes remaineth." This box, with another, containing similar deeds, were embezzled.

"One great bladder with about 4 pound weight, of a very sweetish thing, like a brownish gum in it, artificially prepared by thirty times purifying of it, hath more than I could well afford him for 100 crownes; as may be proved by witnesses yet living."

To these he adds his _three Laboratories_, "serving for Pyrotechnia"--which he got together after 20 years' labour. "All which furniture and provision, and many things already prepared, is unduly made away from me by sundry meanes, and a few spoiled or broken vessels remain, hardly worth 40 shillings." But one more feature in poor Dee's character--and that is his unparalleled serenity and good nature under the most griping misfortunes--remains to be described: and then we may take farewell of him, with aching hearts. In the 10th chapter, speaking of the wretched poverty of himself and family--("having not one penny of certain fee, revenue, stipend, or pension, either left him or restored unto him,")--Dee says that "he has been constrained now and then to send parcels of his little furniture of plate to pawn upon usury; and that he did so oft, till no more could be sent. After the same manner went his wives' jewels of gold, rings, bracelets, chains, and other their rarities, under the thraldom of the usurer's gripes: 'till _non plus_ was written upon the boxes at home." In the 11th chapter, he anticipates the dreadful lot of being brought "to the stepping out of doors (his house being sold). He, and his, with bottles and wallets furnished, to become wanderers as homish vagabonds; or, as banished men, to forsake the kingdom!" Again: "with bloody tears of heart, he, and his wife, their seven children, and their servant (seventeen of them in all), did that day make their petition unto their honours," &c. Can human misery be sharper than this--and to be the lot of a philosopher and bibliomaniac?! But "VENIET FELICIUS AEVUM."]

Of a wholly different cast of character and of reading was the renowned CAPTAIN COX of Coventry. How many of Dee's magical books he had exchanged for the pleasanter magic of _Old Ballads_ and _Romances_, I will not take upon me to say; but that this said bibliomaniacal Captain had a library, which, even from Master Laneham's imperfect description of it,[333] I should have preferred to the four thousand volumes of Dr. John Dee, is most nuquestionable [Transcriber's Note: unquestionable].

[Footnote 333: Let us be introduced to the sprightly figure and expression of character of this renowned Coventry captain, before we speak particularly of his library. "CAPTAIN COX (says the above-mentioned Master Laneham) came marching on valiantly before, clean trust and gartered above the knee, all fresh in a velvet cap (Master Golding a lent it him), flourishing with his _ton_ sword; and another fence master with him:" p. 39. A little before, he is thus described as connected with his library: "And first, Captain Cox; an odd man, I promise you: by profession a mason, and that right skilful: very cunning in fens (fencing); and hardy as Gawin; for his _ton_ sword hangs at his table's end. Great oversight hath he in matters of story: for as for _King Arthur's_ Book, _Huon of Bourdeaux_, the _Four Sons of Aymon_, _Bevys of Hampton_, _The Squyre of Low Degree_, _The Knight of Curtsy_, and the _Lady Fagnel_, _Frederick of Gene_, _Syr Eglamour_, _Syr Tryamour_, _Syr Lamurell_, _Syr Isenbras_, _Syr Gawyn_, _Olyver of the Castl_, _Lucres and Eurialus_, _Virgil's Life_, _the Castl of Ladies_, _the Widow Edyth_, _the King and the Tanner_, _Frier Rous_, _Howleglas_, _Gargantua_, _Robin Hood_, _Adam Bel_, _Clim on the Clough_, and _William of Cloudsley_, _the Churl and the Burd_, _the Seaven Wise Masters_, _the Wife lapt in a Morel's skin_, _the Sakful of Nuez_, _the Sergeaunt that became a Fryar_, _Skogan_, _Collyn Cloout_, _the Fryar and the Boy_, _Elynor Rumming_, and _the Nutbrooun Maid_, with many more than I rehearse here. I believe he has them all at his finger's ends," p. 36. The preceding is a list of the worthy Captain's ROMANCES; some of which, at least in their original shape, were unknown to Ritson: what would be the amount of their present produce under the hammer of those renowned black-letter-book auctioneers in King-street, Covent Garden--? Speak we, in the next place, of the said military bibliomaniac's collection of books in "PHILOSOPHY MORAL and NATURAL." "Beside _Poetry_ and _Astronomy_, and other hid sciences, as I may guess by the omberty of his books: whereof part are, as I remember, _The Shepherd's Kalendar_, _the Ship of Fools_, _Daniel's Dreams_, _the Book of Fortune_, _Stans_, _puer ad mensam_, _the bye way to the Spitl-house_, _Julian of Brainford's Testament_, _the Castle of Love_, _the Booget of Demaunds_, _the Hundred Mery Talez_, _the Book of Riddels_, _the Seaven Sorows of Wemen_, _the Proud Wives' Pater-Noster_, _the Chapman of a Penniworth of Wit_: Beside his AUNCIENT PLAYS; _Youth and Charitee_, _Hikskorner_, _Nugize_, _Impacient Poverty_, and herewith Doctor _Boord's Breviary of Health_. What should I rehearse here, what a bunch of BALLADS AND SONGS, all ancient?!--Here they come, gentle reader; lift up thine eyen and marvel while thou dost peruse the same: _Broom Broom on Hill_, _So wo iz me begon_, _trolly lo Over a Whinny Meg_, _Hey ding a ding_, _Bony lass upon a green_, _My bony on gave me a bek_, _By a bank az I lay_; and _two more_ he hath fair wrapt up in parchment, and bound with a whipcord!" It is no wonder that Ritson, in the historical essay prefixed to his collection of _Scottish Songs_, should speak of some of these ballads with a zest as if he would have sacrificed half his library to untie the said "whipcord" packet. And equally joyous, I ween, would my friend Mr. R.H. Evans, of Pall-Mall, have been--during his editorial labours in publishing a new edition of his father's collection of Ballads--(an edition, by the bye, which gives us more of the genuine spirit of the COXEAN COLLECTION than any with which I am acquainted)--equally joyous would Mr. Evans have been to have had the inspection of some of these 'bonny' songs. The late Duke of Roxburgh, of never-dying bibliomaniacal celebrity, would have parted with half the insignia of his order of the Garter to have obtained _clean original copies_ of these fascinating effusions! But let us return, and take farewell of Captain Cox, by noticing only the remaining department of his library, as described by Laneham. "As for ALMANACS of antiquity (a point for Ephemerides) I ween he can shew from _Jasper Laet of Antwerp_, unto _Nostradam of Frauns_, and thence unto our _John Securiz of Salisbury_. To stay ye no longer herein (concludes Laneham) I dare say he hath as fair a library of these sciences, and as many goodly monuments both in prose and poetry, and at afternoon can talk as much without book, as any innholder betwixt Brentford and Bagshot, what degree soever he be." _A Letter wherein part of the Entertainment untoo the Queenz Majesty at Killingwoorth Castl in Warwick-Sheer, in this Soomerz Progrest, 1575, is signefied_: Warwick, 1784, 8vo. O RARE CAPTAIN COX!]

We now approach two characters of a more dignified cast; and who, in every respect, must be denominated the greatest bibliomaniacs of the age: I mean SIR ROBERT COTTON and SIR THOMAS BODLEY. We will touch upon them separately.

The numerous relics which are yet preserved of the _Cottonian Collection_, may serve to convey a pretty strong idea of its splendour and perfection in its original shape. Cotton had all the sagacity and judgment of Lord Coke, with a more beautifully polished mind, and a more benevolent heart. As to books, and book men, he was the Mecaenas[334] of his day. His thirst for knowledge could never be satiated; and the cultivation of the mind upon the foundation of a good heart, he considered to be the highest distinction, and the most permanent delight, of human beings. Wealth, pomp, parade, and titles, were dissipated, in the pure atmosphere of his mind before the invigorating sun of science and learning. He knew that the tomb which recorded the _worth_ of the deceased had more honest tears shed upon it than the pompous mausoleum which spoke only of his pedigree and possessions. Accordingly, although he had excellent blood flowing in his veins, Cotton sought connection with the good rather than with the great; and where he found a cultivated understanding, and an honest heart, there he carried with him his _Lares_, and made another's abode his own.

[Footnote 334: There are few eminent characters of whom so many, and such ably-executed, memoirs are extant as of SIR ROBERT COTTON, KNT. In the present place we have nothing to do with his academical studies, his philosophical, or legislative, or diplomatic, labours: literature and _Book Madness_ are our only subjects of discussion. Yet those who may wish for more general, and possibly more interesting, details, may examine the authorities referred to by Mr. Planta in his very excellent _Catalogue of the MSS. in the Cottonian Library_, 1802, folio. Sir Robert Cotton was educated at Trinity-College, Cambridge. The number of curious volumes, whether in the roman, gothic, or italic type, which he in all probability collected during his residence at the university, has not yet been ascertained; but we know that, when he made his antiquarian tour with the famous Camden, ("par nobile fratrum!") in his 29th year, Cotton must have greatly augmented his literary treasures, and returned to the metropolis with a sharpened appetite, to devour every thing in the shape of a book. Respected by three sovereigns, Elizabeth, James, and Charles, and admired by all the literati in Europe, Sir Robert saw himself in as eminent a situation as wealth, talents, taste, and integrity can place an individual. His collection of books increased rapidly; but MS. records, deeds, and charters, were the chief objects of his pursuit. His mansion was noble, his library extensive, and his own manners such as conciliated the esteem of almost every one who approached him. Dr. Smith has well described our illustrious bibliomaniac, at this golden period of his life: "Ad Cottoni aedes, tanquam ad communem reconditioris doctrinae apothecam, sive ad novam Academiam, quotquot animo paulo erectiori musis et gratiis litaverint, sese recepere, nullam a viro humanissimo repulsam passuri: quippe idem literas bonas promovendi studium erat omni auctoramento longe potentius. Nec ista obvia morum facilitas, qua omnes bonos eruditionisque candidatos complexus est, quicquam reverentiae qua vicissim ille colebatur, detraxerat: potius, omnium, quos familiari sermone, repititisque colloquiis dignari placuit, in se amores et admirationem hac insigni naturae benignitate excitavit." Vit. Rob. Cottoni, p. xxiv., prefixed to the _Catalogus Librorum Manuscriptorum Bibl. Cott._, 1696, folio. Sir Robert was, however, doomed to have the evening of his life clouded by one of those crooked and disastrous events, of which it is now impossible to trace the correct cause, or affix the degree of ignominy attached to it, on the head of its proper author. Human nature has few blacker instances of turpitude on record than that to which our knight fell a victim. In the year 1615, some wretch communicated to the Spanish ambassador "the valuable state papers in his library, who caused them to be copied and translated into the Spanish:" these papers were of too much importance to be made public; and James the 1st had the meanness to issue a commission "which excluded Sir Robert from his own library." The storm quickly blew over, and the sunshine of Cotton's integrity diffused around its wonted brilliancy. But in the year 1629, another mischievous wretch propagated a report that Sir Robert had been privy to a treasonable publication: because, forsooth, the original tract, from which this treasonable one had been taken, was, in the year 1613, without the knowledge of the owner of the library, introduced into the Cottonian collection. This wretch, under the abused title of librarian, had, "for pecuniary considerations," the baseness to suffer one or more copies of the pamphlet of 1613 (writtten [Transcriber's Note: written] at Florence by Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, under a less offensive title) to be taken, and in consequence printed. Sir Robert was therefore again singled out for royal vengeance: his library was put under sequestration; and the owner forbidden to enter it. It was in vain that his complete innocence was vindicated. To deprive such a man as COTTON of the ocular and manual comforts of his library--to suppose that he could be happy in the most splendid drawing room in Europe, without his books--is to suppose what our experience of virtuous bibliomaniacs will not permit us to accede to. In consequence, Sir Robert declared to his friends, "that they had broken his heart who had locked up his library from him:" which declaration he solemnly repeated to the Privy Council. In the year 1631, this great and good man closed his eyes for ever upon mortal scenes; upon those whom he gladdened by his benevolence, and improved by his wisdom. Such was the man, of whom Gale has thus eloquently spoken:--"quisquis bona fide Historiam nostram per omne aevum explicare sataget, nullum laudatum Scriptorem a se desiderari exoptarique posse, quem COTTONIANUS ille incomparabilis thesaurus promptissime non exhibebit: Ea est, et semper fuit, nobilis Domus ergo literatos indulgentia--Hujus fores (ut illae Musaram, apud Pindarum) omnibus patent. Testes apello Theologos, Antiquarios, Jurisconsultos, Bibliopolas; qui quidem omnes, ex Cottoniana Bibliotheca, tanquam ex perenni, sed et communi fonte, sine impensis et molestia, abunde hauserunt." _Rer. Anglic. Script. Vet._, vol. i., praef., p. 3. The loss of such a character--the deprivation of such a patron--made the whole society of book-collectors tremble and turn pale. Men began to look sharply into their libraries, and to cast a distrustful eye upon those who came to consult and to copy: for the spirit of COTTON, like the ghost of Hamlet's father, was seen to walk, before cock-crow, along the galleries and balconies of great collections, and to bid the owners of them "remember and beware"!--But to return. The library of this distinguished bibliomaniac continued under sequestration some time after his death, and was preserved entire, with difficulty, during the shock of the civil wars. In the year 1712, it was removed to Essex House, in Essex-street, Strand, where it continued till the year 1730, when it was conveyed back to Westminster, and deposited in Little Dean's Yard. In October, 1731, broke out that dreadful fire, which Hearne (_Benedict. Abbat._, vol. i., praef. p. xvi.) so pathetically deplores; and in which the nation so generally sympathized--as it destroyed and mutilated many precious volumes of this collection. Out of 958 volumes, 97 were destroyed, and 105 damaged. In the year 1753 the library, to the honour of the age, and as the only atonement which could be made to the injured name of Cotton, as well as to the effectual _laying_ of his perturbed spirit--was purchased by parliament, and transported within the quiet and congenial abode of the BRITISH MUSEUM: and here may it rest, unabused, for revolving ages! The collection now contains 26,000 articles. Consult Mr. Planta's neatly written preface to the catalogue of the same; vide p. 39, 267, ante. And thus take we leave of the ever-memorable bibliomaniac, Sir ROBERT COTTON, KNT.]

Equally celebrated for literary zeal, and yet more for bibliomaniacal enthusiasm, was the famous SIR THOMAS BODLEY; whose account of himself, in _Prince's Worthies of Devon_, and particularly in one of _Hearne's publications_,[335] can never be read without transport by an affectionate son of our Oxford _Alma Mater_. View this illustrious bibliomaniac, with his gentleman-like air, and expressive countenance, superintending, with the zeal of a Custom-house officer, the shipping, or rather _barging_, of his books for the grand library which is now called by his OWN NAME! Think upon his activity in writing to almost every distinguished character of the realm: soliciting, urging, arguing, entreating for their support towards his magnificent establishment; and, moreover, superintending the erection of the building, as well as examining the timbers, with the nicety of a master-carpenter!--Think of this; and when you walk under the grave and appropriately-ornamented roof, which tells you that you are within the precincts of the BODLEIAN LIBRARY, pay obeisance to the portrait of the founder, and hold converse with his gentle spirit that dwells therein!

[Footnote 335: There are few subjects--to the bibliomaniac in general--and particularly to one, who, like the author of this work, numbers himself among the dutiful sons of the FAIR OXONIAN MOTHER--that can afford a higher gratification than the history of the BODLEIAN LIBRARY, which, like Virgil's description of fame,

"Soon grew from pigmy to gigantic size."

The reader is therefore here informed, as a necessary preliminary piece of intelligence, that the present note will be more monstrous than any preceding one of a similar nature. Let him, however, take courage, and only venture to dip his feet in the margin of the lake, and I make little doubt but that he will joyfully plunge in, and swim across it. Of the parentage, birth, and education of Bodley there seems to be no necessity for entering into the detail. The monument which he has erected to his memory is lofty enough for every eye to behold; and thereupon may be read the things most deserving of being known. How long the subject of his beloved library had occupied his attention it is perhaps of equal difficulty and unimportance to know; but his determination to carry this noble plan into effect is thus pleasingly communicated to us by his own pen: "when I had, I say, in this manner, represented to my thoughts, my peculiar estate, I resolved thereupon to possess my soul in peace all the residue of my days; to take my full farewell of state employments; to satisfy my mind with that mediocrity of worldly living that I have of my own, and so to retire me from the Court; which was the epilogue and end of all my actions and endeavours, of any important note, till I came to the age of fifty-three years."--"Examining exactly, for the rest of my life, what course I might take; and, having, as I thought, sought all the ways to the wood, I concluded, at the last, to set up my staff AT THE LIBRARY DOOR IN OXON, being thoroughly persuaded, in my solitude and surcease from the commonwealth affairs, I could not busy myself to better purpose than by reducing that place (which then in every part lay ruinated and waste) to the public use of Students." Prince's _Worthies of Devon_, p. 95, edit. 1810. Such being the reflections and determination of Sir Thomas Bodley, he thus ventured to lay open his mind to the heads of the University of Oxford:

"_To the Vice-Chancellor (Dr. Ravis) of Oxon; about restoring the public library._

(This letter was published in a convocation holden March 2, 1597)

SIR,

Although you know me not, as I suppose, yet for the farthering an offer, of evident utility, to your whole university, I will not be too scrupulous in craving your assistance. I have been always of a mind that, if God, of his goodness, should make me able to do any thing, for the benefit of posterity, I would shew some token of affection, that I have ever more borne, to the studies of good learning. I know my portion is too slender to perform, for the present, any answerable act to my willing disposition: but yet, to notify some part of my desire in that behalf, I have resolved thus to deal. Where there hath been heretofore a public library in Oxford, which, you know, is apparent by the room itself remaining, and by your statute records, I will take the charge and cost upon me to reduce it again to his former use: and to make it fit and handsome, with seats, and shelves, and desks, and all that may be needfull, to stir up other men's benevolence, to help to furnish it with books. And this I purpose to begin, as soon as timber can be gotten, to the intent that you may reap some speedy profit of my project. And where before, as I conceive, it was to be reputed but a store of books of divers benefactors, because it never had any lasting allowance, for augmentation of the number, or supply of books decayed: whereby it came to pass that, when those that were in being were either wasted or embezelled, the whole foundation came to ruin:--to meet with that inconvenience, I will so provide hereafter (if God do not hinder my present design) as you shall be still assured of a standing annual rent, to be disbursed every year in buying of books, in officers' stipends, and other pertinent occasions, with which provision, and some order for the preservation of the place, and of the furniture of it, from accustomed abuses, it may, perhaps, in time to come, prove a notable treasure for the multitude of volumes; an excellent benefit for the use and ease of students; and a singular ornament in the University. I am, therefore, to intreat you, because I will do nothing without their public approbation, to deliver this, that I have signified, in that good sort, that you think meet: and when you please to let me know their acceptation of my offer, I will be ready to effect it with all convenient expedition. But, for the better effecting of it, I do desire to be informed whether the University be sufficiently qualified, by licence of Mortmain, or other assurance, to receive a farther grant of any rent or annuity than they do presently enjoy. And, if any instruments be extant of the ancient donations to their former library, I would, with their good liking, see a transcript of them: and likewise of such statutes as were devised by the founders, or afterwards by others for the usage of the books. Which is now as much as I can think on, whereunto, at your good leisure, I would request your friendly answer. And, if it lie in my ability to deserve your pains in that behalf, although we be not yet acquainted, you shall find me very forward. From London, Feb. 23, 1597.

Your affectionate friend,

THO. BODLEY."

In the Easter following, "Mr. Bodley came to Oxford to view the place on which he intended his bounty, and making them a model of the design with the help of Mr. Saville, Warden of Merton College, ordered that the room, or place of stowage, for books, should be new planked, and that benches and repositories fo [Transcriber's Note: for] books should be set up." Wood's _Annals of the University_, vol. ii., pt. ii., p. 920. The worthy founder then pursued his epistolary intercourse with the Vice-Chancellor:

"_To Mr. Vice Chancellor._

SIR,

I find myself greatly beholden unto you for the speed that you have used in proposing my offer to the whole University, which I also hear by divers friends was greatly graced in their meeting with your courteous kind speeches. And though their answer of acceptance were over thankful and respective; yet I take it unto me for a singular comfort, that it came for that affection, whose thanks in that behalf I do esteem a great deal more than they have reason to esteem a far better offer. In which respect I have returned my dutiful acknowledgement, which I beseech you to present, when you shall call a convocation, about some matter of greater moment. Because their letter was in _Latin_, methought it did enforce me not to show myself a truant, by attempting the like, with a pen out of practice: which yet I hope they will excuse with a kind construction of my meaning. And to the intent they may perceive that my good will is as forward to perform as to promise, and that I purpose to shew it to their best contentation, I do hold it very requisite that some few should be deputed by the rest of the House to consider, for the whole, of the fittest kind of facture of desks, and other furniture; and when I shall come to Oxford, which I determine, God willing, some time before Easter, I will then acquaint the self same parties with some notes of a platform, which I and Mr. Savile have conceived here between us: so that, meeting altogether, we shall soon resolve upon the best, as well for shew, and stately form, as for capacity and strength, and commodity of students. Of this my motion I would pray you to take some notice in particular, for that my letter herewith to your public assembly doth refer itself in part to your delivery of my mind. My chiefest care is now, the while, how to season my timber as soon as possible. For that which I am offered by the special favour of Merton College, although it were felled a great while since, yet of force it will require, after time it is sawed, a convenient seasoning; least by making too much haste, if the shelves and seats should chance to warp, it might prove to be an eye sore, and cost in a manner cast away. To gain some time in that regard, I have already taken order for setting sawyers a-work, and for procuring besides all other materials; wherein my diligence and speed shall bear me witness of my willingness to accomplish all that I pretend, to every man's good liking. And thus I leave and commend you to God's good tuition. From London, March 19, --97

Your assured to use in all your occasions,

THO. BODLEY."

Neither this nor the preceding letter are published in Mr. Gutch's valuable edition of Wood's original text: but are to be found, as well as every other information here subjoined, in Hearne's edition of _Joh. Confrat. &c., de Reb. Glaston._, vol. ii., pp. 612 to 645. We will next peruse the curious list of the first benefactors to the Bodleian Library.

_My Lord of Essex_: about 300 volumes: greater part in folio.

_My Lord Chamberlain_: 100 volumes, all in a manner new bound, with his arms, and a great part in folio.

_The Lord Montacute_: 66 costly great volumes, in folio; all bought of set purpose, and fairly bound with his arms.

_The Lord Lumley_: 40 volumes in folio.

_Sir Robert Sidney_: 102 new volumes in folio, to the value of one hundred pounds, being all very fair, and especially well bound with his arms.

_Merton College_: 38 volumes of singular good books in folio, &c.

_Mr. Philip Scudamor_: 50 volumes: greatest part in folio.

_Mr. William Gent_: 100 volumes at the least.

_Mr. Lawrence Bodley_: 37 very fair and new bought books in folio. (There were seven other donations--in money, from 4 to 10_l._)

Another list of benefactors; read in Convocation, July 17, 1601.

_Sir John Fortescue, Knt._: 47 volumes: of which there are 5 Greek MSS. of singular worth.

_Mr. Jo. Crooke_: Recorder of the City of London: 27 good volumes; of which 25 are in folio.

_Mr. Henry Savile_: all the Greek interpreters upon Aust(in).

_Mr. William Gent, of Glocester Hall_: 160 volumes; of which there are 50 in folio.

_Mr. Thomas Allen, of do._, hath given 12 rare MSS., with a purpose to do more, and hath been ever a most careful provoker and solicitor of sundry great persons to become benefactors.

_Mr. William Camden_, by his office _Clarentius_: 7 volumes; of which 4 are manuscripts.

_Mr. Thomas James, of New College_: 100 volumes: almost all in folio, and sundry good manuscripts. With about 50 other donations, chiefly in money.

To Dr. Raves, Vice-Chanc. (Read in Convoc. May 10, 1602.)

A yet larger, and more complete, list will be found in Mr. Gutch's publication of Wood's text. Let us next observe how this distinguished bibliomaniac seized every opportunity--laying embargoes upon barges and carriages--for the conveyance of his book-treasures. The ensuing is also in Mr. Gutch's work:

"_To the Right W. Mr. D. King, Dean of Christ-Church, and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxon, or, in his absence, to his Deputies there._

(Read in Convocation, July 8, 1608.)

SIR,

I have sent down, by a western barge, all the books that I have of this year's collection, which I have requested Mr. James, and other of my friends, to see safely brought from Burcote, and placed in the library. Sir Francis Vere hath sent me this year his accustomed annual gift of ten pounds. The Lady Mary Vere, wife to Sir Horace Vere, in the time of her widowhood (for so she is desired it should be recorded), being called Mrs. Hoby, of Hales, in Gloucestershire, hath given twenty pound. (He then enumerates about 15 other donations, and thus goes on:) Thus I thought meet to observe my yearly custom, in acquainting the University with the increase of their store: as my care shall be next, and that very shortly, to endow them with that portion of revenue and land that I have provided, whensoever God shall call me, for the full defraying of any charge that, by present likelihood, the conservation of the books, and all needful allowances to the keeper and others, may from time to time require. I will send you, moreover, a draught of certain statutes, which I have rudely conceived about the employment of that revenue, and for the government of the library: not with any meaning that they should be received, as orders made by me (for it shall appear unto you otherwise) but as notes and remembrances to abler persons, whom hereafter you may nominate (as I will also then request you) to consider of those affairs, and so frame a substantial form of government, sith that which is a foot is in many thinges defective for preservation of the library: for I hold it altogether fitting that the University Convocation should be always possessed of an absolute power to devise any statutes, and of those to alter as they list, when they find an occasion of evident utility. But of these and other points, when I send you my project, I will both write more of purpose, and impart unto you freely my best cogitations, being evermore desirous, whatsoever may concern your public good, to procure and advance it so, to the uttermost of my power: as now in the meanwhile, reminding unto you my fervent affection, I rest for any service,

Your most assured, at commandment,

THO. BODLEIE.

London, June 30, 1608."

In a letter to his "dearest friends, Doctor Kinge, Vice-Chancellor, the Doctors, Proctors, and the rest of the Convocation House in Oxon," (16th June, 1609) after telling them how he had secured certain landed property for the payment of the salaries and other expenses attendant upon the library, Sir Thomas thus draws to a conclusion: "Now because I presuppose that you take little pleasure in a tedious letter, having somewhat besides to impart unto you, I have made it known by word to Mr. Vicechancellor, who, I know, will not fail to acquaint you with it: as withall I have intreated him to supply, in my behalf, all my negligent omissions, and defective form of thanks, for all your public honours, entertainments, letters, gifts, and other graces conferred upon me, which have so far exceeded the compass of my merits that, where before I did imagine that nothing could augment my zealous inclination to your general good, now methinks I do feel it (as I did a great while since) was very highly augmented: insomuch as I cannot but shrive myself thus freely and soothly unto you. That, albeit, among a number of natural imperfections, I have least of all offended in the humour of ambition, yet now so it is, that I do somewhat repent me of my too much niceness that way: not as carried with an appetite to rake more riches to myself (wherein, God is my witness, my content is complete) but only in respect of my greedy desire to make a livelier demonstration of the same that I bear to my COMMON MOTHER, than I have hitherto attained sufficient ability to put in execution. With which unfeigned testification of my devotion unto you, and with my daily fervent prayers for the endless prosperity of your joint endeavours, in that whole institution of your public library, I will close up this letter, and rest, as I shall ever,

Yours, in all loving and dutiful affection,

THOMAS BODLEY.

London, May 31, 1609."

The following, which is also in Mr. Gutch's publication, shews the laudable restlessness, and insatiable ambition, of our venerable bibliomaniac, in ransacking foreign libraries for the completion of his own.

"_To the Right Worshipfull Mr. D. Singleton, Vicechancellor of the University of Oxon._

(Read in Convocation, Nov. 9, 1611.)

SIR,

About some three years past, I made a motion, here in London, to Mr. Pindar, Consul of the Company of English Merchants at Aleppo (a famous port in the Turk's dominions) that he would use his best means to procure me some books in the Syriac, Arabic, Turkish, and Persian tongues, or in any other language of those Eastern nations: because I make no doubt but, in process of time, by the extraordinary diligence of some one or other student, they may be readily understood, and some special use made of their kind of learning in those parts of the world: and where I had a purpose to reimburse all the charge that might grow thereupon, he sent of late unto me 20 several volumes in the foresaid tongues, and of his liberal disposition hath bestowed them freely on the library. They are manuscripts all (for in those countries they have no kind of printing) and were valued in that place at a very high rate. I will send them, ere be long, praying you the while to notify so much unto the University, and to move them to write a letter of thanks, which I will find means to convey to his hands, being lately departed from London to Constantinople. Whether the letter be indited in Latin or English, it is not much material, but yet, in my conceit, it will do best to him in English."

(The remainder of this letter is devoted to a scheme of building the public schools at Oxford; in which Sir Thomas found a most able and cheerful coadjutor, in one, _Sir Jo. Benet_; who seems to have had an extensive and powerful connection, and who set the scheme on foot, "like a true affected son to his ANCIENT MOTHER, with a cheerful propension to take the charge upon him without groaning.")

In April 1585, Queen Elizabeth granted Sir Thomas "a passport of safe conveyance to Denmark"; and wrote a letter to the King of Denmark of the same date, within two days. She wrote, also, a letter to Julius, Duke of Brunswick of the same date: in which the evils that were then besetting the Christian world abroad were said to be rushing suddenly, as "from the Trojan Horse." "These three letters (observes Mr. Baker to his friend Hearne) are only copies, but very fairly wrote, and seem to have been duplicates kept by him that drew the original letters."

We will peruse but two more of these Bodleian epistles, which Hearne very properly adds as an amusing appendix, as well to the foregoing, as to his _Reliquiae Bodleianae_ (1703, 8vo). They are written to men whose names must ever be held in high veneration by all worthy bibliomanacs.

"_Sir Tho. Bodley to Sir Robert Cotton._ (_Ex. Bibl. Cotton._)

SIR,

I was thrice to have seen you at your house, but had not the hap to find you at home. It was only to know how you hold your old intention for helping to furnish the University Library: where I purpose, God willing, to place all the books that I have hitherto gathered, within these three weeks. And whatsoever any man shall confer for the storing of it, such order is taken for a due memorial of his gift as I am persuaded he cannot any way receive a greater contentment of any thing to the value otherwise bestowed. Thus much I thought to signify unto you: and to request you to hear how you rest affected.

Yours, to use in any occasion,

THO. BODLEY.

From my house, June 6."

"_Sir Henry Savile to Sir R(obert) C(otton)._

SIR,

I have made Mr. Bodley acquainted with your kind and friendly offer, who accepteth of it in most thankful manner: and if it pleaseth you to appoint to-morrow at afternoon, or upon Monday or Tuesday next, at some hour likewise after dinner, we will not fail to be with you at your house for that purpose. And remember I give you fair warning that if you hold any book so dear as that you would be loth to have him out of your sight, set him aside before hand. For my own part, I will not do that wrong to my judgment as to chuse of the worst, if better be in place: and, beside, you would account me a simple man.

But to leave jesting, we will any of the days come to you, leaving, as great reason is, your own in your own power freely to retain or dispose. True it is that I have raised some expectation of the quality of your gift in Mr. Bodley, whom you shall find a gentleman in all respects worthy of your acquaintance. And so, with my best commendations, I commit you to God. This St. Peter's day.

Your very assured friend,

HENRY SAVILE."

It only remains now to indulge the dutiful sons of ALMA MATER with a fac-simile wood-cut impression of the profile of the venerable founder of the Bodleian Library, taken from a print of a medal in the _Catalogi Librorum Manuscriptorum Angliae, &c._, 1697, fol.; but whether it have any resemblance to the bust of him, "carved to the life by an excellent hand at London, and shortly after placed in a niche in the south wall of the same library," with the subjoined inscription, I cannot at this moment recollect.

The library of Sir Thomas Bodley, when completed, formed the figure of a T: it was afterwards resolved, on the books accumulating, and the benefactions increasing, to finish it in the form of an H; in which state it now remains. Sir Kenelm Digby, like a thorough bred bibliomaniac, "gave fifty very good oaks, to purchase a piece of ground of Exeter College, laying on the north west side of the library; on which, and their own ground adjoining, they might erect the future fabric." The laying of the foundation of this erection is thus described by Wood; concluding with a catastrophe, at which I sadly fear the wicked reader will smile. "On the thirteenth of May, being Tuesday, 1634, the Vice-chancellor, Doctors, Heads of Houses, and Proctors, met at St. Mary's church about 8 of the clock in the morning; thence each, having his respective formalities on came to this place, and took their seats that were then erected on the brim of the foundation. Over against them was built a scaffold, where the two proctors, with divers masters, stood. After they were all settled, the University Musicians, who stood upon the leads at the west end of the library, sounded a lesson on their wind music. Which being done, the singing men of Christ-Church, with others, sang a lesson, after which the senior Proctor, Mr. Herbert Pelham, of Magdalen College, made an eloquent oration: that being ended also, the music sounded again, and continued playing till the Vice-Chancellor went to the bottom of the foundation to lay the first stone in one of the south angles. But no sooner had he deposited a piece of gold on the said stone, according to the usual manner in such ceremonies, but the earth fell in from one side of the foundation, and the scaffold that was thereon broke and fell with it; so that all those that were thereon, to the number of a hundred at least, namely, the Proctors, Principals of Halls, Masters, and some Bachelaurs, fell down all together, one upon another, into the foundation; among whom, the under butler of Exeter College had his shoulder broken or put out of joint, and a scholar's arm bruised." "The solemnity being thus concluded with such a sad catastrophe, the breach was soon after made up and the work going chearfully forward, was in four years space finished." _Annals of the University of Oxford_; vol. ii., pt. ii., p. 939. Gutch's edition. We will take leave of SIR THOMAS BODLEY, and of his noble institution, with the subjoined representation of the University's Arms--as painted upon the ceiling of the library, in innumerable compartments; hoping that the period is not very remote when a _History of the Bodleian Library_, more ample and complete than any thing which has preceded it, will appear prefixed to a _Catalogue of the Books_, like unto that which is hinted at p. 74, ante, as "an urgent desideratum."

LIS. Alas, you bring to my mind those precious hours that are gone by, never to be recalled, which I wasted within this glorious palace of Bodley's erection! How I sauntered, and gazed, and sauntered again.--

PHIL. Your case is by no means singular. But you promise, when you revisit the library, not to behave so naughtily again?

LIS. I was not then a convert to the BIBLIOMANIA! Now, I will certainly devote the leisure of six autumnal weeks to examine minutely some of the precious tomes which are contained in it.

LYSAND. Very good. And pray favour us with the result of your profound researches: as one would like to have the most minute account of the treasures contained within those hitherto unnumbered volumes.

PHIL. As every sweet in this world is balanced by its bitter, I wonder that these worthy characters were not lampooned by some sharp-set scribbler--whose only chance of getting perusers for his work, and thereby bread for his larder, was by the novelty and impudence of his attacks. Any thing new and preposterous is sure of drawing attention. Affirm that you see a man standing upon one leg, on the pinnacle of Saint Paul's[336]--or that the ghost of Inigo Jones had appeared to you, to give you the extraordinary information that Sir Christopher Wren had stolen the whole of the plan of that cathedral from a design of his own--and do you not think that you would have spectators and auditors enough around you?

[Footnote 336: This is now oftentimes practised by some wag, in his "_Walke in Powles_." Whether the same anecdote is recorded in the little slim pamphlet published in 1604, 4to., under the same title--not having the work--(and indeed how should I? vide _Bibl. Reed_, no. 2225, _cum pretiis_!) I cannot take upon me to determine.]

LIS. Yes, verily: and I warrant some half-starved scrivener of the Elizabethan period drew his envenomed dart to endeavour to perforate the cuticle of some worthy bibliomaniacal wight.

LYSAND. You may indulge what conjectures you please; but I know of no anti-bibliomaniacal satirist of this period. STUBBES did what he could, in his "_Anatomy of Abuses_,"[337] to disturb every social and harmless amusement of the age. He was the forerunner of that snarling satirist, Prynne; but I ought not thus to cuff him, for fear of bringing upon me the united indignation of a host of black-letter critics and philologists. A _large and clean_ copy of his sorrily printed work is among the choicest treasures of a Shakspearian virtuoso.

[Footnote 337: "THE ANATOMIE OF ABUSES: _contayning a discoverie, or briefe summarie of such notable vices and imperfections as now raigne in many Christian Countreyes of the Worlde: but (especiallie) in a very famous Ilande called Ailgna_:" &c. Printed by Richard Jones, 1583, small 8vo. Vide Herbert's _Typographical Antiquities_, vol. iii., p. 1044, for the whole title. Sir John Hawkins, in his _History of Music_, vol iii., 419, calls this "a curious and very scarce book;" and so does my friend, Mr. Utterson; who revels in his morocco-coated copy of it--"_Exemplar olim Farmerianum!_" But let us be candid; and not sacrifice our better judgments to our book-passions. After all, Stubbes's work is a caricatured drawing. It has strong passages, and a few original thoughts; and, is moreover, one of the very few works printed in days of yore which have running titles to the subjects discussed in them. These may be recommendations with the bibliomaniac; but he should be informed that this volume contains a great deal of puritanical cant, and licentious language; that vices are magnified in it in order to be lashed, and virtues diminished that they might not be noticed. Stubbes equals Prynne in his anathemas against "Plays and Interludes:" and in his chapters upon "Dress" and "Dancing" he rakes together every coarse and pungent phrase in order to describe "these horrible sins" with due severity. He is sometimes so indecent that, for the credit of the age, and of a virgin reign, we must hope that every virtuous dame threw the copy of his book, which came into her possession, behind the fire. This may reasonably account for its present rarity. I do not discover it in the catalogues of the libraries of _Pearson_, _Steevens_, or _Brand_; but see _Bibl. Wright_, no. 1390.]

But admitting even that Stubbes had drawn his arrow to the head, and grazed the skin of such men as Bodley and Cotton, the wound inflicted by this weapon must have been speedily closed and healed by the balsamic medicine administered by ANDREW MAUNSELL, in his _Catalogue of English Printed Books_.[338] This little thin folio volume afforded a delicious treat to all honest bibliomaniacs. It revived the drooping spirits of the despondent; and, like the syrup of the renowned Dr. Brodum, circulated within the system, and put all the generous juices in action. The niggardly collector felt the influence of rivalship; he played a deeper stake at book-gambling; and hastened, by his painfully acquired knowledge of what was curious and rare in books, to anticipate the rustic collector--which latter, putting the best wheels and horses to his carriage, rushed from the country to the metropolis, to seize, at Maunsell's shop, a choice copy of _Cranmer's Bible, or Morley's Canzonets_.[339]

[Footnote 338: This Catalogue, the first publication of the kind ever put forth in this country, is complete in two parts; 1595, folio: first part containing 123 pages, exclusive of three preliminary epistles: the second, 27 pages; exclusive of three similar introductory pieces. The _first part_ is devoted entirely to Divinity: and in the dedicatory epistle to Queen Elizabeth, Maunsell tells her majesty that he thought it "worth his poor labour to collect a catalogue of the divine books, so mightily increased in her reign; whereby her majesty's most faithful and loving subjects may be put in remembrance of the works of so excellent authors," &c. The second part is devoted to a brief account of books in the remaining branches of literature, arts, sciences, &c. Maunsell promised to follow it up by a _third_ part; but a want of due encouragement seems to have damped the bibliographical ardour of the compiler; for this third part never appeared: a circumstance which, in common with the late Mr. Steevens, all bibliomaniacs may "much lament." See the _Athenaeum_, vol i., 155; also Herbert's _Typographical Antiquities_, vol ii., p. 1137. A copy of this volume has found its way into the Advocates' Library at Edinburgh; _Cat. Adv. Libr._, vol ii., p. 99. Ruddiman, who was formerly the librarian of this latter valuable collection, had probably read Hearne's commendation of it:--namely, that it was "a very scarce, and yet a very useful, book." _Bened. Abbat._, vol. i., p. LIV. Mr. Heber possesses a curious copy of it, which was formerly Herbert's, with the margins filled with his MS. addenda.]

[Footnote 339: "Of the translation appointed to bee read in churches, in Kinge Henry the 8, his daies," printed in the largest volume, 1539. "THO. MORLEY, Bachiler of Musique, and one of her Maiestie's Royal Chappell, _his Conzonets_, or little short songes to three voyces. Prin. by Tho. Est. 1593. 4to." See p. 10., pt. i., p. 17, pt. ii., of _Maunsell's Catalogue_; but let the reader consult p. 248, ante, concerning this "largest volume" of the Holy Scriptures.]

Let us, however, not forget that we have reached the reign of JAMES I.; a monarch who, like Justinian, affected to be "greatly given to study of books;"[340] and who, according to Burton's testimony, wished he had been chained to one of the shelves of the Bodleian library.[341] Of all literary tastes, James had the most strange and sterile. Let us leave him to his _Demonology_; but notice, with the respect that it merits, the more rational and even elegantly cultivated mind of his son PRINCE HENRY;[342] of whose passion for books there are some good evidences upon record. We will next proceed to the mention of a shrewd scholar and bibliomaniac, and ever active voyager, ycleped THOMAS CORYATE, the _Peregrine of Odcombe_. This facetious traveller, who was as quaint and original a writer as old Tom Fuller, appears (when he had time and opportunity) to have taken special notice of libraries; and when he describes to us his "worm eaten" copy of _Josephus's Antiquities_,[343] "written in ancient Longobard characters in parchment," one cannot but indulge a natural wish to know something of the present existence of a MS. which had probably escaped Oberthuer, the last laborious editor of Josephus.

[Footnote 340: "Greatly gyuen to study of bokys:" _Rastell's Chronicle, or Pastyme of People_, p. 28, edit. 1811, 4to.]

[Footnote 341: The passage is somewhere in Burton's _Anatomy of Mechanoly_. But I cannot just now, put my finger upon it.]

[Footnote 342: The works of KING JAMES I. (of England) were published in rather a splendid folio volume in the year 1616. Amongst these, his _Demonology_ is the "opus maximum." Of his son PRINCE HENRY, there is, in this volume, at the top of one of the preliminary pieces, a very pretty half length portrait; when he was quite a boy. A charming whole length portrait of the same accomplished character, when he was a young man, engraved by Paas, may be seen in the first folio edition of Drayton's _Polyolbion_: but this, the reader will tell me, is mere Grangerite information. Proceed we, therefore, to a pithy, but powerful, demonstration of the bibliomaniacal character of the said Prince Henry. "In the paper office, there is a book, No. 24, containing Prince Henry's privy-purse expences, for one year," &c. The whole expense of one year was 1400_l._ Among other charges, the following are remarkable:

L _s._ _d._

17th October, paid to a Frenchman, that presented _a book_ 4 10 0

20th October, paid Mr. Holyoak for writing a _Catalogue of the Library_ which the Prince had of Lord Lumley 8 13 4 &c. &c. &c.

_Apology for the Believers in the Shakspeare-Papers_, 1797, 8vo., p. 233.]

[Footnote 343: Look, gentle reader, at the entire ungarbled passage--amongst many similar ones which may be adduced--in vol. i., p. 116, of his "_Crudities_"--or Travels: edit. 1776, 8vo. Coryat's [Transcriber's Note: alternative spelling] talents, as a traveller, are briefly, but brilliantly, described in the _Quarterly Review_, vol. ii., p. 92.]

Let me here beseech you to pay due attention to the works of HENRY PEACHAM, when they come across you. The first edition of that elegantly written volume, "_The Compleat Gentleman_," was published I believe in the reign of James I., in the year 1622.

LOREN. I possess not only this, but every subsequent copy of it, and a fair number of copies of his other works. He and BRAITHWAIT were the "par nobile fratrum" of their day.

PHIL. I have often been struck with some curious passages in Peacham, relating to the Education of Youth[344] in our own country; as I find, from them, that the complaint of _severity of discipline_ still continued, notwithstanding the able work of Roger Ascham, which had recommended a mild and conciliatory mode of treatment.

[Footnote 344: The HISTORY of the EDUCATION OF YOUTH in this country might form an amusing little octavo volume. We have _Treatises_ and _Essays_ enough upon the subject; but a narrative of its first rude efforts, to its present, yet not perfected, form, would be interesting to every parent, and observer of human nature. My present researches only enable me to go back as far as Trevisa's time, towards the close of the 14th century; when I find, from the works of this Vicar of Berkeley, that "every friar that had _state in school_, such as they were then, had an HUGE LIBRARY." _Harl. MSS._, no. 1900. But what the particular system was, among youth, which thus so highly favoured the BIBLIOMANIA, I have not been able to ascertain. I suspect, however, that knowledge made but slow advances; or rather that its progress was almost inverted; for, at the end of the subsequent century, our worthy printer, Caxton, tells us that he found "but few who could write in their registers the occurrences of the day." _Polychronicon; prol. Typog. Antiquit._, vol. i., 148. In the same printer's prologue to _Catho Magnus_ (_Id._, vol. i., 197) there is a melancholy complaint about the youth of London; who, although, when children, they were "fair, wise, and prettily bespoken--at the full ripening, they had neither kernel nor good corn found in them." This is not saying much for the academic or domestic treatment of young gentlemen, towards the close of the 15th century. At the opening of the ensuing century, a variety of elementary treatises, relating to the education of youth, were published chiefly under the auspices of Dean Colet, and composed by a host of learned grammarians, of whom honourable mention has been made at page 218, ante. These publications are generally adorned with a rude wood-cut; which, if it be copied from truth, affords a sufficiently striking proof of the severity of the ancient discipline: for the master is usually seated in a large arm-chair, with a tremendous rod across his knees; and the scholars are prostrate before him, either on the ground upon bended knees, or sitting upon low benches. Nor was this rigid system relaxed in the middle of the same (xvith) century; when Roger Ascham composed his incomparable treatise, intitled the "_Schoolmaster_;" the object of which was to decry the same severity of discipline. This able writer taught his countrymen the value of making the road to knowledge smooth and inviting, by smiles and remunerations, rather than by stripes and other punishments. Indeed, such was the stern and Draco-like character which schoolmasters of this period conceived themselves authorized to assume that neither rank, nor situation, nor sex, were exempt from the exercise of their tyranny. Lady Jane Grey tells Ascham that her former teacher used to give her "pinches, and cuffs, and bobs," &c. The preface to the Schoolmaster informs us that two gentlemen, who dined with Ascham at Cecil's table, were of opinion that NICOLAS UDAL, then head master of Eaton School, "was the best schoolmaster of their time, and the _greatest beater_!" Bishop Latimer, in his fourth sermon (edit. 1562, fol. 15 to 18), has drawn such a picture of the Londoners of this period that the philosopher may imagine that youths, who sprung from such parents, required to be ruled with a rod of iron. But it has been the fashion of all writers, from the age of St. Austin downwards, to depreciate the excellences, and magnify the vices, of the times in which they lived. Ludovicus Vives, who was Latimer's contemporary, has attacked both schoolmasters and youths, in an ungracious style; saying of the former that "some taught Ovid's books of love to their scholars, and some make expositions and expounded the vices." He also calls upon the young women, in the language of St. Jerome, "to avoid, as a mischief or poison of chastity, young men with heads bushed and trimmed; and sweet smelling skins of outlandish mice." _Instruction of a Christian Woman_; edit. 1592, sign. D 3, rect. &c. I am not aware of any work of importance, relating to the education of youth, which appeared till the publication of the _Compleat Gentleman_ by HENRY PEACHAM: an author, who richly deserves all the handsome things above said of him in the text. His chapters "_Of the Duty of Masters_," and "_Of the Duty of Parents_," are valuable upon many accounts: inasmuch as they afford curious anecdotes of the system of academic and domestic education then pursued, and are accompanied with his own sagacious and candid reflections. Peacham was an _Aschamite_ in respect to lenity of discipline; as the following extracts, from the foregoing work, (edit. 1661) will unequivocally prove. Peacham first observes upon the different modes of education: "But we see on the contrary, out of the master's carterly judgment, like horses in a team, the boys are set to draw all alike, when some one or two prime and able wits in the school, [Greek: auto didaktoi] (which he culs out to admiration if strangers come, as a costardmonger his fairest pippins) like fleet hovnds go away with the game, when the rest need helping over a stile a mile behind: hence, being either quite discouraged in themselves, or taken away by their friends (who for the most part measure their learning by the form they set in), they take leave of their books while they live," &c. p. 23. "Some affect, and severer schools enforce, a precise and tedious strictness, in long keeping the schollers by the walls: as from before six in the morning, till twelve or past: so likewise in the afternoon. Which, beside the dulling of the wit and dejecting the spirit (for, "otii non minus quam negotii ratio extare debet") breeds in him, afterwards, a kind of hate and carelessness of study when he comes to be "sui juris," at his own liberty (as experience proves by many, who are sent from severe schools unto the universities): withall over-loading his memory, and taking off the edge of his invention, with over heavy tasks, in themes, verses," &c., p. 25. "Nor is it my meaning that I would all masters to be tyed to one method, no more than all the shires of England to come up to London by one highway: there may be many equally alike good. And since method, as one saith, is but [Greek: odopoietike], let every master, if he can, by pulling up stiles and hedges, make a more near and private way to himself; and in God's name say, with the divinest of poets,

_deserta per avia dulcis Raptat amor. Juvat ire iugis, qua nulla priorum_ CASTALIAM _molli divertitur orbita clivo._

(Georg. libi. iij.)

With sweet love rapt, I now by deserts pass, And over hills where never track of yore: Descending easily, yet remembered was, That led the way to CASTALIE before.

(Peacham.)

But instead of many good, they have infinite bad; and go stumbling from the right, as if they went blindfold for a wager. Hence cometh the shifting of the scholler from master to master; who, poor boy (like a hound among a company of ignorant hunters hollowing every deer they see), misseth the right, begetteth himself new labour, and at last, by one of skill and well read, beaten for his paines," pp. 29, 30. Peacham next notices the extreme severity of discipline exercised in some schools. "I knew one, who in winter would ordinarily, in a cold morning, whip his boys over for no other purpose than to get himself a heat: another beats them for swearing, and all the while sweares himself with horrible oaths. He would forgive any fault saving that! I had, I remember, myself (neer St. Alban's in Hertfordshire, where I was born) a master, who, by no entreaty, would teach any scholler he had farther than his father had learned before him; as if he had only learned but to read English, the son, though he went with him seven years, should go no further: his reason was, they would then prove saucy rogues, and controle their fathers! Yet these are they that oftentimes have our hopefull gentry under their charge and tuition, to bring them up in science and civility!" p. 27. This absurd system is well contrasted with the following account of the lenity observed in some of the schools on the continent: "In Germany the school is, and as the name imports, it ought to be, merely, LUDUS LITERARIUS, a very pastime of learning, where it is a rare thing to see a rod stirring: yet I heartily wish that our children of England were but half so ready in writing and speaking Latin, which boys of ten and twelve years old will do so roundly, and with so neat a phrase and style, that many of our masters would hardly mend them; having only for their punishment, shame; and for their reward, praise," p. 24. "Wherefore I cannot but commend the custome of their schools in the Low-countries, where for the avoyding of this tedious sitting still, and with irksome poring on the book all day long, after the scholler hath received his lecture, he leaveth the school for an houre, and walkes abroad with one or two of his fellows, either into the field or up among the trees upon the rampire, as in ANTWERP, BREDA, VTRECHT, &c., when they confer and recreate themselves till time calls them in to repeat, where perhaps they stay an hour; so abroad again, and thus at their pleasure the whole day," p. 26. Thus have we pursued the _History of the Education of Boys_ to a period quite modern enough for the most superficial antiquary to supply the connecting links down to the present times. Nor can we conclude this prolix note without observing upon two things which are remarkable enough: first, that in a country like our own--the distinguishing characteristics of whose inhabitants are gravity, reserve, and good sense--lads should conduct themselves with so much rudeness, flippancy, and tyranny towards each other--and secondly, that masters should, in too many instances, exercise a discipline suited rather to a government of despotism and terror than to a land of liberty and social comfort! But all human improvement, and human happiness, is progressive. Speramus meliora!]

LYSAND. But you must not believe every thing that is said in favour of _Continental_ lenity of discipline, shewn to youth, if the testimony of a modern newspaper may be credited!----

LIS. What your newspaper may hold forth I will not pretend to enter into.

LYSAND. Nay, here is the paragraph; which I cut out from "_The Observer_," and will now read it to you. "A German Magazine recently announced the death of a schoolmaster in Suabia, who, for 51 years, had superintended a large institution with old fashioned severity. From an average, inferred by means of recorded observations, one of the ushers had calculated that, in the course of his exertions, he had given _911,500 canings, 121,000 floggings, 209,000 custodes, 136,000 tips with the ruler, 10,200 boxes on the ear, and 22,700 tasks by heart_. It was further calculated that he had made _700 boys stand on peas, 6000 kneel on a sharp edge of wood, 5000 wear the fool's cap, and 1,700 hold the rod_. How vast (exclaims the journalist) the quantity of human misery inflicted by a single perverse educator!" Now, my friends, what have you to say against the _English_ system of education?

PHIL. This is only defending bad by worse.

LIS. Where are we digressing? What are become of our bibliomaniacal heroes?

LYSAND. You do right to call me to order. Let us turn from the birch, to the book, history.

Contemporaneous with Peacham, lived that very curious collector of ancient popular little pieces, as well as lover of "sacred secret soul soliloquies," the renowned _melancholy_ composer, ycleped ROBERT BURTON;[345] who, I do not scruple to number among the most marked bibliomaniacs of the age; notwithstanding his saucy railing against Frankfort book-fairs. We have abundance of testimony (exclusive of the fruits of his researches, which appear by his innumerable marginal references to authors of all ages and characters) that this original, amusing, and now popular, author was an arrant book-hunter; or, as old Anthony hath it, "a devourer of authors." Rouse, the Librarian of Bodleian, is said to have liberally assisted Burton in furnishing him with choice books for the prosecution of his extraordinary work.

[Footnote 345: I suppose Lysander to allude to a memorandum of Hearne, in his _Benedictus Abbas_, p. iv., respecting ROBERT BURTON being a collector of "ancient popular little pieces." From this authority we find that he gave "a great variety" of these pieces, with a multitude of books, of the best kind, to the "Bodleian Library."--One of these was that "opus incomparabile," the "_History of Tom Thumb_," and the other, the "_Pleasant and Merry History of the Mylner of Abingdon_." The expression "sacred secret soul soliloquies" belongs to Braithwait: and is thus beautifully interwoven in the following harmonious couplets:

----No minute but affords some tears. No walks but private solitary groves Shut from frequent, his contemplation loves; No treatise, nor discourse, so sweetly please As sacred-secret soule soliloquies.

_Arcadian Princesse_, lib. 4, p. 162.

And see, gentle reader, how the charms of solitude--of "walking alone in some solitary grove, betwixt wood and water, by a brook-side, to meditate upon some delightsome and pleasant subject" are depicted by the truly original pencil of this said Robert Burton, in his _Anatomy of Melancholy_, vol. i., p. 126, edit. 1804. But our theme is Bibliomania. Take, therefore, concerning the same author, the following: and then hesitate, if thou canst, about his being infected with the BOOK-DISEASE. "What a catalogue of new books all this year, all this age (I say) have our Frank-furt marts, our domestic marts, brought out! Twice a year, 'Proferunt se nova ingenia et ostentant;' we stretch our wits out! and set them to sale: 'Magno conatu nihil agimus,' &c. 'Quis tam avidus librorum helluo,' who can read them? As already, we shall have a vast chaos and confusion of books; we are oppressed with them; our eyes ake with reading, our fingers with turning," &c. This is painting _ad vivum_--after the life. We see and feel every thing described. Truly, none but a thorough master in bibliomaniacal mysteries could have thus thought and written! See "_Democritus to the Reader_," p. 10; perhaps the most highly finished piece of dissection in the whole _anatomical work_.]

About this period lived LORD LUMLEY; a nobleman of no mean reputation as a bibliomaniac. But what shall we say to Lord Shaftesbury's eccentric neighbour, HENRY HASTINGS? who, in spite of his hawks, hounds, kittens, and oysters,[346] could not for [Transcriber's Note: extraneous 'for'] forbear to indulge his book propensities though in a moderate degree! Let us fancy we see him, in his eightieth year, just alighted from the toils of the chase, and listening, after dinner, with his "single glass" of ale by his side, to some old woman with "spectacle on nose" who reads to him a choice passage out of John Fox's _Book of Martyrs_! A rare old boy was this Hastings. But I wander--and may forget another worthy, and yet more ardent, bibliomaniac, called JOHN CLUNGEON, who left a press, and some books carefully deposited in a stout chest, to the parish church at Southampton. We have also evidence of this man's having _erected a press_ within the same; but human villany has robbed us of every relic of his books and printing furniture.[347] From Southampton, you must excuse me if I take a leap to London; in order to introduce you into the wine cellars of one JOHN WARD; where, I suppose, a few choice copies of favourite authors were sometimes kept in a secret recess by the side of the oldest bottle of hock. We are indebted to Hearne for a brief, but not uninteresting, notice of this _vinous_ book collector.[348]

[Footnote 346: Of the bibliomaniacal spirit of LORD LUMLEY the reader has already had some slight mention made at pages 273, 281, ante. Of HENRY HASTINGS, Gilpin has furnished us with some anecdotes which deserve to be here recorded. They are taken from Hutchin's _Hist. of Dorsetshire_, vol. ii., p. 63. "Mr. HASTINGS was low of stature, but strong and active, of a ruddy complexion, with flaxen hair. His cloaths were always of green cloth. His house was of the old fashion; in the midst of a large park, well stocked with deer, rabbits, and fish-ponds. He had a long narrow bowling green in it, and used to play with round sand bowls. Here too he had a banquetting room built, like a stand in a large tree. He kept all sorts of hounds, that ran buck, fox, hare, otter, and badger; and had hawks of all kinds, both long and short winged. His great hall was commonly strewed with marrow-bones, and full of hawk-perches, hounds, spaniels, and terriers. The upper end of it was hung with fox-skins of this and the last year's killing. Here and there a pole-cat was intermixed, and hunter's poles in great abundance. The parlour was a large room, completely furnished in the same style. On a broad hearth, paved with brick, lay some of the choicest terriers, hounds, and spaniels. One or two of the great chairs had litters of cats in them, which were not to be disturbed. Of these, three or four always attended him at dinner, and a little white wand lay by his trencher, to defend it, if they were too troublesome. In the windows, which were very large, lay his arrows, cross-bows, and other accoutrements. The corners of the room were filled with his best hunting and hawking poles. His oyster table stood at the lower end of the room, which was in constant use twice a day, all the year round; for he never failed to eat oysters both at dinner and supper, with which the neighbouring town of Pool supplied him. At the upper end of the room stood a small table with a double desk; one side of which held a CHURCH BIBLE: the other the BOOK OF MARTYRS. On different tables in the room lay hawks'-hoods, bells, old hats, with their crowns thrust in, full of pheasant eggs, tables, dice, cards, and store of tobacco pipes. At one end of this room was a door, which opened into a closet, where stood bottles of strong beer and wine; which never came out but in single glasses, which was the rule of the house, for he never exceeded himself, nor permitted others to exceed. Answering to this closet was a door into an old chapel; which had been long disused for devotion; but in the pulpit, as the safest place, was always to be found a cold chine of beef, a venison pasty, a gammon of bacon, or a great apple-pye, with thick crust, well baked. His table cost him not much, though it was good to eat at. His sports supplied all but beef and mutton, except on Fridays, when he had the best of fish. He never wanted a London pudding, and he always sang it in with "_My part lies therein-a_." He drank a glass or two of wine at meals; put syrup of gilly-flowers into his sack, and had always a tun glass of small beer standing by him, which he often stirred about with rosemary. He lived to be an hundred, and never lost his eyesight, nor used spectacles. He got on horseback without help, and rode to the death of the stag till he was past fourscore." Gilpin's _Forest Scenery_, vol. ii., pp. 23, 26. I should add, from the same authority, that Hastings was a neighbour of Anthony Ashley Cooper, Earl of Shaftesbury, with whom (as was likely enough) he had no cordial agreement.]

[Footnote 347: "In the northern chapel which is parted from the side aile by a beautiful open Gothic screen, is a handsome monument to the memory of the lord Chancellor Wriothesly, and a _large and costly standing chest_, carved and inlaid, and stated, by an inscription on its front, to have been given, _with the books in it_, by JOHN CLUNGEON. The inscription is as follows:

"John, the sonne of John Clungeon of this towne, Alderman, _erected this presse_ and gave certain books, who died, anno 1646.

"The books are, however, now gone, and the surplices, &c. are kept in the chest." See a tasteful and elegantly printed little volume, entitled "_A Walk through Southampton_;" by Sir H.C. Englefield, Bart. 1801, 8vo., p. 64.]

[Footnote 348: Ward is described by Hearne as being "a citizen and vintner of London," and "a lover of antiquity's." He had a copy of the _Chartulary of Dunstaple_, in MS., which was put by Wanley into the Harleian collection. The following entry is too much of a characteristic trait, not to be gratifying to the palate of a thorough bred bibliomaniac; it relates to the said Chartulary:--"also this vellum, at both ends of the booke, was then added, put in, and inserted, at the costs of the said Mr. (JOHN) WARD, in the said yeare of our Lord, 1655,

_s._ _d._ binding and claspes 4 00 vellum 4 00"

_Annals of Dunstaple Priory_, vol. i., p. xxx., note.]

LIS. If Master Cox, "by profession a mason," and living in the country, could have collected such a cabinet of romances and ballads--why should not a wine merchant, living in the metropolis, have turned his attention to a similar pursuit, and have been even more successful in the objects of it?

PHIL. I know not; particularly as we have, at the present day, some commercial characters--whose dealings in trade are as opposite to books as frogs are to roast beef--absolute madmen in search after black-letter, large paper, and uncut copies! But proceed, Lysander.

LYSAND. Such was the influence of the _Book Mania_ about, or rather a little before, this period that even the sacred retirement of a monastery, established upon Protestant principles, and conducted by rules so rigid as almost to frighten the hardiest ascetic, even such a spot was unable to resist the charms of book-collecting and book-embellishment. How St. Jerome or St. Austin would have lashed the FERRAR FAMILY[349] for the gorgeous decorations of their volumes, and for devoting so much precious time and painful attention to the art and mystery of Book-binding! Yes, Lisardo; it is truly curious to think upon the _Little Gidding Monastery_--near which, perhaps, were

----"rugged rocks, that holy knees had worn--"

and to imagine that the occupiers of such a place were infected--nay, inflamed--with a most powerful ardour for curious, neat, splendid, and, I dare venture to affirm, matchless copies of the several volumes which they composed! But I will now hasten to give very different evidence of the progress of this disease, by noticing the labours of a bibliomaniac of first rate celebrity; I mean ELIAS ASHMOLE:[350] whose museum at Oxford abundantly proves his curious and pertinacious spirit in book-collecting. His works, put forth under his own superintendence, with his name subjoined, shew a delicate taste, an active research, and, if we except his _Hermetical_ propensities, a fortunate termination. His "opus maximum" is the _Order of the Garter_; a volume of great elegance both in the composition and decorations. Your copy of it, I perceived, was upon _large paper_; and cost you--

[Footnote 349: It remains here to make good the above serious charges brought against the ancient and worthy family of the FERRARS; and this it is fully in my power to do, from the effectual aid afforded me by Dr. Wordsworth, in the fifth volume of his _Ecclesiastical Biography_; where the better part of Dr. Peckard's Life of Nicholas Ferrar is published, together with some valuable and original addenda from the archiepiscopal library at Lambeth. Be it, however, known to Dr. Wordsworth, and the reviewer of the Ecclesiastical Biography in the _Quarterly Review_, vol. iv., pp. 93, 103, that Hearne had previously published a copious and curious account of the monastery at Little Gidding in the supplement to his _Thom. Caii. Vind. Antiquit. Oxon._, 1730, 8vo., vol. ii.: which, as far as I have had an opportunity of examining Dr. Wordsworth's account, does not appear to have been known to this latter editor. We will now proceed to the bibliomaniacal anecdotes of NICHOLAS FERRAR, SENIOR AND JUNIOR. "Amongst other articles of instruction and amusement, Mr. FERRAR (senior) entertained an ingenious _Book-binder_ who taught the family, females as well as males, the whole art and skill of _book-binding_, gilding, lettering, and what they called pasting-printing, by the use of the rolling press. By this assistance he composed a full harmony, or concordance, of the four evangelists, _adorned with many beautiful pictures_, which required more than a year for the composition, and was divided into 150 heads or chapters." There is then a minute account of the mechanical process (in which the nieces assisted) how, by means of "great store of the best and strongest white paper, nice knives and scissars, pasting and rolling-press" work--the arduous task was at length accomplished: and Mary Collet, one of Mr. Ferrar's nieces, put the grand finishing stroke to the whole, by "doing a deed"--which has snapt asunder the threads of Penelope's web for envy:--"She bound the book entirely, ALL WROUGHT IN GOLD, in a new and most elegant fashion." The fame of this book, or concordance, as it was called, reached the ears of Charles I., who "intreated" (such was his Majesty's expression) to be favoured with a sight of it. Laud and Cousins, who were then chaplains in waiting, presented it to the King; who "after long and serious looking it over, said, 'This is indeed a most valuable work, and in many respects to be presented to the greatest prince upon earth: for the matter it contains is the richest of all treasures. The laborious composure of it into this excellent form of _an Harmony_, the judicious contrivance of the method, the curious workmanship in so neatly cutting out and disposing the text, _the nice laying of these costly pictures, and the exquisite art expressed in the binding_, are, I really think, not to be equalled. I must acknowledge myself to be, indeed, greatly indebted to the family for THIS JEWEL: and whatever is in my power I shall, at any time, be ready to do for any of them.'" _Eccles. Biogr._, vol. v., 172-8. This was spoken, by Charles, in the true spirit of a Book-Knight! Cromwell, I suppose, would have shewn the same mercy to this treasure as he did to the madonnas of Raffaelle--thrown it behind the fire, as idolatrous! The nephew emulated and eclipsed the bibliomaniacal celebrity of his uncle. At the age of twenty-one, he executed three books (or "works" as they are called) of uncommon curiosity and splendour. Archbishop Laud, who had a keen eye and solid judgment for things of this sort (as the reader will find in the following pages) undertook to introduce young Ferrars to the King. The introduction is told in such a pleasing style of _naivete_, and the manual dexterity of the young bibliomaniac is so smartly commended by Charles, that I cannot find it in my heart to abridge much of the narrative. "When the king saw the Archbishop enter the room, he said, 'What have you brought with you those _rarities_ and _jewels_ you told me of?' 'Yea, sire,' replied the bishop; 'here is the YOUNG GENTLEMAN and his works.' So the bishop, taking him by the hand, led him up to the king. He, falling down on his knees, the king gave him his hand to kiss, bidding him rise up. The box was opened, and NICHOLAS FERRAR, first presented to the king that book made for the prince; who taking it from him, looking well on the outside, which was _all green velvet, stately and richly gilt all over, with great broad strings, edged with gold lace, and curiously bound_, said, 'Here is a fine book for Charles, indeed! I hope it will soon make him in love with what is within it, for I know it is good,' &c. And lo! here are also store of _rare pictures_ to delight his eye with! &c., &c. Then, turning him to the Lord of Canterbury, he said, 'Let this young gentleman have your letters to the princes to-morrow, to Richmond, and let him carry this present. It is a good day, you know, and a good work would be done upon it.' So he gave Nicholas Ferrar the book; who, carrying it to the box, took out of it a very large paper book, which was the FOURTH WORK, and laid it on the table before the king. 'For whom,' said the king, 'is this model?' 'For your majesty's eyes, if you please to honour it so much.' 'And that I will gladly do,' said the king, 'and never be weary of such sights as I know you will offer unto me.' The king having well perused the title page, beginning, 'The Gospel of our Lord and blessed Saviour, Jesus Christ, in eight several languages,' &c., said unto the lords, 'You all see that one good thing produceth another. Here we have more and more rarities; from print now to pen. These are fair hands, well written, and as well composed.' Then replied the Lord of Canterbury, 'When your majesty hath seen all, you will have more and more cause to admire.' 'What!' said the king, 'is it possible we shall behold yet more rarities?' then said the bishop to Nicholas Ferrar, 'Reach the other piece that is in the box:' and this we call the FIFTH WORK; the title being _Novum Testamentum, &c., in viginti quatuor linguis, &c._ The king, opening the book, said, 'Better and better. This is the largest and fairest paper that ever I saw.' Then, reading the title-page, he said, 'What is this? What have we here? The incomparablest book this will be, as ever eye beheld. My lords, come, look well upon it. This finished, must be the EMPEROR OF ALL BOOKS. It is the crown of all works. It is an admirable masterpiece. The world cannot match it. I believe you are all of my opinion.' The lords all seconded the king, and each spake his mind of it. 'I observe two things amongst others,' said the king, 'very remarkable, if not admirable. The first is, how is it possible that a young man of twenty-one years of age (for he had asked the Lord of Canterbury before, how old Nicholas Ferrar was) should ever attain to the understanding and knowledge of more languages than he is of years; and to have the courage to venture upon such an Atlas work, or Hercules labour. The other is also of high commendation, to see him write so many several languages, so well as these are, each in its proper character. Sure so few years had been well spent, some men might think, to have attained only to the _writing_ thus fairly, of these twenty-four languages!' All the lords replied his majesty had judged right; and said, except they had seen, as they did, the young gentleman there, and the book itself, all the world should not have persuaded them to the belief of it." _Ecclesiastical Biography_, vol. v., pp. 216, 220. But whatever degree of credit or fame of young FERRARS might suppose to have been attached to the execution of these "pieces," his emulation was not damped, nor did his industry slacken, 'till he had produced a specimen of much greater powers of book-decoration. His appetite was that of a giant; for he was not satisfied with any thing short of bringing forth a volume of such dimensions as to make the bearer of it groan beneath its weight--and the beholders of it dazzled with its lustre, and astonished at its amplitude. Perhaps there is not a more curious book-anecdote upon record than the following. "Charles the 1st, his son Charles, the Palsgrave, and the Duke of Lennox, paid a visit to the monastery of Little Gidding, in Huntingdonshire--the abode of the Ferrars."--"Then, the king was pleased to go into the house, and demanded where the GREAT BOOK was, that he had heard was made for Charles's use. It was soon brought unto him; and the _largeness_ and _weight_ of it was such that he that carried it seemed to be _well laden_. Which the duke, observing, said, 'Sir, one of your strongest guard will but be able to carry this book.' It being laid on the table before the king, it was told him that, though it were then fairly bound up in _purple velvet_, that the outside was not fully finished, as it should be, for the prince's use and better liking. 'Well,' said the king, 'it is very well done.' So he opened the book, the prince standing at the table's end, and the Palsgrave and Duke on each side of the king. The king read the title page and frontispice all over very deliberately; and well viewing the form of it, how adorned with _a stately garnish of pictures, &c._, and the curiousness of the writing of it, said, 'Charles, here is a book that contains excellent things. This will make you both wise and good.' Then he proceeded to turn it over, leaf by leaf, and took exact notice of all in it: and it being _full of pictures of sundry mens cuts_, he could tell the palsgrave, who seemed also to be knowing in that kind, that this and this, and that and that, were of such a man's graving and invention. The prince all the while greatly eyed all things; and seemed much to be pleased with the book. The king having spent some hours in the perusal of it, and demanding many questions was occasion as, concerning the contrivement, and having received answers to all he demanded, at length said, 'It was only _a jewel for a Prince_, and hoped CHARLES would make good use of it: and I see and find, by what I have myself received formerly from this good house, that they go on daily in the prosecution of these excellent pieces. They are brave employments of their time.' The Palsgrave said to the prince, 'Sir, your father the king is master of the goodliest ship in the world, and I may now say you will be master of the GALLANTEST GREATEST BOOK in the world: for I never saw _such paper_ before; and believe there is no book of this largeness to be seen in Christendom.' 'The paper and the book in all conditions,' said the king, 'I believe it not to be matched. Here hath also in this book not wanted, you see, skill, care, nor cost.' 'It is a most admirable piece,' replied the Duke of Richmond. So the king, closing the book, said, 'Charles, this is yours.' He replied, 'But, Sir, shall I not now have it with me?' Reply was made by one of the family, 'If it please your highness, the book is not _on the outside so finished_ as it is intended for you, but shall be, with all expedition, done, and you shall have it.' 'Well,' said the king, 'you must content yourself for a while.'"--_Ecclesiastical Biography_, vol. v., p. 237.]

[Footnote 350: In the year 1774, was published an octavo volume, containing the lives of WILLIAM LILLY the astrologer, and ELIAS ASHMOLE the antiquary: two of the greatest _cronies_ of their day. The particulars of Ashmole's life are drawn from his own _Diary_, in which is detailed every thing the most minute and ridiculous; while many of the leading features in his character, and many interesting occurrences in his life, are wholly suppressed. The editor has not evinced much judgment in causing posterity to be informed when Ashmole's "_great and little teeth ached, or were loose_:" when his "_neck break forth, occasioned by shaving his beard with a bad razor_" (p. 312); when "_his maid's bed was on fire, but he rose quickly (thanking God) and quenched it_" (p. 313); and when he "_scratched the right-side of his buttocks, &c., and applied pultices thereunto, made of white bread crums, oil of roses, and rose leaves_;" (p. 363--and see particularly the long and dismal entries at p. 368.) All this might surely have been spared, without much injury to the reputation of the sufferer. Yet, in some other minute entries, we glean intelligence a little more interesting. At p. 324, we find that Ashmole had quarrelled with his wife; and that "Mr. Serjeant Maynard observed to the Court that there were 800 sheets of depositions on his wife's part, and not one word proved against him of using her ill, or ever giving her a bad or provoking word:" at page 330, we find Ashmole accompanying his heraldic friend Dugdale, in his "visitations" of counties; also that "his picture was drawn by Le Neve in his herald's coat:" Loggan afterwards drew it in black lead: p. 352. But here again (p. 353) we are gravely informed that "_his tooth, next his fore tooth in his upper jaw, was very loose, and he easily pulled it out, and that one of his middle teeth in his lower jaw, broke out while he was at dinner_." He sat (for the last time) for "a second picture to Mr. Ryley," p. 379. Ashmole's intimacy with Lilly was the foundation of the former's (supposed) profundity in alchemical and astrological studies. In this Diary we are carefully told that "Mr. Jonas Moore brought and acquainted him with Mr. William Lilly, on a Friday night, on the 20th of November," p. 302. Ashmole was then only 26 years of age; and it will be readily conceived how, at this susceptible period, he listened with rapture to his master's exposition of the black art, and implicitly adopted the recipes and maxims he heard delivered. Hence the pupil generally styled himself _Mercuriophilus Anglicus_, at the foot of most of his title-pages: and hence we find such extraordinary entries, in the foresaid diary, as the following: "This night (August 14, 1651) about one of the clock, I fell ill of a surfeit, occasioned by drinking _water after Venison_. I was greatly oppressed in my stomach; and next day Mr. Saunders, _the astrologian_, sent me a piece of briony-root to hold in my hand; and within a quarter of an hour my stomach was freed from that great oppression," p. 314. "Sep. 27, 1652, I came to Mr. John Tompson's, who dwelt near Dove Bridge; he used a call, and had responses in a soft voice," p. 317. At p. 318 is narrated the commencement of his acquaintance with the famous Arise Evans, a Welsh prophet: whose "_Echo from Heaven_," &c., 2 parts, 1652, 12mo., is a work noticed by Warburton, and coveted by bibliomaniacs. Yet one more quack-medicine entry: "March 11, 1681. I took early in the morning a good dose of Elixir, and hung three spiders about my neck, and they drove my ague away--Deo gratias!" p. 359. It seems that Ashmole always punctually kept "_The Astrologer's Feast_;" and that he had such celebrity as a curer of certain diseases, that Lord Finch the Chancellor "sent for him to cure him of his rheumatism. He dined there, but would not undertake the cure," p. 364. This was behaving with a tolerable degree of prudence and good sense. But let not the bibliomaniac imagine that it is my wish to degrade honest old Elias Ashmole, by the foregoing delineation of his weaknesses and follies. The ensuing entries, in the said Diary, will more than counterbalance any unfavourable effect produced by its precursors; and I give them with a full conviction that they will be greedily devoured by those who have been lucky enough to make good purchases of the entire libraries of deceased characters of eminence. In his 37th year, Ashmole "bought of Mr. Milbourn all his books and mathematical instruments;" and the day after (N.B. "8 o'clock, 39 min. post merid.") "he bought Mr. Hawkins's books," p. 312. In the ensuing year he "agreed with Mrs. Backhouse, of London, for her deceased husband's books," p. 313. He now became so distinguished as a successful bibliomaniac that Seldon and Twysden sought his acquaintance; and "Mr. Tredescant and his wife told him that they had been long considering upon whom to bestow their _closet of curiosities_, and at last had resolved to give it unto him," p. 326. Having by this time (A.D. 1658) commenced his famous work upon _The Order of the Garter_, he was introduced to Charles II.: kissed hands, and was appointed by the king "to make a description of his medals, and had them delivered into his hands, and _Henry the VIIIth's closet_ assigned for his use," p. 327. In this same year came forth his "_Way to Bliss_;" 4to.: a work so invincibly dull that I despair of presenting the reader with any thing like entertainment even in the following heterogeneous extract: "When our natural heat, the life of this little world, is faint and gone, the body shrinks up and is defaced: but bring again heat into the parts, and likewise money into the bankrupt's coffers, and they shall be both lusty, and flourish again as much as ever they did. But how may this heat be brought again? To make few words, even as she is kept and held by due _meat_ and _motion_; for if she faint, and falleth for want of them only, then give her them, and she shall recover herself again. Meat is the bait that draws her down: motion comes after, like a _Gad-Bee_, to prick her forward; but the work is performed in this order. First this meat, which is that fine and aethereal oyl often above-described, by the exceeding piercing swifteness, divides, scatters, and scowres away the gross and foul dregs and leavings which, for want of the tillage of heat, had overgrown in our bodies, and which was cast, like a blockish stay-fish in the way, to stay the free course of the ship of life: these flying out of all sides, abundantly pluck up all the old leavings of hair, nails, and teeth, by the roots, and drive them out before them: in the mean while, our medicine makes not onely clear way and passage for life, if she list to stir and run her wonted race (which some think enough of this matter), but also scattereth all about her due and desired meat, and first moisture to draw her forward. By which means our life, having gotten both her full strength and liveliness, and returned like the sun in summer into all our quarters, begins to work afresh as she did at first; (for being the same upon the same, she must needs do the same) knitting and binding the weak and loose joynts and sinews, watering and concocting all by good digestion; and then the idle parts like leaves shall, in this hot summer, spring and grow forth afresh, out of this new and young temper of the body: and all the whole face and shew shall be young again and flourishing," pp. 119, 120. With such a farrago of sublime nonsense were our worthy forefathers called upon to be enlightened and amused! But I lose sight of Ashmole's _book-purchases_. That he gave away, as well as received, curious volumes, is authenticated by his gift of "five volumes of Mr. Dugdale's works to the Temple Library:" p. 331. "Again: I presented the public library at Oxford with three folio volumes, containing a description of the Consular and Imperial coins there, which I had formerly made and digested, being all fairly transcribed with my own hand," p. 332. But mark well: "My first boatful of books, which were carried to Mrs. Tredescant's, were brought back to the Temple:" also, (May 1667) "I bought Mr. John Booker's study of books, and gave 140_l._ for them," p. 333. In the same year that his _Order of the Garter_ was published, his "good friend Mr. Wale sent him Dr. DEE'S original books and papers," p. 339. But he yet went on buying: "Nil actum reputans, dum quid superesset agendum:" for thus journalises our super-eminent bibliomaniac:--(June 12, 1681) "I bought Mr. Lilly's library of books of his widow, for fifty pounds," p. 360. In August, 1682, Ashmole went towards Oxford, "to see the building prepared to receive his rarities;" and in March, 1683, "the last load of his rarities was sent to the barge." In July, 1687, he received a parcel of books from J.W. Irnhoff, of Nurembergh, among which was his _Excellentium Familiarum in Gallia Genealogia_: p. 379. But it is time to put an end to this unwieldly note: reserving the account of Ashmole's _Order of the Garter_, and _Theatrum Chemicum_, for the ensuing one--and slightly informing the reader, of what he may probably be apprized, that our illustrious bibliomaniac bequeathed his museum of curiosities and library of books to his beloved ALMA MATER OXONIENSIS--having first erected a large building for their reception. It is justly said of him, in the inscription upon his tombstone,

DURANTE MUSAEO ASHMOLEANO OXON. NUNQUAM MORITURUS.

A summer month might be profitably passed in the Ashmolean collection of Books! Let us not despair that a complete _Catalogue Raisonne_ of them may yet be given.]

LOREN. Not eight guineas--although you were about to say _fourteen_!

LYSAND. Even so. But it must have been obtained in the golden age of book-collecting?

LOREN. It was obtained, together with an uncut copy of his _Theatrum Chemicum_,[351] by my father, at the shop of a most respectable bookseller, lately living, at Mews-Gate, and now in Pall-Mall--where the choicest copies of rare and beautiful books are oftentimes to be procured, at a price much less than the extravagant ones given at book-sales. You observed it was bound in blue morocco--and by that Coryphaeus of book-binders, the late ROGER PAYNE!

[Footnote 351: First let us say a few words of the THEATRUM CHEMICUM BRITANNICUM, as it was the anterior publication. It contains a collection of ancient English poetical pieces relating to Alchemy, or the "Hermetique Mysteries;" and was published in a neat quarto volume, in 1652; accompanied with a rich sprinkling of plates "cut in brass," and copious annotations, at the end, by Ashmole himself. Of these plates, some are precious to the antiquary; for reasons which will be given by me in another work. At present, all that need be said is that a fine tall copy of it brings a fair sum of money. I never heard of the existence of a _large paper_ impression. It went to press in July 1651; and on the 26th of January following, "the first copy of it was sold to the Earl of Pembroke:" see the Diary, pp. 313-315. In May, 1658, Ashmole made his first visit to the Record Office in the Tower, to collect materials for his work of "THE ORDER OF THE GARTER." In May following, Hollar accompanied the author to Windsor, to take views of the castle. In the winter of 1665, Ashmole composed a "good part of the work at Roe-Barnes (the plague increasing)." In May, 1672, a copy of it was presented to King Charles II.: and in June, the following year, Ashmole received "his privy-seal for 400_l._ out of the custom of paper, which the king was pleased to bestow upon him for the same." This, it must be confessed, was a liberal remuneration. But the author's honours increased and multiplied beyond his most sanguine expectations. Princes and noblemen, abroad and at home, read and admired his work; and Ashmole had golden chains placed round his neck, and other superb presents from the greater part of them; one of which (from the Elector of Brandenburgh) is described as being "composed of ninety links, of philagreen links in great knobs, most curious work," &c. In short, such was the golden harvest which showered down upon him on all sides, on account of this splendid publication, that "he made a feast at his house in South Lambeth, in honour to his benefactors of the work of THE GARTER." I hope he had the conscience to make HOLLAR his Vice-President, or to seat him at his right hand; for this artist's _Engravings_, much more than the author's composition, will immortalize the volume. Yet the artist--died in penury! These particulars relating to this popular work, which it was thought might be amusing to the lover of fine books, have been faithfully extracted from the 'forementioned original and amusing Diary. _The Order of the Garter_ was originally sold for 1_l._ 10_s._ See _Clavel's Catalogue_, 1675, p. 31.]

LYSAND. I observed it had a "glorious aspect," as bibliographers term it.

LIS. But what has become of Ashmole all this while?

LYSAND. I will only further remark of him that, if he had not suffered his mind to wander in quest of the puzzling speculations of alchemy and astrology--which he conceived himself bound to do in consequence, probably, of wearing John Dee's red velvet night cap--he might have mingled a larger portion of common sense and sound practical observations in his writings.

But a truce to worthy old Elias. For see yonder the bibliomaniacal spirit of ARCHBISHOP LAUD pacing your library! With one hand resting upon a folio,[352] it points, with the other, to your favourite print of the public buildings of the University of Oxford--thereby reminding us of his attachment, while living, to literature and fine books, and of his benefactions to the Bodleian Library. Now it "looks frowningly" upon us; and, turning round, and shewing the yet reeking gash from which the life-blood flowed, it flits away--

Par levibus ventis, volucrique simillima somno!

[Footnote 352: ARCHBISHOP LAUD, who has [Transcriber's Note: was] beheaded in the year 1644, had a great fondness for sumptuous decoration in dress, books, and ecclesiastical establishments; which made him suspected of a leaning towards the Roman Catholic religion. His life has been written by Dr. Heylin, in a heavy folio volume of 547 pages; and in which we have a sufficiently prolix account of the political occurrences during Laud's primacy, but rather a sparing, or indeed no, account of his private life and traits of domestic character. In Lloyd's _Memoirs of the Sufferers_ from the year 1637 to 1660 inclusive (1668, fol.) are exhibited the articles of impeachment against the Archbishop; and, amongst them, are the following bibliomaniacal accusations. "Art. 5. Receiving a _Bible_, with a crucifix embroidered on the cover of it by a lady. Art. 6. A book of popish pictures, _two Missals_, Pontificals, and Breviaries, which he made use of as a scholar. Art. 7. His (own) admirable _Book of Devotion_, digested according to the ancient way of canonical hours, &c. Art. 19. _The book of Sports_, which was published first in King James his reign, before he had any power in the church; and afterward in King Charles his reign, before he had the chief power in the church," &c., pp. 235-237. But if Laud's head was doomed to be severed from his body in consequence of these his bibliomaniacal frailties, what would have been said to the fine copy of one of the _Salisbury Primers or Missals_, printed by Pynson UPON VELLUM, which once belonged to this archbishop, and is now in the library of St. John's College, Oxford?! Has the reader ever seen the same primate's copy of the _Aldine Aristophanes_, 1498, in the same place? 'Tis a glorious volume; and I think nearly equals my friend Mr. Heber's copy, once Lord Halifax's, of the same edition. Of Laud's benefactions to the Bodleian Library, the bibliographer will see ample mention made in the _Catalogus Librorum Manuscriptorum Angliae, Hiberniae_, &c., 1697, folio. The following, from Heylin, is worth extracting: "Being come near the block, he (Laud) put off his doublet, &c., and seeing through the chink of the boards that some people were got under the scaffold, about the very place where the block was seated, he called to the officer for some dust to stop them, or to remove the people thence; saying, it was no part of his desire 'that his blood should fall upon the heads of the people.' Never did man put off mortality with a better courage, nor look upon his bloody and malicious enemies with more christian charity." _Cyprianus Anglicus_; or the _Life and Death of Laud_; 1668, fol.; p. 536. In the Master's library at St. John's, Oxford, they shew the velvet cap which it is said Laud wore at his execution; and in which the mark of the axe is sufficiently visible. The archbishop was a great benefactor to this college. Mr. H. Ellis, of the Museum, who with myself were "quondam socii" of the same establishment, writes me, that "Among what are called the king's pamphlets in the British Museum, is a fragment of a tract, without title, of fifty-six pages only, imperfect; beginning, 'A briefe examination of a certaine pamphlet lately printed in Scotland, and intituled _Ladensium Autocatacrisis_,' &c., 'The Cantabarians Self-Conviction.' On the blank leaf prefixed, is the following remark in a hand of the time. 'This Briefe Examen following, was found in the Archbishop's (Laud?) Library, wher the whole impression of these seauen sheets was found, but nether beginning nor ending more then is hearein contained. May 11th, 1644.' This work, (continues Mr. Ellis,) which is a singular and valuable curiosity, is in fact a personal vindication of Archbishop Laud, not only from the slanders of the pamphlet, but from those of the times in general: and from internal evidence could have been written by no one but himself. It is in a style of writing beyond that of the ordinary productions of the day."]

Peace, peace, thou once "lofty spirit"--peace to thy sepulchre--always consecrated by the grateful student who has been benefited by thy bounty!

Perhaps Laud should have been noticed a little earlier in this list of bibliomanical heroes; but, having here noticed him, I cannot refrain from observing to you that the notorious HUGH PETERS revelled in some of the spoils of the archbishop's library; and that there are, to the best of my recollection, some curious entries on the journals of the House of Commons relating to the same.[353]

[Footnote 353: I am indebted to the same literary friend who gave me the intelligence which closes the last note, for the ensuing particulars relating to HUGH PETERS; which are taken from the journals of the lower house: "Ao. 1643-4. March 8. Ordered, that a study of books, to the value of 100_l._ out of such books as are sequestered, be forthwith bestowed upon Mr. PETERS." _Journals of the House of Commons_, vol. ii., p. 421. "Ao. 1644. 25 April. Whereas this House was formerly pleased to bestow upon Mr. Peters books to the value of 100_l._, it is this day ordered that Mr. Recorder, Mr. Whitlock, Mr. Hill, or two of them, do cause to be delivered to Mr. Peters, to the value of 100_l._, books out of the private and particular study of the ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY." _Id._, vol. iii., p. 469. "Ao. 1644. 26 Junij. Dies publicae Humiliationis. Mr. Peters made a large and full relation of the state of the western counties, and of the proceedings of my Lord General's army, since its coming thither," &c. "Whereas, formerly, books to the amount of 100_l._ were bestowed upon Mr. Peters out of the archbishop's private library, and whereas the said study is appraised at above 40_l._ more than the 100_l._, it is ordered this day that Mr. Peters shall have the whole study of books freely bestowed upon him." _Id._ p. 544. "Ao. 1660. May 16. Ordered, That all books and papers, heretofore belonging to the library of the archbishop of Canterbury, and now, or lately, in the hands of Mr. HUGH PETERS, be forthwith secured." In Ashmole's life, before the first volume of his Antiq. of Berkshire, it is said in Aug. 1660, "Mr. Ashmole had a commission to examine that infamous buffoon and trumpeter of rebellion, Hugh Peters, concerning the disposal of the pictures, jewels, &c., belonging to the royal family, which were committed chiefly to his care, and sold and dispersed over Europe: which was soon brought to a conclusion by the obstinacy or ignorance of their criminal, who either would not, or was not able to, give the desired satisfaction."]

LIS. This is extraordinary enough. But, if I well remember, you mentioned, a short time ago, the name of BRAITHWAIT as connected with that of Peacham. Now, as I persume [Transcriber's Note: presume] Lorenzo has not tied down his guests to any rigid chronological rules, in their literary chit-chat, so I presume you might revert to Braithwait, without being taxed with any great violation of colloquial order.

LYSAND. Nay, I am not aware of any _bookish_ anecdote concerning Braithwait. He was mentioned with Peacham as being a like accomplished character.[354] Some of his pieces are written upon the same subjects as were Peacham's, and with great point and elegance. He seems, indeed, to have had the literary credit and moral welfare of his countrymen so much at stake that, I confess, I have a vast fondness for his lucubrations. His "_English Gentlewoman_" might be reprinted with advantage.

[Footnote 354: The talents of RICHARD BRAITHWAIT do not appear to me to be so generally known and highly commended as they merit to be. His _Nursery for Gentry_, 1651, 4to. (with his portrait in an engraved frontispiece by Marshall), is written with the author's usual point and spirit; but, as I humbly conceive, is a less interesting performance than his _English Gentleman_, 1633, 4to. (with a frontispiece by Marshall), or _English Gentlewoman_, 1631, 4to. (also with a frontispiece by the same artist). There is a terseness and vigour in Braithwait's style which is superior to that of his contemporary, Peacham; who seems to excel in a calm, easy, and graceful manner of composition. Both these eminent writers are distinguished for their scholastic and gentlemanly attainments; but in the "divine art of poesy" (in which light I mean here more particularly to display the powers of Braithwait) Peacham has no chance of being considered even as a respectable competitor with his contemporary. Mr. George Ellis, in his pleasing _Specimens of the early English Poets_, vol. iii., p. 103, has selected two songs of Braithwait "from a work not enumerated by Wood;" calling the author, "a noted wit and poet." His fame, however, is not likely to "gather strength" from these effusions. It is from some passages in _The Arcadian Princesse_--a work which has been already, and more than once, referred to, but which is too dislocated and heterogeneous to recommend to a complete perusal--it is from some passages in _this_ work that I think Braithwait shines with more lustre as a poet than in any to which his name is affixed. Take the following miscellaneous ones, by way of specimens. They are sometimes a little faulty in rhyme and melody: but they are never lame from imbecility.

----he has the happiest wit, Who has discretion to attemper it. And of all others, those the least doe erre, Who in opinion are least singular. Let Stoicks be to opposition given, Who to extreames in arguments are driven; Submit thy judgment to another's will If it be good; oppose it mildly, ill.

_Lib._ iv., p. 7.

Strong good sense has been rarely exhibited in fewer lines than in the preceding ones. We have next a vigorously drawn character which has the frightful appellation of

_Uperephanos_, who still thought That th' world without him would be brought to nought: For when the dogge-starre raged, he used to cry, "No other Atlas has the world but I. I am that only _Hee_, supports the state; Cements divisions, shuts up Janus' gate; Improves the publike fame, chalks out the way How princes should command, subjects obey. Nought passeth my discovery, for my sense Extends itself to all intelligence." &c. &c. &c. So well this story and this embleme wrought, _Uperephanos_ was so humble brought, As he on earth disvalu'd nothing more, Than what his vainest humour priz'd before. More wise, but lesse conceited of his wit; More pregnant, but lesse apt to humour it; More worthy, 'cause he could agnize his want; More eminent, because less arragant. In briefe, so humbly-morally divine, He was esteem'd the _Non-such_ of his time.

_Id._, pp. 8, 11.

Another character, with an equally bizarre name, is drawn with the same vigour:

_Melixos_; such a starved one, As he had nothing left but skin and bone. The shady substance of a living man, Or object of contempt wheree'er he came. Yet had hee able parts, and could discourse, Presse moving reasons, arguments enforce, Expresse his readings with a comely grace, And prove himselfe a _Consul_ in his place!

_Id._, p. 12.

We have a still more highly-coloured, and indeed a terrific, as well as original, picture, in the following animated verses:

Next him, _Uptoomos_; one more severe, Ne'er purple wore in this inferiour sphere: Rough and distastefull was his nature still, His life unsociable, as was his will. _Eris_ and _Enio_ his two pages were, His traine stern _Apuneia_ us'd to beare. Terrour and thunder echo'd from his tongue, Though weake in judgment, in opinion strong. A fiery inflammation seiz'd his eyes, Which could not well be temper'd any wise: For they were bloud-shot, and so prone to ill, As basiliske-like, where'ere they look, they kill. No laws but Draco's with his humour stood, For they were writ in characters of bloud. His stomacke was distemper'd in such sort Nought would digest; nor could he relish sport. His dreames were full of melancholy feare, Bolts, halters, gibbets, halloo'd in his eare: Fury fed nature with a little food, Which, ill-concocted, did him lesser good,

_Id._, p. 16.

But it is time to pause upon Braithwait. Whoever does not see, in these specimens, some of the most powerful rhyming couplets of the early half of the seventeenth century, if not the model of some of the verses in Dryden's satirical pieces, has read both poets with ears differently constructed from those of the author of this book.]

As I am permitted to be desultory in my remarks, (and, indeed, I craved this permission at the outset of them) I may here notice the publication of an excellent _Catalogue of Books_, in 1658, 4to.; which, like its predecessor, Maunsell's, helped to inflame the passions of purchasers, and to fill the coffers of booksellers. Whenever you can meet with this small volume, purchase it, Lisardo; if it be only for the sake of reading the spirited introduction prefixed to it.[355] The author was a man, whoever he may chance to be, of no mean intellectual powers. But to return.

[Footnote 355: This volume, which has been rather fully described by me in the edition of More's _Utopia_, vol. ii., p. 260, 284--where some specimens of the "Introduction," so strongly recommended by Lysander, will be found--is also noticed in the _Athenaeum_, vol. ii., 601; where there is an excellent analysis of its contents. Here, let me subjoin only one short specimen: In praise of learning, it is said: "Wise and learned men are the surest stakes in the hedge of a nation or city: they are the best conservators of our liberties: the hinges on which the welfare, peace, and happiness, hang; the best public good, and only commonwealth's men. These lucubrations, meeting with a true and brave mind, can conquer men; and, with the basilisk, kill envy with a look." Sign. E. 4. rect.]

Where sleep now the relics of DYSON'S Library, which supplied that _Helluo Librorum_, Richard Smith, with "most of his rarities?"[356] I would give something pretty considerable to have a correct list--but more to have an unmolested sight--of this library, in its original state: if it were merely to be convinced whether or not it contained a copy of the _first edition of Shakespeare_, of larger dimensions, and in cleaner condition, than the one in PHILANDER'S Collection!

[Footnote 356: "H. DYSON (says Hearne) a person of a very strange, prying, and inquisitive genius, in the matter of books, as may appear from many libraries; there being books, chiefly in old English, almost in every library, that have belonged to him, with his name upon them." _Peter Langtoft's Chronicles_, vol. i., p. xiii. This intelligence Hearne gleaned from his friend Mr. T. Baker. We are referred by the former to the _Bibl. R. Smith_, p. 371, alias 401, No. 115, to an article, which confirms what is said of Smith's "collecting most of his rarities out of the library of H. Dyson." The article is thus described in Bibl. Smith, _ibid._; "115 Six several catalogues of all such books, touching the state ecclesiastical as temporal of the realm of England, which were published upon several occasions, in the reigns of K. Henry the viith and viiith, Philip and Mary, Q. Elizabeth, K. James, and Charles I., collected by Mr. H. Dyson: out of whose library was gathered, by Mr. Smith, a great part of the rarities of this catalogue." A catalogue of the books sold in the reign of Hen. VII. would be invaluable to a bibliographer! Let me add, for the sake of pleasing, or rather, perhaps, tantalising my good friend Mr. Haleswood, that this article is immediately under one which describes "_An Ancient MS. of Hunting_, IN VELLUM (wanting something) _quarto_." I hear him exclaim--"Where is this treasure now to be found?" Perhaps, upon the cover of a book of Devotion!]

I have incidentally mentioned the name of RICHARD SMITH.[357] Such a bibliomaniac deserves ample notice, and the warmest commendation. Ah, my Lisardo! had you lived in the latter days of Charles II.--had you, by accident, fallen into the society of this indefatigable book-forager, while he pursued his book-rounds in _Little Britain_--could you have listened to his instructive conversation, and returned home with him to the congenial quiet and avocations of his book-room--would you, however caressed St. James's, or even smiled upon by the first Duchess in the land--have cared a rush for the splendours of a Court, or concentrated your best comforts in a coach drawn by six cream-coloured horses? Would you not, on the contrary, have thought with this illustrious bibliomaniac, and with the sages of Greece and Rome before him, that "in books is wisdom, and in wisdom is happiness."

[Footnote 357: From the address To the Reader, prefixed to the Catalogue of RICHARD SMITH'S books, which was put forth by Chiswel the bookseller, in May 1682, 4to.--the bibliomaniac is presented with the following interesting but cramply written, particulars relating to the owner of them: "Though it be needless to recommend what to all intelligent persons sufficiently commend itself, yet, perhaps, it may not be unacceptable to the ingenious to have some short account concerning _This so much celebrated, so often desired, so long expected, Library_, now exposed to sale. The gentleman that collected it was a person infinitely curious and inquisitive after books; and who suffered nothing considerable to escape him, that fell within the compass of his learning; for he had not the vanity of desiring to be master of more than he knew how to use. He lived to a very great age, and spent a good part of it almost entirely in the search of books. Being as constantly known every day to walk his rounds through the shops as he sat down to meals, where his great skill and experience enabled him to make choice of what was not obvious to every vulgar eye. He lived in times which ministered peculiar opportunities of meeting with books that are not every day brought into publick light; and few eminent libraries were bought where he had not the liberty to pick and choose. And while others were forming arms, and new-modelling kingdoms, _his_ great ambition was to become master of a good BOOK. Hence arose, as that vast number of his books, so the choiceness and rarity of the greatest part of them; and that of all kinds, and in all sorts of learning," &c. "Nor was the owner of them a meer idle possessor of so great a treasure: for as he generally _collated_ his books upon the buying of them (upon which account the buyer may rest pretty secure of their being perfect) so he did not barely turn over the leaves, but observed the defects of impressions, and the ill arts used by many; compared the differences of editions; concerning which, and the like cases, he has entered memorable, and very useful, remarks upon very many of the books under his own hand: Observations wherein, certainly, never man was more diligent and industrious. Thus much was thought fit to be communicated to publick notice, by a gentleman who was intimately acquainted both with Mr. Smith and his books. _This excellent library will be exposed by auction, and the sale will begin on Monday the 15th day of May next, at the auction house, known by the name of_ THE SWAN, _in Great St. Bartholomew's Close, and there continue, day by day, the five first days of every week, till all the books be sold._" In this catalogue of Richard Smith's books, the sharp-eyed bibliomaniac will discover twelve volumes printed by CAXTON; which collectively, produced only the sum of 3_l._ 7_s._ 5_d._ The price of each of these volumes has been already given to the public (_Typog. Antiq._, vol i., p. cxxxii.) I suppose a thousand guineas would _now_ barely secure perfect copies of them! The catalogue itself is most barbarously printed, and the arrangement and description of the volumes such as to damn the compiler "to everlasting fame." A number of the most curious, rare, and intrinsically valuable books--the very insertion of which in a bookseller's catalogue would probably now make a hundred bibliomaniacs start from their homes by star-light, in order to come in for the _first pickings_--a number of volumes of this description are huddled together in one lot, and all these classed under the provoking running title of "_Bundles of Books_," or "_Bundles of sticht Books_!" But it is time to bid adieu to this matchless collection. Leaving the virtuoso "to toil, from rise to set of sun" after W. Sherwin's "extra rare and fine" portrait of the collector, which will cost him hard upon ten pounds (see _Sir William Musgrave's Catalogue of English Portraits_, p. 92, no. 82), and to seize, if it be in his power, a copy of the catalogue itself, "with the prices and purchasers' names" (vide _Bibl. Lort._, no. 1354). I proceed to attend upon Lysander: not, however, without informing him that Strype (_Life of Cranmer_, p. 368), as well as Hearne (_Liber Niger Scaccarii_, vol. ii., p. 542), has condescended to notice the famous library of this famous collector of books, RICHARD SMITH!]

LIS. In truth I should have done even more than what your barren imagination has here depicted. Smith's figure, his address, his conversation, his library--

LOREN. Enough--peace! There is no end to Lisardo's _fruitful_ imagination. We are surfeited with the richness of it. Go on, dear Lysander; but first, satisfy a desire which I just now feel to be informed of the period when _Sales of Books, by Auction_, were introduced into this country.

LYSAND. You take _that_ for granted which remains [Transcriber's Note: missing 'to' in original] be _proved_: namely, my ability to gratify you in this particular. Of the precise period when this memorable revolution in the sale of books took place I have no means of being accurately informed: but I should think not anterior to the year 1673, or 1674; for, in the year 1676, to the best of my recollection, the catalogue of the Library of Dr. SEAMAN was put forth; to which is prefixed an address to the reader, wherein the custom of selling books by auction is mentioned as having been but of recent origin in our country.[358] It was, however, no sooner introduced than it caught the attention, and pleased the palates, of bibliomaniacs exceedingly: and Clavel, a bookseller, who published useful catalogues of books to be sold in his own warehouse, retorted in sharp terms upon the folly and extravagance which were exhibited at book auctions. However, neither Clavel nor his successors, from that period to the present, have been able to set this custom aside, nor to cool the fury of book-auction bibliomaniacs--who, to their eternal shame be it said, will sometimes, from the hot and hasty passions which are stirred up by the poisonous miasmata floating in the auction-room, give a sum twice or thrice beyond the real value of the books bidden for! Indeed, I am frequently amused to see the vehemence and rapture with which a dirty little volume is contended for and embraced--while a respectable bookseller, like PORTIUS, coolly observes across the table--"I have a better copy on sale at one third of the price!"

[Footnote 358: A part of the address "To the Reader," in the catalogue above-mentioned by Lysander, being somewhat of a curiosity, is here reprinted in its unadulterated [Transcriber's Note: remainder of sentence missing in original]

"Reader,

"It hath not been usual here in England to make _Sale of Books by way of Auction or who will give most for them_: But it having been practised in other countreys to the advantage both of buyers and sellers, it was therefore conceived (for the encouragement of learning) to publish the sale of these books this manner of way; and it is hoped that this will not be unacceptable to schollers: and therefore, methought it convenient to give an advertisement concerning the manner of proceeding therein. _First_, That having this catalogue of the books, and their editions, under their several heads and numbers, it will be more easie for any person of quality, gentleman, or others, to depute any one to buy such books for them as they shall desire, if their occasions will not permit them to be present at the auction themselves." The _second_ clause is the usual one about _differences_ arising. The _third_, about discovering the imperfections of the copies before they are taken away. The _fourth_, that the buyers are to pay for their purchases within one month after the termination of the auction. The _fifth_, that the sale is to begin "punctually at 9 o'clock in the morning, and two in the afternoon; and this to continue daily until all the books be sold; wherefore it is desired that the gentlemen, or those deputed by them, may be there precisely at the hours appointed, lest they should miss the opportunity of buying those books which either themselves or their friends desire." As this is the earliest auction catalogue which I have chanced to meet with, the _present_ reader may probably be pleased with the following specimens, selected almost at random of the prices which were given for books at a public sale, in the year 1676.

_In Folio._ PHILOLOGISTS.

_s._ _d._

Pet. Heylyn's Cosmographie, Lond. 1652. 14 0 Io. Stow's Annals, or Chronicles of England, &c. ibid., 1631. 15 0 Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy, Oxon, 1638. 6 0 Geo. Withers, his Emblems; illustrated with brass figures, 1635. 8 6 Os. Gabelhower's book called the Dutch Physic, Dort, 1579. 3 0

p. 12.

_In Quarto._ PHILOLOGIE.

The Royal Passage of her Majesty, from the } tower to Whitehall, Lond., 1604. } The Vision of the Goddesses, a mask by the } Queen and her Ladies, 1604. } King James his Entertainment through the city } of London, ibid. } A particular Entertainment of the Queen and } Prince, 1608. } The magnificent Entertainment of King James, } Queen Anne, and Prince Henry Frederick, 1604. } Her Majesties speech to both Houses of } Parliament, 1604. } _s._ _d._ Vox Coeli, or News from Heaven, 1624. } 5 0 An experimental Discovery of the Spanish } Practises, 1623. } Tho. Scotts aphorisms of State, or secret } articles for the re-edifying the Romish } Church, 1624. } The Tongue Combat between two English } Souldiers, 1621. } Votivae Angliae, or the Desires and Wishes of } England, 1624. } A book of Fishing, with hook and line, and } other instruments, 1600. }

p. 63.

Now a-days, the last article alone would pr duce [Transcriber's Note: produce]--shall I say _nine_ times the sum of the whole? But once more:

_In Octavo._ PHILOLOGISTS.

Rob. Crowley's Confutation and Answer to a } wicked ballade of the abuse of the } sacrament of the altar, 1548. } Philargyne, or Covetousness of Great Britain, } 1551. } A Confutation of 13 articles of Nicol Sharton's, } 1551. } The Voice of the last Trumpet, blown by the } seventh angel, 1550. } _s._ _d._ Rob. Crowley's four last things. } 3 2 A petition against the oppressors of the poor } of this realm, 1550. } A supplication of the poor Commons, 1550. } Piers Plowman Exhortation to the Parliament, } and a New-Year's gift, 1550. } The Hurt of Sedition to the Commonwealth, 1549. }

To continue the _History of Book Auctions_, a little further. Two years after the preceding sale, namely, in 1678, were sold the collections of Dr. MANTON, Dr. WORSLEY, and others. In the address to the Reader, prefixed to Manton's catalogue, it would seem that this was the "_fourth_ triall" of this mode of sale in our own country. The conditions and time of sale the same as the preceding; and because one Briggs, and not one Cooper, drew up the same, Cooper craves the reader's "excuse for the mistakes that have happened; and desires that the saddle may be laid upon the right horse." In this collection there is a more plentiful sprinkling of English books; among which, Dugdale's Warwickshire, 1656, was sold for 1_l._ 6_s._; and Fuller's Worthies for the same sum. The "Collections of Pamphlets, bound together in Quarto," were immense. Dr. Worsley's collection, with two others, was sold two months afterwards; namely, in May, 1678: and from the address "To the Reader," it would appear that Dr. Manton's books brought such high prices as to excite the envy of the trade. Worsley's collection was sold at 9 and 2, the usual hours "at the house over against the hen and chickens, in Pater-Noster Row." The venders thus justify themselves at the close of their address: "We have only this to add in behalf of ourselves; that, forasmuch as a report has been spread that we intend to use indirect means to advance the prices, we do affirm that it is a groundless and malicious suggestion of some of our own trade, envious of our undertaking: and that, to avoid all manner of suspicion of such practice, we have absolutely refused all manner of commissions that have been offered us for buying (some of them without limitation): and do declare that the company shall have nothing but candid and ingenuous dealing from

JOHN DUNMORE. RICHARD CHISWEL."

At this sale, the Shakspeare of 1632 brought 16_s._; and of 1663, 1_l._ 8_s._

In the November and December of the same year were sold by auction the books of VOET, SANGAR, and others, and from the preface to each catalogue it would seem that the sale of books by auction was then but a recent, yet a very successful, experiment; and that even collections from abroad were imported, in order to be disposed of in a like manner.]

LIS. From what you say, it would appear to be wiser to lay out one's money at a bookseller's than at a book-auction?

LYSAND. Both methods must of necessity be resorted to: for you cannot find with the one what you may obtain at the other. A distinguished collector, such as the late Mr. Reed, or Mr. Gough, or Mr. Joseph Windham, dies, and leaves his library to be sold by auction for the benefit of his survivors. Now, in this library so bequeathed, you have the fruits of book-labour, collected for a long period, and cultivated in almost every department of literature. A thousand radii are concentrated in such a circle; for it has, probably, been the object of the collector's life to gather and to concentrate these radii. In this case, therefore, you must attend the auction; you must see how such a treasure is scattered, like the Sibylline leaves, by the winds of fate. You must catch at what you want, and for what you have been a dozen years, perhaps, in the pursuit of. You will pay dearly for these favourite volumes; but you have them, and that is comfort enough; and you exclaim, as a consolation amidst all the agony and waste of time which such a contest may have cost you,--"Where, at what bookseller's, are such gems now to be procured?" All this may be well enough. But if I were again to have, as I have already had, the power of directing the taste and applying the wealth of a young collector--who, on coming of age, wisely considers books of at least as much consequence as a stud of horses--I would say, go to Mr. Payne, or Mr. Evans, or Mr. Mackinlay, or Mr. Lunn, for your Greek and Latin Classics; to Mr. Dulau, or Mr. Deboffe, for your French; to Mr. Carpenter, or Mr. Cuthell, for your English; and to Mr. White for your Botany and rare and curious books of almost every description. Or, if you want delicious copies, in lovely binding, of works of a sumptuous character, go and drink coffee with Mr. Miller, of Albemarle Street--under the warm light of an Argand lamp--amidst a blaze of morocco and russia coating, which brings to your recollection the view of the Temple of the Sun in the play of Pizarro! You will also find, in the vender of these volumes, courteous treatment and "gentlemanly notions of men and things." Again, if you wish to speculate deeply in books, or to stock a newly-discovered province with what is most excellent and popular in our own language, hire a vessel of 300 tons' burthen, and make a contract with Messrs. Longman, Hurst, and Co., who are enabled, from their store of _quires_, which measure 50 feet in height, by 40 in length, and 20 in width, to satisfy all the wants of the most craving bibliomaniacs. In opposition to this pyramid, enter the closet of Mr. Triphook, jun., of St. James's Street--and resist, if it be in your power to resist, the purchase of those clean copies, so prettily bound, of some of our rarest pieces of black-letter renown!

LOREN. From this digression, oblige us now by returning to our bibliomaniacal history.

LYSAND. Most willingly. But I am very glad you have given me an opportunity of speaking, as I ought to speak, of some of our most respectable booksellers, who are an ornament to the cause of THE BIBLIOMANIA.

We left off, I think, with noticing that renowned book-collector, Richard Smith. Let me next make honourable mention of a "_par nobile fratrum_" that ycleped are NORTH. The "Lives" of these men, with an "Examen" (of "Kennet's History of England"), were published by a relative (I think a grandson) of the same name; and two very amusing and valuable quarto volumes they are! From one of these Lives, we learn how pleasantly the LORD KEEPER used to make his meals upon some one entertaining Law-volume or another: how he would breakfast upon _Stamford_,[359] dine upon _Coke_, and sup upon _Fitzherbert_, &c.; and, in truth, a most insatiable book appetite did this eminent judge possess. For, not satisfied ("and no marvel, I trow") with the foregoing lean fare, he would oftentimes regale himself with a well-served-up course of the _Arts_, _Sciences_, and the _Belles-Lettres_!

[Footnote 359: These are the words of LORD KEEPER NORTH'S Biographer: "There are of Law-Books, institutions of various sorts, and reports of cases (now) almost innumerable. The latter bear most the controversial law, and are read as authority such as may be quoted: and I may say the gross of law lecture lies in them. But to spend weeks and months wholly in them, is like horses in a string before a loaden waggon. They are indeed a careful sort of reading, and chiefly require common-placing, and that makes the work go on slowly. His LORDSHIP therefore used to mix some institutionary reading with them, as after a fulness of the reports in a morning, about noon, to take a repast in _Stamford_, _Compton_, or the Lord _Coke's_ Pleas of the Crown and Jurisdiction of Courts, _Manwood_ of the Forest Law, _Fitzherbert's_ Natura Brevium; and also to look over some of the Antiquarian Books, as _Britton_, _Bracton_, _Fleta_, _Fortescue_, _Hengham_, _the old Tenures Narrationes Novae_, the old _Natura Brevium_, and the Diversity of Courts. These, at times, for change and refreshment, being books all fit to be known. And those that, as to authority, are obsoleted, go rounder off-hand, because they require little common-placing, and that only as to matter very singular and remarkable, and such as the student fancies he shall desire afterwards to recover. And, besides all this, the day afforded him room for a little History, especially of England, modern books, and Controversy in Print, &c. In this manner he ordered his own studies, but with excursions into _Humanity_ and _Arts_, beyond what may be suitable to the genius of every young student in the law." _Life of Lord Keeper Guildford_, pp. 18, 19. _North's Lives_, edit. 1754, 4to.]

His brother, Dr. JOHN NORTH, was a still greater _Helluo Librorum_; "his soul being never so staked down as in an old bookseller's shop." Not content with a superficial survey of whatever he inspected, he seems to have been as intimately acquainted with all the book-selling fraternity of _Little-Britain_ as was his contemporary, Richard Smith; and to have entered into a conspiracy with ROBERT SCOTT[360]--the most renowned book vender in this country, if not in Europe--to deprive all bibliomaniacs of a chance of procuring rare and curious volumes, by sweeping every thing that came to market, in the shape of a book, into their own curiously-wrought and widely-spread nets. Nay, even Scott himself was sometimes bereft of all power, by means of the potent talisman which this learned Doctor exercised--for the latter, "at one lift," would now and then sweep a whole range of shelves in Scott's shop of every volume which it contained. And yet how whimsical, and, in my humble opinion, ill-founded, was Dr. North's taste in matters of typography! Would you believe it, Lisardo, he preferred the meagre classical volumes, printed by the _Gryphii_, in the italic letter, to the delicate and eye-soothing lustre of the _Elzevir_ type--?

[Footnote 360: "Now he began to look after books, and to lay the foundation of a competent library. He dealt with Mr. ROBERT SCOTT, of _Little-Britain_, whose sister was his grandmother's woman; and, upon that acquaintance he expected, and really had from him, useful information of books and their editions. This Mr. Scott was, in his time, the greatest librarian in Europe; for, besides his stock in England, he had warehouses in Francfort, Paris, and other places, and dealt by factors. After he was grown old, and much worn by multiplicity of business, he began to think of his ease and to leave off. Whereupon he contracted with one Mills, of St. Paul's Church-yard, near L10,000 deep, and articled not to open his shop any more. But Mills, with his auctioneering, Atlasses, and projects, failed, whereby poor Scott lost above half his means: but he held to his contract of not opening his shop, and when he was in London (for he had a country house), passed most of his time at his house amongst the rest of his books; and his reading (for he was no mean scholar) was the chief entertainment of his time. He was not only an expert bookseller, but a very conscientious good man; and when he threw up his trade, Europe had no small loss of him. Our Doctor, at one lift, bought of him a whole set of Greek Classics in folio, of the best editions. This sunk his stock at that time; but afterwards, for many years of his life, all that he could (as they say) rap or run, went the same way. But the progress was small; for such a library as he desired, compared with what the pittance of his stock would purchase, allowing many years to the gathering, was of desperate expectation. He was early sensible of a great disadvantage to him in his studies, by the not having a good library in his reach; and he used to say that a man could not be a scholar at the second-hand: meaning, that learning is to be had from the original authors, and not from any quotations, or accounts in other books, for men gather with divers views, and, according to their several capacities, often perfunctorily, and almost always imperfectly: and through such slight reading, a student may know somewhat, but not judge of either author or subject. He used to say _an old author could not be unprofitable_; for although in their proper time they had little or no esteem, yet, in after times, they served to interpret words, customs, and other matters, found obscure in other books; of which A. Gellius is an apt instance. He courted, as a fond lover, all _best editions, fairest character, best bound and preserved_. If the subject was in his favour (as the Classics) he cared not how many of them he had, even of the same edition, if he thought it among the best, either _better bound_, _squarer cut_, _neater covers_, or some such qualification caught him. He delighted in the small editions of the Classics, by Seb. Gryphius; and divers of his acquaintance, meeting with any of them, bought and brought them to him, which he accepted as choice presents, although perhaps he had one or two of them before. He said that the _black italic_ character agreed with his eye sight (which he accounted but weak) better than any other print, the old Elzevir not excepted, whereof the characters seemed to him more blind and confused than those of the other. Continual use gives men a judgment of things comparatively, and they come to fix on that as most proper and easy which no man, upon cursory view, would determine. _His soul was never so staked down as in an old bookseller's shop_; for having (as the statutes of the college required) taken orders, he was restless till he had compassed some of that sort of furniture as he thought necessary for his profession. He was, for the most part, his own factor, and seldom or never bought by commission; which made him lose time in turning over vast numbers of books, and he was very hardly pleased at last. I have borne him company at shops for hours together, and, minding him of the time, he hath made a dozen proffers before he would quit. By this care and industry, at length, he made himself master of a very considerable library, wherein the choicest collection was _Greek_." There is some smartness in the foregoing observations. The following, in a strain of equal interest, affords a lively picture of the _bookselling trade_ at the close of the 17th century: "It may not be amiss to step a little aside, to reflect on the vast change in the trade of books, between that time and ours. Then, _Little-Britain_ was a plentiful and perpetual emporium of learned authors; and men went thither as to a market. This drew to the place a mighty trade; the rather because the shops were spacious, and the learned gladly resorted to them, where they seldom failed to meet with agreeable conversation. And the booksellers themselves were knowing and conversible men, with whom, for the sake of bookish knowledge, the greatest wits were pleased to converse. And we may judge the time as well spent there, as (in latter days) either in tavern or coffee-house: though the latter hath carried off the spare hours of most people. But now this emporium is vanished, and trade contracted into the hands of two or three persons, who, to make good their monopoly, ransack, not only their neighbours of the trade that are scattered about town, but all over England, aye, and beyond sea too, and send abroad their circulators, and, in that manner, get into their hands all that is valuable. The rest of the trade are content to take their refuse, with which, and the fresh scum of the press, they furnish one side of a shop, which serves for the sign of a bookseller, rather than a real one; but, instead of selling, dealing as factors, and procure what the country divines and gentry send for; of whom each hath his book factor, and, when wanting any thing, writes to his bookseller, and pays his bill. And it is wretched to consider what pickpocket work, with help of the press, these demi-booksellers make. They crack their brains to find out selling subjects, and keep hirelings in garrets, at hard meat, to write and correct by the great (qu. groat); and so puff up an octavo to a sufficient thickness, and there's six shillings current for an hour and a half's reading, and perhaps never to be read or looked upon after. One that would go higher must take his fortune at blank walls, and corners of streets, or repair to the sign of Bateman, Innys, and one or two more, where are best choice and better pennyworth's. I might touch other abuses, as bad paper, incorrect printing, and false advertising; all which, and worse, is to be expected, if a careful author is not at the heels of them." Life of the Hon. and Rev. Dr. John North. _North's Lives_, edit. 1744, 4to., p. 240, &c. At page 244, there is a curious account of the doctor's amusing himself with keeping spiders in a glass case--feeding them with bread and flies--and seeing these spiders afterwards quarrel with, and destroy, each other--"parents and offspring!"]

LIS. "_De gustibus_--" you know the rest. But these Norths were brave bibliomaniacs! Proceed, we are now advancing towards the threshold of the eighteenth century; and the nearer you come to it, the greater is the interest excited.

LYSAND. Take care that I don't conclude with the memorable catalogue-burning deed of your father! But I spare your present feelings.

All hail to the noble book-spirit by which the _Lives of Oxford-Athenians_, and the _Antiquities of Oxford University_, are recorded and preserved beyond the power of decay![361] All hail to thee, OLD ANTHONY A-WOOD! May the remembrance of thy researches, amidst thy paper and parchment documents, stored up in chests, pews, and desks, and upon which, alas! the moth was "feeding sweetly," may the remembrance of these thy laborious researches always excite sensations of gratitude towards the spirit by which they were directed! Now I see thee, in imagination, with thy cautious step, and head bowing from premature decay, and solemn air, and sombre visage, with cane under the arm, pacing from library to library, through gothic quadrangles; or sauntering along the Isis, in thy way to some neighbouring village, where thou wouldst recreate thyself with "pipe and pot." Yes, Anthony! while the _Bodleian_ and _Ashmolean_ collections remain--or rather as long as Englishmen know how to value that species of literature by which the names and actions of their forefathers are handed down to posterity, so long shall the memory of thy laudable exertions continue unimpaired!

[Footnote 361: The name and literary labours of ANTHONY WOOD are now held in general, and deservedly high, respect: and it is somewhat amusing, though not a little degrading to human nature, to reflect upon the celebrity of that man who, when living, seems to have been ridiculed by the proud and flippant, and hated by the ignorant and prejudiced, part of his academical associates. The eccentricities of Wood were considered heretical; and his whims were stigmatized as vices. The common herd of observers was unable to discover, beneath his strange garb, and coarse exterior, all that acuteness of observation, and retentiveness of memory, as well as inflexible integrity, which marked the intellectual character of this wonderful man. But there is no necessity to detain and tantalize the reader by this formal train of reasoning, when a few leading features of Wood's person, manners, and habits of study, &c., have been thus pleasingly described to us by Hearne, in the life of him prefixed to the genuine edition of the _History and Antiquities (or Annals) of the University of Oxford_. "He was equally regardless of envy or fame, out of his great love to truth, and therefore 'twas no wonder he took such a liberty of speech, as most other authors, out of prudence, cunning, or design, have usually declined. And indeed, as to his language, he used such words as were suitable to his profession. It is impossible to think that men, who always converse with old authors, should not learn the dialect of their acquaintance--an antiquary retains an old word, with as much religion as an old relick. And further, since our author was ignorant of the rules of conversation, it is no wonder he uses so many severe reflections, and adds so many minute passages of men's lives. I have been told that it was usual with him, for the most part, to rise about four o'clock in the morning, and to eat hardly any thing till night; when, after supper, he would go into some by-alehouse in town, or else to one in some village near, and there by himself take his _pipe and pot_," &c. "But so it is that, notwithstanding our author's great merits, he was but little regarded in the University, being observed to be more clownish than courteous, and always to go in an old antiquated dress. Indeed he was a mere scholar, and consequently must expect, from the greatest number of men, disrespect; but this notwithstanding, he was always a true lover of his mother, the University, and did more for her than others care to do that have received so liberally from her towards their maintenance, and have had greater advantages of doing good than he had. Yea, his affection was not at all alienated, notwithstanding his being so hardly dealt with as to be expelled; which would have broken the hearts of some. But our author was of a most noble spirit, and little regarded whatever afflictions he lay under, whilst he was conscious to himself of doing nothing but what he could answer. At length after he had, by continual drudging, worn out his body, he left this world contentedly, by a stoppage of his urine, anno domini 1695, and was buried in the east corner of the north side of St. John's Church, adjoyning to Merton College, and in the wall is a small monument fixed, with these words:

H.S.E. ANTONIUS WOOD, ANTIQUARIUS. _ob. 28 Nov._ AO. 1695, aet. 64."

In his person, he was of a large robust make, tall and thin, and had a sedate and thoughtful look, almost bordering upon a melancholy cast. Mr. Hearne says, in his _Collectanea MSS._, that though he was but sixty-four years of age when he died, he appeared to be above fourscore; that he used spectacles long before he had occasion for them, that he stooped much when he walked, and generally carried his stick under his arm, seldom holding it in his hand. As to the manner of his life, it was solitary and ascetic. The character which Gassendus gives of Peireskius, may, with propriety, be used as descriptive of Mr. Wood's. "As to the care of his person, cleanliness was his chief object, he desiring no superfluity or costliness, either in his habit or food. His house was furnished in the same manner as his table; and as to the ornament of his private apartment, he was quite indifferent. Instead of hangings, his chamber was furnished with the prints of his particular friends, and other men of note, with vast numbers of commentaries, transcripts, letters, and papers of various kinds. His bed was of the most ordinary sort; his table loaded with papers, schedules, and other things, as was also every chair in the room. He was a man of strict sobriety, and by no means delicate in the choice of what he eat. Always restrained by temperance, he never permitted the sweet allurements of luxury to overcome his prudence." Such, as is here represented, was the disposition of Mr. WOOD: of so retired a nature as seldom to desire or admit a companion at his walks or meals; so that he is said to have dined alone in his chamber for thirty years together. Mr. Hearne says that it was his custom to "go to the booksellers at those hours when the greater part of the University were at their dinners," &c. And at five leaves further, in a note, we find that, "when he was consulting materials for his _Athenae Oxon._, he would frequently go to the booksellers, and generally give money to them, purposely to obtain titles of books from them; and 'twas observed of him that he spared no charges to make that work as compleat and perfect as possible." _Hearne's Coll. MSS. in Bodl. Lib._, vol. ix., p. 185. The following letter, describing Wood's last illness, and the disposition of his literary property, is sufficiently interesting to be here, in part, laid before the reader: it was written by Mr. (afterwards Bishop) Tanner to Dr. Charlett.

"Honoured Master,

Yesterday, at dinner-time, Mr. Wood sent for me; when I came, I found Mr. Martin and Mr. Bisse of Wadham (college) with him, who had (with much ado) prevailed upon him to set about looking over his papers, so to work we went, and continued tumbling and separating some of his MSS. till it was dark. We also worked upon him so far as to sign and declare that sheet of paper, which he had drawn up the day before, and called it _his will_; for fear he should not live till night. He had a very bad night of it last night, being much troubled with vomiting. This morning we three were with him again, and Mr. Martin bringing with him the form of a will, that had been drawn up by Judge Holloway, we writ his will over again, as near as we could, in form of law. He has given to the University, to be reposited in the _Museum Ashmol._, all his MSS., not only those of his own collection, but also all others which he has in his possession, except some few of Dr. Langbain's Miscellanea, which he is willing should go to the public library. He has also given all his printed books and pamphlets to the said musaeum which are not there already. This benefaction will not, perhaps, be so much valued by the University as it ought to be, because it comes from Anthony Wood; but truly it is a most noble gift, his collection of MSS. being invaluable, and his printed books, most of them, not to be found in town," &c. This letter is followed by other accounts yet more minute and touching, of the last mortal moments of poor old Anthony! It now remains to say a few words about his literary labours. A short history of the editions of the _Athenae Oxonienses_ (vide p. 45, ante) has already been communicated to the reader. We may here observe that his _Antiquities of the University_ shared a similar fate; being garbled in a Latin translation of them, which was put forth under the auspices of Bishop Fell: 1676, fol., in 2 vols. Wood's own MS. was written in the English language, and lay neglected till towards the end of the 18th century, when the Rev. Mr. Gutch conferred a real benefit upon all the dutiful sons of ALMA MATER, by publishing the legitimate text of their venerable and upright historian; under the title of _The History and Antiquities of the Colleges and Halls_, 1786, 4to., with a supplemental volume by way of _Appendix_, 1790, 4to., containing copious indexes to the two. Then followed the Annals of the University at large, viz. _The History and Antiquities of the University of Oxford_; 1792, 4to., in two volumes; the latter being divided into _two_ parts, or volumes, with copious indexes. These works, which are now getting scarce, should be in every philological, as well as topographical, collection. In order to compensate the reader for the trouble of wading through the preceding tremendous note, I here present him with a wood-cut facsimile of a copper-plate print of Wood's portrait, which is prefixed to his Life, 1772, 8vo. If he wishes for more curious particulars respecting Wood's literary labours, let him take a peep into _Thomae Caii Vindic. Antiq. Acad. Oxon._: 1730, 8vo., vol. i., pp. xl. xliii. _Edit. Hearne._ Wood's study, in the Ashmolean museum, is yet to be seen. It is filled with curious books, which, however, have not hitherto been catalogued with accuracy. Ritson has availed himself, more successfully than any antiquary in poetry, of the book treasures in this museum.

A very few years after the death of this distinguished character, died Dr. FRANCIS BERNARD;[362] a stoic in bibliography. Neither beautiful binding, nor amplitude of margin, ever delighted his eye or rejoiced his heart: for he was a stiff, hard, and straight-forward reader--and learned, in Literary History, beyond all his contemporaries. His collection was copious and excellent; and although the compiler of the catalogue of his books sneers at any one's having "an entire collection in physic," (by the bye, I should have told you that Bernard was a _Doctor of Medicine_,) yet, if I forget not, there are nearly 150 pages in this said catalogue which are thickly studded with "_Libri Medici_," from the folio to the duodecimo size. Many very curious books are afterwards subjoined; and some precious _bijous_, in English Literature, close the rear. Let Bernard be numbered among the most learned and eminent bibliomaniacs.

[Footnote 362: I do not know that I could produce a better recipe for the cure of those who are affected with the worst symptoms of the BOOK-MANIA, in the _present day_, than by shewing them how the same symptoms, upwards of a _century ago_, were treated with ridicule and contempt by a collector of very distinguished fame, both on account of his literary talents and extensive library. The following copious extract is curious on many accounts; and I do heartily wish that foppish and tasteless collectors would give it a very serious perusal. At the same time, all collectors possessed of common sense and liberal sentiment will be pleased to see their own portraits so faithfully drawn therein. It is taken from the prefatory address,

"TO THE READER.

The character of the person whose collection this was, is so well known, that there is no occasion to say much of him, nor to any man of judgment that inspects the catalogue of the collection itself. Something, however, it becomes us to say of both; and this I think may with truth and modesty enough be said, that as few men knew books, and that part of learning which is called _Historia Litteraria_, better than himself, so there never yet appeared in England so choice and valuable a catalogue to be thus disposed of as this before us: more especially of that sort of books which are out of the common course, which a man may make the business of his life to collect, and at last not to be able to accomplish. A considerable part of them being so little known, even to many of the learned buyers, that we have reason to apprehend this misfortune to attend the sale, that there will not be competitors enough to raise them up to their just and real value. Certain it is this library contains not a few which never appeared in any auction here before; nor indeed, as I have heard him say, for ought he knew, (and he knew as well as any man living) _in any printed catalogue in the world_."--"We must confess that, being a person who collected his books for use, and not for ostentation or ornament, he seemed no more solicitous about _their_ dress than _his own_; and therefore you'll find that a _gilt back_, or a _large margin_, was very seldom any inducement to him to buy. 'Twas sufficient that he had the book." "Though considering that he was so unhappy as to want heirs capable of making that use of them which he had done, and that therefore they were to be dispersed after this manner; I have heard him condemn his own negligence in that particular; observing, that the garniture of a book was as apt to recommend it to a great part of our _modern collectors_ (whose learning goes not beyond the edition, the title-page, and the printer's name) as the intrinsic value could. But that he himself was not a mere nomenclator, and versed only in title-pages, but had made that just and laudable use of his books which would become all those that set up for collectors, I appeal to the Literati of his acquaintance, who conversed most frequently with him; how full, how ready, and how exact he was in answering any question that was proposed to him relating to learned men, or their writings; making no secret of any thing that he knew, or any thing that he had; being naturally one of the most communicative men living, both of his knowledge and his books."--"And give me leave to say this of him, upon my own knowledge; that he never grudged his money in procuring, nor his time or labour in perusing, any book which he thought could be any ways instructive to him, and having the felicity of a memory always faithful, always officious, which never forsook him, though attacked by frequent and severe sickness, and by the worst of diseases, old age, his desire of knowledge attended him to the last; and he pursued his studies with equal vigour and application to the very extremity of his life." It remains to add a part of the title of the catalogue of the collection of this extraordinary bibilomaniac [Transcriber's Note: bibliomaniac]: "_A Catalogue of the Library of the late learned_ DR. FRANCIS BERNARD, _Fellow of the College of Physicians, and Physician to St. Bartholomew's Hospital, &c._," 1698, 8vo. The English books are comprised in 1241 articles; and, among them, the keen investigator of ancient catalogues will discover some prime rarities.]

Having at length reached the threshold, let us knock at the door, of the eighteenth century. What gracious figures are those which approach to salute us? They are the forms of BISHOPS FELL and MORE:[363] prelates, distinguished for their never ceasing admiration of valuable and curious works. The former is better known as an editor; the latter, as a collector--and a collector, too, of such multifarious knowledge, of such vivid and just perceptions, and unabating activity--that while he may be hailed as the _Father of_ =black-letter= _Collectors_ in this country, he reminds us of his present successor in the same see; who is not less enamoured of rare and magnificent volumes, but of a different description, and whose library assumes a grander cast of character.

[Footnote 363: As I have already presented the public with some brief account respecting BISHOP FELL, and sharpened the appetites of Grangerites to procure rather a rare portrait of the same prelate (See _Introd. to the Classics_, vol. i., 89), it remains only to add, in the present place, that Hearne, in his _Historia Vitae et Regni Ricardi II._, 1729, 8vo., p. 389, has given us a curious piece of information concerning this eminent bibliomaniac, which may not be generally known. His authority is Anthony Wood. From this latter we learn that, when Anthony and the Bishop were looking over the _History and Antiquities of the University of Oxford_, to correct it for the press, Fell told Wood that "WICLIFFE was a grand dissembler; a man of little conscience; and what he did, as to religion, was more out of vain glory, and to obtain unto him a name, than out of honesty--or to that effect." Can such a declaration, from such a character, be credited? BISHOP MORE has a stronger claim on our attention and gratitude. Never has there existed an episcopal bibliomaniac of such extraordinary talent and fame in the walk of _Old English Literature_!--as the reader shall presently learn. The bishop was admitted of Clare Hall, Cambridge, in 1662. In 1691, he became Bishop of Norwich; and was translated to Ely in 1707; but did not survive the translation above seven years. How soon and how ardently the passion for collecting books possessed him it is out of my present power to make the reader acquainted. But that More was in the zenith of his bibliomaniacal reputation while he filled the see of Norwich is unquestionable; for thus writes Strype: "The Right Reverend, the Lord Bishop of Norwich, the possessor of a great and curious collection of MSS. and other ancient printed pieces (little inferior to MSS. in regard of their scarceness) hath also been very considerably assistant to me as well in this present work as in others;" &c. Preface (sign. a 2) to _Life of Aylmer_, 1701, 8vo. Burnet thus describes his fine library when he was Bishop of Ely. "This noble record was lent me by my reverend and learned brother, Dr. MORE, Bishop of Ely, who has gathered together a most valuable treasure, both of printed books and manuscripts, beyond what one can think that the life and labour of one man could have compassed; and which he is as ready to communicate, as he has been careful to collect it." _Hist. of the Reformation_, vol. iii., p. 46. It seems hard to reconcile this testimony of Burnet with the late Mr. Gough's declaration, that "The bishop collected his library by plundering those of the clergy in his diocese; some he paid with sermons or more modern books; others only with '_quid illiterati cum libris_.'" On the death of More, his library was offered to Lord Oxford for 8000_l._; and how that distinguished and truly noble collector could have declined the purchase of such exquisite treasures--unless his own shelves were groaning beneath the weight of a great number of similar volumes--is difficult to account for. But a public-spirited character was not wanting to prevent the irreparable dispersion of such book-gems: and that patriotic character was GEORGE I.!--who gave 6000_l._ for them, and presented them to the public library of the University of Cambridge!--

"These are imperial works, and worthy kings!"

And here, benevolent reader, the almost unrivalled _Bibliotheca Moriana_ yet quietly and securely reposes. Well do I remember the congenial hours I spent (A.D. 1808) in the _closet_ holding the most precious part of Bishop More's collection, with my friend the Rev. Mr. ----, tutor of one of the colleges in the same University, at my right-hand--(himself "greatly given to the study of books") actively engaged in promoting my views, and increasing my extracts--but withal, eyeing me sharply "ever and anon"--and entertaining a laudable distrust of a keen book-hunter from a rival University! I thank my good genius that I returned, as I entered, with clean hands! My love of truth and of bibliography compels me to add, with a sorrowful heart, that not only is there no printed catalogue of Bishop More's books, but even the FINE PUBLIC LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY remains unpublished in print! In this respect they really do "order things better in France." Why does such indifference to the cause of general learning exist--and in the 19th century too? Let me here presume to submit a plan to the consideration of the syndics of the press; provided they should ever feel impressed with the necessity of informing the literati, of other countries as well as our own, of the book treasures contained in the libraries of Cambridge. It is simply this. Let the books in the Public Library form the substratum of the _Catalogue Raisonne_ to be printed in three or more quarto volumes. If, in any particular department, there be valuable editions of a work which are _not_ in the public, but in another, library--ex. gr. in Trinity, or St. John's--specify this edition in its appropriate class; and add _Trin. Coll., &c._--If this copy contain notes of Bentley, or Porson, add "_cum notis Bentleii_," _&c._: so that such a catalogue would present, not only _every_ volume in the _Public Library_, but _every valuable_ edition of a work in the whole University. Nor is the task so Herculean as may be thought. The tutors of the respective colleges would, I am sure, be happy, as well as able, to contribute their proportionate share of labour towards the accomplishment of so desirable and invaluable a work.]

The opening of the 18th century was also distinguished by the death of a bibliomaniac of the very first order and celebrity. Of one, who had, no doubt, frequently discoursed largely and eloquently with Luttrell, (of whom presently) upon the rarity and value of certain editions of old _Ballad Poetry_: and between whom presents of curious black-letter volumes were, in all probability, frequently passing. I allude to the famous SAMUEL PEPYS;[364] Secretary to the Admiralty.

[Footnote 364: "_The Maitland Collection of Manuscripts_ was ever in the collector's (Sir Richard Maitland's) family."--"His grandson was raised to the dignity of Earl of Lauderdale." "The Duke of Lauderdale, a descendant of the collector's grandson, presented the Maitland Collection, along with other MSS., to SAMUEL PEPYS, Esq. Secretary of the Admiralty to Charles II. and James II. Mr. Pepys was one of the earliest collectors of rare books, &c. in England; and the duke had no taste for such matters; so either from friendship, or some point of interest, he gave them to Mr. Pepys,"--who "dying 26 May, 1703, in his 71st year, ordered, by will, the PEPYSIAN LIBRARY at Magdalen College, Cambridge, to be founded, in order to preserve his very valuable collection entire. It is undoubtedly the most curious in England, those of the British Museum excepted; and is kept in excellent order." Mr. Pinkerton's preface, p. vii., to _Ancient Scottish Poems from the Maitland Collection, &c._, 1786, 8vo., 2 vols. I wish it were in my power to add something concerning the parentage, birth, education, and pursuits of the extraordinary collector of this extraordinary collection; but no biographical work, which I have yet consulted, vouchsafes even to mention his name. His merits are cursorily noticed in the _Quarterly Review_, vol. iv., p. 326-7. Through the medium of a friend, I learn from Sir Lucas Pepys, Bart., that our illustrious bibliomaniac, his great uncle, was President of the Royal Society, and that his collection at Cambridge contains a _Diary_ of his life, written with his own hand. But it is high time to speak of the black-letter gems contained in the said collection. That the PEPYSIAN COLLECTION is at once choice and valuable cannot be disputed; but that access to the same is prompt and facile, is not quite so indisputable. There is a MS. catalogue of the books, by Pepys himself, with a small rough drawing of a view of the interior of the library. The books are kept in their original (I think walnut-wood) presses: and cannot be examined unless in the presence of a fellow.--Such is the nice order to be observed, according to the bequest, that every book must be replaced where it was taken from; and the loss of a single volume causes the collection to be confiscated, and transported to Benet-college library. Oh, that there were _an act of parliament_ to regulate bequests of this kind!--that the doors to knowledge might, by a greater facility of entrance, be more frequently opened by students; and that the medium between unqualified confidence and unqualified suspicion might be marked out and followed. Are these things symptomatic of an iron or a brazen age! But the bibliomaniac is impatient for a glance at the 'forementioned black-letter treasures!--Alas, I have promised more than I can perform! Yet let him cast his eye upon the first volume of the recent edition of _Evans' Collection of Old Ballads_ (see _in limine_, p. ix.) and look into the valuable notes of _Mr. Todd's Illustrations of Gower and Chaucer_,--in which latter, he will find no bad specimen of these _Pepysian gems_, in the exultation of my friend, the author, over another equally respected friend--in consequence of his having discovered, among these treasures, a strange, merry, and conceited work, entitled "_Old Meg of Herefordshire for a Mayd-Marian; and Hereford Town for a Morris-daunce, &c._," 1609, 4to., p. 273. EX UNO DISCE OMNES. The left-handed critic, or anti-black-letter reader, will put a wicked construction upon the quotation of this motto in capital letters: let him: he will repent of his folly in due time.]

Now it was a convincing proof to me, my dear friends, that the indulgence of a PASSION FOR BOOKS is perfectly compatible with any situation, however active and arduous. For while this illustrious bibliomaniac was sending forth his messengers to sweep every bookseller's shop from the Tweed to Penzance, for the discovery of old and almost unknown ballads--and while his name rung in the ears of rival collectors--he was sedulous, in his professional situation, to put the _Navy of Old England_ upon the most respectable footing; and is called the _Father_ of that system which, carried into effect by British hearts of oak, has made the thunder of our cannon to be heard and feared on the remotest shores. Nor is it a slight or common coincidence that a spirit of book-collecting, which stimulated the _Secretary_ of the Admiralty at the opening of the 18th century, should, at the close of it, have operated with equal or greater force in a _First Lord_ of the same glorious department of our administration. But we shall speak more fully of this latter character, and of his matchless collection, in a future stage of our discussion.

While we are looking round us at this period, we may as well slightly notice the foundation of the _Blenheim Library_. The DUKE OF MARLBOROUGH[365] was resolved that no naval commander, or person connected with the navy, should eclipse himself in the splendour of book-collecting: but it was to PRINCE EUGENE that Marlborough was indebted for his taste in this particular; or rather the English commander was completely bitten with the bibliomaniacal disease in consequence of seeing Eugene secure rare and magnificent copies of works, when a city or town was taken: and the German Prince himself expatiates upon the treasures of his library, with a rapture with which none but the most thorough-bred bibliomaniacs can ever adequately sympathise.

[Footnote 365: The LIBRARY AT BLENHEIM is one of the grandest rooms in Europe. The serpentine sheet of water, which flows at some little distance, between high banks of luxuriant and moss-woven grass, and is seen from the interior, with an overhanging dark wood of oaks, is sufficient to awaken the finest feelings that ever animated the breast of a bibliomaniac. The books are select and curious, as well as numerous; and although they may be eclipsed, in both these particulars, by a few rival collections, yet the following specimen is no despicable proof of the ardour with which MARLBOROUGH, the founder of the Library, pushed forward his bibliomaniacal spirit. I am indebted to Mr. Edwards for this interesting list of the

ANCIENT CLASSICS PRINTED UPON VELLUM IN THE BLENHEIM LIBRARY.

Apoll. Rhodius 1496 Augustinus, _de Civ. Dei_ _Spirae_ 1470 A. Gellius, _Romae_ 1469 Aug. _de Civ. Dei_ _Jenson_ 1475 Biblia Moguntina 1462 Bonifacii Decretalia 1465 Ciceronis _Rhetorica_ _Jens_ 1470 ---- _Epist. Fam._ _Spirae_ 1469 ---- _Officia_ _Mogunt_ 1465 ---- ---- 1466 ---- _Tuscul. Ques._ _Jenson_ 1472 _Clementis Const._ _Mogunt_ 1460 ---- _Fust. s.a._ Durandus 1459 Horatius Landini 1482 ---- Epist. 1480 Justinian _Mogunt_ 1468 Lactantius _A Rot_ 1471 Lucian _Florent_ 1496 Petrarca _Spira_ 1470 Plinius _Jenson_ 1472 Quintilian _Campani_ 1470 Sallustius _Spira_ 1470 V. Maximus, s.a. Virgilius _Spira_ 1470

The present MARQUIS OF BLANDFORD inherits, in no small degree, the book-collecting spirit of his illustrious ancestor. He is making collections in those departments of literature in which the Blenheim Library is comparatively deficient; and his success has already been such as to lead us to hope for as perfect a display of volumes printed by _Caxton_ as there is of those executed by foreign printers. The Marquis's collection of _Emblems_ is, I believe, nearly perfect: of these, there are a few elegantly printed catalogues for private distribution. Lysander, above, supposes that Marlborough caught the infection of the _book-disease_ from PRINCE EUGENE; and the supposition is, perhaps, not very wide of the truth. The library of this great German prince, which is yet entire, (having been secured from the pillage of Gallic Vandalism, when a certain emperor visited a certain city) is the proudest feature in the public library at Vienna. The books are in very fine old binding, and, generally of the largest dimensions. And, indeed, old England has not a little to boast of (at least, so bibliomaniacs must always think) that, from the recently published _Memoirs of Eugene_ (1811, 8vo., p. 185), it would appear that the prince "bought his fine editions of books AT LONDON:"--he speaks also of his "excellent French, Latin, and Italian works, well bound"--as if he enjoyed the "arrangment" of _them_, as much as the contemplation of his "cascades, large water-spouts, and superb basins." _Ibid._ Whether Eugene himself was suddenly inflamed with the ardour of buying books, from some lucky spoils in the pillaging of towns--as Lysander supposes--is a point which may yet admit of fair controversy. For my own part, I suspect the German commander had been straying, in his early manhood, among the fine libraries in _Italy_, where he might have seen the following exquisite _bijous_--

_In St. Mark's, at Venice._

Apuleius 1469 } Aulus Gellius 1469 } PRINTED UPON VELLUM. Petrarca 1479 }

_In the Chapter House at Padua._

Ciceronis _Epist. ad Atticum_ _Jenson_ 1470 } Quintilian _Jenson_ 1471 } Macrobius 1472 } Solinus _Jenson_ 1473 } PRINTED UPON VELLUM. Catullus 1472 } Plautus 1472 } Ovidii Opera _Bonon._ 1471 }

The public is indebted to Mr. Edwards for the timely supply of the foregoing bibliographical intelligence.]

Ever ardent in his love of past learning, and not less voracious in his bibliomaniacal appetites, was the well known NARCISSUS LUTTRELL. Nothing--if we may judge from the spirited sketch of his book character, by the able editor[366] of Dryden's works--nothing would seem to have escaped his Lynx-like vigilance. Let the object be what it would (especially if it related to _poetry_) let the volume be great or small, or contain good, bad, or indifferent warblings of the muse--his insatiable craving had "stomach for them all." We may consider his collection as the fountain head of those copious streams which, after fructifying the libraries of many bibliomaniacs in the first half of the eighteenth century, settled, for a while, more determinedly, in the curious book-reservoir of a Mr. WYNNE--and hence, breaking up, and taking a different direction towards the collections of Farmer, Steevens, and others, they have almost lost their identity in the innumerable rivulets which now inundate the book-world.

[Footnote 366: "In this last part of his task, the editor (Walter Scott) has been greatly assisted by free access to a valuable collection of fugitive pieces of the reigns of Charles II., James II., William III., and Queen Anne. This curious collection was made by NARCISSUS LUTTRELL, Esq., under whose name the Editor usually quotes it. The industrious collector seems to have bought every poetical tract, of whatever merit, which was hawked through the streets in his time, marking carefully the price and date of the purchase. His collection contains the earliest editions of many of our most excellent poems, bound up, according to the order of time, with the lowest trash of Grub-street. It was dispersed on Mr. Luttrell's death," &c. Preface to _The Works of John Dryden_, 1808: vol. i., p. iv. Mr. James Bindley and Mr. Richard Heber are then mentioned, by the editor, as having obtained a great share of the Luttrell collection, and liberally furnished him with the loan of the same, in order to the more perfect editing of Dryden's Works. But it is to the persevering book-spirit of Mr. EDWARD WYNNE, as Lysander above intimates, that these notorious modern bibliomaniacs are indebted for the preservation of most of the choicest relics of the _Bibliotheca Luttrelliana_. Mr. Wynne lived at Little Chelsea; and built his library in a room which had the reputation of having been LOCKE'S _study_. Here he used to sit, surrounded by innumerable books--a "great part being formed by an eminent and curious collector in the last century"--viz. the aforesaid Narcissus Luttrell. (See the title to the Catalogue of his Library.) His books were sold by auction in 1786; and, that the reader may have some faint idea of the treasures contained in the _Bibliotheca Wynniana_, he is presented with the following extracts:

LOT 2 A parcel of pamphlets on poetry, 8vo. L2 0_s._ 0_d._

3 Do. Tragedies and Comedies, 4to. and 8vo. 3 13 6

4 Do. Historical and Miscellaneous, 4to. and 8vo. 1 1 0

5 Poetical, Historical, and Miscellaneous, folio 1 4 0

11 Do. giving an account of horrid Murders, Storms, Prodigies, Tempests, Witchcraft, Ghosts, Earthquakes, &c., _with frontispieces_ and _cuts_, 4to. and 8vo. 1606 1 14 0

12 Do. Historical and Political, English and Foreign, from 1580 to 1707 2 0 0

13 Do. consisting of Petitions, Remonstrances, Declarations, and other political matters, from 1638 to 1660, during the great Rebellion, and the whole of the Protectorate: _a very large parcel, many of them with cuts_. Purchased by the present Marquis of Bute 7 7 0

14 Do. of single sheets, giving an account of the various sieges in Ireland in 1695-6; and consisting likewise of Elegies, Old Ballads, accounts of Murders, Storms, Political Squibs, &c. &c., _many of them with curious plates_, from 1695 to 1706. Purchased by the same 6 16 6

Lots 23-4 comprised a great number of "_Old Poetry and Romances_," which were purchased by Mr. Baynes for 7_l._ 9_s._ Lot 376 comprehended a "_Collection of Old Plays--Gascoigne, White, Windet, Decker, &c._," 21 vols.: which were sold for 38_l._ 17_s._ Never, to be sure, was a precious collection of English History and Poetry so wretchedly detailed to the public, in an auction catalogue! It should be noticed that a great number of poetical tracts was disposed of, previous to the sale, to Dr. FARMER, who gave not more than forty guineas for them. The Doctor was also a determined purchaser at the sale, and I think the ingenious Mr. Waldron aided the illustrious commentator of Shakspeare with many a choice volume. It may be worth adding that Wynne was the author of an elegant work, written in the form of dialogues, entitled _Eunomus_, or _Discourses upon the Laws of England_, 4 vols., 8vo. It happened to be published at the time when Sir William Blackstone's _Commentaries on the Laws of England_ made their appearance; and, in consequence, has seen only three editions: the latter being published in 1809, 2 vols., 8vo.]

Why have I delayed, to the present moment, the mention of that illustrious bibliomaniac, EARL PEMBROKE? a patron of poor scholars, and a connoisseur, as well as collector, of every thing the most precious and rare in the book-way. Yet was his love of _Virtu_ not confined to objects in the shape of volumes, whether printed or in MS.: his knowledge of statues and coins was profound;[367] and his collection of these, such as to have secured for him the admiration of posterity.

[Footnote 367:

The reader will find an animated eulogy on this great nobleman in Walpole's _Anecdotes of Painters_, vol. iv., 227; part of which was transcribed by Joseph Warton for his variorum edition of Pope's works, and thence copied into the recent edition of the same by the Rev. W.L. Bowles. But PEMBROKE deserved a more particular notice. Exclusively of his fine statues and architectural decorations, the Earl contrived to procure a great number of curious and rare books; and the testimonies of Maittaire (who speaks indeed of him with a sort of rapture!) and Palmer show that the productions of Jenson and Caxton were no strangers to his library. _Annales Typographici_, vol. i., 13. edit. 1719. _History of Printing_, p. 5. "There is nothing that so surely proves the pre-eminence of virtue more than the universal admiration of mankind, and the respect paid it by persons in opposite interests; and, more than this, it is a sparkling gem which even time does not destroy: it is hung up in the Temple of Fame, and respected for ever." _Continuation of Granger_, vol. i., 37, &c. "He raised (continues Mr. Noble) a collection of antiques that were unrivalled by any subject. His learning made him a fit companion for the literati. Wilton will ever be a monument of his extensive knowledge; and the princely presents it contains, of the high estimation in which he was held by foreign potentates, as well as by the many monarchs he saw and served at home. He lived rather as a primitive christian; in his behaviour, meek; in his dress, plain: rather retired, conversing but little." Burnet, in the _History of his own Times_, has spoken of the Earl with spirit and propriety. Thus far the first edition of the Bibliomania. From an original MS. letter of Anstis to Ames (in the possession of Mr. John Nichols) I insert the following memoranda, concerning the book celebrity of Lord Pembroke. "I had the book of Juliana Barnes (says Anstis) printed at St. Albans, 1486, about hunting, which was afterwards reprinted by W. de Worde at Westminster, 1496--but the EARL OF PEMBROKE would not rest till he got it from me." From a letter to Lewis (the biographer of Caxton) by the same person, dated Oct. 11, 1737, Anstis says that "the Earl of Pembroke would not suffer him to rest till he had presented it to him." He says also that "he had a later edition of the same, printed in 1496, _on parchment_, by W. de Worde, which he had given away: but he could send to the person who had it." From another letter, dated May 8, 1740, this "person" turns out to be the famous JOHN MURRAY; to whom we are shortly to be introduced. The copy, however, is said to be "imperfect; but the St. Albans book, a fair folio." In this letter, Lord Pembroke's library is said to hold "the greatest collection of the first books printed in England." Perhaps the reader will not be displeased to be informed that in the _Antiquities of Glastonbury_, published by Hearne, 1722, p. LVIII, there is a medal, with the reverse, of one of the Earl's ancestors in Queen Elizabeth's time, which had escaped Evelyn. It was lent to Hearne by Sir Philip Sydenham, who was at the expense of having the plate engraved.]

While this nobleman was the general theme of literary praise there lived a _Bibliomaniacal Triumvirate_ of the names of BAGFORD, MURRAY, and HEARNE: a triumvirate, perhaps not equalled, in the mere love of book-collecting, by that which we mentioned a short time ago. At the head, and the survivor of these three,[368] was Thomas Hearne; who, if I well remember, has been thus described by Pope, in his Dunciad, under the character of Wormius:

But who is he, in closet close ypent, Of sober face, with learned dust besprent? Right well mine eyes arede the myster wight, On parchment scraps y-fed, and WORMIUS hight.

[Footnote 368: The former bibliomaniacal triumvirate is noticed at p. 217, ante. We will now discuss the merits of the above, _seriatim_. And first of JOHN BAGFORD, "by profession a bookseller; who frequently travelled into Holland and other parts, in search of scarce books and valuable prints, and brought a vast number into this kingdom, the greater part of which were purchased by the Earl of Oxford. He had been in his younger days a shoemaker; and for the many curiosities wherewith he enriched the famous library of Dr. John More, Bishop of Ely, his Lordship got him admitted into the Charter House. He died in 1716, aged 65; after his death, Lord Oxford purchased all his collections and papers for his library: these are now in the Harleian collection in the British Museum. In 1707 were published, in the Philosophical transactions, his Proposals for a General History of Printing."--Bowyer and Nichol's _Origin of Printing_, pp. 164, 189, note. It has been my fortune (whether good or bad remains to be proved) not only to transcribe, and cause to be reprinted, the slender Memorial of Printing in the Philosophical Transactions, drawn up by Wanley for Bagford, but to wade through _forty-two_ folio volumes, in which Bagford's materials for a History of Printing are incorporated, in the British Museum: and from these, I think I have furnished myself with a pretty correct notion of the collector of them. Bagford was the most hungry and rapacious of all book and print collectors; and, in his ravages, he spared neither the most delicate nor costly specimens. He seems always to have expressed his astonishment at the most common productions; and his paper in the Philosophical Transactions betrays such simplicity and ignorance that one is astonished how my Lord Oxford, and the learned Bishop of Ely, could have employed so credulous a bibliographical forager. A modern collector and lover of _perfect_ copies, will witness, with shuddering, among Bagford's immense collection of title-pages in the Museum, the frontispieces of the Complutensian Polyglot, and Chauncy's History of Hertfordshire, torn out to illustrate a History of Printing. His enthusiasm, however, carried him through a great deal of laborious toil; and he supplied in some measure, by this qualification, the want of other attainments. His whole mind was devoted to book-hunting; and his integrity and diligence probably made his employers overlook his many failings. His handwriting is scarcely legible, and his orthography is still more wretched; but if he was ignorant, he was humble, zealous, and grateful; and he has certainly done something towards the accomplishment of that desirable object, an accurate GENERAL HISTORY OF PRINTING. The preceding was inserted in the _first edition_ of this work. It is incumbent on me to say something more, and less declamatory, of so extraordinary a character; and as my sources of information are such as do not fall into the hands of the majority of readers, I trust the prolixity of what follows, appertaining to the aforesaid renowned bibliomaniac, will be pardoned--at least by the lover of curious biographical memoranda. My old friend, Tom Hearne, is my chief authority. In the preface to that very scarce, but rather curious than valuable, work, entitled _Guil. Roper Vita D. Thomae Mori_, 1716, 8vo., we have the following brief notice of Bagford: Sec. ix. "Epistolas et Orationes excipit Anonymi Scriptoris chronicon; quod idcirco Godstovianum appellare visum est, quia in illud forte fortuna inciderim, quum, anno MDCCXV. una cum JOANNAE BAGFORDIO, amico egregio ad rudera Prioratus de Godstowe juxta Oxoniam animi recreandi gratia, perambularem. De illo vero me prius certiorem fecerat ipse Bagfordius, qui magno cum nostro moerore paullo post Londini obiit, die nimirum quinto Maij anno MDCCXVI. quum jam annum aetatis sexagessimum quintum inplerisset, ut e litteris intelligo amici ingenio et humanitate ornati Jacobei Sothebeii, junioris, qui, si quis alius, e familiaribus erat Bagfordii. Virum enimvero ideo mihi quam maxime hac occasione lugendum est, quod amicum probitate et modestia praeditum amiserim, virumque cum primis diligentem et peritum intercidisse tam certum sit quam quod certissimum. Quamvis enim artes liberales nunquam didicisset, vi tamen ingenii ductus, eruditus plane evasit; et, ut quod verum est dicam, incredibile est quam feliciter res abstrusas in historiis veteribus explicaverit, nodosque paullo difficiliores ad artis typographicae incunabula spectantes solverit et expedierit. Expertus novi quod scribo. Quotiescunque enim ipsum consului (et quidem id saepissime faciendum erat) perpetuo mihi aliter atque exspectaveram satisfecit, observationis itidem nonnunquam tales addens, quales antea neque mihi neque viris longe doctioribus in mentem venerant. Quidni itaque virum magnum fuisse pronunciarem, praecipue quum nostra sententia illi soli magni sint censendi, qui recte agant, et sint vere boni et virtute praediti?"--_Praef._ pp. xxi., ii. In Hearne's perface [Transcriber's Note: preface] to _Walter Hemingford's_ history, Bagford is again briefly introduced: "At vero in hoc genere fragmenta colligendi omnes quidem alios (quantum ego existimare possum) facile superavit JOANNES BAGFORDIUS, de quo apud Hemingum, &c. Incredibile est, quanta usus sit diligentia in laciniis veteribus coacervandis. Imo in hoc labore quidem tantum versari exoptabat quantum potuit, tantum autem re vera versabatur, quantum ingenio (nam divino sane fruebatur) quantum mediocri doctrina (nam neque ingenue, neque liberaliter, unquam fuit educatus) quantum usu valuit," p. ciii. The reader here finds a reference to what is said of Bagford, in the _Hemingi Wigornensis Chartularium_; which, though copious, is really curious and entertaining, and is forthwith submitted to his consideration. "It was therefore very laudable in my friend, Mr. J. BAGFORD (who I think was born in Fetter-lane, London) to employ so much of his time as he did in collecting remains of antiquity. Indeed he was a man of a very surprising genius, and had his education (for he was first a shoe-maker, and afterwards for some time a book-seller) been equal to his natural genius, he would have proved a much greater man than he was. And yet, without this education, he was certainly the greatest man in the world in his way. I do not hear of any monument erected to his memory, but 'twas not without reason that a worthy gentleman, now living in London, designed the following epitaph for him:

Hic. Sitvs. JOANNES. BAGFORDIVS. Antiquarivs. Penitvs. Britannvs. Cujvs. Nuda. Solertia. Aliorvm. Vicit. Operosam. Diligentiam. Obiit. Maii. v. A.D. M.DCC.XVI. Aetatis [LXV.] Viri. Simplicis. Et. Sine. Fvco. Memoria. Ne. Periret. Hunc. Lapidem. Posvit....

"'Tis very remarkable that, in collecting, his care did not extend itself to books and to fragments of books only; but even to the very _Covers_, and to _Bosses_ and _Clasps_; and all this that he might, with greater ease, compile the History of Printing, which he had undertaken, but did not finish. In this noble work he intended a Discourse about _Binding Books_ (in which he might have improved what I have said elsewhere about the ancient Aestels) and another about the _Art of making Paper_, in both which his observations were very accurate. Nay, his skill _in paper_ was so exquisite that, at first view, he could tell the place where, and the time when, any paper was made, though at never so many years' distance. I well remember that, when I was reading over a famous book of collections (written by John Lawerne, Monk of Worcester, and now preserved) in the Bodleian Library, Mr. Bagford came to me (as he would often come thither on purpose to converse with me about curiosities) and that he had no sooner seen the book, but he presently described the time when, and the place where, the paper of which it consists, was made. He was indefatigable in his searches, and was so ambitious of seeing what he had heard of, relating to his noble design, that he had made several journies into Holland to see the famous books there. Nor was he less thirsty after other antiquities, but, like old John Stow, was for seeing himself, if possible (although he travelled on foot), what had been related to him. Insomuch that I cannot doubt, but were he now living, he would have expressed a very longing desire of going to Worcester, were it for no other reason but to be better satisfied about the famous monumental stones mentioned by Heming (_Chart, Wigorn._, p. 342), as he often declared a most earnest desire of walking with me (though I was diverted from going) to Guy's Cliff by Warwick, when I was printing that most rare book called, _Joannis Rossi Antiquarii Warwicensis Historia Regum Angliae_. And I am apt to think that he would have shewed as hearty an inclination of going to Stening in Sussex, that being the place (according to Asser's Life of Aelfred the Great) where K. Ethelwulph (father of K. Alfred) was buried, though others say it was at Winchester," &c. "Mr. BAGFORD was as communicative as he was knowing: so that some of the chief curiosities in some of our best libraries are owing to him; for which reason it was that the late _Bishop of Ely_, Dr. MORE (who received so much from him), as an instance of gratitude, procured him a place in the Charter-House. I wish all places were as well bestowed. For as Mr. Bagford was, without all dispute, a very worthy man, so, being a despiser of money, he had not provided for the necessities of old age. He never looked upon those as true philosophers that aimed at heaping up riches, and, in that point, could never commend that otherwise great man, Seneca, who had about two hundred and fifty thousand pounds sterling, at use in Britain; the loan whereof had been thrust upon the Britains, whether they would or no. He would rather extol such men as a certain rector near Oxford, whose will is thus put down in writing, by Richard Kedermister, the last abbot but one of Winchcomb (_Leland Collect._ vol. vi., 168), in the margin of a book (I lately purchased) called _Hieronymi Cardinalis Vitas Patrum_, Lugd. MCCCCCII. 4to. Nihil habeo, nihil debeo, benedicamus Domino. Testamentum cujusdam rectoris, juxta Oxoniam decedentis circiter annum salutis, 1520." "Nor was Mr. Bagford versed only in our own old writers, but in those likewise of other countries, particularly the Roman. His skill in that part of the Roman history that immediately relates to Britain is sufficiently evident from his curious letter, printed at the beginning of Leland's Collectanea. That he might be the better acquainted with the Roman stations, and the several motions of the soldiers from one place to another, he used to pick up coins, and would, upon occasion, discourse handsomely, and very pertinently, about them; yet he would keep none, but would give them to his friends, telling them (for he was exemplarily modest and humble) that he had neither learning nor sagacity enough to explain and illustrate them, and that therefore it was more proper they should be in the possession of some able persons. He would have done any thing to retrieve a Roman author, and would have given any price for so much as a single fragment (not yet discovered) of the learned commentaries, written by Agrippina, mother to Nero, touching the fortunes of her house, which are (as I much fear) now utterly lost, excepting the fragment or two cited out of them by Pliny the elder and Cornelius Tacitus; as he would also have stuck at no price for a grammar _printed at Tavistock_, commonly called =The long Grammar=. When he went abroad he was never idle, but if he could not meet with things of a better character, he would divert himself with looking over _Ballads_, and he was always mightily pleased if he met with any that were old. Anthony a Wood made good collections, with respect to ballads, but he was far outdone by Mr. Bagford. Our modern ballads are, for the most part, romantic; but the old ones contain matters of fact, and were generally written by good scholars. In these old ones were couched the transactions of our great heroes: they were a sort of Chronicles. So that the wise founder of New College permitted them to be sung, by the fellows of that college, upon extraordinary days. In those times, the poets thought they had done their duty when they had observed truth, and put the accounts they undertook to write, into rhythm, without extravagantly indulging their fancies. Nobody knew this better than Mr. Bagford; for which reason he always seemed almost ravished when he happened to light upon old rhythms, though they might not, perhaps, be so properly ranged under the title of ballads," &c., pp. 656-663. Being unable to furnish a portrait of Bagford (although I took some little trouble to procure one) I hope the reader--if his patience be not quite exhausted--will endeavour to console himself, in lieu thereof, with a specimen of Bagford's epistolary composition; which I have faithfully copied from the original among the _Sloanian MSS._, no. 4036, in the British Museum. It is written to Sir Hans Sloane.

_From my Lodgings_, July 24, 1704.

WORTHY SIR,

Since you honoured me with your good company for seeing printing and card-making, I thought it my duty to explain myself to you per letter on this subject. Till you had seen the whole process of card-making, I thought I could not so well represent it unto you by writing--for this I take to be the first manner of printing. In this short discouse [Transcriber's Note: discourse] I have explained myself when I design to treat of it in the famous subject of the Art of Printing. It hath been the labour of several years past, and if now I shall have assistance to midwife it into the world, I shall be well satisfied for the sake of the curious. For these 10 years past I have spared no cost in collecting books on this subject, and likewise drafts of the effigies of our famous printers, with other designs that will be needful on this subject. If this short account of the design of the whole shall give you any satisfaction, I shall esteem my pains well bestowed. Hitherto, I have met with no encouragement but from three reverend gentlemen of Bennet College in Cambridge, who generously, of their own accord, gave me 10 pound each, which is all I ever received of any person whatsoever. It may indeed be imputed to my own neglect, in not acquainting the learned with my design, but modesty still keeps me silent. I hope your goodness will pardon my impertinence. I shall be ready at all times to give you any satisfaction you desire on this subject, who am,

Honoured Sir,

Your most humble Servant to command,

JO. BAGFORD.

_For the Worthy Sir Hans Slone_ [Transcriber's Note: Sloane].

And now it only remains to close the whole of this BAGFORDIANA by the following unique communication. One of Bagford's friends sent him this letter with the subjoined device:--"_For my Lovinge friend Mr. Jno. Bagford._--You having shewed me so many rebuses, as I was returning home, I thought of one for you--a bagge, and below that, a fourd or passable water." (_Harl. MS._, no. 5910.)

I wish it were in my power to collect information, equally acceptable with the foregoing, respecting the above-named JOHN MURRAY; but Hearne, who was his intimate friend, has been very sparing in his anecdotes of him, having left us but a few desultory notices, written chiefly in the Latin language. The earliest mention of him that I find is the following: "Verum illud praecipue mentionem meretur, quod mutuo accepi, schedula una et altera jam excusa, a JOANNE MURARIO Londinensi, rei antiquariae perscrutatore diligenti, cui eo nomine gratias ago." "Denique subdidi descriptionem fenestrarum depictarum ecclesiae parochialis de Fairford in agro Glocestriensi, e schedula quam mutuo sumpsi ab amico supra laudato Johanne Murrario, qui per literas etiam certiorem me fecit e codice quodam vetusto MS. fuisse extractum. Neque dubito quin hic idem fuerit Codex quem olim in ecclesia de Fairford adservatum surripuisse nebulonem quempiam mihi significavit ecclesiae aedituus, vir simplex, necnon aetate et scientia venerandus." Praef: p. XXII. _Guil. Roperi Vita Thomae Mori_, 1716, 8vo., edit. Hearne. There is another slight mention of Murray, by Hearne, in the latter's edition of _Thom. Caii. Vindic. Antiq. Acad. Oxon_, vol. ii., 803-4--where he discourses largely upon the former's copy of _Rastel's Pastyme of People_: a book which will be noticed by me very fully on a future occasion. At present, it may suffice to observe that a perfect copy of it is probably the rarest English book in existence. There is a curious copper plate print of Murray, by Vertue, in which our bibliomaniac's right arm is resting upon some books entitled "_Hearne's Works, Sessions Papers, Tryals of Witches_." Beneath is this inscription:

_Hoh Maister John Murray of Sacomb, The Works of old Time to collect was his pride, Till Oblivion dreaded his Care: Regardless of Friends, intestate he dy'd, So the Rooks and the Crows were his Heir._

G.N.

Of the above-mentioned THOMAS BRITTON, I am enabled to present a very curious and interesting account, from a work published by Hearne, of no very ordinary occurrence, and in the very words of Hearne himself. It is quite an unique picture. "Before I dismiss this subject, I must beg leave to mention, and to give a short account of, one that was intimately acquainted with Mr. Bagford, and was also a great man, though of but ordinary education. The person I mean is Mr. THOS. BRITTON, the famous _Musical Small Coal Man_, who was born at or near Higham Ferrers in Northamptonshire. Thence he went to London, where he bound himself apprentice to a small coal man in St. John Baptist's Street. After he had served his full time of seven years, his master gave him a sum of money not to set up. Upon this, Tom went into Northamptonshire again, and after he had spent his money, he returned again to London, set up the _small coal trade_ (notwithstanding his master was still living) and withall, he took a stable, and turned it into a house, which stood the next door to the little gate of St. John's of Jerusalem, next Clerkenwell Green. Some time after he had settled here, he became acquainted with Dr. Garenciers, his near neighbour, by which means he became an excellent chymist, and perhaps, he performed such things in that profession, as had never been done before, with little cost and charge, by the help of a moving elaboratory, that was contrived and built by himself, which was much admired by all of that faculty that happened to see it; insomuch that a certain gentleman in Wales was so much taken with it that he was at the expense of carrying him down into that country, on purpose to build him such another, which Tom performed to the gentleman's very great satisfaction, and for the same he received of him a very handsome and generous gratuity. Besides his great skill in chymistry, he was as famous for his knowledge in the _Theory of Music_; in the practical part of which Faculty he was likewise very considerable. He was so much addicted to it that he pricked with his own hand (very neatly and accurately), and left behind him, a valuable collection of music, mostly pricked by himself, which was sold upon his death for near a hundred pounds. Not to mention the excellent collection of PRINTED BOOKS, that he also left behind him, both of chemistry and music. Besides these books that he left behind him, he had, some years before his death, sold by auction a _noble collection of books_, most of them in the _Rosacrucian Faculty_ (of which he was a great admirer): whereof there is a printed catalogue extant (as there is of those that were sold after his death), which I have often looked over with no small surprize and wonder, and particularly for the great number of MSS. in the before mentioned faculties that are specified in it. He had, moreover, a considerable collection of musical instruments, which were sold for fourscore pounds upon his death, which happened in September 1714, being upwards of threescore years of age; and (he) lyes buried in the church-yard of Clerkenwell, without monument or inscription: being attended to his grave, in a very solemn and decent manner, by a great concourse of people, especially of such as frequented the Musical club, that was kept up for many years at his own charges (he being a man of a very generous and liberal spirit) at his own little cell. He appears by the print of him (done since his death) to have been a man of an ingenuous countenance and of a sprightly temper. It also represents him as a comely person, as indeed he was; and withal, there is a modesty expressed in it every way agreeable to him. Under it are these verses, which may serve instead of an epitaph:

Tho' mean thy rank, yet in thy humble cell Did gentle peace and arts unpurchas'd dwell; Well pleas'd Apollo thither led his train, And music warbled in her sweetest strain. Cyllenius, so, as fables tell, and Jove, Came willing guests to poor PHILEMON'S grove. Let useless pomp behold, and blush to find So low a station, such a liberal mind.

In short, he was an extraordinary and very valuable man, much admired by the gentry; even those of the best quality, and by all others of the more inferior rank, that had any manner of regard for probity, sagacity, diligence, and humility. I say humility, because, though he was so much famed for his knowledge, and might, therefore, have lived very reputably without his trade, yet he continued it to his death, not thinking it to be at all beneath him. Mr. BAGFORD and he used frequently to converse together, and when they met _they seldom parted very soon_. Their conversation was very often about OLD MSS. and the havock made of them. They both agreed to retrieve what fragments of antiquity they could, and, upon that occasion, they would frequently divert themselves in talking of OLD CHRONICLES, which both loved to read, though, among our more late Chronicles printed in English, Isaackson's was what they chiefly preferred for a general knowledge of things; a book which was much esteemed also by those two eminent Chronologers, Bishop Lloyd and Mr. Dodwell. By the way, I cannot but observe that Isaackson's Chronicle is really, for the most part, Bishop Andrews's; Isaackson being amanuensis to the bishop." _Hemingi Chartular. Eccles. Wigornien._, vol. ii., 666-9, Edit. Hearne. See also, _Robert of Glocester's Chronicle_, vol. i., p. LXXII. We will close our account of this perfectly _unique_ bibliomaniac by subjoining the title of the _Catalogue of his Books_; for which I am indebted to the ever-active and friendly assistance of Mr. Heber. The volume is so rare that the late Mr. Reed told Mr. H. he had never seen another copy: but another has recently been sold, and is now in the curious collection of Mr. R. Baker. "The Library of Mr. THOMAS BRITTON, Small-coal man, Deceas'd: who, at his own charge, kept up a Concort of Musick above 40 years, in his little Cottage. Being a curious Collection of every Ancient and Uncommon book in Divinity, History, Physick, Chemistry, Magick, &c. Also a Collection of MSS. chiefly on vellum. _Which will be sold by auction at Paul's Coffee House, &c., the 24th day of January, 1714-15, at Five in the Evening._ By Thomas Ballard, Esq., 8vo., p. 30. Containing 102 articles in folio--274 in 4to.--664 in octavo--50 pamphlets--and 23 MSS." A few of the works, in octavo, were sufficiently amatory. The third and last character above mentioned, as making this illustrious bibliomaniacal triumvirate complete, is THOMAS HEARNE. That Pope, in the verses which Lysander has quoted, meant this distinguished antiquary seems hardly to be questioned; and one wonders at the Jesuitical note of Warburton, in striving to blow the fumes of the poet's satire into a different direction. They must settle upon poor Hearne's head: for WANLEY'S antiquarian talents were equally beyond the touch of satire and the criticism of the satirist. Warton has, accordingly, admitted that HEARNE was represented under the character of WORMIUS; and he defends the character of Hearne very justly against the censures of Pope. His eulogy will be presently submitted to the reader. Gibbon, in his _Posthumous Works_, vol. ii., 711, has aimed a deadly blow at the literary reputation of Hearne; and an admirer of this critic and historian, as well as an excellent judge of antiquarian pursuits, has followed up Gibbon's mode of attack in a yet more merciless manner. He calls him "Thomas Hearne, of black-letter memory, _carbone notandus_"--"a weaker man (says he) never existed, as his prefaces, so called, lamentably show." He continues in this hard-hearted strain: but I have too much humanity to make further extracts. He admits, however, the utility of most of Hearne's publications--"of which he was forced to publish a few copies, at an extravagant subscription." The remarks of this (anonymous) writer, upon the neglect of the cultivation of ENGLISH HISTORY, and upon the want of valuable editions of OUR OLD HISTORIANS, are but too just, and cannot be too attentively perused. See _Gentleman's Magazine_, vol. 58, pt. 1, 196-8 (A.D. 1788). Thus far in deterioration of poor Hearne's literary fame. Let us now listen to writers of a more courteous strain of observation. Prefixed to Tanner's _Bibliotheca Britannico-Hibernica_, there is a preface, of which Dr. Wilkins is the reputed author. The whole of Hearne's publications are herein somewhat minutely criticised, and their merits and demerits slightly discussed. It is difficult to collect the critic's summary opinion upon Hearne's editorial labours; but he concludes thus: "Quia autem leporis est mortuis insultare leonibus, cineres celeberrimi hujus et olim mihi amicissimi viri turbare, neutiquam in animum inducere possum," p. xlvii. Mr. Gough, in his _British Topography_, vol. ii., p. 579, calls Hearne an "acute observer;" but, unluckily, the subject to which the reader's attention is here directed discovers our antiquary to have been in error. J. Warton, in the passage before alluded to, observes: "In consideration of the many very accurate and very elegant editions which Hearne published of our valuable old chronicles, which shed such a light on English history, he (Hearne) ought not to have been so severely lashed as in these bitter lines," (quoted in the text, p. 327, ante) _Pope's Works_, edit. Bowles; vol. v., 232. Let the reader consult also Dr. Pegge's _Anonymiana_, in the passages referred to, in the truly valuable index attached to it, concerning Hearne. Thus much, I submit, may be fairly said of our antiquary's labours. That the greater part of them are truly useful, and absolutely necessary for a philological library, must on all sides be admitted. I will mention only the _Chronicles of Langtoft and Robert of Gloucester_; _Adam de Domerham, de rebus Glastoniensibus_; _Gulielmus Neubrigensis_; _Forduni Scotichronicon_; and all his volumes appertaining to _Regal Biography_:--these are, surely, publications of no mean importance. Hearne's prefaces and appendices are gossiping enough; sometimes, however, they repay the labour of perusal by curious and unlooked-for intelligence. Yet it must be allowed that no literary cook ever enriched his dishes with such little piquant sauce, as did Hearne: I speak only of their _intrinsic_ value, for they had a very respectable exterior--what Winstanley says of Ogilvey's publications being, applicable enough to Hearne's;--they were printed on "special good paper, and in a very good letter." We will now say a few words relative to Hearne's habits of study and living--taken from his own testimony. In the preface prefixed to _Roper's Life of Sir Thomas More_, p. xix. (edit. 1716), he describes himself "as leading the life of an ascetic." In the preface to the _Annals of Dunstable Priory_, his bibliographical diligence is evinced by his saying he had "turned over every volume in the Bodleian Library." In one of his prefaces (to which I am not able just now to refer) he declares that he was born--like our British tars--"for action:" and indeed his activity was sufficiently demonstrated; for sometimes he would set about transcribing for the press papers which had just been put into his hands. Thus, in the _Antiquities of Glastonbury_, p. 326, he writes, "the two following old evidences were lent me _to-day_ by my friend the Hon. Benedict Leonard Calvert, Esq." His excessive regard to fidelity of transcription is, among many other evidences that may be brought forward, attested in the following passage: "Have taken particular care (saith Mr. Harcourt, in his letter to me from Aukenvyke, Sep. 25, 1734) in the copying; well knowing your exactness." _Benedict Abbas_, vol ii., 870. But this servility of transcription was frequently the cause of multiplying, by propagating, errors. If Hearne had seen the word "faith" thus disjointed--"fay the"--he would have adhered to this error, for "faythe." As indeed he has committed a similar one, in the _Battle of Agincourt_, in the appendix to Thomas de Elmham: for he writes "breth reneverichone"--instead of "brethren everichone"--as Mr. Evans has properly printed it, in his recent edition of his father's _Collection of Old Ballads_, vol. ii., 334. But this may be thought trifling. It is certainly not here meant to justify capriciousness of copying; but surely an obvious corruption of reading may be restored to its genuine state: unless, indeed, we are resolved to consider antiquity and perfection as synonymous terms. But there are some traits in Hearne's character which must make us forgive and forget this blind adherence to the errors of antiquity. He was so warm a lover of every thing in the shape of a BOOK that, in the preface to _Alured of Beverley_, pp. v. vi., he says that he jumped almost out of his skin for joy, on reading a certain MS. which Thomas Rawlinson sent to him ("vix credi potest qua voluptate, qua animi alacritate, perlegerim," &c.). Similar feelings possessed him on a like occasion: "When the pious author (of the _Antiquities of Glastonbury_) first put it (the MS.) into my hands, I read it over with as much delight as I have done anything whatsoever upon the subject of antiquity, and I was earnest with him to print it," p. lxxviii. Hearne's horror of book-devastations is expressed upon a variety of occasions: and what will reconcile him to a great portion of _modern_ readers--and especially of those who condescend to read this account of him--his attachment to the black-letter was marvelously enthusiastic! Witness his pathetic appeal to the English nation, in the 26th section of his preface to _Robert of Gloucester's Chronicle_, where he almost predicts the extinction of "right good" literature, on the disappearance of the _black-letter_! And here let us draw towards the close of these HEARNEANA, by contemplating a wood-cut portrait of this illustrious Bibliomaniac; concerning whose life and works the reader should peruse the well-known volumes published at Oxford in 1772, 8vo.: containing the biographical memoirs of Leland, Bale, Hearne, and Wood.

The library of Hearne was sold in February, 1736, by Osborne the book-seller; "the lowest price being marked in each book." The title-page informs us of what all bibliomaniacs will be disposed to admit the truth, that the collection contained "a very great variety of uncommon books, and scarce ever to be met withal," &c. There is, at bottom, a small wretched portrait of Hearne, with this well known couplet subjoined:

Pox on't quoth _Time_ to _Thomas Hearne_, Whatever I _forget_ you learn.

Let the modern collector of Chronicles turn his eye towards the 15th page of this catalogue--nos. 384, 390--and see what "compleat and very fair" copies of these treasures were incorporated in Hearne's extensive library!]

A little volume of book chit-chat might be written upon the marvellous discovesies [Transcriber's Note: discoveries] and voluminous compilations of Bagford and Hearne: and to these, we may add another _unique_ bibliomaniac, who will go down to posterity under the distinguished, and truly enviable, title of "_The Musical Small-Coal Man_;" I mean, master THOMAS BRITTON. Yes, Lisardo; while we give to the foregoing characters their full share of merit and praise; we admit that Bagford's personal activity and manual labour have hardly been equalled--while we allow John Murray to have looked with sharper eyes after black-letter volumes than almost any of his predecessors or successors--while we grant Thomas Hearne a considerable portion of scholarship, an inflexible integrity, as well as indefatigable industry, and that his works are generally interesting, both from the artless style in which they are composed, and the intrinstic utility of the greater part of them, yet let our admiration be [Transcriber's Note: superfluous 'be'] "be screwed to its sticking place," when we think upon the wonderous genius of the aforesaid Thomas Britton; who, in the midst of his coal cellars, could practise upon "fiddle and flute," or collate his curious volumes; and throwing away, with the agility of a harlequin, his sombre suit of business-cloths, could put on his velvet coat and bag-wig, and receive his concert visitors, at the stair-head, with the politeness of a Lord of the Bedchamber!

LOREN. In truth, a marvellous hero was this _Small-Coal Man_! Have you many such characters to notice?

LYSAND. Not many of exactly the same stamp. Indeed, I suspect that Hearne, from his love of magnifying the simple into the marvellous, has a little caricatured the picture. But Murray seems to have been a quiet unaffected character; passionately addicted to old books of whatever kind they chanced to be; and, in particular, most enthusiastically devoted to a certain old English Chronicle, entitled _Rastell's Pastime of (the) People_.

PHIL. I observed a notification of the re-appearance of this Chronicle in some of the Magazines or Reviews: but I hope, for the benefit of general readers, the orthography will be modernized.

LOREN. I hope, for the sake of consistency with former similar publications,[369] the ancient garb will not be thrown aside. It would be like--what Dr. Johnson accuses Pope of having committed--"clothing Homer with Ovidian graces."

[Footnote 369: The ANCIENT CHONICLES of the history of our country are in a progressive state of being creditably reprinted, with a strict adherence to the old phraseology. Of these Chronicles, the following have already made their appearance: HOLINSHED, 1807, 4to., 6 vols.; HALL, 1809, 4to.; GRAFTON, 1809, 4to., 2 vols.; FABIAN, 1811, 4to. This latter is not a mere reprint of the first edition of Fabian, but has, at the bottom, the various readings of the subsequent impressions. The index is copious and valuable. Indeed, all these re-impressions have good indexes. The public will hear, with pleasure, that ARNOLD, HARDING, and LORD BERNERS' translation of FROISSARD, and RASTELL, are about to bring up the rear of these popular Chroniclers.]

LYSAND. Much may be said on both sides of the question. But why are we about to make learned dissertations upon the old English Chronicles?

LIS. Proceed, and leave the old chroniclers to settle the matter themselves. Who is the next bibliomaniac deserving of particular commendation?

LYSAND. As we have sometimes classed our bibliomaniacs in tribes, let me now make you acquainted with another _Trio_, of like renown in the book-way: I mean Anstis, Lewis, and Ames. Of these in their turn.

ANSTIS[370] stands deservedly the first in the list; for he was, in every respect, a man of thorough benevolent character, as well as a writer of taste and research. I do not know of any particulars connected with his library that merit a distinct recital; but he is introduced here from his connection with the two latter bibliographers. LEWIS[371] is known to us, both as a topographer and bibliographical antiquary. His _Life of Caxton_ has been reprinted with additions and corrections; and, in particular, his edition of _Wicliffe's New Testament_ has been recently put forth by the Rev. Mr. Baber, in a handsome quarto volume, with valuable emendations. Lewis was a sharp censurer of Hearne, and was somewhat jealous of the typographical reputation of Ames. But his integrity and moral character, as well as his love of rare and curious books, has secured for him a durable reputation. Of AMES, and here--though a little out of order--I may add HERBERT--the public has already heard probably "more than enough." They were both, undoubtedly, men of extraordinary mental vigour and bodily activity in the darling pursuit which they cultivated.[372] Indeed, Herbert deserves high commendation; for while he was rearing, with his own hands, a lofty pyramid of typographical fame, he seems to have been unconscious of his merits; and, possessing the most natural and diffident character imaginable, he was always conjuring up supposed cases of vanity and arrogance, which had no foundation whatever but in the reveries of a timid imagination. His _Typographical Antiquities_ are a mass of useful, but occasionally uninteresting, information. They are as a vast plain, wherein the traveller sees nothing, immediately, which is beautiful or inviting; few roses, or cowslips, or daisies; but let him persevere, and walk only a little way onward, and he will find, in many a shelter'd recess, "flowers of all hue," and herbs of all qualities: so that fragrance and salubrity are not wanting in this said plain, which has been thus depicted in a style so marvellously metaphorical!

[Footnote 370: The reader will be pleased to consult the account of Earl Pembroke, p. 325, ante, where he will find a few traits of the bibliomaniacal character of ANSTIS. He is here informed, from the same authority, that when Anstis "acquainted BAGFORD that he would find in Rymer a commission granted to Caxton, appointing him ambassador to the Duchess of Burgundy, he (Bagford) was transported with joy." Of HEARNE he thus speaks: "I am ashamed that Mr. Hearne hath made so many mistakes about the translation of _Boetius, printed at Tavistock_; which book I had, and gave it to the Duke of Bedford." But in another letter (to Lewis) Anstis says, "I lent this book to one Mr. Ryder, who used me scurvily, by presenting it, without my knowledge, to the Duke of Bedford." There are some curious particulars in this letter about the abbey of Tavistock. Anstis's _Order of the Garter_ is a valuable book; and will one day, I prognosticate, retrieve the indifferent credit it now receives in the book-market. The author loved rare and curious volumes dearly; and was, moreover, both liberal and prompt in his communications. The reader will draw his own conclusions on Anstis's comparative merit with Lewis and Ames, when he reaches the end of the second note after the present one.]

[Footnote 371: Concerning the Rev. JOHN LEWIS, I am enabled to lay before the reader some particulars now published for the first time, and of a nature by no means uninteresting to the lovers of literary anecdote. His printed works, and his bibliographical character, together with his conduct towards Ames, have been already sufficiently described to the public: _Typographical Antiquities_, vol. i., 30-3. And first, the aforesaid reader and lovers may peruse the following extract from an original letter by Lewis to Ames: "I have no other design, in being so free with you, than to serve you, by doing all I can to promote your credit and reputation. I take it, that good sense and judgment, attended with care and accuracy in making and sorting a collection, suits every one's palate: and that they must have none at all who are delighted with trifles and play things fit only for fools and children: such, for the most part, as THOMAS HEARNE dished out for his chaps, among whom I was so silly as to rank myself." Again, to the same person, he thus makes mention of LORD OXFORD and Hearne: "I can truly say I never took ill any thing which you have written to me: but heartily wish you well to succeed in the execution of your projects. I han't sense to see, by the death of Lord Oxford, how much more you are likely to make your account better. But time will shew. I don't understand what you mean by his having a love to surprize people with his vast communications. Dr. R(awlinson, qu.?) tells me he knew nobody who had so free a use of his Lordship's rarities as T. Hearne, a sure proof of the exactness and solidity of his Lordship's judgment. But Hearne answered, perhaps, his Lordship's design of making the world have a very great opinion of his collections, and setting an inestimable value on them. And this Hearne attempted; but his daubing is, I think, too coarse, and the smoke of his incense troublesome and suffocating." But it is to the loan of a copy of Lewis's folio edition of the _History of the Translations of the Bible_, belonging to my friend Mr. G.V. Neunburg, that I am indebted for the following further, and more interesting, particulars. This valuable copy, illustrated with some rare prints, and charged with numerous MS. memoranda, contains some original letters to Lewis by the famous Dr. White Kennet, Bishop of Peterborough: from which these extracts are taken. "Jan. 23, 1720-1. Dear Sir; I thank you for your kind acceptance of the advice to my clergy: well meant, I pray God well applied. I have wisht long to see your _Life of Wiclif_, and shall now impatiently expect it. I am not surprised that a man of dignity, near you, should be jealous of publishing an impartial account of that good old evangelical author, &c. I have a mighty veneration for Wicliff, and am the more angry with Mr. Russell for deceiving the world in his promise of the Bible, after proposals given and money taken. But he has in other respects behaved so very basely that, forgiving him, I have done with him for ever. I would not have you discouraged, by an ungrateful world, or by a sharp bookseller. Go on, and serve truth and peace what you can, and God prosper your labours." Signed "Wh. Peterbor." "Feb. 20, 1720-1. You perceive your own unhappiness in not being able to attend the press. I cannot but importune you to revise the whole, to throw the additions and corrections into their proper places, to desire all your friends and correspondents to suggest any amendments, or any new matter; in order to publish a new correct edition that will be a classic in our history, &c.--If the booksellers object against a second edition till the full disposal of the first, I hope we may buy them off with subscription for a new impression; wherein my name should stand for six copies, and better example I hope would be given by more able friends. I pray God bless your labours and reward them." Several letters follow, in which this amiable prelate and learned antiquary sends Lewis a good deal of valuable information for his proposed second edition of the Life of Wicliffe; but which was never put to press. One more extract only from the Bishop of Peterborough, and we bid farewell to the Rev. John Lewis: a very respectable bibliomaniac. "Rev. Sir; In respect to you and your good services to the church and our holy religion, I think fit to acquaint you that, in the _Weekly Journal_, published this day, Oct. 28 (1721), by _Mr. Mist_, there is a scandalous advertisement subscribed M. Earbury, beginning thus: 'Whereas a pretended _Vindication of John Wickliffe_ has been published under the name of one Lewis of Margate, by the incitement, as the preface asserts, of the Archbishop of Canterbury, and in the same I am injuriously reflected upon as a scurrilous writer, this is to inform the public that I shall reserve the author for a more serious whipping in my leisure hours, and in the meantime give him a short correction for his benefit, if he has grace and sense to take it'--and ending thus--'Why does this author persuade the world the late Archbishop of Canterbury could have any veneration for the memory of one who asserts God ought to obey the devil; or that he could be desirous to open the impure fountains from whence the filth of Bangorianism has been conveyed to us? M. EARBURY." "I confess (proceeds the bishop) I don't know that, in the worst of causes, there has appeared a more ignorant, insolent, and abandoned writer than this Matth. Earbury. Whether you are to answer, or not to answer, the F. according to his folly, I must leave to your discretion. Yet I cannot but wish you would revise the Life of Wickliffe; and, in the preface, justly complain of the spiteful injuries done to his memory, and, through his sides, to our Reformation. I have somewhat to say to you on that head, if you think to resume it. I am, in the mean time, your affectionate friend and brother, WH. PETESBOR."]

[Footnote 372: It is unnecessary for me to add any thing here to the copious details respecting these eminent bibliomaniacs, AMES and HERBERT, which have already been presented to the public in the first volume of the new edition of the _Typographical Antiquities_ of our own country. See also p. 66, ante; and the note respecting the late GEORGE STEEVENS, post.]

By mentioning Herbert in the present place, I have a little inverted the order of my narrative. A crowd of distinguished bibliomaniacs, in fancy's eye, is thronging around me, and demanding a satisfactory memorial of their deeds.

LOREN. Be not dismayed, Lysander. If any one, in particular, looks "frowningly" upon you, leave him to me, and he shall have ample satisfaction.

LYSAND. I wish, indeed, you would rid me of a few of these book-madmen. For, look yonder, what a commanding attitude THOMAS BAKER[373] assumes!

[Footnote 373: THOMAS BAKER was a learned antiquary in most things respecting _Typography_ and _Bibliography_; and seems to have had considerable influence with that distinguished corps, composed of Hearne, Bagford, Middleton, Anstis, and Ames, &c. His life has been written by the Rev. Robert Masters, Camb., 1784, 8vo.; and from the "Catalogue of forty-two folio volumes of MS. collections by Mr. Baker"--given to the library of St. John's College, Cambridge--which the biographer has printed at the end of the volume--there is surely sufficient evidence to warrant us in concluding that the above-mentioned Thomas Baker was no ordinary bibliomaniac. To Hearne in particular (and indeed to almost every respectable author who applied to him) he was kind and communicative; hence he is frequently named by the former in terms of the most respectful admiration: thus--"Vir amicissimus, educatus optime, emendatus vita, doctrina clarus, moribus singularis et perjucundus, exemplum antiquitatis, cujus judicio plurimum esse tribuendum mecum fatebuntur litterati:" _Vita Mori_, p. XVIII. In his preface to the _Antiquities of Glastonbury_, p. CXXX., Hearne calls him "that great man;" and again, in his _Walter Hemingford_, vol. i., p. XVII.--"amicus eruditissimus, mihi summe colendus; is nempe, qui e scriniis suis MSS. tam multa meam in gratiam deprompsit." Indeed, Hearne had good occasion to speak well of the treasures of Baker's "_scrinia_;" as the Appendix to his _Thomas de Elmham_ alone testifies. Of Baker's abilities and private worth, we have the testimonies of Middleton (_Origin of Printing_, p. 5) and Warburton. The latter thus mentions him: "Good old Mr. Baker, of St John's College, has indeed, been very obliging. The people of St. John's almost adore the man." _Masters's Life of Baker_, p. 94. This authority also informs us that "Mr. Baker had, for many years before his death, been almost a recluse, and seldom went farther than the college walks, unless to a coffee-house in an evening, after chapel, where he commonly spent an hour with great chearfulness, conversing with a select number of his friends and acquaintance upon literary subjects," p. 108. Every thing the most amiable, and, I had almost said, enviable, is here said of the virtues of his head and heart; and that this venerable bibliomaniac should have reached his 80th year is at least a demonstration that tarrying amongst folios and octavos, from morn till night (which Baker used to do, in St. John's Library, for nearly 20 years together), does not unstring the nerves, or dry up the juices, of the human frame. Yet a little further extension of this note, gentle reader, and then we bid adieu to Thomas Baker, of ever respectable book-memory. Among the MSS., once the property of Herbert, which I purchased at the late sale of Mr. Gough's MSS., I obtained a volume full of extracts from original letters between Baker and Ames; containing also the _Will_ of the former, which is not inserted in Master's Life of him, nor in the _Biographia Britannica_. The original documents are in his Majesty's library, and were bought at the sale of Mr. Tutet's books, A.D. 1786; no. 375. From this will, as Herbert has copied it, the reader is presented with the following strong proofs of the bibliomaniacal "ruling passion, strong in death," of our illustrious antiquary. But let us not omit the manly tone of piety with which this Will commences. "In the name of God, Amen! I, THOMAS BAKER, ejected Fellow of St. John's college, Cambridge, do make my last will and testament, as follows: First, I commend my soul into the hands of Almighty God (my most gracious and good God), my faithful Creator and merciful Redeemer, and, in all my dangers and difficulties, a most constant protector. Blessed for ever be his holy name." "As to the temporal goods which it hath pleased the same good God to bestow upon me (such as all men ought to be content with) and are, I bless God, neither poverty nor riches--I dispose of them in the following manner." Here follow a few of his book bequests, which may be worth the attention of those whose pursuits lead them to a particular examination of these authors. "Whereas I have made a deed of gift or sale for one guinea, of 21 volumes in folio, of my own hand-writing, to the Right Honourable EDWARD EARL OF OXFORD, I confirm and ratify that gift by this my last will. And I beg his lordship's acceptance of 'em, being sensible that they are of little use or value, with two other volumes in fol., markt Vol. 19, 20, since convey'd to him in like manner. To my dear cosin, George Baker, of Crook, Esq., I leave the _Life of Cardinal Wolsey_, noted with my own hand, _Lord Clarendon's History_, with cuts and prints; and _Winwood's Memorials_, in three volumes, fol., with a five pound (Jacobus) piece of gold, only as a mark of respect and affection, since he does not want it. To my worthy kinsman and Friend Mr. George Smith, I leave _Godwin de Praesulibus Angliae_, and _Warraeus de Praesulibus Hibernia_, both noted with my own hand. To St. John's College Library I leave all such books, printed or MSS., as I have and are wanting there: excepting that I leave in trust to my worthy friend, Dr. Middleton, for the University Library, _Archbishop Wake's State of the Church_, noted and improved under his own hand; _Bp. Burnet's History of the Reformation_, in three volumes, noted in my hand; and _Bp. Kennett's Register and Chronicle_ (for the memory of which three great prelates, my honoured friends, I must always have due regard). To these I add Mr. Ansty's, my worthy friend, _History of the Garter_, in two vols., fol. _Wood's Athenae Oxon._; and _Maunsell's Catalogue_; both noted with my own hand--and _Gunton's and Patrick's History of The Church of Peterburgh_, noted (from Bishop Kennett) in my hand; with fifteen volumes (more or less) in fol., all in my own hand; and three volumes in 4to., part in my own hand." Let us conclude in a yet more exalted strain of christian piety than we began. "Lastly, I constitute and appoint my dear nephew, Richard Burton, Esq., my sole executor, to whom I leave every thing undisposed of, which I hope will be enough to reward his trouble. May God Almighty bless him, and give him all the engaging qualities of his father, all the vertues of his mother, and none of the sins or failings of his uncle, which God knows are great and many:--and humbly, O my God, I call for mercy! In testimony of this my will, I have hereunto set my hand and seal, this 15th day of October, 1739.

THO. BAKER.

And now, O my God, into thy hands I contentedly resign myself: whether it be to life or death, thy will be done! Long life I have not desired (and yet thou hast given it me). Give me, if it be thy good pleasure, an easy and happy death. Or if it shall please thee to visit me sorely, as my sins have deserved, give me patience to bear thy correction, and let me always say (even with my dying breath) Thy will be done, Amen, Amen." Subjoined was this curious memorandum: "At the making of this will, I have, in the corner of my outer study, next my chamber, 170 guineas; and on the other side of the study towards the river, 100 guineas, more or less, in several canvass bags, behind the shelves, being more secret and hidden, to prevent purloyning. One or more of the shelves markt G. among the latter is a five pound (Jacobus) piece of gold."]

LOREN. Never fear. He is an old acquaintance of mine; for, when resident at St. John's, Cambridge, I was frequently in the habit of conversing with his spirit in the library, and of getting curious information relating to choice and precious volumes, which had escaped the sagacity of his predecessors, and of which I fear his successors have not made the most proper use.

PHIL. This is drawing too severe a conclusion. But Baker merits the thanks of a book-loving posterity.

LYSAND. He is satisfied with this mention of his labours; for see, he retreats--and THEOBALD[374] and Tom Rawlinson rush forward to claim a more marked attention: although I am not much disposed to draw a highly finished picture of the editor of Shakespeare.

[Footnote 374: Notwithstanding Pope has called THEOBALD by an epithet which I have too much respect for the ears of my readers to repeat, I do not scruple to rank the latter in the list of bibliomaniacs. We have nothing here to do with his edition of Shakspeare; which, by the bye, was no despicable effort of editorial skill--as some of his notes, yet preserved in the recent editions of our bard, testify--but we may fairly allow Theobald to have been a lover of Caxtonian lore, as his curious extract in _Mist's Journal_, March 16, 1728, from our old printer's edition of Virgil's Aeneid, 1490, sufficiently testifies. While his gothic library, composed in part of "Caxton, Wynkyn, and De Lyra," proves that he had something of the genuine blood of bibliomaniacism running in his veins. See Mr. Bowles's edition of _Pope's Works_, vol. v., 114, 257.]

LIS. Is THOMAS RAWLINSON[375] so particularly deserving of commendation, as a bibliomaniac?

[Footnote 375: Let us, first of all, hear Hearne discourse rapturously of the bibliomaniacal reputation of T. Rawlinson: "In his fuit amicus noster nuperus THOMAS RAWLINSONUS; cujus peritiam in supellectile libraria, animique magnitudinem, nemo fere hominum eruditorum unquam attigit, quod tamen vix agnoscet seculum ingratum. Quanquam non desunt, qui putent, ipsius memoriae statuam deberi, idque etiam ad sumptus Bibliopolarum, quorum facultates mire auxerat; quorum tamen aliqui (utcunque de illis optime meritus fuisset) quum librorum Rawlinsoni auctio fieret, pro virili (clandestino tamen) laborabant, ut minus auspicato venderentur. Quod videntes probi aliquot, qui rem omuem noverant, clamitabant, o homines scelestos! hos jam oportet in cruciatum hinc abripi! Quod haec notem, non est cur vitio vertas. Nam nil pol falsi dixi, mi lector. Quo tempore vixit Rawlinsonus (et quidem perquam jucundum est commemorare), magna et laudabilis erat aemulatio inter viros eruditos, aliosque etiam, in libris perquirendis ac comparandis, imo in fragmentis quoque. Adeo ut domicilia, ubi venales id genus res pretiosae prostabant, hominum coetu frequenti semper complerentur, in magnum profecto commodum eorum, ad quos libri aliaeque res illae pertinebant; quippe quod emptores parvo aere nunquam, aut rarissime, compararent." _Walter Hemingford, praefat._, p. CIV. In his preface to _Alured de Beverly_, pp. v. vi., the copious stores of Rawlinson's library, and the prompt kindness of the possessor himself, are emphatically mentioned; while in the preface to _Titi Livii Foro-Juliensis Vit. Henrici V._, p. xi., we are told, of the former, that it was "plurimis libris rarissimis referta:" and, in truth, such a "Bibliotheca refertissima" was perhaps never before beheld. Rawlinson was introduced into the Tatler, under the name TOM FOLIO. His own house not being large enough, he hired _London House_, in Aldersgate Street, for the reception of his library; and there he used to regale himself with the sight and the scent of innumerable black letter volumes, arranged in "sable garb," and stowed perhaps "three deep," from the bottom to the top of his house. He died in 1725; and catalogues of his books for sale continued, for nine succeeding years, to meet the public eye. The following is, perhaps, as correct a list of these copious and heterogeneously compiled catalogues, as can be presented to the reader. I am indebted to the library of Mr. Heber for such a curious bibliographical morceau. I. _A Catalogue of choice and valuable Books in most Faculties and Languages; being part of the Collection made by Thomas Rawlinson, Esq._, which will begin to be sold by auction at Paul's Coffee House, the West-end of St. Paul's, 4th Dec., 1721, beginning every evening at 5, by Thomas Ballard, bookseller, at the Rising Sun, Little Britain. 12mo. Price 1s. 144 pages.----II. _A Catalogue_, &c., being the 2nd part of the Collection by T. Rawlinson, Esq., to be sold by auction at Paul's Coffee-House, 7th March, 1721-2, every evening at 5, by T. Ballard. 12mo. Price 1s., paged on from the last, pp. 145 to 288. [These two parts contain together 1438 8vo. lots; 1157 in 4to., 618 in folio.]----III. _A Catalogue_, &c., being the third part of the Collection by T. Rawlinson, Esq., to be sold by auction at Paul's Coffee-House, 17th Oct., 1722, every evening at 5, by T. Ballard. 12mo. Price 1s. (no paging or printer's letter.)----IV. _A Catalogue_, &c., being the 4th part of the Collection by T. Rawlinson, Esq., to be sold by auction at Paul's Coffee-House, 2nd April, 1723, every evening at 5, by T. Ballard, 12mo. Price 1s. (no paging or printer's letter.)----V. & VI. _A Catalogue_, &c., being the 5th part of the Collection by T. Rawlinson, Esq., to be sold by auction at Paul's Coffee-House, 20th Jan. 1723, every evening at 5, by T. Ballard. 12mo. Price 1s. Altho' this vol. seems to have been the last of only one sale--yet it may be collected, from the concurrent testimony of his notes in more copies than one--that it was divided and sold at two different times; the latter part commencing about the middle of the volume, with the _Libri Theologici_. In folio.--Test. Nov. 1588, being the first article. This collection began to be sold in Feb. 2. [1724?]--VII. _A Catalogue_, &c., being the 6th part of the Collection made by T. Rawlinson, Esq., _Deceased_, which will begin to be sold by auction at London-House, in Aldersgate Street, 2nd March, 1726, every evening at 5, by Charles Davis, bookseller. 12mo. Price 2_s._ 6_d._ (no paging--printer's mark at bottom irregularly continued from 1 to 35.)--VIII. _Bibliotheca Rawlinsoniana_, being a Cat. of part the Val. Libr. of Tho. Rawlinson, Esq., Deceased: which will begin to be sold by auction at the Bedford Coffee-House, in the great Piazza, Covent Garden, the 26th of this present April [1727] every evening at 5, by Charles Davis, bookseller. 8vo. Price 6_d._ (20 days' sale--2600 lots.)----IX. _Bibliothecae Rawlinsonianae, &c., Pars_ IX. being a Cat. of part of the Libr. of Th. Rawlinson, Esq., Deceased, to be sold by auction at St. Paul's Coffee-House, 16th Oct., 1727, every evening at 6, by T. Ballard. 8vo. Price 1_s._ (20 days' sale, 3200 lots.)----X. _Bibliothecae Rawlinsonianae, &c., Pars altera_, being a Cat. of part of Lib. of Th. Rawlinson, Esq., Deceased, to be sold by auction at St. Paul's Coffee-House, 22d Nov., 1727, every evening at 6, by Th. Ballard. 8vo. Price 1_s._ (22 days' sale, 3520 articles.)----XI. _Bibliothecae Rawlinsonianae, Pars altera_, being a Catalogue of part of the Library of T. Rawlinson, Esq., deceased, to be sold by auction at St. Paul's Coffee-House, 22d Jan. 1727-8, every evening, Saturdays excepted, at 6. 8vo. Price 1_s._ (22 days' sale, 3520 lots.)----XII. _Bibliothecae Rawlinsonianae, Pars altera_, being a Cat. of part of the Library of Th. Rawlinson, Esq., deceased, to be sold by auction at St. Paul's Coffee-House, 18th March, 1727-8, every evening at 5, by T. Ballard. Price 1_s._ (8vo. 24 days' sale, 3840 lots.)----XIII. _Bibliothecae Rawlinsonianae, Pars altera_, being a Cat. of part of the Library of Th. Rawlinson, Esq., deceased, to be sold by auction at St. Paul's Coffee-House, 21st April, 1729, every evening at 5, by T. Ballard. Price 1_s._ (8vo. 26 days' sale, 4161 lots.)----XIV. _Bibliothecae Rawlinsonianae, Pars altera_, being a Cat. of part of the Library of T. Rawlinson, Esq., deceased, to be sold by auction at St. Paul's Coffee-House, 24 Nov. 1729, every evening at 5, by T. Ballard. Price 1_s._ (8vo. 18 days' sale, 2700 lots.)----XV. _Bibliothecae Rawlinsonianae, Pars altera_, being a Cat. of part of the Library of T. Rawlinson, F.R.S., deceased, to be sold by auction 13th Nov., 1732, at St. Paul's Coffee-House, every evening at 5, by Tho. Ballard. Price 1_s._ (8vo. 26 days' sale, 3456 lots.)----XVI. _Codicum Manuscriptorum Bibliothecae Rawlinsonianae Catalogus--cum appendice Impressorum_--to be sold 4th March, 1733-4, at St. Paul's Coffee-House, every night at 6, by T. Ballard. Price 1_s._ (8vo., 16 days' sale, MSS. 1020 lots--appendix 800). To these may be added, _Picturae Rawlinsonianae_--being the collection of original paintings of T. Rawlinson, Esq., F.R.S., by the best masters--part of which were formerly the Earl of Craven's Collection. To be sold by auction, at the Two Golden Balls, in Hart Street, Covent Garden, 4th April, 1734, at 11. 8vo. (117 lots.) Now let any man, in his sober senses, imagine what must have been the number of volumes contained in the library of the above-named THOMAS RAWLINSON? Does he imagine that the tomes in the Bodleian, Vatican, and British Museum were, in each single collection, more numerous than those in the _Aldersgate Street_ repository?--Or, at any rate, would not a view of this Aldersgate Street collection give him the completest idea of the _ne plus ultra_ of BOOK-PHRENSY in a private collector? Rawlinson would have cut a very splendid figure, indeed, with posterity, if some judicious catalogue-maker, the Paterson of former times, had consolidated all these straggling _Bibliothecal_ corps into one compact wedge-like phalanx. Or, in other words, if one thick octavo volume, containing a tolerably well classed arrangement of his library, had descended to us--oh, then we should all have been better able to appreciate the extraordinary treasures of SUCH A COLLECTION! The genius of Pearson and Crofts would have done homage to the towering spirit of Rawlinson.]

LYSAND. If the most unabating activity and an insatiable appetite--if an eye, in regard to books, keen and sparkling as the ocean-bathed star--if a purse, heavily laden and inexhaustible--if store-rooms rivalled only by the present warehouses of the East-India Company--if a disposition to spread far and wide the influence of the BIBLIOMANIA, by issuing a _carte blanche_ for every desperately smitten antiquary to enter, and partake of the benefits of, his library--be criteria of BOOK-PHRENSY--why then the resemblance of this said Tom Rawlinson ought to form a principal ornament in the capital of that gigantic column, which sustains the temple of BOOK FAME! He was the _Tom Folio_ of the Tatler, and may be called the _Leviathan_ of book-collectors during nearly the first thirty years of the eighteenth century.

LIS. I suppose, then, that Bagford, Murray, and Hearne, were not unknown to this towering bibliomaniac?

LYSAND. On the contrary, I conclude, for certain, that, if they did not drink wine, they constantly drank coffee, together: one of the huge folio volumes of Bleau's Atlas serving them for a table.

But see yonder the rough rude features of HUMPHREY WANLEY[376] peering above the crowd! All hail to thy honest physiognomy--for thou wert a rare _Book-wight_ in thy way! and as long as the fame of thy patron Harley shall live, so long, honest Humphrey, dost thou stand a sure chance of living "for aye," in the memory of all worthy bibliomaniacs.

[Footnote 376: Lysander is well warranted in borrowing the pencil of Jan Steen, in the above bold and striking portrait of WANLEY: who was, I believe, as honest a man, and as learned a librarian, as ever sat down to morning chocolate in velvet slippers. There is a portrait of him in oil in the British Museum, and another similar one in the Bodleian Library--from which latter it is evident, on the slightest observation, that the inestimable, I ought to say immortal, founder of the _Cow Pox system_ (my ever respected and sincere friend, Dr. JENNER) had not then made known the blessings resulting from the vaccine operation: for poor Wanley's face is absolutely _peppered_ with _variolous_ indentations! Yet he seems to have been a hale and hearty man, in spite of the merciless inroads made upon his visage; for his cheeks are full, his hair is cropt and curly, and his shoulders have a breadth which shew that the unrolling of the HARLEIAN MSS. did not produce any enervating effluvia or mismata [Transcriber's Note: miasmata]. Our poet, Gay, in his epistle to Pope, _ep._ 18, thus hits off his countenance:

O WANLEY, whence com'st thou with _shorten'd hair_, And _visage_, from thy shelves, _with_ dust besprent?

But let us hear the testimony of a friend and fellow bibliomaniac, called Thomas Hearne. The following desultory information is translated from the preface to the _Annales Prioratus de Dunstable_--wherein, by the bye, there is a good deal of pleasant information relating to Wanley. We are here told that Wanley was "born at Coventry; and, in his younger days, employed his leisure hours in turning over ancient MSS., and imitating the several hands in which they were written. Lloyd, Bishop of Litchfield and Coventry, in one of his episcopal visitations, was the first who noticed and patronized him. He demanded that Wanley should be brought to him; he examined him "suis ipsius, non alterius, oculis;" and ascertained whether what so many respectable people had said of his talents was true or false--'A few words with you, young man,' said the Bishop. Wanley approached with timidity--'What are your pursuits, and where are the ancient MSS. which you have in your possession?' Wanley answered readily; exhibited his MSS., and entered into a minute discussion respecting the ancient method of painting." Hearne then expatiates feelingly upon the excessive care and attention which Wanley devoted to ancient MSS.; how many pieces of vellum he unrolled; and how, sometimes, in the midst of very urgent business, he would lose no opportunity of cultivating what was useful and agreeable in his particular pursuit. His hobby horse seems to have been the discovery of the ancient method of colouring or painting--yet towards BRITISH HISTORY and ANTIQUITIES he constantly cast a fond and faithful eye. How admirably well-calculated he was for filling the situation of librarian to Lord Oxford is abundantly evinced by his catalogue of the Harleian MSS.; vide p. 89, ante. Of his attachment to the Bibliomania there are innumerable proofs. Take this, _inter alia_; "I spoke to Mr. Wanley, who is not unmindful of his promise, but says he will not trouble you with a letter, till he has something better to present you, which he doubts not he shall have this winter _among Mr. Harley's MSS._ Mr. Wanley has the greatest collection of _English Bibles, Psalters, &c._, that ever any one man had. They cost him above 50_l._, and he has been above twenty years in collecting them. He would part with them, I believe, but I know not at what price." _Masters's Life of Baker_, p. 27. Consult also the preface to the _Catalogue of the Harleian MSS._, 1808, 3 vols., folio, p. 6.]

A softer noise succeeds; and the group becomes calm and attentive, as if some grand personage were advancing. See, 'tis HARLEY, EARL OF OXFORD![377]

[Footnote 377: There was an amusing little volume, printed in 1782, 8vo., concerning the library of the late King of France; and an equally interesting one might have been composed concerning the HARLEIAN COLLECTION--but who can now undertake the task?--who concentrate all the rivulets which have run from this splendid reservoir into other similar pieces of water? The undertaking is impracticable. We have nothing, therefore, I fear, left us but to sit down and weep; to hang our harps upon the neighbouring willows, and to think upon the Book "SION," with desponding sensations that its foundations have been broken up, and its wealth dissipated. But let us adopt a less flowery style of communication. Before HARLEY was created a peer, his library was fixed at Wimple, in Cambridgeshire, the usual place of his residence; "whence he frequently visited his friends at Cambridge, and in particular Mr. BAKER, for whom he always testified the highest regard. This nobleman's attachment to literature, the indefatigable pains he took, and the large sums he expended in making the above collection, are too well known to stand in need of any further notice." _Masters's life of Baker_, p. 107. The eulogies of Maittaire and Hearne confirm every thing here advanced by Masters; and the testimony of Pope himself, that Harley "left behind him one of the finest libraries in Europe," warrants us, if other testimonies were not even yet daily before our eyes, to draw the same conclusion. In a periodical publication entitled _The Director_, to which I contributed all the intelligence under the article "BIBLIOGRAPHIANA," there appeared the following copious, and, it is presumed, not uninteresting, details respecting the Earl of Oxford, and his Library. After the sale of Mr. Bridges's books, no event occurred in the bibliographical world, worthy of notice, till the sale of the famous _Harleian Library_, or the books once in the possession of the celebrated HARLEY, EARL OF OXFORD. This nobleman was not less distinguished in the political than in the literary world; and "was a remarkable instance of the fickleness of popular opinion, and the danger of being removed from the lower to the upper house of parliament." (Noble's _Continuation of Granger_, vol. ii., 23.) He was born in the year 1661, was summoned to the house of Lords by the titles of Earl of Oxford and Mortimer, in 1711; declared minister and lord high treasurer in the same year; resigned, and was impeached, in the year 1715; acquitted, without being brought to a trial, in 1717; and died at his house in Albemarle Street, in 1724. A character so well known in the annals of this country needs no particular illustration in the present place. The _Harleian Collection of MSS._ was purchased by government for 10,000_l._, and is now deposited in the British Museum (vide p. 89, ante). The _Books_ were disposed of to THOMAS OSBORNE, of Gray's Inn, bookseller;--to the irreparable loss, and, I had almost said, the indelible disgrace, of the country. It is, indeed, for ever to be lamented that a collection so extensive, so various, so magnificent, and intrinsically valuable, should have become the property of one who necessarily, from his situation in life, became a purchaser, only that he might be a vender, of the volumes. Osborne gave 13,000_l._ for the collection; a sum which must excite the astonishment of the present age, when it is informed that Lord Oxford gave 18,000_l._ for the _Binding_ only, of the least part of them. (From Oldys's _interleaved Langbaine_. See Brydges's _Cens. Literar._, vol. i., p. 438.) In the year 1743-4 appeared an account of this collection, under the following title, _Catalogus Bibliothecae Harleianae, &c._, in four volumes (the 5th not properly appertaining to it). Dr. Johnson was employed by Osborne to write the preface, which, says Boswell, "he has done with an ability that cannot fail to impress all his readers with admiration of his philological attainments." _Life of Johnson_, vol. i., 81, edit. 4to. In my humble apprehension, the preface is unworthy of the doctor: it contains a few general philological reflections, expressed in a style sufficiently stately, but is divested of bibliographical anecdote and interesting intelligence. The first two volumes are written in Latin by Johnson; the third and fourth volumes, which are a repetition of the two former, are composed in English by Oldys: and, notwithstanding its defects, it is the best catalogue of a large library of which we can boast. It should be in every good collection. To the volumes was prefixed the following advertisement: "As the curiosity of spectators, before the sale, may produce disorder in the disposition of the books, it is necessary to advertise the public that there will be no admission into the library before the day of sale, which will be on Tuesday, the 14th of February, 1744." It seems that Osborne had charged the sum of 5_s._ to each of his first two volumes, which was represented by the booksellers "as an avaricious innovation;" and, in a paper published in "_The Champion_," they, or their mercenaries, reasoned so justly as to allege that "if Osborne could afford a very large price for the library, he might therefore afford to _give away_ the catalogue." _Preface to_ vol. iii., p. 1. To this charge Osborne answered that his catalogue was drawn up with great pains, and at a heavy expense; but, to obviate all objections, "those," says he, "who have paid five shillings a volume shall be allowed, at any time within three months after the day of sale, either to return them in exchange for books, or to send them back, and receive their money." This, it must be confessed, was sufficiently liberal. Osborne was also accused of _rating his books at too high a price_: to this the following was his reply, or rather Dr. Johnson's; for the style of the Doctor is sufficiently manifest: "If, therefore, I have set a high value upon books--if I have vainly imagined literature to be more fashionable than it really is, or idly hoped to revive a taste well nigh extinguished, I know not why I should be persecuted with clamour and invective, since I shall only suffer by my mistake, and be obliged to keep those books which I was in hopes of selling."--_Preface to the 3d volume._ The fact is that Osborne's charges were extremely moderate; and the sale of the books was so very slow that Johnson assured Boswell "there was not much gained by the bargain." Whoever inspects Osborne's catalogue of 1748 (four years after the Harleian sale), will find in it many of the most valuable of Lord Oxford's books; and, among them, a copy of the Aldine Plato of 1513, _struck off upon vellum_, marked at 21_l._ only: for this identical copy Lord Oxford gave 100 guineas, as Dr. Mead informed Dr. Askew; from the latter of whose collections it was purchased by Dr. Hunter, and is now in the Hunter Museum. There will also be found, in Osborne's catalogues of 1748 and 1753, some of the scarcest books in English Literature, marked at 2, or 3, or 4_s._, for which three times the number of _pounds_ is now given.

ANALYSIS OF THE HARLEIAN LIBRARY.

I shall take the liberty of making an arrangement of the books different from that which appears in the Harleian catalogue; but shall scrupulously adhere to the number of departments therein specified. And first of those in

1. _Divinity._

In the _Greek_, _Latin_, _French_, and _Italian_ languages, there were about 2000 theological volumes. Among these, the most rare and curious were Bamler's bible of 1466, beautifully illuminated, in 2 volumes: Schaeffer's bible of 1472. The famous Zurich bible of 1543, "all of which, except a small part done by Theodoras Bibliander, was translated from the Hebrew by a Jew, who styled himself Leo Judae, or the Lion of Judah. The Greek books were translated by Petrus Cholinus. The New Testament is Erasmus's." The Scrutinium Scripturarum of Rabbi Samuel, Mant., 1475; a book which is said "to have been concealed by the Jews nearly 200 years: the author of it is supposed to have lived at a period not much later than the destruction of Jerusalem." The Islandic bible of 1664, "not to be met with, without the utmost difficulty, and therefore a real curiosity." The works of Hemmerlin, Basil: 1497; "the author was ranked in the first class of those whose works were condemned by the church of Rome." The Mozarabic Missal printed at Toledo, in 1500--of which some account is given at p. 161, ante. The collection of _English_ books in Divinity could not have amounted to less than 2500 volumes. Among the rarest of these, printed in the fifteenth century, was "The Festyvall, begynning at the fyrst Sonday of Advent, in worship of God and all his Sayntes," &c., printed at Paris, in 1495. There was ten books printed by Caxton, and some exceedingly curious ones by Wynkyn de Worde and Pynson.

2. _History and Antiquities._

There appear to have been, on the whole, nearly 4000 volumes in this department: of which, some of those relating to Great Britain were inestimable, from the quantity of MS. notes by Sir William Dugdale, Archbishop Parker, Thomas Rawlinson, Thomas Baker, &c. The preceding number includes 600 relating to the history and antiquities of Italy; 500 to those of France. (This part of the catalogue deserves particular attention, as it contains a larger collection of pieces relating to the history of France than was, perhaps, ever exposed to sale in this nation; here being not only the ancient chronicles and general histories, but the memoirs of particular men, and the genealogies of most of the families illustrious for their antiquity. See _Bibl. Harl._, vol. iii., p. 159.) 150 to those of Spain; and about 250 relating to Germany and the United Provinces.

3. _Books of Prints, Sculpture, and Drawings._

In this department, rich beyond description, there could not have been fewer than 20,000 articles, on the smallest computation: of which nearly 2000 were original drawings by the great Italian and Flemish masters. The works of CALLOT were preserved in 4 large volumes, containing not fewer than _nine hundred and twelve prints_. "All choice impressions, and making the completest set of his works that are to be seen." See _Bibl. Harl._, vol. iii., no. 562, "HOLLAR'S works, consisting of all his pieces, and bound in 12 folio volumes, in morocco. One of the completest and best sets in the world, both as to the number and goodness of the impressions." Vid. _ibid._, no. 468. It is now in the library of the Duke of Rutland. "One hundred and thirty-three heads of illustrious men and women, after VANDYKE. This set of Vandyke's heads may be said to be the best and completest that is to be met with any where: there being the 12 heads which he etched himself, as likewise 79 worked off by Martin Vanden Enden: and what adds still to the value of them is that the greater part were collected by the celebrated Marriette at Paris, his name being signed on the back, as warranting them good proofs." Tne [Transcriber's Note: The] engravings from RAPHAEL'S paintings, upwards of 200 in number, and by the best foreign masters, were contained in 4 splendid morocco volumes. The works of the SADELERS, containing upwards of 959 prints, in 8 large folio volumes, were also in this magnificent collection: and the Albert Durers, Goltziuses, Rembrandts, &c., innumerable!

4. _Collection of Portraits._

This magnificent collection, uniformly bound in 102 large folio volumes, contained a series of heads of illustrious and remarkable characters, to the amount of nearly 10,000 in number. It is said, in the catalogue, to be "perhaps the largest collection of heads ever exposed to sale." We are also informed that it "was thought proper, for the accommodation of the curious, to separate the volumes." Eheu! Eheu!

5. _Philosophy, Chemistry, Medicine, &c._

Under this head, comprehending anatomy, astronomy, mathematics, and alchemy, there appear to have been not fewer than 2500 volumes in the foreign languages, and about 600 in the English: some of them of the most curious kind, and of the rarest occurrence.

6. _Geography, Chronology, and General History._

There were about 290 volumes on these subjects, written in the Latin, French, Italian, and Spanish languages: and about 300 volumes in our own language. Some of the scarcest books printed by Caxton were among the latter.

7. _Voyages and Histories relating to the East and West Indies._

About 800 volumes:--nearly equally divided into the English and foreign languages. Among the English, were Caxton's "Recuyell of the historys of Troye," 1471 (supposed to be the first book printed in this country;) and his "Siege and conquest of Jherusalem," 1481.

8. _Civil, Canon, and Statute Law._

At least 800 volumes: 300 in the foreign languages, and the remaining in English.

9. _Books of Sculpture, Architecture, &c._

Not fewer than 900 volumes, comprehending every thing published up to that period which was valuable or rare. Of these, more than 700 were written in Latin, Italian, French, or Spanish--and embellished with every beauty of graphic illustration.

10. _Greek and Latin Classics; Grammars and Lexicons._

This very valuable body of Grecian and Roman literature could not have included fewer than 2400 volumes--and, among these, almost every work of rarity and excellence. In the article of "Cicero" alone, there were 115 volumes printed in the _fifteenth century_; every subsequent edition of that and other authors, then distinguished for its accuracy or erudition, may also, I believe, be discovered in the catalogue. Most book-collectors know the sumptuous manner in which the Harleian copies are bound.

11. _Books printed upon Vellum._

In this interesting department of typography, there were about 220 volumes--upwards of 70 in folio, 40 in quarto, and 100 in octavo. Of the former, the most curious and rare articles were the Mentz bible of 1462, 2 vols., and the travels of Breydenbachus, printed at Mentz in 1486. "This book is an uncommon object of curiosity, as it is, perhaps, the first book of travels that was ever printed, and is adorned with maps and pictures very remarkable. The view of _Venice_ is more than five feet long, and the map of the _Holy Land_ more than three; there are views of many other cities. It is printed in the Gothic character." See _Bibl. Harl._, vol. iii., no. 3213. The octavos were chiefly "Heures a l'usage," so common at the beginning of the 16th century: but, if the catalogue be correctly published, there appears to have been one of these books printed at Paris, as early as the year 1466, "extremely beautiful cuts." See the _Bibl. Harl._, vol. iv., no. 18406. Now, if this were true, it would make known a curious fact in Parisian typography--for the usually received opinion among bibliographers is that no printed book appeared in France before the year 1467, when the art was first introduced at _Tours_; and none at _Paris_ before the year 1469-70--when Crantz and Friburger were engaged to print there.

12. _English Poetry, Romances, and Novels._

There could not have been fewer than 900 volumes in this amusing department; and among them some editions of the rarest occurrence. Every thing printed by Caxton on these subjects, including a complete and magnificent copy of _Morte d'Arthur_, was in the collection--and, in respect to other curious works, it will be sufficient to mention only the following, as a specimen. "Kynge-Richarde Cuer du Lyon, W. de Worde, 1528: Gascoigne's Poesies, 1575--Spenser's Shepheardes Calenders, 1586: Webbe's Discourse of English Poetrie, 1586: Nash's Art of English Poesie, 1589." Some of these volumes were afterwards marked by Osborne, in his catalogues, at 3 or 4 shillings!

13. _Livres Francois, Ital., et Hispan._

There might have been 700 volumes in these foreign languages, of which nearly 500 related to _poetry_ (exclusively of others in the foregoing and following departments).

14. _Parliamentary Affairs and Trials._

Upwards of 400 volumes.

15. _Trade and Commerce._

About 300 volumes.

It will be seen from the preceding divisions, and from the gradual diminution of the number of volumes in each, that I have gone through the principal departments of the Harleian collection of books: and yet there remain _fifty departments_ to be enumerated! These are the following: 16. _Critici et Opera collecta._ 17. _Vultus et Imagines Illust. Virorum._ 18. _Pompae, Ceremoniae, et Exequiae._ 19. _De re Militari, de Arte Equestri, et de re Navali._ 20. _Heraldica._ 21. _Epistolae, Panegyrici, et Orationes._ 22. _Bibliothecarii et Miscellanei._ 23. _Tractatus Pacis et Politici._ 24. _Traductions des Auteurs Gr. et Latin._ 25. _Translations from Greek and Latin Authors._ 26. _Laws, Customs, &c., of the City of London._ 27. _Military, Naval affairs, and Horsemanship._ 28. _Heraldry._ 9. [Transcriber's Note: 29.] _Husbandry, Gardening, Agriculture._ 30. _Magic, Sorcery, Witchcraft._ 31. _Miraculous, Monstrous, and Supernatural._ 32. _Lives of Eminent Persons._ 33. _Laws and Customs of divers Places._ 34. _Tythes, Sacrilege, and Non-residence, &c._ 35. _Cases of divers Persons._ 36. _Prisons and Prisoners._ 37. _Lives of Murderers, Highwaymen, Pirates, &c._ 38. _Speeches of Persons executed for divers Offences._ 39. _Justices, Juries, and Charges._ 40. _Poor, and Charitable Uses._ 41. _Matrimony, Divorce, &c._ 42. _Universities._ 43. _Allegiance, Supremacy, Non Resistance, &c._ 44. _Bank and Bankers._ 45. _Funds, Taxes, Public Credit, Money, Coin, &c._ 46. _War and Standing Armies._ 47. _Admiralty and Navy._ 48. _Letters on various Subjects._ 49. _Treatises of Peace, Royal Prerogative, &c._ 50. _Navigation._ 51. _Education, Grammar and Schools._ 52. _Ludicrous, Entertaining, Satirical, and Witty._ 53. _English Miscellanies._ 54. _Ecclesiastical and Civil History of Scotland._ 55. _Do. of Ireland._ 56. _Grammars and Dictionnaries._ 57. _Plays, and relating to the Theatre._ 58. _Mathematics._ 59. _Astrology, Astronomy, and Chymistry._ 60. _Horsemanship._ 61. _Cookery._ 62. _Convocation._ 63. _Sieges, Battles, War, &c._ 64. _Pomp and Ceremony._ 65. _Books relating to Writing and Printing._ 66. _Essays on various Subjects._ It will probably be no very unreasonable computation to allow to each of these remaining divisions 80 volumes: so that multiplying the whole 50 divisions by 80 there will be the additional number of 4000 volumes to make the library complete. I ought to mention that, in my account of this extensive library, I have not included the _Pamphlets_. Of these alone, according to Mr. Gough (_Brit. Topog._ v., i., 669), there were computed to be 400,000! We will now say a few words about the private character of Lord Oxford, and conclude with a brief account of Osborne. Every body has heard of the intimacy which subsisted between POPE and the Earl of Oxford. In the year 1721, when the latter was at his country seat, Pope sent him a copy of Parnell's poems (of which he had undertaken the publication on the decease of Parnell), with a letter in poetry and prose. It seems that Pope wished to prefix his own verses to the collection; and thus alludes to them, in his letter to Lord Harley of the date of 1721: "Poor Parnell, before he died, left me the charge of publishing those few remains of his: I have a strong desire to make them, their author, and their publisher, more considerable, by addressing and dedicating them all to you, &c. All I shall say for it is that 'tis the only dedication I ever writ, and shall be the only one, whether you accept it or not: for I will not bow the knee to a less man than my Lord Oxford, and I expect to see no greater in my time."

The following is the latter part of the _Poetical Epistle_ here alluded to:

And sure, if aught below the seats divine Can touch immortals, 'tis a soul like thine: A soul supreme, in each hard instance tried, Above all pain, all passion, and all pride; The rage of power, the blast of public breath, The lust of lucre, and the dread of death.

In vain to deserts thy retreat is made; The muse attends thee to thy silent shade: 'Tis her's the brave man's latest steps to trace, Rejudge his acts, and dignify disgrace. When int'rest calls off all her sneaking train, And all th' obliged desert, and all the vain; She waits, or to the scaffold, or the cell, When the last lingering friend has bid farewell. Ev'n now, she shades thy evening walk with bays, (No hireling she, no prostitute of praise) Ev'n now, observant of the parting ray, Eyes the calm sun-set of thy various day; Thro' fortune's cloud ONE truly great can see, Nor fears to tell that MORTIMER is he!

_Pope's Works_, vol. ii., p. 320-3. Bowles's edit.

The following was the reply of the Earl of Oxford to Mr. Pope.

SIR,

I received your packet, which could not but give me great pleasure to see you preserve an old friend in your memory; for it must needs be very agreeable to be remembered by those we highly value. But then, how much shame did it cause me when I read your very fine verses inclosed! My mind reproached me how far short I came of what your great friendship and delicate pen would partially describe me. You ask my consent to publish it: to what straits doth this reduce me! I look back, indeed, to those evenings I have usefully and pleasantly spent with Mr. Pope, Mr. Parnell, Dean Swift, the Doctor (Arbuthnot), &c. I should be glad the world knew you admitted me to your friendship; and since your affection is too hard for your judgment, I am contented to let the world know how well Mr. Pope can write upon a barren subject. I return you an exact copy of the verses, that I may keep the original, as a testimony of the only error you have been guilty of. I hope, very speedily, to embrace you in London, and to assure you of the particular esteem and friendship wherewith I am your, &c.,

OXFORD.

Of TOM OSBORNE I have in vain endeavoured to collect some interesting biographical details. What I know of him shall be briefly stated. He was the most celebrated bookseller of his day; and appears, from a series of his catalogues in my possession, to have carried on a successful trade from the year 1738 to 1768. What fortune he amassed, is not, I believe, very well known: his collections were truly valuable, for they consisted of the purchased libraries of the most eminent men of those times. In his stature he was short and thick; and, to his inferiors, generally spoke in an authoritative and insolent manner. "It has been confidently related," says Boswell, "that Johnson, one day, knocked Osborne down in his shop with a folio, and put his foot upon his neck. The simple truth I had from Johnson himself. 'Sir, he was impertinent to me, and I beat him. But it was not in his shop: it was in my own chamber.'" 4to. edit., i., 81. Of Osborne's philological attainments, the meanest opinion must be formed, if we judge from his advertisements, which were sometimes inserted in the London Gazette, and drawn up in the most ridiculously vain and ostentatious style. He used to tell the public that he possessed "all the pompous editions of Classicks and Lexicons." I insert the two following advertisements, prefixed, the one to his catalogue of 1748, the other to that of 1753, for the amusement of my bibliographical readers, and as a model for Messrs. Payne, White, Miller, Evans, Priestley, and Cuthell. "This catalogue being very large, and of consequence very expensive to the proprietor, he humbly requests that, if it falls into the hands of any gentleman _gratis_, who chooses not himself to be a purchaser of any of the books contained in it, that such gentleman will be pleased to recommend it to any other whom he thinks may be so, or to return it." To his catalogue of 1753 was the following: "To the Nobility and Gentry who please to favour me with their commands. It is hoped, as I intend to give no offence to any nobleman or gentleman, that do me the honour of being my customer, by putting a price on my catalogue, by which means they may not receive it as usual--it is desired that such nobleman or gentleman as have not received it, would be pleased to send for it; and it's likewise requested of such gentleman who do receive it, that, if they chuse not to purchase any of the books themselves, _they would recommend it to any bookish gentleman of their acquaintance, or to return it_, and the favour shall be acknowledged by, their most obedient and obliged,

T. OSBORNE."

I shall conclude with the following curious story told of him, in Mr. Nichols's _Anecdotes of Bowyer_ the Printer. "Mr. David Papillon, a gentleman of fortune and literary taste, as well as a good antiquary (who died in 1762) contracted with Osborne to furnish him with an 100_l._ worth of books, at _threepence a piece_. The only conditions were, that they should be perfect, and that there should be no duplicate. Osborne was highly pleased with his bargain, and the first great purchase he made, he sent Mr. P. a large quantity; but in the next purchase, he found he could send but few, and the next, still fewer. Not willing, however, to give up, he sent books worth _five shillings_ a piece; and, at last, was forced to go and beg to be let off the contract. Eight thousand books would have been wanted!"--See p. 101-2, note [symbol: double dagger].]

LIS. Let us rise to pay him homage!

PHIL. Lisardo is now fairly bewitched. He believes in the existence of the group!--Help, ho! Fetters and warder for--

LOREN. Philemon loves to indulge his wit at his friend's expense. Is't not so, Lisardo?

LIS. I forgive him. 'Twas a "glorious fault." But, indeed, I would strip to the skin, if this said nobleman longed for my coat, waistcoat, small clothes, and shirt, to form him a cushion to sit upon! I have heard such wonderful things said of his library!--

LYSAND. And not more wonderful than its reputation justifies. Well might Pope be enamoured of such a noble friend--and well might even Dr. Mead bow to the superior splendour of such a book-competitor! While the higher order of bibliomaniacs, reposing upon satin sofas, were quaffing burgundy out of Harley's curiously cut goblets, and listening to the captivating tale of Mead or Folkes, respecting a VELLUM _Editio Princeps_--the lower order, with Bagford at their head, were boisterously regaling themselves below, drinking ale round an oaken table, and toasting their patron, till the eye could no longer discover the glass, nor the tongue utter his name. Aloft, in mid air, sat the soothed spirits of Smith and North; pointing, with their thin, transparent fingers, to the apotheosis of CAXTON and ALDUS! Suddenly, a crowd of pipy fragrance involves the room: these aerial forms cease to be visible; and broken sounds, like the retiring tide beneath Dover cliff, die away into utter silence. Sleep succeeds: but short is the slumber of enthusiastic bibliomaniacs! The watchman rouses them from repose: and the annunciation of the hour of "two o'clock, and a moonlight morning," reminds them of their cotton night-caps and flock mattrasses. They start up, and sally forwards; chaunting, midst the deserted streets, and with eyes turned sapiently towards the moon, "Long life to the King of Book-Collectors, HARLEY, EARL OF OXFORD!"

LOREN. A truce, Lysander! I entreat a truce!

LYSAND. To what?

LOREN. To this discourse. You must be exhausted.

PHIL. Indeed I agree with Lorenzo: for Lysander has surpassed, in prolixity, the reputation of any orator within St. Stephen's chapel. It only remains to eclipse, in a similar manner, the speeches which were delivered at Hardy's trial--and then he may be called the _Nonpareil_ of orators!

LYSAND. If you banter me, I am dumb. Nor did I know that there was any thing of eloquence in my chit-chat. If Lisardo had had my experience, we might _then_ have witnessed some glittering exhibitions of imagination in the book-way!

LIS. My most excellent friend, I will strive to obtain this experience, since you are pleased to compliment me upon what I was not conscious of possessing--But, in truth, Lysander, our obligations to you are infinite.

LYSAND. No more; unless you are weary of this discourse--

PHIL. LIS. Weary!?

LOREN. Let me here exercise my undeniable authority. A _sandwich_, like the evening rain after a parching day, will recruit Lysander's exhausted strength. What say you?

LYSAND. "I shall in all things obey your high command." But hark--I hear the outer gate bell ring! The ladies are arrived: and you know my bashfulness in female society. Adieu, BIBLIOMANIA! 'till the morrow.

LOREN. Nay, you are drawing too dismal conclusions. My sisters are not sworn enemies to this kind of discourse.

* * * * *

The arrival of ALMANSA and BELINDA, the sisters of Lorenzo put a stop to the conversation. So abrupt a silence disconcerted the ladies; who, in a sudden, but, it must be confessed, rather taunting, strain--asked whether they should order their bed-chamber candlesticks, and retire to rest?

LIS. Not if you are disposed to listen to the most engaging book-anecdote orator in his majesty's united realms!

ALMAN. Well, this may be a sufficient inducement for us to remain. But why so suddenly silent, gentlemen?

LOREN. The conversation had ceased before you arrived. We were thinking of a _hung-beef sandwich_ and a glass of madeira to recruit Lysander's exhausted powers. He has been discoursing ever since dinner.

BELIND. I will be his attendant and cup-bearer too, if he promises to resume his discourse. But you have probably dispatched the most interesting part.

LYSAND. Not exactly so, I would hope, fair Lady! Your brother's hospitality will add fresh energy to my spirit; and, like the renewed oil in an exhausted lamp, will cause the flame to break forth with fresh splendour.

BELIND. Sir, I perceive your ingenuity, at least, has not forsaken you--in whatever state your memory may be!--

* * * * *

Here the _sandwiches_ made their appearance: and Lorenzo seated his guests, with his sisters, near him, round a small circular table. The repast was quickly over: and Philemon, stirring the sugar within a goblet of hot madeira wine and water, promised them all a romantic book-story, if the ladies would only lend a gracious ear. Such a request was, of course, immediately complied with.

PHIL. The story is short--

LIS. And sweet, I ween.

PHIL. That remains to be proved. But listen.

You all know my worthy friend, FERDINAND: a very _Helluo Librorum_. It was on a warm evening in summer--about an hour after sunset--that Ferdinand made his way towards a small inn, or rather village alehouse, that stood on a gentle eminence, skirted by a luxuriant wood. He entered, oppressed with heat and fatigue; but observed, on walking up to the porch "smothered with honey-suckles" (as I think Cowper expresses it), that every thing around bore the character of neatness and simplicity. The holy-oaks were tall and finely variegated in blossom: the pinks were carefully tied up: and roses of all colours and fragrance stood around, in a compacted form, like a body-guard, forbidding the rude foot of trespasser to intrude. Within, Ferdinand found corresponding simplicity and comfort.

The "gude" man of the house was spending the evening with a neighbour; but poached eggs and a rasher of bacon, accompanied with a flagon of sparkling ale, gave our guest no occasion to doubt the hospitality of the house, on account of the absence of its master. A little past ten, after reading some dozen pages in a volume of Sir Egerton Brydges's _Censura Literaria_, which he happened to carry about him, and partaking pretty largely of the aforesaid eggs and ale, Ferdinand called for his candle, and retired to repose. His bed-room was small, but neat and airy: at one end, and almost facing the window, there was a pretty large closet, with the door open: but Ferdinand was too fatigued to indulge any curiosity about what it might contain.

He extinguished his candle, and sank upon his bed to rest. The heat of the evening seemed to increase. He became restless; and, throwing off his quilt, and drawing his curtain aside, turned towards the window, to inhale the last breeze which yet might be wafted from the neighbouring heath. But no zephyr was stirring. On a sudden, a broad white flash of lightning--(nothing more than summer heat) made our bibliomaniac lay his head upon his pillow, and turn his eyes in an opposite direction. The lightning increased--and one flash, more vivid than the rest, illuminated the interior of the closet, and made manifest--_an old mahogany Book-Case_, STORED WITH BOOKS. Up started Ferdinand, and put his phosphoric treasures into action. He lit his match, and trimmed his candle, and rushed into the closet--no longer mindful of the heavens--which now were in a blaze with the summer heat.

The book-case was guarded both with glass and brass wires--and the key--no where to be found! Hapless man!--for, to his astonishment, he saw _Morte d'Arthur_, printed by _Caxton_--_Richard Coeur de Lyon_, by _W. de Worde_--_The Widow Edyth_, by _Pynson_--and, towering above the rest, a LARGE PAPER copy of the original edition of _Prince's Worthies of Devon_; while, lying transversely at top, reposed _John Weever's Epigrams_, "The spirit of Captain Cox is here revived"--exclaimed Ferdinand--while, on looking above, he saw a curious set of old plays, with _Dido, Queen of Carthage_, at the head of them! What should he do? No key: no chance of handling such precious tomes--'till the morning light, with the landlord, returned! He moved backwards and forwards with a hurried step--prepared his pocket knife to cut out the panes of glass, and untwist the brazen wires--but a "_prick of conscience_" made him desist from carrying his wicked design into execution. Ferdinand then advanced towards the window; and throwing it open, and listening to the rich notes of a concert of nightingales, forgot the cause of his torments--'till, his situation reminding him of "_The Churl and the Bird_," he rushed with renewed madness into the cupboard--then searched for the bell--but, finding none, he made all sorts of strange noises. The landlady rose, and, conceiving robbers to have broken into the stranger's room, came and demanded the cause of the disturbance.

"Madam," said Ferdinand, "is there no possibility of inspecting the _books_ in the _cupboard_--where is the key?" "Alack, sir," rejoined the landlady, "what is there that thus disturbs you in the sight of those books? Let me shut the closet-door and take away the key of it, and you will then sleep in peace." "Sleep in _peace_!" resumed Ferdinand--"sleep in _wretchedness_, you mean! I can have no peace unless you indulge me with the key of the book-case. To whom do such gems belong?" "Sir, they are not stolen goods."--"Madam, I ask pardon--I did not mean to question their being honest property--but"--"Sir, they are not mine or my husband's." "Who, madam, who is the lucky owner?" "An elderly gentleman of the name of--Sir, I am not at liberty to mention his name--but they belong to an elderly gentleman." "Will he part with them--where does he live? Can you introduce me to him?"--The good woman soon answered all Ferdinand's rapid queries, but the result was by no means satisfactory to him.

He learnt that these uncommonly scarce and precious volumes belonged to an ancient gentleman, whose name was studiously concealed; but who was in the habit of coming once or twice a week, during the autumn, to smoke his pipe, and lounge over his books: sometimes making extracts from them, and sometimes making observations in the margin with a pencil. Whenever a very curious passage occurred, he would take out a small memorandum book, and put on a pair of large tortoise-shell spectacles, with powerful magnifying glasses, in order to insert this passage with particular care and neatness. He usually concluded his evening amusements by sleeping in the very bed in which Ferdinand had been lying.

Such intelligence only sharpened the curiosity, and increased the restlessness, of poor Ferdinand. He retired to this said bibliomaniacal bed, but not to repose. The morning sun-beams, which irradiated the book-case with complete effect, shone upon his pallid countenance and thoughtful brow. He rose at five: walked in the meadows till seven; returned and breakfasted--stole up stairs to take a farewell peep at his beloved _Morte d'Arthur_--sighed "three times and more"--paid his reckoning; apologised for the night's adventure; told the landlady he would shortly come and visit her again, and try to pay his respects to the anonymous old gentleman. "Meanwhile," said he, "I will leave no bookseller's shop in the neighbourhood unvisited, 'till I gain intelligence of his name and character." The landlady eyed him steadily; took a pinch of snuff with a significant air; and, returning, with a smile of triumph, to her kitchen, thanked her stars that she had got rid of such a madman!

Ladies and gentlemen, I have done.

LIS. And creditably done, too!

ALMAN. If this be a specimen of your previous conversation, we know not what we have lost by our absence. But I suspect, that the principal ingredient of poetry, fiction, has a little aided in the embellishment of your story.

BELIN. This is not very gallant or complimentary on your part, Almansa. I harbour no suspicion of its verity; for marvellous things have been told me, by my brother, of the whimsical phrensies of book-fanciers.

LOREN. If you will only listen a little to Lysander's _sequel_, you will hear almost equally marvellous things; which I suspect my liberally minded sister, Almansa, will put down to the score of poetical embellishment. But I see she is conscious of her treasonable aspersions of the noble character of bibliomaniacs, and is only anxious for Lysander to resume.

ALMAN. Sir, I entreat you to finish your HISTORY OF BIBLIOMANIACS. Your friend, Philemon, has regaled us with an entertaining episode, and you have probably, by this time, recovered strength sufficient to proceed with the main story.

LYSAND. Madam, I am equally indebted to your brother for his care of the body, and to my friend for his recreation of the mind. The midnight hour, I fear, is swiftly approaching.

LOREN. It is yet at a considerable distance. We have nearly reached the middle of the eighteenth century, and you may surely carry on your reminiscential exertions to the close of the same. By that time, we may be disposed for our nightcaps.

LYSAND. Unheeded be the moments and hours which are devoted to the celebration of eminent BOOK-COLLECTORS! Let the sand roll down the glass as it will; let "the chirping on each thorn" remind us of Aurora's saucy face peering above the horizon! in such society, and with such a subject of discussion, who--

LIS. Lysander brightens as his story draws to a close: his colouring will be more vivid than ever.

BELIND. Tell me--are bibliographers usually thus eloquent? They have been described to me as a dry, technical race of mortals--quoting only title-pages and dates.

LYSAND. Madam, believe not the malicious evidence of book-heretics. Let ladies, like yourself and your sister, only make their appearance with a choice set of bibliomaniacs, at this time of night, and if the most interesting conversation be not the result--I have very much under-rated the colloquial powers of my brethren. But you shall hear.

We left off with lauding the bibliomaniacal celebrity of Harley, Earl of Oxford. Before the dispersion of his grand collection, died JOHN BRIDGES,[378] a gentleman, a scholar, and a notorious book-collector. The catalogue of his books is almost the first classically arranged one in the eighteenth century: and it must be confessed that the collection was both curious and valuable. Bridges was succeeded by ANTHONY COLLINS,[379] the Free Thinker; a character equally strange and unenviable. Book-fanciers now and then bid a few shillings, for a copy of the catalogue of his library; and some sly free-thinkers, of modern date, are not backward in shewing a sympathy in their predecessor's fame, by the readiness with which they bid a half-guinea, or more, for a _priced copy_ of it.

[Footnote 378: _Bibliothecae Bridgesianae Catalogus_: or a Catalogue of the Library of JOHN BRIDGES, Esq., consisting of above 4000 books and manuscripts in all Languages and Faculties; particularly in Classics and History; and especially the History and Antiquities of Great Britain and Ireland, &c., London, 1725, 8vo. Two different catalogues of this valuable collection of books were printed. The one was analysed, or a _catalogue raisonne_, to which was prefixed a print of a Grecian portico, &c., with ornaments and statues: the other (expressly for the sale) was an indigested and extremely confused one--to which was prefixed a print, designed and engraved by A. Motte, of an oak felled, with a number of men cutting down and carrying away its branches; illustrative of the following Greek Motto inscribed on a scroll above--[Greek: Dryos pesouses pas aner xyleuetai]; "An affecting momento (says Mr. Nichols, very justly, in his _Anecdotes of Bowyer_, p. 557) to the collectors of great libraries, who cannot, or do not, leave them to some public accessible repository." My friend, Dr. Gosset, was once so fortunate as to pick up for me a _large paper_ copy of the analysed catalogue, bound in old blue morocco, and ruled with red lines, for 4_s._!--"Happy day!"]

[Footnote 379: In the year 1730-1, there was sold by auction at St. Paul's Coffee House, in St. Paul's Church Yard (beginning every evening at five o'clock), the library of the celebrated Free Thinker, ANTHONY COLLINS, Esq. "Containing a collection of several thousand volumes in Greek, Latin, English, French, and Spanish; in divinity, history, antiquity, philosophy, husbandry, and all polite literature: and especially many curious travels and voyages; and many rare and valuable pamphlets." This collection, which is divided into _two parts_ (the first containing 3451 articles, the second 3442), is well worthy of being consulted by the theologian who is writing upon any controverted point of divinity; as there are articles in it of the rarest occurrence. The singular character of its owner and of his works is well known: he was at once the friend and the opponent of Locke and Clarke, who both were anxious for the conversion of a character of such strong, but misguided, talents. The former, on his death-bed, wrote Collins a letter to be delivered to him after his decease, which was full of affection and good advice.]

We may here but slightly allude to the bibliographical reputation of MAITTAIRE, as so much was said of him the day before yesterday.[380]

[Footnote 380: The reader will find some account of MAITTAIRE'S bibliographical labours at p. 47, ante; and of his editions of the ancient Classics, at p. 442, vol. ii., of my _Introduction to the Knowledge of rare and valuable editions of the Greek and Latin Classics_. He need here only be informed that Maittaire's books were sold by auction in November, 1748, and January, 1749; the catalogue of them forming _two parts_, with one of these dates affixed to each. The collection must have been uncommonly numerous; and of their intrinsic value the reader will best judge by the following extract from the "Advertisement," by Cock the auctioneer, at the back of the title-page: "tho' the books, in their present condition, make not the most ostentatious appearance, yet, like the late worthy possessor of them, however plain their outside may be, they contain within an invaluable treasure of ingenuity and learning. In fine, this is (after fifty years' diligent search and labour in collecting) THE ENTIRE LIBRARY OF MR. MAITTAIRE; whose judgement in the choice of books, as it ever was confessed, so are they, undoubtedly, far beyond whatever I can attempt to say in their praise. In exhibiting them thus to the public, I comply with the will of my deceased friend; and in printing the catalogue from his OWN COPY just as he left it (tho' by so doing it is the more voluminous) I had an opportunity, not only of doing the justice I owe to his memory, but also of gratifying the curious." I incline strongly to think there were no copies of this catalogue printed upon large paper. When priced, the usual copy brings a fair round sum.]

BELIN. All this may be very learned and just. But of these gentlemen I find no account in the fashionable necrologies.

LOREN. Only wait a little, and Lysander will break forth with the mention of some transcendental bibliomaniac.

LYSAND. Yes, ever renowned RICHARD MEAD![381] thy _pharmacopaeal_ reputation is lost in the blaze of thy _bibliomaniacal_ glory! Aesculapius may plant his herbal crown round thy brow, and Hygeia may scatter her cornucopia of roses at thy feet--but what are these things compared with the homage offered thee by the Gesners, Baillets, and Le Longs, of old? What avail even the roseate blushes of thousands, whom thy medical skill, may have snatched from a premature grave--compared with the life, vigour, animation and competition which thy example infused into the BOOK-WORLD!

[Footnote 381: It is almost impossible to dwell on the memory of THIS GREAT MAN, without emotions of delight--whether we consider him as an eminent physician, a friend to literature, or a collector of books, pictures, and coins. Benevolence, magnanimity, and erudition were the striking features of his character. His house was the general receptacle of men of genius and talent, and of every thing beautiful, precious, and rare. His curiosities, whether books, or coins, or pictures, were freely laid open to the public; and the enterprising student, and experienced antiquary, alike found amusement and a courteous reception. He was known to all foreigners of intellectual distinction, and corresponded both with the artisan and the potentate. The great patron of literature, and the leader of his profession, it was hardly possible, as Lysander has well observed, "for modest merit if properly introduced to him, to depart unrewarded or ungratified." The clergy, and, in general, all men of learning, received his advice gratuitously; and his doors were open every morning to the most indigent, whom he frequently assisted with money. Although his income, from his professional practice, was very considerable, he died by no means a rich man--so large were the sums which he devoted to the encouragement of literature and the fine arts! The sale of Dr. Mead's _Books_ commenced on the 18th of November, 1754, and again on the 7th of April, 1755: lasting together 57 days. The sale of the _prints_ and _drawings_ continued 14 nights. The _gems_, _bronzes_, _busts_, and _antiquities_, 8 days.

His books produced L5496 15 0 Pictures 3417 11 0 Prints and drawings 1908 14 0 Coins and medals 1977 17 0 Antiquities 3246 15 0 ------------ Amount of all the sales L16,047 12 0 ------------

It would be difficult to mention, within a moderate compass, all the rare and curious articles which his library contained--but the following are too conspicuous to be passed over. The _Spira Virgil_, of 1470, _Pfintzing's Tewrdanchk's_, 1527, _Brandt's Stultifera Navis_, 1498, and the _Aldine Petrarch_, of 1501, ALL UPON VELLUM. The large paper _Olivet's Cicero_ was purchased by Dr. Askew, for 14_l._ 14_s._, and was sold again at his sale for 36_l._ 15_s._ The King of France bought the editio princeps of _Pliny Senior_ for 11_l._ 11_s._: and Mr. Wilcock, a bookseller, bought the magnificently illuminated _Pliny by Jenson_, of 1472, for 18_l._ 18_s._: of which Maittaire has said so many fine things. The _French_ books, and all the works upon the _Fine Arts_, were of the first rarity and value, and bound in a sumptuous manner. Winstanley's _Prospects of Audley End_ brought 50_l._ An amusing account of some of the pictures will be found in Mr. Beloe's _Anecdotes of Literature and scarce Books_, vol. i., 166, 71. But consult also _Nichols's Anecdotes of Bowyer_, p. 225, &c. Of the catalogue of Dr. Mead's books, there were only six copies printed upon _large paper_. See _Bibl. Lort_, no. 1149. I possess one of these copies, uncut and priced. Dr. MEAD had parted, in his life-time, to the present king's father, with several miniature pictures of great value (Walpole Anec., vol. i., 165) by Isaac Oliver and Holbein, which are now in his majesty's collection. Dr. Askew had purchased his Greek MSS. for 500_l._ Pope has admirably well said,

"Rare _monkish manuscripts_ for HEARNE alone, And _Books_ FOR MEAD, and _butterflies_ for SLOANE."

_Epistle_ iv.

Upon which his commentator, Warburton, thus observes: "These were two eminent physicians; the one had an excellent library, the other the finest collection in Europe of natural curiosities." For nearly half a century did Dr. Mead pursue an unrivalled career in his profession. He was (perhaps "thrice") presented with the presidentship of the College of Physicians, which he ("thrice") refused. One year it is said he made 7000_l._, a great sum in his time! His regular emoluments were between 5000_l._ and 6000_l._ per annum. He died on the 25th of February, 1754, in the 81st year of his age. On his death, Dr. ASKEW, who seems to have had a sort of filial veneration for his character, and whose pursuits were in every respect congenial with Dr. Mead's, presented the College of Physicians with a marble bust of him, beautifully executed by Roubilliac, and for which he paid the sculptor 100_l._ A whimsical anecdote is connected with the execution of this bust. Roubilliac agreed with Dr. Askew for 50_l._: the doctor found it so highly finished that he paid him for it 100_l._ The sculptor said this was not enough, and brought in a bill for 108_l._ 2_s._ Dr. Askew paid this demand, even to the odd shillings, and then enclosed the receipt to Mr. Hogarth, to produce at the next meeting of artists. Nichols's _Anec. of Bowyer_, p. 580. "I cannot help," says Mr. Edwards, the late ornithologist, "informing succeeding generations that they may see the _real features_ of Dr. Mead in this bust: for I, who was as well acquainted with his face as any man living, do pronounce this bust of him to be so like that, as often as I see it, my mind is filled with the strongest idea of the original." Hearne speaks of the MEADEAN FAMILY with proper respect, in his _Alured de Beverly_, p. XLV.; and in _Walter Hemingford_, vol. i., XXXV. In his _Gulielmus Nubrigensis_, vol. iii., p. 744 (note), he says of our illustrious bibliomaniac:--"that most excellent physician, and truly great man, Dr. Richard Mead, to whom I am eternally obliged." There is an idle story somewhere told of Dr. Mead's declining the acceptance of a challenge to fight with swords--alleging his want of skill in the art of fencing: but this seems to be totally void of authority. Thus far, concerning Dr. Mead, from the first edition of this work, and the paper entitled "The Director." The following particulars, which I have recently learnt of the MEAD FAMILY, from John Nicholl, Esq., my neighbour at Kensington, and the maternal grandson of the Doctor, may be thought well worth subjoining. MATTHEW MEAD, his father, was a clergyman. He gave up his living at Stepney in 1662; which was afterwards divided into the four fine livings now in the gift of Brazen-Nose College, Oxford. His parishioners built him a chapel; but he retired to a farm in the country, and had the reputation of handling a bullock as well as any butcher in the county. He went abroad in the reign of James II., and had his sons, Samuel and Richard, educated under Graevius. SAMUEL MEAD, _his brother_, was a distinguished Chancery barrister, and got his 4000_l._ per ann.; his cronies were Wilbraham and Lord Harcourt. These, with a few other eminent barristers, used to meet at a coffee-house, and drink their favourite, and then fashionable, liquor--called _Bishop_, which consisted of red wine, lemon, and sugar. Samuel was a shy character, and loved privacy. He had a good country house, and handsome chambers in Lincoln's Inn, and kept a carriage for his sister's use, having his coachmaker's arms painted upon the panel. What is very characteristic of the modesty of his profession, he pertinaciously refused a silk gown! A word or two remains to be said of our illustrious bibliomaniac RICHARD. His brother left him 30,000_l._, and giving full indulgence to his noble literary feelings, the Doctor sent Carte, the historian, to France, to rummage for MSS. of _Thuanus_, and to restore the castrated passages which were not originally published for fear of offending certain families. He made Buckley, the editor, procure the best _ink and paper_ from Holland, for this edition of Thuanus, which was published at his own expense; and the Doctor was remarkably solicitous that nothing of exterior pomp and beauty should be wanting in the publication. The result verified his most sanguine expectation; for a finer edition of a valuable historian has never seen the light. Dr. Ward, says Mr. Nichols, is supposed to have written Mead's Latin, but the fact is not so; or it is exclusively applicable to the _later_ pieces of Mead. The Doctor died in his 83rd year (and in full possession of his mental powers), from a fall occasioned by the negligence of a servant. He was a great _diagnostic_ physician; and, when he thought deeply, was generally correct in judging of the disorder by the appearance of the countenance.]

The tears shed by virtuous bibliomaniacs at Harley's death were speedily wiped away, when the recollection of thine, and of thy contemporary's, FOLKES'S[382] fame, was excited in their bosoms. Illustrious Bibliomaniacs! your names and memories will always live in the hearts of noble-minded Literati: the treasures of your Museums and Libraries--your liberal patronage and ever-active exertions in the cause of VIRTU--whether connected with coins, pictures, or books--can never be banished, at least, from my grateful mind:--And if, at this solemn hour, when yonder groves and serpentine walks are sleeping in the quiet of moon-light, your spirits could be seen placidly to flit along, I would burst from this society--dear and congenial as it is--to take your last instructions, or receive your last warnings, respecting the rearing of a future age of bibliomaniacs! Ye were, in good earnest, noble-hearted book-heroes!--but I wander:--forgive me!

[Footnote 382: "_A Catalogue of the entire and valuable library of_ MARTIN FOLKES, Esq., President of the Royal Society, and Member of the Royal Academy of Sciences at Paris, lately deceased; which will be sold by auction, by Samuel Baker, at his house in York Street, Covent-Garden. To begin on Monday, February 2, 1756, and to continue for forty days successively (Sundays excepted). Catalogues to be had at most of the considerable places in Europe, and all the booksellers of Great Britain and Ireland. Price sixpence." This collection was an exceedingly fine one; enriched with many books of the choicest description, which Mr. Folkes had acquired in his travels in Italy and Germany. The works on natural history, coins, medals, inscriptions, and on the fine arts in general, formed the most valuable department--those on the Greek, Latin, and English classics were comparatively of inferior importance. It is a great pity the catalogue was not better digested; or the books classed according to the nature of their contents. The following prices, for some of the more rare and interesting articles, will amuse a bibliographer of the present day. The chronicles of Fabian, Hall, and Grafton, did not, altogether, bring quite 2_l._, though the copies are described as perfect and fair. There seems to have been a fine set of Sir Wm. Dugdale's Works (Nos. 3074-81) in 13 vols., which, collectively, produced about 30 guineas! At the present day, they are worth about 250_l._--In _Spanish literature_, the history of South America, by John Duan and Ant. di Ulloa, Madr., fol., in 5 vols., was sold for 5_l._: a fine large paper copy of the description of the monastery of St. Lorenzo, and the Escorial, Madr., 1657, brought 1_l._ 2_s._; de Lastanosa's Spanish medals, Huesca, fol., 1645, 2_l._ 2_s._--In _English_, the first edition of Shakspeare, 1623, which is now what a French bibliographer would say, "presque introuvable," produced the sum of 3_l._ 3_s._; and Fuller's Worthies, 18_s._!----_Fine Arts, Antiquities, and Voyages._ Sandrart's works, in 9 folio volumes (of which a fine perfect copy is now rarely to be met with, and of very great value) were sold for 13_l._ 13_s._ only: Desgodetz Roman edifices, Paris, 1682, 4_l._ 10_s._ Galleria Giustiniano, 2 vols., fol., 13_l._ 13_s._ Le Brun's Voyages in Muscovy, &c., in large paper, 4_l._ 4_s._ De Rossi's Raccolta de Statue, &c., Rom., 1704, 6_l._ 10_s._ Medailles du Regne de Louis le Grand: de l'Imp. Roy. 1. p. fol., 1702, 5_l._ 15_s._ 6_d._----The works on _Natural History_ brought still higher prices: but the whole, from the present depreciation of money, and increased rarity of the articles, would now bring thrice the sums then given.--Of the _Greek and Latin Classics_, the Pliny of 1469 and 1472 were sold to Dr. Askew, for 11_l._ 11_s._ and 7_l._ 17_s._ 6_d._ At the Doctor's sale they brought 43_l._ and 23_l._, although the first was lately sold (A.D. 1805) among some duplicates of books belonging to the British Museum, at a much lower price: the copy was, in fact, neither large nor beautiful. Those in Lord Spencer's, and the Hunter and Cracherode collections, are greatly superior, and would each bring more than double the price. From a priced copy of the sale catalogue, upon _large paper_, and uncut, in my possession, I find that the amount of the sale, consisting of 5126 articles, was 3091_l._ 6_s._ The _Prints, and Drawings_ of Mr. Folkes occupied a sale of 8 days: and his _pictures_, _gems_, _coins_, and _mathematical instruments_, of five days. Mr. MARTIN FOLKES may justly be ranked among the most useful, as well as splendid, literary characters, of which this country can boast. He appears to have imbibed, at a very early age, an extreme passion for science and literature; and to have distinguished himself so much at the University of Cambridge, under the able tuition of Dr. Laughton, that, in his 23rd year, he was admitted a Fellow of the Royal Society. About two years afterwards he was chosen one of the council; and rose in succession to the chair of the presidentship, which, as Lysander above truly says, he filled with a credit and celebrity that has since never been surpassed. On this occasion he was told by Dr. Jurin, the Secretary, who dedicated to him the 34th vol. of the Transactions, that "the greatest man that ever lived (Sir Isaac Newton) singled him out to fill the chair, and to preside in the society, when he himself was so frequently prevented by indisposition; and that it was sufficient to say of him that he was _Sir Isaac's friend_." Within a few years afterwards, he was elected President of the Society of Antiquaries. Two situations, the filling of which may be considered as the _ne plus ultra_ of literary distinction. Mr. Folkes travelled abroad, with his family, about two years and a half, visiting the cities of Rome, Florence, and Venice--where he was noticed by almost every person of rank and reputation, and whence he brought away many a valuable article to enrich his own collection. He was born in the year 1690, and died of a second stroke of the palsy, under which he languished for three years, in 1754. He seems to have left behind him a considerable fortune. Among his numerous bequests was one to the Royal Society of 200_l._, along with a fine portrait of Lord Bacon, and a large cornelian ring, with the arms of the society engraved upon it, for the perpetual use of the president and his successors in office. The MSS. of his own composition, not being quite perfect, were, to the great loss of the learned world, ordered by him to be destroyed. The following wood-cut portrait is taken from a copper-plate in the _Portraits des Hommes Illustres de Denmark_, 4to., 7 parts, 1746: part 4th, a volume which abounds with a number of copper-plate engravings, _worked off_ in a style of uncommon clearness and brilliancy. Some of the portraits themselves are rather stiff and unexpressive; but the vignettes are uniformly tasteful and agreeable. The seven parts are rarely found in an equal state of perfection.

Dr. Birch has drawn a very just and interesting character of this eminent man, which may be found in Nichols's _Anecdotes of Bowyer_, pp. 562-7. Mr. Edwards, the late ornithologist, has described him in a simple, but appropriate, manner. "He seemed," says he, "to have attained to universal knowledge; for, in the many opportunities I have had of being in his company, almost every part of science has happened to be the subject of discourse, all of which he handled as an adept. He was a man of great politeness in his manners, free from all pedantry and pride, and, in every respect, the real, unaffected, fine gentleman."]

ALMAN. Pray keep to this earth, and condescend to notice us mortals of flesh and blood, who have heard of Dr. Mead, and Martin Folkes, only as eminently learned and tasteful characters.

LYSAND. I crave your forgiveness. But Dr. Mead's cabinet of coins, statues, and books, was so liberally thrown open for the public inspection that it was hardly possible for modest merit, if properly made known to him, to depart unrewarded or ungratified. Nor does the renowned President of the Royal and Antiquarian Societies--Martin Folkes--merit a less warm eulogy; for he filled these distinguished situations with a credit which has never since been surpassed.

But there is yet an illustrious tribe to be recorded. We have, first, RICHARD RAWLINSON,[383] brother of the renowned _Tom Folio_, whose choice and tasteful collection of books, as recorded in auctioneering annals, is deserving of high commendation. But his name and virtues are better known in the University, to which he was a benefactor, than to the noisy circles of the metropolis. The sale of ORATOR HENLEY'S books "followed hard upon" that of Richard Rawlinson's; and if the spirit of their owner could, from his "gilt tub," have witnessed the grimaces and jokes which marked the sale--with the distorted countenances and boisterous laughter which were to be seen on every side--how it must have writhed under the smart of general ridicule, or have groaned under the torture of contemptuous indignation! Peace to Henley's[384] vexed _manes_!--and similar contempt await the efforts of all literary quacks and philosophical knaves!

[Footnote 383: "BIBLIOTHECA RAWLINSONIANA, _sive Catalogus Librorum Richardi Rawlinson_, LL.D. Qui prostabunt Venales sub hasta, Apud Samuelem Baker, In Vico dicto York-street, Covent Garden, Londoni, Die Lunae 29 Marti MDCCLVI." With the following whimsical Greek motto in the title-page:

[Greek: Kai gar o taos dia to spanion thaumazetai].

EUBULUS.

("The peacock is admired on account of its rarity.")

This valuable library must have contained nearly 25,000 volumes, multiplying the number of articles (9405) by 3--the usual mode of calculation. Unfortunately, as was the case with Dr. Mead's and Mr. Folkes's, the books were not arranged according to any particular classification. Old black-letter English were mixed with modern Italian, French, and Latin; and novels and romances interspersed with theology and mathematics. An _alphabetical_ arrangement, be the books of whatever kind they may, will in general obviate the inconvenience felt from such an undigested plan; and it were "devoutly to be wished," by all true bibliographers, that an act of parliament should pass for the due observance of this alphabetical order. We all know our A, B, C, but have not all analytical heads; or we may differ in our ideas of analysis. The scientific and alphabetical _united_ is certainly better; like Mr. Harris's excellent catalogue, noticed at p. 99, ante. The "_Methode pour dresser une bibliotheque_," about which De Bure, Formey, and Peignot have so solemnly argued, is not worth a moment's discussion. Every man likes to be his own librarian, as well as "his own broker." But to return to Dr. Rawlinson's collection. On examining a priced catalogue of it, which now lies before me, I have not found any higher sum offered for a work than 4_l._ 1_s._ for a collection of fine prints, by Aldegrever. (No. 9405.) The Greek and Latin Classics, of which there were few _Editiones Principes_, or on _large paper_, brought the usual sums given at that period. The old English black-letter books, which were pretty thickly scattered throughout the collection, were sold for exceedingly low prices--if the copies were perfect. Witness the following:

L _s._ _d._ The Newe Testament in English, 1500 0 2 9 The Ymage of both Churches, after the Revelation of St. John, by Bale, 1550 0 1 6 The boke called the Pype or Tonne of Perfection, by Richard Whytforde, 1553 0 1 9 The Visions of Pierce Plowman, 1561 0 2 0 The Creede of Pierce Plowman, 1532 0 1 6 The Bookes of Moses, in English, 1530 0 3 9 Bale's Actes of English Votaryes, 1550 0 1 3 The Boke of Chivalrie, by Caxton 0 11 0 The Boke of St. Alban's, by W. de Worde 1 1 0

These are only very few of the rare articles in English literature; of the whole of which (perhaps upwards of 200 in number) I believe the boke of St. Albans brought the highest sum. Hence it will be seen that this was not the age of curious research into the productions of our ancestors. Shakspeare had not then appeared in a proper _variorum edition_. Theobald, Pope, and Warburton, had not investigated the =black-letter= lore of ancient English writers for the illustration of their favourite author. This was reserved for Capell, Farmer, Steevens, Malone, Chalmers, Reed, and Douce: and it is expressly to these latter gentlemen (for Johnson and Hanmer were very sparing, or very shy, of the black-letter), that we are indebted for the present spirit of research into the works of our ancestors. The sale of the _books_ lasted 50 days. There was a second sale of _pamphlets, books of prints, &c._, in the following year, which lasted 10 days: and this was immediately succeeded by a sale of the doctor's _single prints and drawings_, which continued 8 days. Dr. Rawlinson's benefactions to Oxford, besides his Anglo-Saxon endowment at St. John's College, were very considerable; including, amongst other curiosities, _a series of medals of the Popes_, which the Doctor supposed to be one of the most complete collections in Europe; and a great number of valuable MSS., which he directed to be safely locked up, and not to be opened till seven years after his decease. He died on the 6th of April, 1755. To St. John's College, where he had been a gentleman commoner, Dr. Rawlinson left the bulk of his estate, amounting to near 700_l._ a year: _a plate of Abp. Laud_, 31 volumes of _Parliamentary Journals and Debates_, a set of _Rymer's Foedera_, his _Greek_, _Roman_, and _English coins_, not given to the Bodleian Library; all his plates engraved at the expense of the Society of Antiquaries; his diploma, and his _heart_; which latter is placed in a beautiful urn against the chapel wall, with this inscription:

Urbi thesaurus, ibi cor. RIC. RAWLINSON, LL.D. & ANT. S.S. Olim hujus collegii superioris ordinis commensalis. Obiit. vi. Apr. MDCCLV.

Hearne speaks of him, in the preface of his _Tit. Liv. For. Jul. vita Hen. V._, p. xvi., as "vir antiquis moribus ornatus, perque eam viam euns, quae ad immortalem gloriam ducit."]

[Footnote 384: This gentleman's library, not so remarkable for the black-letter as for whimsical publications, was sold by auction, by Samuel Paterson (the earliest sale in which I find this well known book-auctioneer engaged), in June, 1759, and the three ensuing evenings. The title of the Sale Catalogue is as follows:----"_A Catalogue of the original MSS. and manuscript collections of the late_ Reverend Mr. JOHN HENLEY, A.M., Independent Minister of the Oratory, &c., in which are included sundry collections of the late Mons. des Maizeaux, the learned editor of Bayle, &c., Mr. Lowndes, author of the Report for the Amendment of Silver coins, &c., Dr. Patrick Blair, Physician at Boston, and F.R.S., &c. Together with original letters and papers of State, addressed to Henry d'Avenant, Esq., her Britannic Majesty's Envoy at Francfort, from 1703 to 1708 inclusive." Few libraries have contained more curious and remarkable publications than did this. The following articles, given as notable specimens, remind us somewhat of Addison's memoranda for the Spectator, which the waiter at the coffee-house picked up and read aloud for the amusement of the company.----No. 166. God's Manifestation by a Star to the Dutch. A mortifying Fast-Diet at Court. On the Birth Day of the first and oldest young Gentleman. All corrupt: none good; no, not one.----168. General Thumbissimo. The Spring reversed, or the Flanderkin's Opera and Dutch Pickle Herrings. The Creolean Fillip, or Royal Mishap. A Martial Telescope, &c. England's Passion Sunday, and April Changelings.----170. Speech upon Speech. A Telescope for Tournay. No Battle, but worse, and the True Meaning of it. An Army beaten and interred.----174. Signs when the P. will come. Was Captain Sw-n, a Prisoner on Parole, to be catechised? David's Opinion of like Times. The Seeds of the plot may rise though the leaves fall. A Perspective, from the Blair of Athol. The Pretender's Popery. Murder! Fire! Where! Where!----178. Taking Carlise, catching an eel by the tail. Address of a Bishop, Dean, and Clergy. Swearing to the P----r, &c. Anathema denounced against those parents, Masters, and Magistrates, that do not punish the Sin at Stokesley. A Speech, &c. A Parallel between the Rebels to K. Charles I. and those to his successor. _Jane Cameron_ looked killing at _Falkirk_.----179. Let Stocks be knighted, write, Sir Bank, &c., the Ramhead Month. A Proof that the Writers against Popery, fear it will be established in this Kingdom. A Scheme wisely blabbed to root and branch the Highlanders. Let St. Patrick have fair Play, &c.----Of ORATOR HENLEY I have not been able to collect any biographical details, more interesting than those which are to be found in Warburton's notes to Pope's Dunciad: He was born at Melton Mowbray, in Leicestershire, in 1692, and was brought up at St. John's College, in the University of Cambridge. After entering into orders, he became a preacher in London, and established a lecture on Sunday evenings, near Lincoln's-Inn Fields, and another on Wednesday evenings, chiefly on political and scientific subjects. Each auditor paid one shilling for admission. "He declaimed," says Warburton, "against the greatest persons, and occasionally did our poet (Pope) that honour. When he was at Cambridge, he began to be uneasy; for it shocked him to find he was commanded to believe against his own judgment in points of religion, philosophy, &c.: for his genius leading him freely to _dispute all propositions_, and _call all points to account_, he was impatient under those fetters of the free-born mind." When he was admitted into priest's orders, he thought the examination so short and superficial that he considered it "_not necessary to conform to the Christian religion_, in order either to be a deacon or priest." With these quixotic sentiments he came to town; and "after having, for some years, been a writer for the booksellers, he had an ambition to be so for ministers of state." The only reason he did not rise in the church, we are told, "was the envy of others, and a disrelish entertained of him, because _he was not qualified to be a complete spaniel_." However, he offered the service of his pen to two great men, of opinions and interests directly opposite: but being rejected by both of them, he set up a new project, and styled himself, "_The restorer of ancient eloquence._" Henley's pulpit, in which he preached, "was covered with velvet, and adorned with gold." It is to this that Pope alludes, in the first couplet of his second book of the Dunciad:

High on a gorgeous seat, that far outshone HENLEY'S _gilt tub_----

"He had also an altar, and placed over it this extraordinary inscription, '_The primitive Eucharist._'" We are told by his friend Welsted (narrative in Oratory Transact. No. 1) that "he had the assurance to form a plan, which no mortal _ever thought of_; he had success against all opposition; challenged his adversaries to fair disputations, and _none would dispute with him_: he wrote, read, and studied, twelve hours a day; composed three dissertations a week on all subjects; undertook to teach in _one year_ what schools and universities teach in _five_: was not terrified by menaces, insults, or satires; but still proceeded, matured his bold scheme, and put the church and _all that in danger_!" See note to Dunciad, book iii., v. 199. Pope has described this extraordinary character with singular felicity of expression:

But, where each science lifts its modern type, Hist'ry her Pot, Divinity her Pipe, While proud philosophy repines to shew, Dishonest sight! his breeches rent below; Imbrown'd with native bronze, lo! Henley stands, Tuning his voice and balancing his hands. How fluent nonsense trickles from his tongue! How sweet the periods, neither said nor sung! Still break the benches, Henley! with thy strain, While SHERLOCK, HARE, and GIBSON, preach in vain. Oh great restorer of the good old stage, Preacher at once, and zany of thy age, Oh worthy thou, of Egypt's wise abodes, A decent priest, where monkeys were the gods! But fate with butchers plac'd thy priestly stall, Meek modern faith to murder, hack, and mawl; And bade thee live, to crown Britannia's praise, In TOLAND'S, TINDAL'S, and in WOOLSTON'S days.

_Dunciad_, b. iii., v. 190, &c.

Bromley, in his catalogue of engraved Portraits, mentions _four_ of orator Henley: two of which are inscribed, one by Worlidge "The Orator of Newport Market;" another (without engraver's name) "A Rationalist." There is a floating story which I have heard of Henley. He gave out that he would shew a new and expeditious method of converting a pair of boots into shoes. A great concourse of people attended, expecting to see something very marvellous; when Henley mounted his "tub," and, holding up a boot, he took a knife, and _cut away the leg part of the leather_!]

There are, I had almost said, innumerable contemporaneous bibliomaniacal characters to be described--or rather, lesser stars or satellites that move, in their now unperceived orbits, around the great planets of the book world--but, at this protracted hour of discussion, I will not pretend even to mention their names.

LIS. Yet, go on--unless the female part of the audience be weary--go on describing, by means of your great telescopic powers, every little white star that is sprinkled in this bibliomaniacal _Via Lactea_![385]

[Footnote 385: With great submission to the "reminescential" talents of Lysander, he might have devoted one _minute_ to the commendation of the very curious library of JOHN HUTTON, which was disposed of, by auction, in the same year (1764) in which Genl. Dormer's was sold. Hutton's library consisted almost entirely of _English Literature_: the rarest books in which are printed in the italic type. When the reader is informed that "_Robinsons Life, Actes, and Death of Prince Arthur_," and his "_ancient order, societie, and unitie, laudable of the same_," 1583, 4to. (see no. 2730; concerning which my worthy friend, Mr. Haslewood, has discoursed so accurately and copiously: _British Bibliographer_, vol. i., pp. 109; 125), when he is informed that this produced only 9_s._ 6_d._--that "_Hypnerotomachia_," 1592, 4to. (no. 2755), was sold for only 2_s._--the _Myrrour of Knighthood_, 1585, 4to. (no. 2759), only 5_s._--_Palmerin of England_, 3 pts. in 3 vols. 1602, 1639, 4to. (no. 2767), 14_s._--_Painter's Palace of Pleasure_, 2 vols. in 1, 1566-7, 4to. (no. 2770)--when, I say, the tender-hearted bibliomaniac thinks that all these rare and precious black letter gems were sold, collectively, for only 2_l._ 16_s._ 6_d._!--what must be his reproaches upon the lack of spirit which was evinced at this sale! Especially must his heart melt within him, upon looking at the produce of some of these articles at the sale of George Steevens' books, only 36 years afterwards! No depreciation of money can account for this woful difference. I possess a wretchedly priced copy of the _Bibl. Huttoniana_, which I purchased, without title-page or a decent cover, at the sale of Mr. Gough's books, for 11_s._ Lysander ought also to have noticed in its chronological order, the extensive and truly valuable library of ROBERT HOBLYN; the catalogue of which was published in the year 1769, 8vo., in two parts: pp. 650. I know not who was the author of the arrangement of this collection; but I am pretty confident that the judicious observer will find it greatly superior to every thing of its kind, with hardly even the exception of the _Bibliotheca Croftsiana_. It is accurately and handsomely executed, and wants only an index to make it truly valuable. The collection, moreover, is a very sensible one. My copy is upon _large paper_; which is rather common.]

ALMAN. Upon my word, Lisardo, there is no subject however barren, but what may be made fruitful by your metaphorical powers of imagination.

LIS. Madam, I entreat you not to be excursive. Lysander has taken a fresh sip of his nectar, and has given a hem or two--preparing to resume his narrative.

LYSAND. We have just passed over the bar that separates the one half of the 18th century from the other: and among the ensuing eminent collectors, whose brave fronts strike us with respect, is GENERAL DORMER:[386] a soldier who, I warrant you, had faced full many a cannon, and stormed many a rampart, with courage and success. But he could not resist the raging influence of the Book-Mania: nor could all his embrasures and entrenchments screen him from the attacks of this insanity. His collection was both select and valuable.

[Footnote 386: "_A Catalogue of the genuine and elegant Library of the late_ Sir C.C. DORMER, collected by Lieutenant General James Dormer; which will be sold, &c., by Samuel Baker, at his house in York-Street, Covent Garden; to begin on Monday, February the 20th, 1764, and to continue the nineteen following evenings." At the end of the catalogue we are told that the books were "in general of the best editions, and in the finest condition, many of them in _large paper_, bound in morocco, gilt leaves," &c. This was a very choice collection of books; consisting almost entirely of French, Greek, Latin, Italian, and Spanish. The number of articles did not exceed 3082; and of volumes, probably not 7000. The catalogue is neatly printed, and copies of it on _large paper_ are exceedingly scarce. Among the most curious and valuable articles are the following:----no. 599. Les Glorieuses Conquestes de Louis le Grand, par Pontault, _en maroquin_. Paris, 1678. ("_N.B. In this copy many very fine and rare portraits are added, engraved by the most eminent masters._")----no. 604. Recueil des Maisons Royales, fort bien graves par Sylvestre, &c. (N.B. In the book was the following note. "_Ce recueil des Maisons Royales n'est pas seulement complet, en toutes manieres, mais on y a ajoute plusieurs plans, que l'on ne trouvent que tres rarement._")----no. 731. Fabian's Chronicle, 1559.----752, Hall's ditto. 1548.----751. Higden's Polychronicon. 1527. (I suspect that Dr. Askew purchased the large paper Hutchinson's Xenophon, and Hudson's Thucydides. nos. 2246, 2585.)----no. 2249. Don Quixote, por Cervantes. Madr., 4to., 1605. In hoc libro haec nota est. "_Cecy est l'edition originale; il y a une autre du mesme annee, imprimee en quarto a Madrid, mais imprimee apres cecy. J'ay veu l'autre, et je les ay comparez avec deux autres editions du mesme annee, 1605; une imprimee a Lisbonne, en 4to., l'autre en Valentia, en_ 8vo."----no. 2590. Thuanus by Buckley, on _large paper_, in 14 volumes, folio; a magnificent copy, illustrated with many beautiful and rare portraits of eminent characters, mentioned by De Thou. (N.B. This very copy was recently sold for 74_l._)----From no. 2680 to the end of the Catalogue (401 articles) there appears a choice collection of Italian and Spanish books.]

We have before noticed the celebrated diplomatic character, CONSUL SMITH, and have spoken with due respect of his library: let us here, therefore, pass by him,[387] in order to take a full and complete view of a _Non-Pareil_ Collector: the first who, after the days of Richard Smith, succeeded in reviving the love of black-letter lore and of Caxtonian typography--need I say JAMES WEST?[388]

[Footnote 387: The reader has had a sufficiently particular account of the book-collections of CONSUL SMITH, at p. 95, ante, to render any farther discussion superfluous. As these libraries were collected _abroad_, the catalogues of them were arranged in the place here referred to.]

[Footnote 388: I am now to notice, in less romantic manner than Lysander, a collection of books, in _English Literature_, which, for rarity and value, in a proportionate number, have never been equalled; I mean the library of JAMES WEST, Esq., _President of the Royal Society_. The sale commenced on March 29, 1773, and continued for the twenty-three following days. The catalogue was digested by Samuel Paterson, a man whose ability in such undertakings has been generally allowed. The title was as follows: "BIBLIOTHECA WESTIANA; _A Catalogue of the curious and truly valuable library of the late_ JAMES WEST, Esq., _President of the Royal Society, deceased_; comprehending a choice collection of books in various languages, and upon most branches of polite literature: more especially such as relate to the history and antiquities of Great Britain and Ireland; their early navigators, discoverers, and improvers, and the _ancient English literature_: of which there are a great number of uncommon books and tracts, elucidated by MS. notes and original letters, and embellished with scarce portraits and devices, rarely to be found: including the works of Caxton, Lettou, Machlinia, the anonymous St. Albans school-master, Wynkyn de Worde, Pynson, and the rest of the old English typographers. Digested by Samuel Paterson, and sold by Messrs. Langfords." The title-page is succeeded by the

PREFACE.

"The following catalogue exhibits a very curious and uncommon collection of printed books and tracts. Of British History and Antiquities, and of _Rare Old English Literature_, the most copious of any which has appeared for several years past; formed with great taste, and a thorough knowledge of authors and characters, by that judicious critic and able antiquary the late JAMES WEST, Esq., President of the Royal Society. Several anonymous writers are herein brought to light--many works enlarged and further explained by their respective authors and editors--and a far greater number illustrated with the MS. notes and observations of some of our most respectable antiquaries: among whom will be found the revered names of Camden, Selden, Spelman, Somner, Dugdale, Gibson, Tanner, Nicolson, Gale, Le Neve, Hearne, Anstis, Lewis, St. Amand, Ames, Browne, Willis, Stukely, Mr. West, &c. But, above all, the intense application and unwearied diligence of the admirable Bishop White Kennett, upon the ecclesiastical, monastical, constitutional, and topographical history of Great Britain, so apparent throughout this collection, furnish matter even to astonishment; and are alone sufficient to establish the reputation, and to perpetuate the memory, of this illustrious prelate, without any other monuments of his greatness." "In an age of general inquiry, like the present, when studies less interesting give place to the most laudable curiosity and thirst after investigating every particular relative to the history and literature of our own country, nothing less than an elaborate digest of this valuable library could be expected; and, as a supplement to the history of English literature, more desired." "That task the Editor has cheerfully undertaken: and, he flatters himself, executed as well as the short time allowed would permit. He further hopes, to the satisfaction of such who are capable of judging of its utility and importance." "The lovers of engraved English portraits (a species of modern connoisseurship which appears to have been first started by the late noble Earl of Oxford, afterwards taken up by Mr. West, Mr. Nicolls, editor of Cromwell's State-Papers, Mr. Ames, &c., and since perfected by the Muse of Strawberry-Hill, the Rev. Wm. Granger, and some few more ingenious collectors) may here look to find a considerable number of singular and scarce heads, and will not be disappointed in their search." Thus much Paterson; who, it must be confessed, has promised more than he has performed: for the catalogue, notwithstanding it was the _second_ which was published (the first being by a different hand, and most barbarously compiled) might have exhibited better method and taste in its execution. Never were rare and magnificent books more huddled together and smothered, as it were, than in this catalogue. Let us now proceed to an analysis of Mr. West's Collection.

1. _Volumes of Miscellaneous Tracts._

These volumes extend from no. 148 to 200, from 915 to 992, from 1201 to 1330, and from no. 1401 to 1480.--Among them are some singularly choice and curious articles. The following is but an imperfect specimen.

NO. 154. Atkyns on Printing, _with the frontispiece_, &c., &c., 4to.

164. G. Whetstone's Honorable Profession of a Soldier, 1586, &c., 4to.

179. Life and death of Wolsey, 1641, &c.

183. Nashe's Lenten Stuffe, with the Praise of the Red Herring, 1599, &c. 4to. (the three articles together did not exceed) L0 12_s._ 0_d._

188. A Mornynge Remembrance, had at the Moneth Mynde of the Noble Prynces Countesse of Rychmonde, &c. Wynkyn de Worde, &c. 4to. 2 2 0

194. Oh! read over Dr. John Bridges, for it is a worthie Worke, &c. bl. letter, &c. 4to. Strange and fearful Newes from Plasto, near Bow, in the house of one Paul Fox, a Silk Weaver, where is daily to be seene throwing of Stones, Bricbats, Oyster-shells, Bread, cutting his Work in Pieces, breaking his Windows, &c. _No date_, 4to. 0 12 6

1477. Leylande's Journey and Serche, given of hym as a Newe Yeares Gyfte to K. Henry 8th, enlarged by Bale, bl. letter, 1549, 8vo., (with three other curious articles.) 0 17 6

1480. A disclosing of the great Bull and certain Calves that he hath gotten, and especially the Monster Bull that roared at my Lord Byshop's gate. Bl. letter, pr. by Daye. No date. 4to.

The preceding affords but a very inadequate idea of the "pithie, pleasant, and profitable" discourses mid tracts which abounded among the miscellaneous articles of Mr. West's library. Whatever be the defects of modern literature, it must be allowed that we are not _quite so coarse_ in the _title pages_ of our books.

2. _Divinity._

This comprehended a vast mass of information, under the following general title. Scarce Tracts: Old and New Testaments (including almost all the first English editions of the New Testament, which are now of the rarest occurrence): Commentators: Ecclesiastical History: Polemics: Devotions, Catholic and Calvinistical: Enthusiasm: Monastical History: Lives of Saints: Fathers: Missionaries: Martyrs: Modern Divines and Persons of eminent piety: Free Thinkers: Old English Primers: Meditations: Some of the earliest Popish and Puritanical Controversy: Sermons by old English Divines, &c. In the whole 560 articles: probably about 1200 volumes. These general heads are sufficient to satisfy the bibliographer that, with such an indefatigable collector as was Mr. West, the greater part of the theological books must have been extremely rare and curious. From so _many Caxtons_, _Wynkyn de Wordes_, _Pynsons, &c._, it would be difficult to select a _few_ which should give a specimen of the value of the rest. Suffice it to observe that such a cluster of _Black Letter Gems_, in this department of English literature, has never since been seen in any sale catalogue.

3. _Education, Languages, Criticism, Classics, Dictionaries, Catalogues of Libraries, &c._

There were about 700 volumes in these departments. The catalogues of English books, from that of Maunsell in 1595, to the latest before Mr. West's time, were nearly complete. The treatises on education, and translations of the ancient classics, comprehended a curious and uncommon collection. The Greek and Latin Classics were rather select than rare.

4. _English Poetry, Romances, and Miscellanies._

This interesting part of the collection comprehended about 355 articles, or probably about 750 volumes: and, if the singularly rare and curious books which may be found _under these heads alone_ were now to be concentrated in one library, the owner of them might safely demand 4000 guineas for such a treasure! I make no doubt but that his MAJESTY is the fortunate possessor of the greater number of articles under all the foregoing heads.

5. _Philosophy, Mathematics, Inventions, Agriculture, and Horticulture, Medicine, Cookery, Surgery, &c._

Two hundred and forty articles, or about 560 volumes.

6. _Chemistry, Natural History, Astrology, Sorcery, Gigantology._

Probably not more than 100 volumes. The word "Gigantology," first introduced by Mr. Paterson, I believe, into the English language, was used by the French more than two centuries ago. See no. 2198 in the catalogue.

7. _History and Antiquities._

This comprehended a great number of curious and valuable productions, relating both to foreign and domestic transactions.

8. _Heraldry and Genealogy._

An equal number of curious and scarce articles may be found under these heads.

9. _Antient Legends and Chronicles._

To the English antiquary, few departments of literature are more interesting than this. Mr. West seems to have paid particular attention to it, and to have enriched his library with many articles of this description of the rarest occurrence. The lovers of Caxton, Fabian, Hardyng, Hall, Grafton, and Holinshed, may be highly gratified by inspecting the various editions of these old chroniclers. I entreat the diligent bibliographer to examine the first 8 articles of page 209 of the catalogue. Alas! when will such gems again glitter at one sale? The fortunate period for collectors is gone by: a knowledge of books almost every where prevails. At York, at Exeter, at Manchester, and at Bristol, as well as in London, this knowledge may be found sometimes on the dusty stall, as well as in the splendid shop. The worth of books begins to be considered by a different standard from that of the quantity of gold on the exterior! We are now for "_drinking deep_," as well as "_tasting_!" But I crave pardon for this digression, and lose sight of Mr. West's _uniques_.

10. _Topography._

Even to a veteran like the late Mr. Gough, such a collection as may be found from p. 217 to 239 of the catalogue, would be considered a very first-rate acquisition. I am aware that the Gothic wainscot and stained glass windows of _Enfield Study_ enshrined a still more exquisite topographical collection! But we are improved since the days of Mr. West; and every body knows to _whom_ these improvements are, in a great measure, to be attributed! When I call to mind the author of "_British Topography_" and "_Sepulchral Monuments_," I am not insensible to the taste, diligence, and erudition of the "par nobile fratrum," who have gratified us with the "_Environs of London_," and the three volumes of "_Magna Britannia_!" Catalogues of Mr. West's library, with the sums for which the books were sold, are now found with difficulty, and bring a considerable price. The late Mr. G. Baker, who had a surprisingly curious collection of priced catalogues, was in possession of the _original sale_ one of West's library. It is interleaved, and, of course, has the prices and names of the purchasers. Mr. Heber has also a priced copy, with the names, which was executed by my industrious and accurate predecessor, William Herbert, of typographico-antiquarian renown. The number of articles, on the whole, was 4653; and of the volumes as many articles were single, probably about 8000. _Ample_ as some "pithy" reader may imagine the foregoing analysis to be, I cannot find it in my heart to suffer such a collection, as was the _Bibliotheca Westiana_, to be here dismissed in so _summary_ a manner. Take, therefore, "pleasaunt" reader, the following account of the _prices_ for which some of the aforesaid book-gems were sold. They are presented to thee as a matter of curiosity only; and not as a criterion of their present value. And as MASTER CAXTON has of late become so popular amongst us, we will see, inter alios, what some of the books printed by so "simple a person" produced at this renowned sale.

NO. 564. Salesbury (Wyllyam) his Dictionary in Englyshe and Welshe, moste necessary to all such Welshemen as wil spedly learne the English tongue, &c. _Printed by Waley_, 1547, 4to. L0 17_s._ 0_d._

566. Mulcaster (Rich.) of the right writing of our English Tung. _Imp. by Vautrollier_, 1582, 4to. 0 2 6

575. Florio's Frutes to be gathered of 12 trees of divers but delyghtfule tastes to the Tongues of Italians and Englishmen, also his Garden of Recreation, &c., 1591, 4to. 0 6 6

580. Eliot's Indian Grammar, _no title_. 0 4 0

Thus much for GRAMMATICAL TRACTS.

808. The fyve Bokes of Moses, wythe the Prologes of Wyllyam Tyndale, b.b. 1534, _printed in different characters at different periods_, 8vo. 4 4 0

813. The Actes of the Apostles translated into Englyshe metre, by Chrystofer Tye, Doctor in musyke, with notes to synge, and also to play upon the lute. _Printed by Seres_, 1553, 12mo. 0 11 6

819. The Newe Testament, with the Prologes of Wyllyam Tyndale, cuts, printed at Andwarp, &c., 1534, 12mo. 0 18 0

820. The same, with the same cuts, emprynted at Antwerpe, by M. Crom, 1538, _a fine copy, in morocco binding_ (title wanting). 2 4 0

1341. The Gospels of the fower Evangelists, translated in the olde Saxons Tyme, &c. Sax. and Eng. Imprinted by Daye, 1571, 4to. 1 12 0

1383. The Discipline of the Kirk of Scotlande, subscribet by the Handes off Superintendentes, one parte off Ministers, and scribet in oure generalle Assemblies ad Edenbourg, 28 Decemb., 1566. _No title._ 4to. 1 3 0

1714. The most sacred Bible, recognised with great diligence by Richard Taverner, &c., _printed by Byddell for Barthelet, 1539, in russia_. 3 5 0

1716. The Byble in Englyshe of the largest and greatest volume, &c. _Printed by Grafton_, 1541, Folio. 1 3 0

1870. Speculum Vite Christi, the Booke that is cleped the Myrroure of the blessed Lyf of Jhesu Cryste, _emprynted by Caxton_, fol., _no date, fine copy in morocco_. 9 9 0

1871. The prouffytable Boke for Mannes Soule, &c., _emprynted by Caxton_, fol., no date, a fine copy in morocco. 5 0 0

1873. Cordyale, or of the fowre last Thynges, &c., _emprynted by Caxton_, 1480, fol., _fine copy in morocco_. 14 0 0

1874. The Pylgremage of the Sowle, &c., 1483, folio, _emprynted by Caxton_. 8 17 6

1875. The Booke entytled and named Ryal, &c., _translated and printed by Caxton_, 1484, _fine morocco copy_. 10 0 0

1876. The Arte and Crafte to knowe well to dye; _translated and prynted by Caxton_, 1490, folio. 5 2 6

So take we leave of DIVINITY!

1047. Hall's Virgidemiarum, lib. vi. 1599, 1602, 12mo. "Mr. Pope's copy, who presented it to Mr. West, telling him that he esteemed them the best poetry and truest satire in the English language." (N.B. These satires were incorrectly published in 1753, 8vo.: a republication of them, with pertinent notes, would be very acceptable.) 0 18 0

1658. Churchyard's Works; 3 vols. in 1, _very elegant_, bl. letter. 3 13 6

1816. The Passe Tyme of Pleasure, &c., _printed by Wynkyn de Worde_, 1517, 4to., fine copy. 3 3 0

1821. Merie conceited Jests of George Peele, Gent. 1607, 4to. Robin the Devil, his two penni-worth of Wit in half a penni-worth of paper, &c., 1607, 4to. 0 18 6

1846. The Hye Waye to the Spyttell Hous; printed by the compyler Rob. Copland, no date. 0 6 6

1847. Another copy of the Spyttell House; "A thousande fyve hundredth fortye and foure," no printer's name, mark, or date, 4to. Here begynneth a lytell propre Jest, called Cryste Crosse me spede, a b c. 1 11 6

2274. Chaucer's Work; first edition, _emprentyd by Caxton_, folio, _in russia_. 47 15 6

2280. ---- Troylus and Creseyde, _printed b [Transcriber's Note: by] Caxton_, folio. 10 10 0

2281. ---- Booke of Fame, _printed by Caxton_, folio. 4 5 0

2297. Gower de Confessione Amantis; _printed by Caxton_, 1483, folio, _in morocco_. 9 9 0

2282. The Bokys of Haukyng and Hunting; _printed at Seynt Albons_, 1486, _folio: fine copy in morocco_. 13 0 0

And here farewell POETRY!

1678. The Booke of the moste victoryouse Prynce, Guy of Warwick. _Impr. by W. Copland_, 4to. 1 1 0

1683. The Historye of Graunde Amoure and la bell Pucel, &c. _Impr. by John Wayland_, 1554, 4to. 1 2 0

1685. The Historye of Olyver of Castylle, &c. _Impr. by Wynkyn de Worde_, 1518, 4to. 1 12 0

1656. The Booke of the Ordre of Chyvalry or Knyghthode. _Translated and printed by William Caxton_; no date, a fine copy in russia, 4to. 5 5 0

(Shall I put one, or one hundred marks--not of admiration but of astonishment--at this price?! but go on kind reader!)

2480. The Boke of Jason: _emprynted by Caxton_, folio. 4 4 0

2481. The Boke of Fayttes of Armes and of Chyvalrye, _emprynted by Caxton_, 1489, folio. 10 10 0

2582. Thystorye, &c., of the Knyght Parys, and of the fayre Vyenne, &c. 1485, fol., _translated and printed by Caxton_. 14 0 0

But why should I go on tantalising the S----s, H----s, S----s, R----s, and U----s, of the day, by further specimens of the _enormous_ sums here given for such _common_ editions of old ROMANCES? Mr. George Nicol, his majesty's bookseller, told me, with his usual pleasantry and point, that he got abused in the public papers, by Almon and others, for his having purchased nearly the whole of the Caxtonian volumes in this collection for his Majesty's library. It was said abroad that "a Scotchman had lavished away the king's money in buying old black-letter books." A pretty specimen of _lavishing_ away royal money, truly! There is also another thing, connected with these _invaluable_ (I speak as a bibliomaniac--and, perhaps, as a metaphysician may think--as a fool! but let it pass!) with these invaluable purchases:--his Majesty, in his directions to Mr. Nicol, forbade any competition with those purchasers who wanted books of science and belles-lettres for their _own professional_ or _literary_ pursuits: thus using, I ween, the powers of his purse in a manner at once merciful and wise.--"O si sic"--may we say to many a heavy-metalled book-auction bibliomaniac of the present day!--Old Tom Payne, the father of the respectable Mr. Payne, of Pall-Mall, used to tell Mr. Nichol--_pendente hasta_--that he had been "raising all the CAXTONS!" "Many a copy," quoth he, "hath _stuck_ in my shop at two guineas!" Mr. NICHOLS, in his amusing biography of Bowyer, has not devoted so large a portion of his pages to the description of Mr. West's collection, life, and character, as he has to many collectors who have been less eminently distinguished in the bibliographical world. Whether this was the result of the paucity, or incongruity, of his materials, or whether, from feelings of delicacy he might not choose to declare all he knew, are points into which I have neither right nor inclination to enquire. There seems every reason to conclude that, from youth, West had an elegant and well-directed taste in matters of literature and the fine arts. As early as the year 1720, he shewed the munificence of his disposition, in these respects, by befriending Hearne with a plate for his _Antiquities of Glastonbury_; see p. 285--which was executed, says Hearne, "Sumptibus ornatissimi amicissimique Juvenis (multis sane nominibus de studiis nostris optime meriti) JACOBI WEST," &c. So in his pref. to _Adam de Domerham de reb. gest. Glaston_:--"antiquitatum ac historiarum nostrarum studiosus in primis--Jacobus West." p. xx. And in his _Walter Hemingford_, we have:--"fragmentum, ad civitatem Oxoniensem pertinens, admodum egregium, mihi dono dedit amicus eximius Jacobus West--is quem alibi juvenem ornatissimum appellavi," &c., p. 428. How the promise of an abundant harvest, in the mature years of so excellent a young man, was realized, the celebrity of West, throughout Europe, to his dying day, is a sufficient demonstration. I conclude with the following; which is literally from Nichols's _Anecdotes of Bowyer_. "James West, of Alscott, in the county of Warwick, Esq., M.A., of Baliol College, Oxford, (son of Richard West, said to be descended, according to family tradition, from Leonard, a younger son of Thomas West, Lord Delawar, who died in 1525) was representative in parliament for St. Alban's, in 1741; and being appointed one of the joint Secretaries of the Treasury, held that office till 1762. In 1765 or 1766, his old patron the Duke of Newcastle, obtained for him a pension of 2000_l._ a year. He was an early member, and one of the Vice Presidents, of the Antiquary Society; and was first Treasurer, and afterwards President, of the Royal Society. He married the daughter and heiress of Sir Thomas Stephens, timber merchant, in Southwark, with whom he had a large fortune in houses in Rotherhithe; and by whom he had a son, James West, Esq., now (1782) of Alscott, one of the Auditors of the Land-Tax, and sometime Member of Parliament for Boroughbridge, in Yorkshire (who in 1774 married the daughter of Christopher Wren, of Wroxhall in Warwickshire, Esq.), and had two daughters. Mr. West died in July, 1772. His large and valuable collection of MANUSCRIPTS was sold to the _Earl of Shelburne_, and is now deposited in the British Museum."]

LOREN. All hail to thee--transcendant bibliomaniac of other times!--of times, in which my father lived, and procured, at the sale of thy precious book-treasures, not a few of those rare volumes which have so much gladdened the eyes of Lisardo.

BELIN. I presume you mean, dear brother, some of those _black-looking_ gentlemen, bound in fancifully marked coats of morocco, and _washed_ and _ironed_ within (for you collectors must have recourse to a woman's occupation) with so much care and nicety that even the eyes of our ancient Rebecca, with "spectacle on nose" to boot, could hardly detect the cunning' conceit of your binder!

LOREN. Spare my feelings and your own reputation, if you wish to appreciate justly the noble craft of book-repairing, &c.--But proceed, dear Lysander.

LYSAND. You cannot have a greater affection towards the memory of the collector of the _Bibliotheca Westiana_ than myself. Hark--! or is it only a soft murmur from a congregation of autumnal zephyrs!--but methought I heard a sound, as if calling upon us to look well to the future fate of our libraries--to look well to their being _creditably catalogued_--"For" (and indeed it _is_ the voice of West's spirit that speaks) "my collection was barbarously murdered; and hence I am doomed to wander for a century, to give warning to the ----, ----, and ----, of the day, to execute this useful task with their own hands! Yes; even the name of PATERSON has not saved my collection from censure; but his hands were then young and inexperienced--yet I suffer from this innocent error!" Away, away, vexed spirit--and let thy head rest in peace beneath the sod!

ALMAN. For heaven's sake, into what society are we introduced, sister? All mad--book mad! but I hope harmless.

LYSAND. Allay your apprehensions; for, though we may have the energies of the lion, we have the gentleness of the "unweaned lamb." But, in describing so many and such discordant characters, how can I proceed in the jog-trot way of--"next comes such a one--and then follows another--and afterwards proceeds a third, and now a fourth!?"

ALMAN. Sir, you are right, and I solicit your forgiveness. If I have not sufficient bookish enthusiasm to fall down and worship your CAXTONIAN DEITY, JAMES WEST, I am at least fully disposed to concede him every excellent and amiable quality which sheds lustre upon a literary character.

LYSAND. All offence is expiated: for look, the spirit walks off calmly--and seems to acknowledge, with satisfaction, such proper sentiments in the breast of one whose father and brother have been benefited by his book treasures.

The rapturous, and, I fear you will think, the wild and incoherent, manner in which I have noticed the sale of the _Bibliotheca Westiana_ had nearly driven from my recollection that, in the preceding, the same, and subsequent, year, there was sold by auction a very curious and extraordinary collection of books and Prints belonging to honest TOM MARTIN,[389] _of Palgrave_, in Suffolk: a collector of whom, if I remember rightly, Herbert has, upon several occasions, spoken with a sort of veneration. If Lavater's system of physiognomy happen to receive your approbation, you will conclude, upon contemplating Tom's frank countenance--of which a cut precedes the title-page of the first catalogue--that the collector of Palgrave must have been "a fine old fellow." Martin's book-pursuits were miscellaneous, and perhaps a little too wildly followed up; yet some good fortune contributed to furnish his collection with volumes of singular curiosity.

[Footnote 389: "Hereafter followeth" rather a rough outline of the contents of honest Tom Martin's miscellaneous and curious collection. To the IVth part I have added a few prices, and but a few. I respect too much the quiet and comfort of the present race of bibliomaniacs, to inflame their minds by a longer extract of such tantalizing sums given for some of the most extraordinary volumes in English Literature.----I. _A Catalogue of the Library of_ Mr. THOMAS MARTIN, _of Palgrave, in Suffolk, lately deceased. Lynn, Printed by W. Whittingham_, 1772, 8vo. With a portrait engraved by Lamborn, from a painting of Bardwell. 5240 articles; with 15 pages of Appendix, containing MSS.----no. 86. Juliana Barnes on Hawking, &c., black-letter, wants a leaf, folio. 56. Chauncey's History of Hertfordshire, with marginal notes, by P. Le Neve, Esq., 1700, folio. 757. Scriptores Rerum Brunsvicensium, 3 vols. folio, 1707. ("N.B. Only 3 sets in England at the accession of Geo. III.")----II. _A Catalogue of the very curious and numerous collection of Manuscripts of_ THOMAS MARTIN, Esq., _of Suffolk, lately deceased_. Consisting of Pedigrees, Genealogies, Heraldic Papers, Old Deeds, Charters, Sign Manuals, Autographs, &c., likewise some very rare old printed books. Sold by auction by Baker and Leigh, April 28, 1773, 8vo. The MSS. (of many of which Edmonson was a purchaser) consisted of 181 articles, ending with "The 15 O's, in old English verse--St. Bridget." Among the 19 volumes only of "Scarce Printed Books" were the following:--no. 188. Edwards' Paradyse of daynty Devices, 1577. 196. The Holy Life of Saynt Werburge, printed by Pynson, 1521. The Lyfe of Saynte Radegunde, by Pynson. Lyfe of Saynt Katherine, printed by Waley, 4to.----III. _A Catalogue of the remaining Part of the valuable Collection of the late well known Antiquary_, Mr. MARTIN, _of Palgrave, Suffolk_: consisting of many very valuable and ancient Manuscripts on vellum, early printed black-letter Books, and several other scarce Books; his Law Library, Deeds, Grants, and Pedigrees; a valuable collection of Drawings and Prints, by the best masters--and his Collection of Greek, Roman, Saxon, and English Coins--with some curiosities. Sold by auction by Baker and Leigh, 18th May, 1774. 8vo. This collection consisted of 537 articles, exclusively of the coins, &c., which were 75 in number. Among the printed books were several very curious ones; such as----no. 88. The Death and Martyrdom of Campione the Jesuite, 1581, 8vo. 124. Heywood's "If you know not me, you know nobody," 1623, 4to. "This has a wood-cut of the whole length of Q. Elizabeth, and is very scarce." 183. Fabyan's Chronicle. This I take it was the first edition. 186. Promptuarium Parvulorum. Pynson, folio, 1499. See Hearne's Peter Langtoft, vol. ii., 624-5. 228. Dives et Pauper; yis Tretyys ben dyvydit into elevene partys, and ev'ry part is dyvidit into chapitalis. "The above extremely curious and valuable Manuscript on vellum is wrote on 539 pages. Vide Leland, vol. ii., 452: Bale, 609. Pits, 660. MS., 4to." 236. Original Proclamations of Q. Elizabeth, folio. "A most rare collection, and of very great value: the Earl of Oxford once offered Mr. Martin one hundred guineas for them, which he refused." Qu. what they sold for? 237. The Pastyme of the People; the Cronycles of dyvers Realmys, and most specyally of the Realme of Englond, &c., by John Rastell. An elegant copy, in the original binding, large folio, black-letter, London, 1529. "Supposed to be only two or three copies existing;" but see page 337, ante. The folio Manuscripts, extending to no. 345, are very curious; especially the first 60 numbers.----IV. _Bibliotheca Martiniana. A Catalogue of the entire Library of the late eminent Antiquary_ Mr. THOMAS MARTIN, _of Suffolk_. Containing some thousand volumes in every Language, Art, and Science, a large collection of the scarcest early Printers, and some hundreds of Manuscripts, &c., which will begin to be sold very cheap, on Saturday, June 5 (1773). By Martin Booth and John Berry, Booksellers, at their Warehouse in the Angel Yard, Market Place, Norwich, and continue on sale only two months: 8vo. This Catalogue is full of curious, rare, and interesting books; containing 4895 articles; all priced. Take, as a sample, the following:

NO. 4071. Wynkyn de Worde's reprint of Juliana Berners' book of Hawking, &c., 1496, folio, 1_l._ 11_s._ 6_d._: no. 4292. Copland's ditto of ditto, fair 7_s._ 6_d._

4099. A collection of Old Romances in the Dutch Language, with wood-cuts, very fair, 1544 to 1556, folio 10 6

4169. Horace's Art of poetry, by Drant, 1567, 4to. 3 6

4234. A certayne Tragedye, &c., entitled, Freewil, wants title, very fair and scarce, 4to. 5 0

4254. Historie of Prince Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table, 1634, 4to. 7 6

4336. The Life off the 70 Archbishopp off Canterbury presentlye sittinge, &c. Imprinted in 1574, 8vo., neat 10 6

A severe satire against Parker, Abp. of Canterbury, for which 'tis said the author was punished with the loss of his arm.

4345. Amorous Tales, by James Sanforde, very rare, printed by Bynneman, 1567, 12mo. (or small 8vo. perhaps) 5 0

4432. Hereafter followeth a little boke whyche hath to name Whye come ye not to court: by Mayster Skelton; printed by Anthony Kytson, no date. A little boke of Philip Sparrow, compiled by Mayster Skelton; printed by Ant. Veale, no date, very fair, both 8vo. 7 6

"This is a most extraordinarily scarce edition of Skelton's Pieces, and has besides these, some other fragments of his by various early printers."]

But I proceed. The commotions excited in the book world, by means of the sales of the _Bibliotheca Westiana_ and _Martiniana_, had hardly ceased, when a similar agitation took place from the dispersion of the _Monastic Library_ which once belonged to SERJEANT FLETEWODE;[390] a bibliomaniac who flourished in full vigour during the reign of Elizabeth. The catalogue of these truly curious books is but a sorry performance; but let the lover of rare articles put on his bathing corks, and swim quietly across this ocean of black-letter, and he will be abundantly repaid for the toil of such an aquatic excursion.

[Footnote 390: The year following the sale of Mr. West's books, a very curious and valuable collection, chiefly of English literature, was disposed of by auction, by Paterson, who published the catalogue under the following title: "BIBLIOTHECA MONASTICO-FLETEWODIANA." "_A Catalogue of rare books and tracts in various languages and faculties; including the Ancient Conventual Library of Missenden Abbey, in Buckinghamshire_; together with some choice remains of that of the late eminent Serjeant at Law, WILLIAM FLETEWODE, Esq., Recorder of London, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth; among which are several specimens of the earliest typography, foreign and English, including Caxton, Wynkyn de Worde, Pynson, and others: a fine collection of English history, some scarce old law books, a great number of old English plays, several choice MSS. upon vellum, and other subjects of literary curiosity. Also several of the best editions of the classics, and modern English and French books. Sold by auction by S. Paterson, December," 1774, 8vo., 3641 lots, or articles. I am in possession of a _priced catalogue_ of this collection, with the names of the purchasers. The latter were principally Herbert, Garrick, Dodd, Elmsley, T. Payne, Richardson, Chapman, Wagstaff, Bindley, and Gough. The following is a specimen of some curious and interesting articles contained in this celebrated library:

NO. 172. Bale's brefe Chronycle relating to Syr Johan Oldecastell, 1544. The Life off the 70th Archbishop off Canterbury, presentlye sittinge, 1574, &c. Life of Hen. Hills, Printer to O. Cromwell, with the Relation of what passed between him and the Taylor's Wife in Black Friars, 1688, 8vo., &c. L0 7_s._ 9_d._

Purchased by Mores.

361 to 367. Upwards of thirty _scarce Theological Tracts_, in Latin and English. 1 5 0

746 to 784. A fine collection of early English Translations, in black letter, with some good foreign editions of the classics. Not exceeding, in the whole 10 10 0

837, 838. Two copies of the _first edition_ of Bacon's Essays, 1597. MIRABILE DICTU! 0 0 6

The reader will just glance at no. 970, in the catalogue, en passant, to

1082. (1_l._ 2_s._) and 1091 (12_s._) but more particularly to

1173. The Boke of Tulle of Olde Age, &c. _Emprynted by Caxton_, 1481, folio 8 0 0

1174. The Boke which is sayd or called Cathon, &c. _printed by the same_, 1483, folio. Purchased by Alchorne 5 0 0

1256. The Doctrinal of Sapyence, _printed by the same_, 1489, folio. Purchased by Alchorne 6 6 0

1257. The Booke named the Cordyal, _printed by the same_, 1479, folio 6 12 6

But there is no end to these curious volumes. I will, however, only add that there were upwards of 150 articles of _Old Plays_, mostly in quarto. See page 73. Of _Antiquities_, _Chronicles_, and _Topography_, it would be difficult to pitch upon the rarest volumes. The collection, including very few MSS., contained probably about 7000 volumes. The catalogue, in a clean condition, is somewhat uncommon.]

You will imagine that the BOOK-DISEASE now began to be more active and fatal than ever; for the ensuing year (namely, in 1775) died the famous ANTHONY ASKEW, M.D. Those who recollect the zeal and scholarship of this illustrious bibliomaniac,[391] and the precious volumes with which his library was stored, from the choice collections of De Boze, Gaignat, Mead, and Folkes, cannot but sigh, with grief of heart, on reflecting upon such a victim! How ardently, and how kindly (as I remember to have heard one of his intimate friend [Transcriber's Note: friends] say) would Askew unlock the stores of his glittering book-treasures!--open the magnificent folio, or the shining duodecimo, _printed upon vellum_, and embossed with golden knobs, or held fast with silver clasps! How carefully would he unrol the curious _manuscript_, decipher the half effaced characters--and then, casting an eye of ecstacy over the shelves upon which similar treasures were lodged, exult in the glorious prospect before him! But death--who, as Horace tells us, equally exercises the knocker of the palace and cottage-door, made no scruple to rap at that of our renowned Doctor--when Askew, with all his skill in medicine and knowledge of books, yielded to the summons of the grim tyrant--and died lamented, as he lived beloved!

[Footnote 391: Lysander is now arrived, pursuing his chronological order, at a very important period in the annals of book-sales. The name and collection of Dr. ASKEW are so well known in the bibliographical world that the reader need not be detained with laboured commendations on either: in the present place, however, it would be a cruel disappointment not to say a word or two by way of preface or prologue. Dr. ANTHONY ASKEW had eminently distinguished himself by a refined taste, a sound knowledge, and an indefatigable research, relating to every thing connected with Grecian and Roman literature. It was to be expected, even during his life, as he was possessed of sufficient means to gratify himself with what was rare, curious, and beautiful, in literature and the fine arts, that the public would one day be benefited by such pursuits: especially as he had expressed a wish that his treasures might be unreservedly submitted to sale, after his decease. In this wish the doctor was not singular. Many eminent collectors had indulged it before him: and, to my knowledge, many modern ones still indulge it. Accordingly, on the death of Dr. Askew, in 1774, appeared, in the ensuing year, a catalogue of his books for sale, by Messrs. Baker and Leigh, under the following title: "BIBLIOTHECA ASKEVIANA, _sive Catalogus Librorum Rarissimorum Antonii Askew, M.D., quorum Auctio fiet apud S. Baker et G. Leigh, in Vico dicto York Street, Covent Garden, Londini, Die Lunae, 13 Februarii_, MDCCLXXV, _et in undeviginti sequentes dies_." A few copies were struck off on _large paper_, which are yet rather common. My own copy is of this kind, with the prices, and names of the purchasers. We are told, by the compiler of the catalogue, that it was thought "unnecessary to say much with respect to this library of the late Dr. Anthony Askew, as the collector and the collection were so well known in almost all parts of Europe." Afterwards it is observed that "The books in general are in very fine condition, many of them bound in morocco, and russia leather, with gilt leaves." "To give a particular account," continues the compiler, "of the _many scarce editions_ of books in this catalogue would be almost endless, therefore the _first editions_ of the classics, and some _extremely rare books_, are chiefly noticed. The catalogue, without any doubt, contains the best, rarest, and most valuable collection of GREEK and LATIN BOOKS that was ever sold in England, and the great time and trouble of forming it will, it is hoped, be a sufficient excuse for the price put to it." (1_s._ 6_d._ the small paper, and 4_s._ the large.) This account is not overcharged. The collection in regard to Greek and Roman literature was _unique_ in its day. Enriched with many a tome from the Harleian, Dr. Mead's, Martin Folkes's, and Dr. Rawlinson's library, as well as with numerous rare and splendid articles from foreign collections (for few men travelled with greater ardour, or had an acuter discrimination than Dr. Askew), the books were sought after by almost every one then eminent for bibliographical research. HIS MAJESTY was a purchaser, says Mr. J. Nichols, to the amount of about 300_l._; Dr. Hunter, to the amount of 500_l._; and De Bure (who had commissions from the King of France and many foreign collectors, to the amount of 1500_l._) made purchases to the same amount; Dr. Maty was solicited by the trustees of the British Museum not to be unmindful of _that repository_; and accordingly he became a purchaser to a considerable amount. The late worthy and learned Mr. M. CRACHERODE, whose library now forms one of the most splendid acquisitions of the British Museum, and whose _bequest_ of it will immortalize his memory, was also among the "Emptores literarii" at this renowned sale. He had enriched his collection with many an "_Exemplar Askevianum_;" and, in his latter days, used to elevate his hands and eyes, and exclaim against the prices _now_ offered for EDITIONES PRINCIPES. The fact is, Dr. Askew's sale has been considered a sort of _era_ in bibliography. Since that period, rare and curious books in Greek and Latin literature have been greedily sought after, and obtained (as a recent sale abundantly testifies) at most extravagant prices. It is very well for a veteran in bibliographical literature, as was Mr. Cracherode, or as are Mr. Wodhull, and Dr. Gosset--whose collections were, in part, formed in the days of De Bure, Gaignat, Askew, Duke de la Valliere, and Lamoignon--it is very well for such gentlemen to declaim against _modern prices_! But what is to be done? Classical books grow scarcer every day, and the love of literature, and of possessing rare and interesting works, increases in an equal ratio. Hungry bibliographers meet, at sales, with well-furnished purses, and are resolved upon sumptuous fare! Thus the hammer _vibrates_, after a bidding of FORTY POUNDS, where formerly it used regularly to _fall_ at FOUR! But we lose sight of Dr. Askew's _rare editions_, and _large paper copies_. The following, gentle reader, is but an imperfect specimen!

NO. 168. Chaucer's Works, by _Pynson_, no date L7 17_s._ 6_d._

172. Cicero of Old Age, by Caxton, 1481 13 13 0

518. Gilles (Nicole) Annales, &c., de France. Paris, fol. 1520, 2 tom. SUR VELIN 31 10 6

647. Aeginetae (Pauli) Praecepta Salubria; Paris, quarto, 1510. On VELLUM 11 0 0

666. Aesopi Fabulae. _Edit. Princeps circ._ 1483 6 6 0

684. Boccacio, il Teseide, _Ferar._, 1475. _Prima Edizione_ 85 0 0

[This copy, which is called, "_probably unique_," was once, I suspect, in Consul Smith's library. See _Bibl. Smith_, p.