Annals of the Bodleian Library, Oxford, A.D. 1598-A.D. 1867 Part 5

4. A Testament in 16^o, printed by Norton and Bill in 1625. Very thick and clumsy embroidery: on one side, David, in a flowing wig, playing on the harp, with a dog, dragon-fly, &c; on the other, Abraham, in a similar wig and with a falling collar, stopped in the sacrifice of his son. There is a tradition that this formed part of a waistcoat of Charles I; but it is not known on what evidence it rests, nor does the material seem likely to have been so employed. In the Douce collection.

Exhibited in the gla.s.s case at the entrance of the Library.

5. Bible, 8^o Lond. 1639. Landscape, &c., worked in silk, with embroidery in gold and silver thread. Arch Bodl. D subt. 75.

6. Prayer-book, New Test., and Metrical Psalms, 1630-1, bound by the nuns of Little Gidding. Exhibited in the gla.s.s case. Bought in 1866 for 10[84].

7. New Testament, printed at Cambridge in 1628, in 16^mo. This was the first edition printed there of any portion of the Authorized Version, and only the second of any English translation[85]. The binding of the Library copy (which was bought, in 1859, for five guineas) is covered with silver filigree work.

Among Dr. Rawlinson's multifarious collections is a volume of curious early specimens of worked samplers, humorously lettered on the back, 'Works of Learned Ladies.'

[80] 'Reg. Conv. R. 1628. f. 6.' MS. note by Dr. P. Bliss.

[81] See _sub anno_ 1635.

[82] A lady, whose name is not mentioned, but who is graced with the appellation of 'heroina,' is recorded to have given to the University the Life of our Blessed Lord depicted in needle-work, 'byssina et aurata textura,' which was duly presented in Convocation on July 9, 1636. [Reg.

Conv. R. 24.] It is not now preserved in the Library.

[83] This note is printed and the book described in Hearne's Appendix to _t.i.ti Livii Forojul. Vit. Hen. V_, and, from thence, in Ballard's _Lives_; but not very correctly in either case. Also in Bliss' _Reliqq.

Hearn._ i. 104.

[84] In the life of Rich. Ferrar, junior, in Wordsworth's _Eccl. Biogr._ (third edit. vol. iv. p. 232) a note is quoted from a MS. stating that a copy of Ferrar's _Whole Law of G.o.d_, bound by the nuns of Gidding in green velvet, was given to the University Library by Archbp. Laud. This is a mistake; the book in question was given by the Archbishop to the library of his own college, St. John's, where it still remains.

[85] The first was the Genevan Version, printed in 1591.

A.D. 1629.

The extremely valuable series of Greek MSS., called from its collector the Barocci Collection, comprising 242 volumes, was presented by Will.

Herbert, Earl of Pembroke, and Chancellor of the University. The manner of its acquisition is recorded in Archbp. Usher's correspondence. In a letter from Dublin of Jan. 22, 1628-9, Usher says: 'That famous library of Giacomo Barocci, a gentleman of Venice, consisting of 242 ma.n.u.script volumes, is now brought into England by Mr. Featherstone the stationer[86].' He recommended that the King should buy it, and add to it the collection of Arabic MSS. which the Duke of Buckingham had bought of the heirs of Erpenius[87]. On April 13, 1629, Sir H. Bourgchier writing to Usher, tells him that the Earl of Pembroke has bought the collection, for the University of Oxford, at the price of 700, and that it consists of 250 volumes[88]. It was forwarded to the University with the following letter, which is here copied from the Convocation Register, R. 24 (f. 9^b.):--

'Good Mr. Vice-Chancelor,

'Understanding of an excellent collection of Greke ma.n.u.scripts brought from Venice, and thincking that they would bee of more use to the Church in being kept united in some publick Librarye then scattered in particular hands; remembring the obligation I had to my mother the Universitie, first for breeding mee, after for the honor they did mee in making mee their Chancelor, I was glad of this occasion to repay some part of that great debt I owe her. And therefore I sent you downe the collection entire, which I pray present with my beste love to the Convocation house. And I shall unfaynedly remaine,

'Your most a.s.sured freind, 'PEMBROKE.

'Greenewich, the 25th of May, 1629.'

The Earl was willing that the MSS. should, if necessary, be allowed to be borrowed. And, in pursuance of this expressed wish, Patrick Young had, in 1648, the use of various MSS. from this collection, as we find from a memorandum at the end of the Register of Readers in 1648-9. But one MS. suffered in consequence considerable injury[89]. A further portion of the collection (consisting of 22 Greek MSS. and 2 Russian), which had been retained by the Earl, was subsequently purchased by Oliver Cromwell, and given by him to the Library in 1654. There they still bear the Protector's name; but, strange to say, no entry of the gift appears in the Benefaction Book[90]. These are all fully described in the first volume of the general Catalogue of MSS., published by Rev.

H. O. c.o.xe in 1853. A Catalogue of the Barocci and Roe MSS., by Dr.

Peter Turner, of Merton College, beautifully written, filling 38 folio leaves, is bound up among Selden's printed books, marked AA. 1. Med.

Seld.

On Aug. 27, the Library was visited for the first time by King Charles and his Queen, little antic.i.p.ating under what circ.u.mstances that visit would be repeated. He was received with an oration by the Public Orator, Strode, a copy of which is preserved in Smith MS. xxvi. 26, and which, in the exaggerated style of the Court-adulation of the time, began with words that sound blasphemously in our ears, '_Excellentissime Vice-Deus_.' From the Library the King ascended to the leads of the Schools; and there discussed the proposed removal of some mean houses in Cat Street, which then intervened between the Schools and St. Mary's Church. A plan of the ground and buildings was made at his desire, which was sent up to him at London.

[86] In the following year Mr. Henry Featherstone, bookseller in London, gave to the Library a number of Hebrew books.

[87] Parr's _Life of Usher_, Letters, p. 400.

[88] _Ibid._ Quoted in Sir H. Ellis' _Letters of Eminent Literary Men_, Camden Soc., 1843. p. 130.

[89] See _sub anno_ 1654.

[90] Richard Cromwell proposed at one time to perpetuate his own name in the Library, together with his father's, by sending a collection of the addresses which had been made to him, in order to show the temper of the nation, and the readiness of the greatest persons 'to compliment people on purpose for secular interest.' _Reliquiae Hearn._ i. 263.

A.D. 1631.

Charles Robson, B.D., of Queen's College, who had been Chaplain to the Merchants at Aleppo, gave a fine Syriac MS. of the Four Gospels, which he had brought from the East; it is now numbered Bodl. Orient. 361.

Another MS. of his gift has been by some mistake placed amongst the Thurston MSS., No. 13.

A.D. 1632.

William Burton, the historian of Leicesters.h.i.+re, gave the original MSS.

of Leland's _Itinerary_ (together with a transcript of some parts) and of his _Collectanea_; the former filling seven volumes in quarto[91], and the latter (including the book _De Scriptoribus Britannicis_) four in folio. The _Collectanea_, after the death of Leland, had been in the possession of Sir John Cheke, to whom Edward VI entrusted the custody of Leland's papers; on his going into exile in the reign of Queen Mary, he gave them to Humphrey Purefoy, Esq., whose son, Thomas Purefoy, presented them to Burton in the year 1612. The _Itinerary_ was first published by Hearne in 1710, in 9 vols.; the _Collectanea_ in 1715, in 6 vols.; the _De Scriptoribus_, by Ant. Hall, in 1709. The MS. of the _Itinerary_ is much stained and injured by damp; but it is no longer in the perishable condition described by Hearne. There are, besides, three transcripts of it in the Library; one, of part of the book (Bodl. 470) is a copy (mentioned above) which was made for Burton, and sent by him to Rouse, with a letter dated 'Lindley, Leic. 17 July, 1632,' in which he describes it as being 'written, though not with so fine a letter, yet with a judicious hand.' He says that another part is 'now (as I heere) in the hands of Doctor Burton, Archdeacon of Gloucester, which he received by loane from a freind of mine, but never yet restored; the which, I thinke, upon request he will impart unto you;' and adds, 'Some more partes there were of this _Itinerary_, but through the negligence of him to whom they were first lent, are embesiled and gone.' He undertakes to send the three parts of the _Collectanea_ and the book _De Scriptt. Angliae_, according to promise, as soon as he has done using them. Another copy, made by Burton himself in 1628, was given to Dr. W.

Stukeley by Thomas Allen, Esq., lord of Finchley, in June, 1758, and finally came to the Library with Gough's collection. It is now numbered Gough, General Topog. 2. It is injured by damp at the beginning, but has been repaired by Stukeley. The third copy is a later transcript, also in Gough's collection, and numbered General Topog. 1.

[91] An eighth volume of the _Itinerary_ was given by Charles King, M.A.

of Ch. Ch. some time subsequently, having been lent by Burton and not recovered at the time of his own gift.

A.D. 1633.

A singular motto stamped upon the binding of two books, and it may be of more, within a border of cornucopiae, &c., attracts the attention of the reader. The books are, vols. i. ii. of Du Chesne's _Historiae Francorum Scriptores_, 1636 (A. 2. 9. 10. Jur.), and Halloix's _Ecclesiae Orientalis Scriptores_, 1633 (G. 2. 3. Th.); the motto is, 'Coronasti annum bonitatis Tuae, Ps. 65. Annuo reditu quinque librarum Margaretae Brooke.' An explanation is found in an entry in the Benefaction-Register under the year 1632 or 1633, where we read as follows: 'D. Margareta Brooke, vidua, quondam uxor Ducis Brooke, de Temple-Combe in comitatu Somerset, armigeri defuncti, donavit centum libras, quibus perquisitus est annuus reditus quinque librarum ad coemendos libros in usum bibliothecae in perpetuum.' Probably the books thus stamped were the first that were bought after the final settlement of the gift. The rent arises from land at Wick-Risington, in Gloucesters.h.i.+re, and the sum duly appears to this day in the annual accounts of the Library. In 1655, the then Librarian, Barlow, makes a memorandum in his accounts that the University had not paid over this rent for several years; in consequence of his calling attention to this neglect, the arrears were paid up in 1658. At the same time the rents of the houses in Distaff Lane were heavily in arrear.

A (second) gift from Sir Henry Wotton consisted of the copy of Tycho Brahe's _Astronomiae instaurandae mechanica_, 1598, which the author gave to Grimani, Doge of Venice, containing several additional pages in MS.

with two autograph epigrams; and also of a MS. of the _Acta Concilii Constantiensis_, which had formerly belonged to Card. Bembi, now numbered _e Musaeo_, 25.

A.D. 1634.

In this year Sir Kenelm Digby gave a collection of 238 MSS. (including five rolls) all on vellum, uniformly bound, and stamped with his arms, which still form a distinct series. They are, for the most part, of the highest interest and importance, especially with reference to the early history of science in England. Amongst them are works by Roger Bacon, Grosteste, Will. Reade, John Eschyndon or Ashton, Roger of Hereford, Richard Wallingford, Simon Bredon, Thomas of New-market, and many others. They also comprise much relating to the general history of England, and are almost entirely the work of English scribes. Many of them had previously belonged to Thomas Allen, of Gloucester Hall, who himself was a liberal donor to the Library. [_See_ p. 19.] Two additional MSS., which formerly belonged to Digby, and which each contain his inscription, 'Hic est liber publicae Bibliothecae academiae Oxoniensis, K.D.,' were purchased in 1825. One of these, _R. Baconis opuscula_, was bought for 51; the other, a Latin translation, by W. de Morbeck, of Proclus' Commentary on Plato, for 31 10_s._ They are uniformly bound with the rest of the series, and are numbered 235 and 236 respectively.

The donor stipulated that his MSS. should not be strictly confined to use within the walls of the Library. Archbishop Laud says, in the letter in which, as Chancellor, he announced the gift to the University, 'hee will not subiect these ma.n.u.scripts to the strictnes of Sir Thomas Bodley's statutes[92], but will haue libertie given for any man of woorth, that wilbee at the paines and charge to print any of these bookes, to haue them oute of the Librarye vpon good caution giuen; but to that purpose and noe other[93].' But he afterwards left the University at liberty to deal as it pleased with his MSS. in this particular, as well as in all other questions that might arise concerning his books. In a letter to Dr. Langbaine, dated Nov. 7, 1654, he says: 'The absolute disposition of them in all occurrences dependeth wholly and singly of the University; for she knoweth best what will be most for her service and advantage, and she is absolute mistress to dispose of them as she pleaseth[94].' He mentions in the same letter two trunks of Arabic MSS. which he gave to Archbp. Laud to send to the University or to St. John's College, but he never heard whether they reached their destination or no. He promises also to send over some more MSS. from France when he has returned thither; since, when the troubles of the Rebellion drove him into exile, he had carried his library with him. Upon the Restoration, however, and his own return to England, he unfortunately left his books behind; and after his death they were confiscated by the French King as belonging to an alien, and subsequently sold. Doubtless the two MSS. acquired in 1825 were among those to which his letter refers.

The first stone of the western end of the Library, with the Convocation House beneath, was laid on May 13, 1634; it was fitted up with shelves and ready for use by 1640. Selden's books were placed here in 1659. The hideous great west window is a monument of the bad taste of the time; it is much to be hoped that it may some day be replaced by a window more worthy of its conspicuous position, and affording a less marked contrast with its opposite neighbour, the n.o.ble east window erected by Bodley himself.

[92] See under 1654-9.

[93] Reg. Conv. R. 24, 102. From MS. note by Dr. Bliss.

[94] [Walker's] _Letters by Eminent Persons, from the Bodl. and Ashm._, 1813, vol. i. pp. 2, 3.

A.D. 1635.

In this year Rouse issued an Appendix to the Catalogue published in 1620, consisting of 208 pages in quarto, in double columns, and containing, as he says, about 1500 authors. James, on the t.i.tle-page of his Catalogue in 1620, speaks of an Appendix accompanying that issue; hence, probably, it is that the words 'Editio secunda' are placed on the t.i.tle of the Appendix of 1635. But, strange to say, no copy of the earlier Appendix can now be found existing in the Library. At the end of the later one is added [by John Verneuil, then Sub-Librarian,] an anonymous enlarged edition (which was also sold separately) of James'

_Catalogus interpretum S. Script, in Bibl. Bodl._, with an Appendix of authors who had written on the _Sentences_ and the _Summa_, on the Sunday-Gospels, on Cases of Conscience, on the Lord's Prayer, the Apostles' Creed, and the Decalogue. A book giving an account of all the copies of the Catalogue sold between 1620-47, with the names of the purchasers, still exists, the latter part being in the handwriting of Verneuil; but some leaves have been torn out at the year 1635. It appears from this book that the price of James' Catalogue was 2_s._ 8_d._, that of the Catalogue of Interpreters 6_d._, of the Appendix 2_s._, and of the whole series complete 5_s._