A.D. 1601.

[8]They were not received by August, 1450, on the 28th of which month a letter was written from Convocation to Thomas Bokelonde, Esq., and John Summerset, M.D., on the subject. (Register F. ff. 88b-9.)

[9]It contains inscriptions recording its gift by Whethamstede 'ad usum scolarium studencium Oxoniæ,' with anathemas upon those who should alienate it, or destroy, were it but its title: 'Si quis rapiat, raptim titulumve retractet, vel Judæ laqueum vel furcas sensiat.'

[10]Two treatises on the Canticles, by Gilbert Porret and Musca, were contained in the Duke's first gift to Oxford. (Anstey, vol. ii. p. 759.)

[11]Wood MS. F. 27. (Bodl. Libr.)

[12]A sale of a collection of (apparently) these forfeited pledges, or else of books deposited as securities for loans of money, took place in the year 1546. On Jan. 18, 1545-6, the following decree passed Convocation: 'Decretum est authoritate Convocationis Magnæ ut cistæ in domo inferiori sub domo Congregationis, et omnes libri pro pignoribus jacentes, aut etiam alii in eadem domo inventi, venderentur, secundum arbitrium quinque in eadem Convocatione eligendorum. Electi itaque sunt et a Vice-Cancellario admissi ibidem, Doctor Standishe, Mr. Parret, procurator, Mr. Slythers, Mr. Symonds,etMr. Wattsone.' Reg. I. 107b.

[13]Wood MS. F. 27.

[14]Ibid.

[15]Ibid. fol. 94a.

[16]Bodley appears to have been altogether an accomplished linguist. James, in the preface to the first Catalogue of 1605, after speaking of his proficiency in the classical languages, adds,'Linguas vero exoticas, veluti Italicam, Gallicam, Hispanicam, Hebræam præcipue, cæterarum omnium parentem, tam perfecte callet, ut illo neminem fere scientiorem invenies.' And in one of four letters addressed to him on the interpretation of passages in the Old Testament, which are printed among the Epistles of J. Drusius,De Quæsitis(1595, p. 40), Drusius says, 'Vere dicam, Bodlæe, et intelligis optime litteras Hebræas, et amas unice earum peritos.' The same volume contains also one letter to his brothers, Laurence, Miles, and Josias, on thePastorof Hermas.

[17]Reliquiæ Bodleianæ, p. 14.

[18]This letter (with the subsequent correspondence) is printed by Hearne, at the end of the Chronicle of John of Glastonbury, vol. ii. p. 612, from the Reg. of Convoc. Ma. f. 31a.

[19]Most probably intended to refer to the Apocalyptic book (Rev. v. 1.), and to signify the unsealing of Divine Revelation, the fountain of all wisdom, by our Blessed Lord. Sir J. Wake prefers to take the seven seals as representing the seven liberal arts.

[20]The mottoappears to have varied. It is sometimes given in titles of books printed at Oxford about the time of James I, as 'Sapientiæ et Felicitatis;' and in an heraldic MS. of the seventeenth century as 'XX. Exod. Decem ... Omnipotens mandata. Verbum Dei manet in eternum. Amen.' (Rawl. B. xl. f. 81.) Others [have] this, 'Veritas liberabit, Bonitas regnabit;' and others this, 'In principio erat Verbum,' &c. (Hearne, in Rawl. MS. C. 876, f. 51.)

[21]Wake notices it as a singular coincidence that the Library was first opened on the day of the 'Quatuor coronati Martyres,' Nov. 8, whom, by mistake, he calls 'Tres.'

[22]SeeReliquiæ Bodleianæ, p. 158.

[23]One of the books given by Lord Lumley has the autograph of Cranmer, 'Thomas Cantuarien.,' on the title-page. The book, appositely enough, bears the title ofSicbardi Antidotum contra diversas omnium fere sæculorum bæreses, fol. Bas. 1528.

[24]Printed by Rev. J. Stevenson at the end of theRomance of Alexander, edited by him for the Roxburghe Club in 1849, from Ashmole MS. 44.

[25]Plenus-Amoris, orFullalove, seems to have been the name of a family of scribes. But the expression seems often also to have been used for the mere sake of rhyme. In the colophon of a translation of Alan Chartier in Rawl. A. 338, are these lines:—'Nomen scriptoris,Dei gracia, Plenus Amoris:Careat merorisDeus det sibi omnibus horis.'Peter Plenus-Amoris was the scribe of Fairfax 6; Thomas, of Univ. Coll. MS. 142; William, of All Souls' 51; Geoffrey, of Sloane 513 (Brit. Mus.) In the following instances the name appears to be used only rhythmically:—'Nomen scriptoris est Jhon Wilde plenus amoris.'—(Rawlinson B.214.)'Nomen scriptoris Jon. semper plenus amoris,Esteby cognomen, cui semper det Deus homen' (sic).—(Bodl.643.)

'Nomen scriptoris,Dei gracia, Plenus Amoris:Careat merorisDeus det sibi omnibus horis.'

Peter Plenus-Amoris was the scribe of Fairfax 6; Thomas, of Univ. Coll. MS. 142; William, of All Souls' 51; Geoffrey, of Sloane 513 (Brit. Mus.) In the following instances the name appears to be used only rhythmically:—

'Nomen scriptoris est Jhon Wilde plenus amoris.'—(Rawlinson B.214.)'Nomen scriptoris Jon. semper plenus amoris,Esteby cognomen, cui semper det Deus homen' (sic).—(Bodl.643.)

'Nomen scriptoris est Jhon Wilde plenus amoris.'—(Rawlinson B.214.)

'Nomen scriptoris Jon. semper plenus amoris,Esteby cognomen, cui semper det Deus homen' (sic).—(Bodl.643.)

[26]Probably this book is the 'large liure en fraunceis tresbien esluminez de le Rymance de Alexandre,' once in the library of Tho. of Woodstock, Duke of Glouc. See Mr. Coxe's pref. to Gower'sVox Clam.(Roxb. Club, 1850,) p. 50.

It is from this date that our notes on the history of the Library can begin to assume an annalistic form. A gift of £20 from Herbert Westphaling, Bishop of Hereford, was expended in the purchase of books with great success; no fewer than thirty were obtained, and amongst them were, 'Evangelia quatuor Saxonica, lingua et charactere vetustiss.,' being the MS. from which John Foxe had taken the text of the Saxon Gospels in the edition published at the expense of Archbishop Parker in 1571, and which was subsequently re-edited by Junius. It is now numbered, Bodl. MS. 441. An early edition (qu.editio princeps?) of the Gospels in the Russian language (now placed among the Bodley MSS. 213) appears among some books given by Sir Henry Savile[27], whose brother-historian and antiquary, William Camden, is also registered as the donor of a few MSS. and printed books. Thomas Allen, M.A., ofGloucester Hall, the astrologer, gave twenty MSS[28]; the rest of his collection came subsequently to the Library, included in that of Sir Kenelm Digby, to whom Allen had bequeathed it. One of the twenty now given was an extremely curious volume, chiefly written in the ninth century (marked Auctarium F. iv. 32), including in its contents an original drawing (engraved in Hickes'Thesaurus, p. 144) by St. Dunstan of himself as prostrate at the feet of the throned Christ[29], a grammatical tract by Eutychius (or Eutex, as the scribe calls him, while professing doubt as to the right form), with Welsh glosses (noticed by Lhuyd in hisArchæol. Brit.p. 226); the first book of OvidDe Arte amandi, with similar glosses[30]; and lections in Greek and Latin from the Prophets and Pentateuch, amongst which is one from Hosea containing, in the Latin version, a line or two unlike any known early version, (although faithful to the Hebrew), but found also in a quotation in Gildas[31]. Capt. JosiasBodley[32]gave an astronomical sphere and other instruments in brass, which now stand in the south window adjoining the entrance to the Library. But the great benefactor of the year was the newly-appointed Librarian, Thomas James, who gave various MSS., chiefly patristic (which, however, Wood says, 'he had taken out of several College libraries'), and sixty printed volumes. From the first preparation of the new foundation Bodley had fixed upon James, then a Fellow of New College, as his Library-Keeper. The volume of letters published by Hearne (from Bodl. MS. 699) in 1703, under the title ofReliquiæ Bodleianæ, consists chiefly of those which the Founder addressed to James while his collection of books was in process of formation, but unfortunately they have no dates of years, and Hearne printed them simply as they came into his hands, without any attempt to determine their order of sequence. We learn from these that James' salary at the outset was £5 13s.4d.quarterly; but almost at once he threatened to 'strike' unless it were raised to an annual stipend of £30 or £40, while at the same time he demanded permission to marry. This latter requisition appeared particularly grievous to Bodley, who had made celibacy a stringent condition in his Statutes, and he forthwith expostulated strongly with his Librarian on these his 'unseasonable and unreasonable motions' (p. 52). The upshot, however, was that Bodley, very unwillingly, consented to become the 'first breaker' of his own institution, (which 'hereafter,' he says, 'I purpose to become inviolable,') and, for the love he bore to James, allowed him to marry[33]. But it was not until the year 1813 that the Statute was altered and the Librarian released from his obligation of perpetual celibacy, and even then, by a singularand unmeaning compromise, it was ordered that he, as well as the Under-Librarians, should be unmarriedat the time of election. The whole restriction was, however, finally removed on the revision of the Statutes in 1856. But its infringement appears to have been again tolerated, in one instance, at least, during the last century, viz. in the case of Dr. Hudson. Hearne[34]enters the following 'memorandum' of uncharitable hearsay gossip respecting his quondam chief and friend: 'Dr. Hudson was married when he was elected Librarian. His first wife was one Biesley. That he hath now is his second. It is said that he was married to this Biesley when he was Taberder of Queen's. The Dr. hath been of a loose, profligate, and irreligious life, as I have often heard. The family of the Harrisons he is married into now is good for just nothing, being as stingy (if it can be) as himself.'

[27]Savile's benefactions were continued in the years 1609 and 1614, and in 1620 he sent a large number of Greek and Latin MSS.

[28]In the year 1604 he appears again as the donor of some printed books. A notice of one of his MSS. (now Bodl. 198), which once belonged to Bishop Grosteste, was by him given to the Friars Minor at Oxford, and by them, about 1433, to Gascoigne, who presented it to Durham College, is to be found in Warton'sLife of Sir T. Pope, 1772, pp. 392-3. The volume contains MS. notes by both Grosteste and Gascoigne.

[29]Another relic of Dunstan is preserved among the Hatton MSS. No. 30 of that collection. 'Expositio Augustini in Apocalypsin,' written in Anglo-Saxon characters, has the following inscription in large letters on the last leaf: 'Dunstan abbas hunc libellum scribere jussit.'

[30]These glosses, together with an 'Alphabetum Nemnivi' in Runic characters, (of which a facsimile is given in Hickes'Thesaurus, p. 168), and some Welsh and Latin notes on weights and measures, are printed, with copious notes, by Zeuss in hisGrammatica Celtica, 8vo. Leipz. 1853, vol. ii. pp. 1076-96. The MS. is described also in Wanley's Catalogue, p. 63, and the latest account of it, together with a facsimile from the tract by Eutychius, is to be found in Villemarqué'sNotice des principaux MSS. des anciens Bretons, 8vo. Par. 1856. And the Alphabet of Nemnivus, together with another, and somewhat later, Runic Alphabet (of the 'winged' form), found in Bodl. MS. 572, is printed at pp. 10-12 of theAncient Welsh Grammar of Edeyrn, edited for the Welsh MSS. Soc. in 1856 by Rev. John Williams, ab Ithel.

[31]This reading was pointed out to the author by Rev. A. W. Haddan, B.D.

[32]Afterwards Sir Josias, a younger brother of Sir Thomas, and Governor of Duncannon in Ireland, author of a humorous Latin tour in Lecale (a barony in the county of Down), which, although not unfrequently met with in MS, has never yet been printed.

[33]Reliquiæ Bodl.p. 162. See also p. 183.

[34]Diary, vol. lviii. p. 157.

The largest pecuniary donor of this year was Blount, Lord Mountjoy (afterwards Earl of Devon), who forwarded £100 to Sir T. Bodley from Waterford; which were expended upon books in most classes of literature, including music. Among various gifts of MSS. were some Russian volumes from Lancelot Browne, M.D., and (together with Persian, Finnish, &c.) from Sir Rich. Lee, ambassador in Muscovy. Lord Cobham gave £50 in money, with the promise of 'divers MSS. out of St. Augustin's library in Canterbury[35].' 'Biblia Latina pulcherrima,' 2 vols. fol. was given by George Rives, Warden of New College. This is probably a huge and magnificent specimen of twelfth-century work, now numbered Auctarium, E. infra, 1, 2[36]. But the year was specially marked by the donation of 47 MSS. (including some early English volumes) from Walter (afterwards Sir Walter) Cope; and above all, by thegift, from the Dean and Chapter of Exeter to their fellow-countryman Bodley, of 81 Latin MSS. from their Chapter Library. By what right they thus alienated their corporate property no one probably cared to enquire; but, from the tokens of neglect still visible upon the books, we may conclude that only by this alienation were they in all likelihood saved from ultimate destruction: for they nearly all bear more or less sign of having been exposed to great damp, which in several instances has well-nigh destroyed the initial and final leaves. Most of them are beautiful specimens of early penmanship, ranging chiefly from the eleventh century to the thirteenth; and amongst them is that precious relic of English Church offices, the Service-book given to Exeter Cathedral by Bishop Leofric in the reign of Edward Conf., described in the 'Registrum Benefactorum' simply as 'Missale antiquissimum.' This is happily perfect; in size a small and thick quarto volume, written on very stout vellum, and containing 377 leaves. Four other volumes (possibly more) were also gifts of Leofric to his Church; they are now numbered Auct. D. II. 16 (the four Gospels), Auct. F. I. 15 (Boethius and Persius), Auct. F. III. 6 (Prudentius), and Bodley MS. 708 (Gregory'sPastorale.) They each contain an inscription in Latin and Anglo-Saxon, varying in expression, but all to the following effect (as in the last-mentioned volume): 'Hunc librum dat Leofricus episcopus ecclesiæ Sancti Petri Apostoli in Exonia ad sedem suam episcopalem, pro remedio animæ suæ, ad utilitatem successorum suorum. Siquis autem illum inde abstulerit, perpetuæ maledictioni subjaceat. Fiat.Ðas boc gef leofric ƀ. into Scē petres minstre on exancestre þær his biscopstol is. his æfterfiligendū to nittweorðnisse. [&] gif hig hwa ut ætbrede hæbbe he ece geniðerunge mid eallū deoflum. Ām̄.' To the MS. of the Gospels are prefixed very curious lists in Anglo-Saxon of the lands, vestments, books, &c., given by Leofric to his Church, and of relics given by King Athelstan (of whichanother copy is preserved in the Missal); these lists are printed in the Monasticon, and the titles of the books are given in Wanley's Catalogue (p. 80).

The Library being now supplied with upwards of 2000 volumes, it was solemnly opened on Nov. 8 (the day appointed for the annual visitation,) by the Vice-Chancellor, with a procession of doctors and delegates. Meeting them at the door of the room, the Librarian hastily extemporized a short speech in honour of the occasion, 'in qua,' as the University Register records, 'tribus ferme versibus amplexus est omnia.'

[35]Reliquiæ Bodl.p. 92.

[36]Seeibid.pp. 137 and 219.

Sir Walter Raleigh appears in this year as a donor of £50. He is sometimes said to have procured for Oxford the library of Hieron. Osorius, which was carried off from Faro in Portugal (of which place Osorius had been bishop), when that town was captured by the English fleet under the Earl of Essex in 1598. Raleigh was a captain in the squadron, and probably influenced the disposal of the books; but no direct mention has been found of his name in relation to them. Sir William Monson, in the account of the expedition given in hisNaval Tracts, only says that the library 'was brought into England by us, and many of the books bestowed upon the new erected library of Oxford.' Eleven MSS. were given by Sir Rob. Cotton, of which the list in the Register is printed in Sir H. Ellis'Letters of Eminent Literary Men, issued by the Camden Society in 1843 (p. 103). One of these (Auct. D. II. 14) is the MS. of the Gospels, traditionally believed to be one of those two copies of the old Italic version sent by St. Gregory to St. Augustine in Britain, which were preserved in St. Augustine's Abbey, Canterbury[37]; of which the other now exists among Archbp. Parker's MSS. in Corp. Chr. Coll. Cambr., No. 286. They areboth written in quarto, in uncial letters and double columns. Their date may possibly be somewhat later than that which is traditionally assigned; but at any rate they are certainly among what the historian Elmham calls 'primitiæ librorum totius ecclesiæ Anglicanæ.' On the last fly-leaf of the Bodley MS. is the following list of English Priests' libraries. 'Þas bocas haueð Salomon pr̅st. þ̵is þecodspel t{r}aht. [&] þemarty{r}luia [&] þe(erased)[&] þe æglisce salte{r}e [&] þe c{r}ranc [&] ðe tropere [&] wulf mer cild þeatteleuaui ('Ad Te levavi.') [&] pistelari [&] þe(erased)[&] ðe imnere. [&] ðe capitelari.(word erased)[&] þe spel boc. [&] Siga{r} pr̅st. þelece boc [&] Blakehad boc. [&] Æilmer ðe grete Sater. [&] ðe litle t{r}opere fo{r}beande. [&] ðe Donatum. xv bocas Ealfric Æilwine. Godric. [&] Bealdewuine ab̶b [&] Freoden [&] hu—(torn)[&] ðuregise.' Several leaves are wanting at the beginning and one at the end; the book commences at S. Matt. iv. 14, and ends in S. John xxi. 16. It now numbers 172 leaves, besides the fly-leaf, and contains 29 lines in a column; the Cambridge MS. has 25 lines.

Two Russian MSS. were given in this year by John Mericke, English Consul in Russia, and a collection of Italian books by Sir Michael Dormer.

[37]Wanley, p. 172. Elmham'sHist. Mon. S. Aug.1858, pp. 97, 8.

On June 20, letters patent were granted by James I, styling the library by the founder's name, and licensing the University to hold lands, &c., in mortmain for its maintenance, to an amount not exceeding 200 marksper annum[38].

In the list of donors occur Sir Christopher Heydon, Sir Jerome Horsey (whose gift includes a MS. of the Gospels in Russian, and rolls containing forms of letters, &c., in the autograph of the Czar Ivan Basilides), Sir Ralph Winwood (17 Greek MSS.), Robert Barker the printer, and Sir Henry Wotton (a MS. of the Koran).

[38]Wood MS. F. 27.

The bust of Bodley, which is seen in the large room, was sent by Sackville, Earl of Dorset, the Chancellor of the University. It attracted the notice of King James upon his entering the Library on the fourth day of his visit to Oxford in August of this year, who, upon reading its inscription, indulged in the very mild pun that the Founder should rather be called Sir Thomas Godly than Bodly[39]. And, looking on the well-filled cases, he said he had often had proof from the University of the fruits of talent and ability, but had never before seen the garden where those fruits grew and whence they were gathered. He examined various MSS. of the Holy Scriptures, and especially of the old English version, as well as of the Ethiopic, on the authority of which, 'more suo, summo cum judicio disceptavit.' Then, taking up Gaguinus' treatiseDe Puritate Conceptionis Virg. Mar., printed at Paris in 1498, he remarked that the author had so written about purity as if he wished that it should only be found on the title of his book; and said it had often been his desire that such objectionable writings (especially on religious subjects) could be altogether suppressed rather than be tolerated to the corruption of minds and manners. He admitted, however, that probably there was no disadvantage from their being stored up in collections of this kind. Moved to a wonderful temper of liberality, the king then offered to present from all the libraries of the royal palaces whatsoever precious and rare books Sir T. Bodley, on examination, might choose to carry away; and promised that the grant should be made under seal, lest any hindrance should arise. It appears[40]that this (somewhat hasty) grant was actually passed under the Privy Seal about the beginning of November in the same year, and thatBodley expected to carry off a great many MSS. from Whitehall. Probably the full execution of his intentions was hindered, as he himself appears to have suspected might happen; at any rate, there is very little in the Library that tells of having come from the royal collections, except a few folio editions of the Fathers which once were in the possession of Hen. VIII, as his arms stamped upon the covers testify[41], and three or four MSS. which bear like evidence of having belonged to James I. Upon leaving the room, after spending considerable time in its examination, the king exclaimed that were he not King James he would be an University man; and that, were it his fate at any time to be a captive, he would wish to be shut up, could he but have the choice, in this place as his prison, to be bound with its chains, and to consume his days amongst its books as his fellows in captivity[42].

In this year appeared the first Catalogue of the Library, compiled by Thomas James. It is a quarto volume, published by Joseph Barnes at Oxford, consisting of 425 pages, with an Appendix of 230 more; the Preface is dated June 27. The book is dedicated to Henry, Prince of Wales[43]. It includes both printedbooks and MSS. arranged alphabetically under the four classes of Theology, Medicine, Law, and Arts, with lists of expositors of Holy Scripture, commentators on Aristotle, Hippocrates, and Galen, and in Civil and Canon Law. The legal and medical lists were added at Bodley's special desire[44]. A continuation of this classified index, embracing writers on Arts and Sciences, Geography and History, is to be found in Rawlinson MS.Miscell.730. It was drawn up by James, after his quitting the Library, for the use of young students in the faculty of Arts, in order to show his continued interest in them and in the place of his old occupation. In the preface he thus describes the arrangement of his book: 'Exhibeo, primo, libros distributos secundum facultates suas; secundo, dissectos in minutissimas portiones vel sectiones, idque alphabetice; tertio, habetis cognitos et exploratos auctores singulos qui de singulis subjectis vel generatim vel speciatim scripserunt libros, tractatus, epistolas; postremo, ne quid desit, habetis editiones certas, et maxime ex parte ex pluribus selectas et meliores, cito parabiles, digitos ad pluteos et pluteorum sectiones intendendo.' This volume came into Rawlinson's possession from Hearne, who notes in it: 'This MS. came out of the study of Dr. Anthony Hall, of Queen's College, Oxford, who married the widow of Dr. John Hudson, to whom this book once belong'd.'

[39]This would-be witticism is made the subject of a quatrain in theJusta Funebria Bodlei, p. 108.

[40]Reliquiæ Bodl.pp. 205, 339.

[41]His arms also occur in several places in a Greek MS. now numbered Auct. E. I. 15. And there is one volume among Selden's books (8o. A. 24, Art. Seld.) which appears to possess considerable interest as having come from the library of the many-wived king. It is a fine copy of Æsop, with theBatrachomyomachia, &c., printed by Froben in 1518, which may be conjectured, from the binding, to have been a gift from Henry to Anne Boleyn. The cover is of embossed calf; on one side is the Tudor rose supported by angels, with the sun, moon, and four stars above, encircled by the lines:—'Hec rosa virtutis de celo missa sereno,Eternum florens regia sceptra feret.'Below are the initials A. H., conjoined with a knot. On the other side is a representation of the Annunciation, with the same initials repeated.

'Hec rosa virtutis de celo missa sereno,Eternum florens regia sceptra feret.'

Below are the initials A. H., conjoined with a knot. On the other side is a representation of the Annunciation, with the same initials repeated.

[42]The account of the king's visit is given in Sir J. Wake'sRex Platonicus, pp. 116-123.

[43]At the suggestion of Bodley, who thought that more reward was to be gained from the prince than from the king. (Reliquiæ Bodl.206.)

[44]Reliquiæ Bodl.pp. 195, 256.

Chinese literature began to make its appearance even at this early date. Among the books bought with £20 given by Lady Kath. Sandys were, 'Octo volumina lingua Chinensi,' while two others, 'Excusain regno et lingua Chinensi,' were bought, together with the donor's own 'Historie of Great Britaine,' with a gift of £5 from John Clapham.

The books having some time since begun to crowd the room provided for them, so that James, in his Preface to the Catalogue of 1605, said there already seemed to be more need of a Library for the books than books for the Library, the Founder commenced in this year an extension of his building. On July 16 the first stone was laid of the eastern wing, and of the Proscholium, or vestibule of the Divinity School, beneath; which were completed by 1612, as in that year several donations were placed in the new room[45]. An inscription in gold letters, in the front of this building, commemorates Bodley's work; having become barely legible, it has recently been restored to its pristine lustre by the care of the present Librarian. The noble east window contains some very curious and interesting relics in stained glass which were presented to the Library (with numerous other fragments, which adorn some of the other windows in the Library and partly fill two of those in the Picture Gallery[46]), in 1797, by Alderman William Fletcher of Oxford, a zealous local antiquary and Churchman of the good old school. The three principal fragments represent: 1. Henry II, stripped naked, and suffering flagellation with birch rods, at the hands of two monks, before the shrine of Thomas à Becket. 2. The marriage (as supposed) of Henry VI with Margaret of Anjou, representing, says Dr. Rock[47], that portionof the ceremony which took place at the Church door; formerly in a window of Rollright Church, Oxfordshire. There is no evidence, however, to connect this representation with Henry VI, and it has been conjectured to describe his marriage chiefly from its corresponding in some very small degree to a representation of that event, formerly at Strawberry Hill, and described and engraved in Walpole'sAnecdotes of Painting, i. 36. It is probably of an earlier date. 3. The doing homage by William, King of Scotland, with his abbots and barons, to Henry II in York Minster in 1171. Of the first of these, two coloured engravings, and of the second, one, are found in a copy of Gutch's Wood, which came to the Library from the same donor, Alderman Fletcher, in 1818, illustrated with very numerous and curious engravings and drawings, as well as enriched with some MS. notes, and bound in seven large quarto volumes[48].

The large coats of arms appear to have been inserted in 1716, as in the accounts for that year we find, 'For paynted armes in the Library window, £5.' But one coat of arms was put up in the year 1771, (q. v.)

It was in this year that the Library began to be enlarged with the gift of copies of all works published by the members of the Stationers' Company, in pursuance of an agreement made with them by Bodley, which became the precursor of the obligations of the Copyright Acts. On Dec. 12 the Company made a grant of one perfect copy of every book printed by them, on condition that they should have liberty to borrow the booksthus given, if needed for reprinting, and also to examine, collate, and copy the books which were given by others. An order of the Star-Chamber was made July 11, 1637, in confirmation of this grant[49]. The proposal of such an agreement emanated from the Librarian James; but in the effecting it Bodley says that he met with 'many rubs and delays[50].' Ayliffe say[51]that the agreement was very well observed until about 1640. He should rather have said 'about 1630,' for in that year, in a paper of notes made by the Librarian for the use of Archbishop Laud, as Chancellor of the University (in which the mention of a gift of books by Fetherston, a London bookseller, fixes the date), complaint is made that the Company were very negligent in sending their books, and it is suggested that a message from the Chancellor might quickly remedy that neglect[52]. In 1642, Verneuil, the Sub-Libraria[53], complained in the Preface to hisNomenclator, &c., of the neglect which had then begun; mentioning the names of several benefactors, he adds: 'These have beene more courteous than the Stationers of London, who by indenture are bound to give the Library a copy of every booke they print.' In the Visitation Order-Book, under the year 1695, is the following 'memorandum' by Hyde, then Head Librarian: 'That in November, 1695, a copy of the indenture between Sir Thomas Bodley and the Company of Stationers, as also a copy of their By-Law to inforce their particular members to complyance, was sent up to the Master of the Company to be communicated and publicly read to the Company once every year, as is in the indenture expressed. The originall was also some years agon carryed up and shewed to the Master and Wardens, because some of them used to raile at the unjustness of the Act of Parliament in forcing them to give a copy of each book to the BodleianLibrary; and therefore we shewed them that we had also another antecedent right to a copy of each book printed by any member in their Company. The Indenture mentions only the giving of books new printed, but the By-law mentions books both new-printed and also reprinted with additions[54]. We have been told that Sir Thomas Bodley gave to the Company 50 pounds worth of plate when they entred into this Indenture. But its not mentioned in our counter-part. Every book is to be delivered to the junior Warden within 10 dayes after its off from the press, and we are to appoint somebody to demand them of him. The obligation is upon every printer to give books; it were to be wished it had been upon every proprietor; for the proprietor must give them to us.'

[45]It is probably to aid given for the erection of this structure that the following passage refers: 'To the building Bodley's Library at Oxford a considerable sum was contributed by the Bishop of London, being his share of the moneys paid into court for commutation of penance.' Archd. Hale's Notes to theRegister of Worcester(Camden Soc. 1855), p. cxxviii. Aid was also given by the Crown, for on May 3, 1611, an order was issued by the Lord Treasurer to the officers of the woods at Stow, Shotover, &c., near Oxford, to deliver to Sir T. Bodley, for enlarging the Library, the timber which was to have been employed for making the Thames navigable to Oxford, a work which did not proceed. (Calendar of State Papers, Dom. Series, 1611-18, p. 28.)

[46]See also under1818.

[47]Church of our Fathers, i. 421.

[48]Mr. Fletcher died in 1826, at the age of eighty-seven, and was buried (in a stone coffin traditionally said to be that of Fair Rosamond) in the church of the village where he was born, Yarnton, near Oxford. His tomb is remarkable as exhibiting, before Architectural and Ecclesiological societies had been thought of, an anticipation of better days in monumental design than had yet appeared; a brass, upon a high altar-tomb, represents him clad in his aldermanic gown, with his hands clasped in prayer. A bust of him is in the Picture Gallery.

[49]Rushworth, iii. 315.

[50]Reliquiæ Bodl.p. 350.

[51]Univ. of Oxford, i. 460.

[52]Calendar of State Papers, 1635-6, p. 65.

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