A.D. 1611.

[53]Seesub anno1647.

[54]Seesub anno1612.

The permanent endowment of the Library was commenced by the Founder in this year, by the purchase, from Lord Norreys, of the manor of Hendons by Maidenhead, worth annually £91 10s.; to which he added 'certain tenements in London,' producing an annual rent of £40. From the former, now called Hindhay farm, in the parishes of Bray and Cookham, Berks, the Library receives an annual rent, at the present time, of about £220; the latter, which consisted of houses situated in Distaff Lane, were sold in 1853, and the produce invested in £3455 10s.3 per cent. Consols.

The first book which came from the Stationers' Company, in pursuance of the Indenture made in Dec. 1610, was an anonymous catechetical work printed in this year by Felix Kingston for Thomas Man, entitled, 'Christian Religion substantially, methodicallie, plainlie, and profitablie treatised.' It is now numbered 4oR. 34 Th., and a note in Bodley's own handwriting records its presentation.

Twenty Arabic, Persian, and other MSS, were presented by — Pindar, Consul at Aleppo of the Company of English Merchants, whom Bodley three years previously had requested to procure such books[55].

Among other minor matters which called forth the care of Bodley, was the providing a bell for the purpose of giving notice when the Library was about to be closed. After it had been placed in the Library some accident appears to have happened to it, since we read in one of his letters to James[56], 'As touching the bell, I would have it cast again, and if my friends think it good, made somewhat better.' In 1655 a bell-rope was bought at the price of 1s.4d.Of late years, however, the Founder's bell had altogether disappeared, and the fact of its very existence was unknown, while a small hand-bell, suggestive of a muffin-man, and, more recently, a hand-bell taken from a Chinese temple at Tien-tsin, and presented by Col. Rigaud, supplied its place. But in July, 1866, in the course of moving some boxes and rubbish buried under some stairs, a mouldy bell of considerable size was dragged to light, which proved to be the missing bell of the Founder. It was immediately put by the Librarian into the hands of Messrs. White, of Appleton, Berks, who fitted it with a frame and wheel; and now, restored to a conspicuous place in the great room, it daily thunders forth an unmistakeable signal for departure. Around it, in gold letters, runs the inscription:—'Sir Thomas Bodley gave this bell, 1611.' The bell-founder's initials, W. S., are accompanied by the device of a crown between three bells.

Another relic of Bodley's furniture is a massy iron chest, fastened with three locks, two of which are enormous padlocks, for the preservation of the moneys of the Library, of which the keys used to be in the custody of the Vice-Chancellor and Proctors. This is now exhibited in the Picture Gallery, on account of the extremebeauty of the ironwork of the locks, which covers in its intricate ramifications the whole of the inside of the lid. On the outside are painted the arms of the University (with the older motto 'Sapientiæ et Fælicitatis') and of Bodley.

[55]Hearne'sJob. Glaston.ii. 637.

[56]Reliquiæ Bodl.p. 314.

Two large donations of MSS. were received during this year; the one from the Dean and Chapter of Windsor (in imitation of their brethren of Exeter), of 159 volumes, chiefly theological; and the other of a large collection of scientific treatises, chiefly astronomical and medical, about 120 in number, from Thomas Twine, M.D., of Lewes.

The agreement that was entered into by the Stationers' Company in 1610 having probably been found in some degree inoperative from the absence of any penalty upon non-fulfilment, the Company at the commencement of this year passed the following ordinance, which made it obligatory on every one of their members to forward their books to the Library. It is here printed (for the first time) from the original, preserved in the University Archives, marked A. 27[57].

'Vicesimo octavo Januarii1611nono regni regis Jacobi, at Stacõners Hall, in Ave Mary Lane in London. Present, the Masters, Wardens, and Assistants of the Company of Stacõners.

'Forasmuch as this Companye out of their zeale to the advancement of learninge, and at the request of the right worshipfull Sir Thomas Bodley, Knight, founder of the presente publique library of the University of Oxford, beinge readye to manifeste their willinge desires to a worck of so great pietye and benifitt to the generall state of the Realme, did by their Indenture under their common seale dated the twelveth daye of December in the eightyeare of his Maj.tsraigne of England, Fraunce and Ireland, and the foure and fortith yere of his raigne of Scotland, for them and their successors, graunte and confirme vnto the Chauncellor, Maisters, and Schollers of the Universitie of Oxford, and to their successors for ever, That of all bookes after that from tyme to tyme to be printed in the said Company of Stacõners, beinge newe books and coppies never printed before, or thoughe formerly printed yet newly augmented or enlarged, there should be freelie given one perfect Booke of every such booke (in quyers) of the first ympression thereof, towardes the furnishinge and increase of the said Library; Nowe therefore, to the intent the said graunte maie take due effect in the orderlie performance and execucõn thereof, and that so good and godlie a worck and purpose maie not bee disappointed or defeated by any meanes, It is ordayned by this Company, that all and every printer and printers that from tyme to tyme hereafter shall either for hym- or themselves, or for any other, printe or cause to be printed any newe booke or coppie never printed before, or although formerly printed yet newly augmented or enlarged, shall within ten daies next after the finishinge of the first ympression thereof and the puttinge of the same to sale, bringe and deliver to the yonger warden of the said Company of Stacõners for the tyme beinge one perfect booke thereof to be delivered over by the same Warden to the recited use to the handes of such person or persons as shalbe appoincted by the said Chauncellour, Maisters and Schollers for the tyme beinge to receive the same; And it is alsoe ordayned that every printer that at any tyme or tymes hereafter shall make default in performance hereof, shall for every such default forfeite and paie to the use of this Company treble the value of every booke that he shall leave undelivered contrarie to this ordenance; Out of the which forfeiture, upon the levyinge and payment thereof, there shalbe provided for the use of the said Librarye that booke for the not delivery whereof the said forfeiture shalbe had and paid. And to the intent all printers and others of this Company whome it shall concerne maie take notice of this ordenance, and that any of them shall not pretend ignorance thereof, It is ordeyned that once in every yere at some generall assemblie and meetinge of the saidCompany upon some of their usuall quarter daies, or some other tyme in the yere at their discretion, this presente ordinance shalbe publiquely read in their Hall, as other their ordenances are accustomed to be read there

'John Haryson'John Norton, Mr.'Richard Field}Wardens'Humphrey Lownes'Edward White'Humfry Hooper'Simon Waterson'William Leake'Robert Barker'Thomas Mane'Thomas Dawson'John Standishe'Thomas Adames'John Haryson[58]'Ri. Collins, Clerk of the Companie.

'Havinge lately byn entreated, as well by the said Sir Thomas Bodley, Knight, as by the Maister, Wardens, and Assistants of the foresaid Company of Stacõners, to take some spetiall notice of this their publique acte and graunte, and (in regard of our beinge of his Maiestyes highe Comission in ecclesiasticall causes) to testifie under our handes with what allowance and good likinge we have thought it meete to be received, Wee doe not onlie as of merrit comend it to posteritie for a singuler token of the fervent zeale of that Company to the furtherance of good learninge and for an exemplarie guift and graunt to the Schollers and Studients of the Universitye of Oxford, But withall we doe promise by subscribinge unto it, that if at any tyme hereafter occasion shall require that we should help to maynteyne the due and perpetuall execucõn of the same, Wee will be readie to performe it, as farre as either of our selves thoroughe our present authoritie or by any whatsoeuer our further endeavours it maie be fitlye procured.

'G. Cant.'Jo. London'Jo. Benet'Tho. Ridley'Tho. Edwardes'G. Newmane'John Spenser'Richard Moket'R. Cov. & Lich.'Jhon Boys'Char. Fotherbye'Martin Fotherby'John Layfeilds'Jo. Roffens'George Montaigne (sic)'Robt. Abbott'Henr. Hickman'John Dix'Willm. FFerrand.'

[57]For the use of this document the author is indebted to the Keeper of the Archives, Rev. J. Griffiths, M.A.

[58]Probably the son of the John Haryson who signs above.

The death of the Founder occurred on Jan. 28, after long suffering from stone, dropsy, and scurvy, for which he is said to have been mis-treated by a Dr. Hen. Atkins[59]. Two volumes of elegiac verses were thereupon issued by the University, of which one (Bodleiomnema) was written entirely by members of Merton College; the other (Justa Funebria Ptolemæi Oxoniensis) by members of the University in general. In the latter collection are Latin verses by Laud, then President of St. John's, and Greek verses by Isaac Casaubon. Bodley was buried (according to his desire in his will) in the chapel of his old College, Merton, on March 29, with all the state of a public funeral. He bequeathed the greater part of his property for the building of the east wing of the Library and the completion of the Schools, appointing Sir John Bennett and Mr. William Hakewill his executors. The former, however, proved in some measure an unfaithful steward. When prosecuted in Parliament in 1621, for gross bribery in his office as Judge of the Prerogative Court, some of Bodley's money was still remaining in his hands, and was mentioned in the charges brought against him. For the due payment of a portion of this, by annual instalments of £150, the University, on June 28, 1624, accepted four bonds from him, witnessed by Thomas Coventreye, Matthew Bennet, and Henry Wigmore; only one of these appears to have been paid off, leaving an unpaid deficit of £450[60]. The entry of this debt is carried on, together with the loan made to King Charles I in 1642, in the Library accounts[61], from year to yearup to 1782, when by order of the Curators the entries were discontinued. In the notice of the Library contributed (as it is said) by Dr. Hudson to Ayliffe'sAncient and Present State of Oxford(vol. i. p. 460), it is stated that the Library estate falls miserably short by reason of 'the fraud of his [Bodley's] executor, the loan of a great sum of money to Charles I in his distress, and by the fire of London,' that event, doubtless, necessitating the rebuilding of the houses in Distaff Lane.

Bodley was charged by some of his contemporaries, and apparently with some justice, with sacrificing in his will the claims of relatives and friends too much to the interests of the Library. One Mr. John Chamberlain, a friend of Bodley, whose gossiping letters to Sir Dudley Carleton, Alice Carleton, and others, are preserved in the State Paper Office, does not spare his accusations on this head. In a letter dated Feb. 4, 1613, he says that Bodley has left legacies to great people, £7000 to the Library, and £200 to Merton College, but little to his brothers, his old servants, his friends, or the children of his wife, by whom he had all his wealth[62]. In another, dated June 23, 1613, he remarks that the executors cannot excuse Bodley of unthankfulness to many of his relatives and friends, he being 'so drunk with the applause and vanitie of his librarie that he made no conscience to rob Peter to pay Paul[63].' Some inferential corroboration of this is afforded by the following curious paper preserved among Rawlinson's gatherings (now in a vol. numbered Rawl. MS. Miscell., 1203), being no other than a petition for relief addressed by the grand-nephew and grand-niece of Bodley in the year 1712 (as appears from the Library accounts) to the Heads of Houses and Curators of the Library, who appear both officially and individually to have been very parsimonious in their response:—

'To the Worshipful Mr. Vice-Chancellor and to all heads and governors of Colleges and Halls within the famous University of Oxon.'The humble petition of William Snoshill of East Lockinge in the county of Berks, labourer, and of Jane the wife of Thomas Hatton of Childrey in the county aforesaid, labourer, sister of the said William Snoshill,

'To the Worshipful Mr. Vice-Chancellor and to all heads and governors of Colleges and Halls within the famous University of Oxon.

'The humble petition of William Snoshill of East Lockinge in the county of Berks, labourer, and of Jane the wife of Thomas Hatton of Childrey in the county aforesaid, labourer, sister of the said William Snoshill,

'Humbly sheweth,

'That your Petitioners being the grand-children of the sister of Sir Thomas Bodley, the munificent founder of the Bodleian Library in your University, being now reduc'd to a poor and low estate, do with all humility make bold to represent their distrest condition to your consideration, hoping that out of your tender pity and commiseration, and that regard you have for the pious memory of so great a benefactor to your University, to whom your poor Petitioners are so nearly allied, you will be pleas'd to consider them as real objects of your charity and compassion, and thereby you will lay an eternal obligation on them of praying for your present and future happiness.

'William Snoshill'Jane Hatton.

'We, whose names are subscribed to this Petition, are well satisfied of the truth thereof.

'(Mem.) The Curators gave the Petitioners the sum of four pounds out of Sir Thomas Bodley's chest. Dr. Altham, Hebrew professor, and Dr. Hudson, Library-keeper, gave, each of them, ten shillings.'

An alphabetical catalogue was prepared in this year by James, but was not printed. The MS, in two small hand-books, remains in the Library. It was ordered by the Curators, at the Visitationon Nov. 13, that 6s.8d.be paid quarterly to the Bedel of the Stationers' Company as a gratuity for his trouble. MSS. were received from Edw. James, B.D., who had been a contributor already in the year 1601.

[59]Calendar of State Papers, 1611-18, p. 137.

[60]A full account of Bennet's defalcations is given by B. Twyne, from the University Registers, in vol. vi. (pp. 120-4) of hisCollectanea, now in the Univ. Archives. See alsoParliam. Hist.vol. v. p. 462.

[61]These accounts, as now preserved, unfortunately only commence at the year 1653, and there is a hiatus from 1661 to 1676, both inclusive.

[62]Calendar of State Papers, 1611-18, p. 169.

[63]Ibid.p. 187.

Various orders were made by the Curators at the Visitation on Nov. 10, which are prefixed to the small MS. 'hand-catalogues' made at that time for the use of those authorities. They resolve that the catalogues of newly-published works issued at Frankfort in each spring and summer shall be examined by them within one week after their arrival. They make an attempt to obtain possession of a gift of the Founder's giving, which had never yet reached the place of its intended deposit. In 1609 it had been reported to Convocation that there was about to be sent to the Library by Sir T. Bodley 'toga ex lana agni Tartariciζωοφυτον,magni quidam valoris, ei data (ut in publica Bibliotheca conservetur) ab Richardo Lee, milite, qui eandem dono recepit ab augustissimo Imperatore Muscoviæ[64].' But the precious cloak had never yet arrived; the Curators therefore resolve 'quod literæ scribantur ad exequutores domini Fundatoris pro illo pretioso pallio ex zoophyto confecto, et legato ad nos per Ric. Leigh, militem, olim legatum apud Imperatorem Russiæ, et quod in cista ex ligno bene olenti, ad eam finem comparanda, reponatur in archivis, munita sera affabre facta; clavis permaneat semper apud Vice-Cancellarium vel ejus deputatum, nec cuiquam illud inspiciendi vel contrectandi potestas esto, nisi in præsentia eorundem.' At this Visitation JosephBarnes, the Oxford printer, appeared and promised to give a copy of every book which he might print. Complaint was made that the London Stationers had already begun to fail in the fulfilment of their agreement.

On Aug. 29 the King visited the Library on his way to Woodstock, and, asking for Fulke'sAnnotations on the Rhemish New Test., pointed out the remarks at Rom. x. 15, on the calling of ministers; 'deprehendit calumnias et imposturas quorundam pontificiorum de ordine et vocatione ministrorum[65].' In 1620 the editions of 1601 and 1617 of theseAnnotationswere both in the Library, as appears from the Catalogue of that year, but in Hyde's Catalogue, published in 1674, only the edition of 1633 is found. This is one out of various instances which prove that, by a great miscalculation of literary value, later editions of a writer's works were thought to supersede so entirely the earlier, that the latter could be advantageously parted with. The Library has, however, since become re-possessed of the earlier editions, that of 1601 having been presented in 1824, and that of 1617 having been bought more recently. But the most remarkable example of this mistaken alienation of books occurs with reference to the first folio edition of Shakespeare. In the Supplemental Catalogue of 1635, the folio of 1623 duly appears; but in the Catalogue of 1674 we find only the third edition, that of 1664, which doubtless had been thought to be sufficient as well as best; upon its arrival, therefore, from Stationers' Hall, the precious volume of 1623 was probably regarded as little more than waste-paper. Nor was it until the year 1821, when Malone's collection was received, that a copy was again possessed by the Library[66].

[64]'Reg. Conv. K. f. 43,' MS. note by Dr. P. Bliss. Bodley mentions in a letter to James his expectation of exhibiting the 'lamb's-wool-gown' to the King.Reliqq. Bodl.173. An account of this marvellous garment will be found in theAppendix.

[65]Wood'sHist.vol. ii. p. 319.

[66]The extraordinaryfancyprices sometimes given for books, and their variations, are particularly exemplified in the case of the first folio Shakespeare. In 1778 Stevens said it was 'usually valued at seven or eight' guineas. (Shakespeare, second edit. vol. i. p. 239.) At the Roxburghe sale (a sufficiently bibliomaniacal one) in 1812 a copy was sold for £100; in 1864 Miss Burdett Coutts gave for Mr. G. Daniel's specially fine copy, £716 2s.; while in July, 1867, a copy belonging to a Mr. — Smith was sold for £410. In Dec. 1867 another copy was on sale at Mr. Beet's, the bookseller, to which the owner very discreetly attached in his catalogue no specific sum.

Richard Connock, auditor and solicitor to Prince Henry of Wales, gave a MS. book ofHoræ[67], which had formerly belonged to Mary I, and afterwards to Prince Henry. The donor, in a note prefixed, records that he gives the volume, 'not for the religion it contains, but for the pictures and former royall owners' sake.' It is a volume of the early part of the fifteenth century, in small quarto, containing 224 leaves, and ornamented with very beautiful illuminated borders and exquisite drawings incamaieu gris. Among these is one of the martyrdom of Becket, which, doubtless in consequence of the book being in the possession of the Princess Mary, has entirely escaped the defacement and obliteration ordered by her father to be made in all Service-books where the office for S. Thomas of Canterbury occurred. The following inscription (nearly effaced at its close by over-much handling in former years), addressed by Mary to one of her ladies, whose name does not appear, to whom probably she presented the book, occurs in the blank portion of one of the leaves:—

'Geate you such riches as when the shype is broken, may swyme away wythe the Master. For dyverse chances take away the goods of fortune; but the goods of the soule whyche bee only the trewe goods, nother fyer nor water can take away. Yf you take labour and payne to doo a vertuous thyng, the labour goeth away, and the vertue remaynethe. Yf through pleasure you doany vicious thyng, the pleasure goeth away and the vice remaynethe. Good Madame, for my sake remembre thys.

'Your lovyng mystres,'Marye Princesse.'

This inscription (which does so much credit to its writer) was first printed by Hearne at the end ofTiti Livii Forojulien. Vita Hen. V.(p. 228) and last, in Bliss'Reliquiæ Hearn.i. 105. Mr. Coxe has noted (fromAlstedii Systema Mnemonicum, 1610, i. 705) that the latter part is taken directly and literally from Musonius, while indirectly it comes from an oration by Cato[68]. Probably the first part may be traced to some similar source.

Another autograph inscription by Mary while Princess is found in a small book (Laud MS. Miscell. i.) of private prayers in Latin and English, which belonged to Jane Wriothesley, wife of Thomas Earl of Southampton, and which she seems to have employed as a kind of album. At f. 45aare these lines, which appear to form a triplet, although not written in metrical form by the Princess:—

'Good Madame, I do desyer you most hartly to pray,That in prosperyte and adversyte I mayHave grace to keep the trewe way.

'Your lovyng frend,to my ... [power?]'

Unfortunately the conclusion, with the signature, has been cut off. A couplet, signed by Queen Katherine Parr, has an equal, and most regal, disregard of the restraints of metrical rhythm (f. 8b.):—

'Madam, althowe I have differred writtyng in your booke,I am no lesse your frend than you do looke.

'Kateryn the Quene KP.'

Other inscriptions are inserted by Margaret Queen of Scotland, Mary Countess of Lennox and mother of Lord Darnley, and by the Countess of Southampton's daughters, Elizabeth, Mary, and Anne.

James Button, Esq., of the county of Worcester, gave, on March 28, a curious relic of the ancient language of Cornwall, being three Miracle-Plays of the Creation, the Passion, and the Resurrection, in Cornish, contained in a MS. on vellum, small folio, eighty-three leaves, written in the fifteenth century; now numbered Bodl. 791. A copy on paper of the Play of the Creation, written by John Jordan in 1611, is also in the Library, numbered Bodl. 219, which appears to have come from the library of King James I, having the royal crown stamped on the parchment cover, with the initials I.K. A second modern copy has also been recently presented (in 1849) by Edwin Ley, Esq., of Bosahan, Cornwall, which is accompanied by a translation by John Keigwyn, made in 1695. The dramas were printed in two volumes at the University Press, with a translation, notes, and glossary, by Mr. Edwin Norris, in 1859.

Some MSS. were given about this time by the three sons of Rich. Colf, D.D., and in 1618 twenty Greek volumes by Cecil, Earl of Exeter.

[67]The gift is omitted in the Benefaction-Register, apparently because it was a rule not to record donations of single volumes [Reliquiæ Bodl.pp. 91, 283]; consequently several books of the greatest value are omitted.

[68]George Herbert expresses the same idea at the end of hisChurch Porch:—'If thou do ill, the joy fades, not the pains;If well, the pain doth fade, the joy remains.'

[68]George Herbert expresses the same idea at the end of hisChurch Porch:—

'If thou do ill, the joy fades, not the pains;If well, the pain doth fade, the joy remains.'

At the beginning of May, James resigned the office of Librarian, but not as Wood says, on account of his promotion to the Subdeanery of Wells, since that took place in the year 1614. His appointment to the rectory of Mongeham, Kent (also mentioned by Wood), was in 1617. He continued, however, to reside in Oxford, and dying there in August, 1629, was buried in New College Chapel.

On the 9th of the same month of May, John Rouse, M.A., Fellow of Oriel, was elected James' successor. No account ofhim is given by Wood, possibly from dislike of his Puritanical principles, and of his continuing to hold office during the usurpation. He appears to have discharged his trust in the Library with faithfulness, and, at least, to have deserved some mention at the historiographer's hands for the Appendix to the Catalogue which he issued in the year 1635 (q.v.)[69]He is best known as the friend of Milton, who, on Rouse's application to him for a copy of hisPoems both English and Latin, published in 1645, in the place of one previously given by Milton which had been lost, sent the volume, together with a long autograph Latin Ode, dated Jan. 23, 1646 (-7), and bearing the following title: 'Ad Joannem Rousium, Oxoniensis Academiæ Bibliothecarium, de libro poematum amisso quem ille sibi denuo mitti postulabat, ut cum aliis nostris in Bibliotheca publica reponeret, Ode Joannis Miltonj[70].' The volume is now numbered 8o. M. 168 Art. A facsimile of a considerable portion of the Ode (which Cowper translated into English, and which is said to have been the last of Milton's Latin poetical effusions) is given in plate xvii. of Sam. Leigh Sotheby's sumptuous volume, entitledRamblings in the Elucidation of the Autograph of Milton, 4o. Lond. 1861; and at p. 120 there is a facsimile in full of Milton's inscription in another volume (4o. F. 56 Th.) which contains a collection of the political and polemical treatises published by him in the years 1641-5. This latter inscription, which gives a list of the contentsof the volume, is addressed as follows: 'Doctissimo viro proboque librorum æstimatori Joanni Rousio, Oxoniensis academiæ Bibliothecario, gratum hoc sibi fore testanti, Joannes Miltonius opuscula hæc sua in Bibliothecam antiquissimam atque celeberrimam adsciscenda libens tradit, tanquam in memoriæ perpetuæ Fanum, emeritamque, uti sperat, invidiæ calumniæque vacationem; si Veritati, Bonoque simul Eventui satis litatum sit.' Warton tells the almost incredible story, in his edition of Milton'sPoems, that about the year 1720 these two volumes were thrown out into a heap of duplicates, from which Nathaniel Crynes, who afterwards bequeathed his own collection to the Library[71], was permitted to pick out what he pleased for himself; fortunately, however, he was too good a royalist and churchman to choose anything that bore the name of Milton, and so the books, despised and rejected on both sides, by mere chance remained in the place of their original deposit! Such an incident, if true, goes far to justify the charges of ignorance and neglect of the Library which Hearne in his Diary constantly brings against Hudson, the Librarian at that time, and those whom he employed.

The second edition of the Catalogue was issued by James, shortly after his resignation of his office, with a Dedication to Prince Charles, and a Preface dated June 30. It consists of 539 quarto pages, in double columns. It abandons the classified arrangement of the former Catalogue, and adopts that (followed ever since) of one alphabet of names. James, in his Preface, gives as his reason for this course, the frequent difficulty (already experienced even in so small a collection) of deciding to what class a book should be assigned, and the inconvenience resulting from division of the works of the same author. He points out the value of the Library to foreigners, who can there consult 16,000 volumes for six hours a day, excepting Sundays andholidays[72]. As instances of the copiousness of its stores, he mentions that there are to be found above 100 folio and quarto volumes on Military Art, in Greek, Latin, and other languages; and that there are 3000 or 4000 books in French, Italian, and Spanish. He notes that heretical and schismatical books are not to be read without leave of the Vice-Chancellor and Regius Professor of Divinity; and makes some remarks on the method of keeping a Common-place-book. He gives as the reason for his quitting his post, his severe sufferings from stone and paralysis[73].

On June 4, King James presented the folio edition of hisWorksas edited by Bishop Montague. The book (now marked B. 14. 17. Theol.) contains the following presentation inscription, written and signed by Sir R. Naunton:—

'Jacobus Dei gratia Magnæ Britanniæ, Franciæ et Hiberniæ Rex, fidei defensor, &c. Postquam decrevisset publici juris facere quæ sibi erat commentatus, ne videretur vel palam pudere literarum quas privatim amaverat, vel eorum seu opinioni seu invidiæ cedere qui Regis Majestatem literis dictitabant imminui, vel Christiani Orbis et in eo Principum judicia expavescere, quorum maxime intererat vera esse omnia quæ scripsit; circumspicere etiam cœpit certum aliquod libro suo domicilium, locum, si fieri possit, semotum a fato, æternitati et paci sacrum. Ecce commodum sua se obtulit Academia, illa pæne orbi notior quam Cantabrigiæ, ubi exulibus Musis jam olim melius est quam in patria, ubi a codicibus famæ nuncupatis tineæ absterrentur legentium manibus, sycophantæ scribentium ingeniis. In hoc immortali literarum sacrario, inter monumenta clarorumvirorum, quos quantum dilexit studiorum participatione satis indicavit, in bibliotheca publica, lucubrationes has suas Deo Opt. Max., Cui ab initio devotæ erant, æternum consecrat, in venerando Almæ Matris sinu, unde contra seculorum rubiginem fidam illi custodiam promittit, et contra veritatis hostes stabile patrocinium.'

The book, which was carried to Oxford by a special deputation, consisting of Patrick Young, the Librarian at St. James's (to whom £20 was given by the University for his pains), and others, was received by the University with great ceremony. A Convocation was held in St. Mary's Church, on May 29, at which an oration was delivered by Rich. Gardiner, the Deputy-Orator, and at which a letter of thanks was approved (which is printed in Wood'sAnnals, ii. 336); from thence the Vice-Chancellor, attended by 24 doctors in their scarlet robes, and a mixed multitude of others, carried it in solemn procession to the Library, where the keeper, Rouse, 'made a verie prettie speech,' says Patrick Young, 'and placed itin archivis... with a great deale of respect[74].' The King was greatly pleased with the formality and flattery with which his works were received, and the more so 'because Cambridge received them without extraordinary respect[75].'

Another gift in this year, presented by Thomas Nevile, K.B., eldest son of Sir H. Nevile, Knt., is thus described in the Register: 'Elegantissimum libellum diversa scripturæ genera continentem, manu Esteris Anglicæ, characteribus exquisitis conscriptum.' This is, doubtless, the MS. of the Book of Proverbs, dated 1599, in which every chapter, as well as the dedication to the Earl of Essex, is written in a different style of caligraphy,which is now exhibited in the glass case nearest the entrance to the Library. It is an extremely beautiful specimen of the handiwork of Mrs. Esther Inglis, of whose skill the Library possesses another and smaller specimen (Bodl. 987), consisting of some French verses by Guy de Faur, Sieur de Pybrac, written for Dr. Joseph Hall (afterwards the Bishop of Norwich), in 1617. These are described in the account of Mrs. Inglis, in Ballard'sMemoirs of British Ladies. A third specimen of her work is in the Library of Ch. Ch.: it is a Psalter in French, presented to Queen Elizabeth in 1599, bound in embroidered crimson velvet, set with pearls[76].

The Douay Bible of 1609 was presented by Sir Rich. Anderson, and a Persian MS. of the Liturgy of the Greek Church by Sir Thos. Roe. The first architectural model also was given in this year; but unfortunately it is not now extant. Its description is as follows: 'Clemens Edmonds, eques auratus, consilio Regis ab epistolis, donavit egregiumπαραδειγμαquinque columnarum, nunc primum inventum, secundum formam rusticam, ex alabastrite singulari artificio confectum.'

[69]One fact to his credit is indeed mentioned by Wood in theFasti, under the year 1648, viz. that he prevented the then Vice-Chancellor, Dr. Reynolds, and the Proctors from breaking open Bodley's chest in search of money, by assuring them that there was nothing in it. Hearne (MS. Diary, vol. xii. p. 13) says that Rouse inserted a portrait of Sir Thos. Bodley, done at his own charge, in the window of the room which he occupied on the west side of Oriel College.

[70]Cowley followed Milton's example by inserting an Ode, in this case in English, in a folio copy of hisPoems(numbered C. 2. 21. Art.), which he gave June 26, 1656. It is printed exactly from the original inReliquiæ Hearn.ii. 921-3.

[71]Seesub anno1745.

[72]At this time there were only two other public libraries in Europe, both later in date than the Bodleian, viz. that of Angelo Rocca at Rome, opened in 1604, and the Ambrosian at Milan, opened in 1609. The fourth public library was that of Card. Mazarin at Paris, opened in 1643. Evidence of the consequent appreciation by foreigners of the advantages of the Bodleian Library is given under the year 1641.

[73]An Appendix to James' Catalogue was printed in 1635,q. v.

[74]Nichols'Progresses of James I, vol. iii. p. 1105. Rouse's speech (with the letter) is printed in Hearne'sTitus Liv. Forojul.p. 198.

[75]Letter from J. Chamberlain to Sir D. Carleton, June 28, 1620:Calendar of State Papers, 1619-23, p. 157.

[76]An account of Mrs. Esther Inglis, and of all her known existing MSS., is preparing for publication by David Laing, Esq., LL.D., of Edinburgh.

A gift of £5 is noticeable as coming from the Girdlers' Company, 'Societas Zonariorum.' Sir Francis Bacon occurs as a donor of books.

Delegates were appointed by Convocation to consider 'de modulo frontispicii Bibliothecæ publicæ in parte occidentali versus collegium Exon[77].'

Back to Index Next