A.D. 1642.

[102]Neal'sHistory of the Puritans, i. 688.

[103]Walker'sLetters of Eminent Men, 1813, vol. i. p. 175.

'The Kinge, Jul. 11, 1642, had £500 out of Sir Th. Bodlyes Chest, as appeares by Dr. Chaworthes acquittance in the same box.' (Barlow's Library Accounts for 1657.MS.) This loan was,of course, never repaid. It is regularly carried on in the Annual Accounts up to the year 1782.

Nov. 30. 'At night the Library doore was allmost broken open. Suspitio de incendio, &c.' (Brian Twyne'sMusterings of the Univ., in Hearne'sChron. Dunst.p. 757.)

It must have been about the close of this year or beginning of the next, while the king was in winter quarters at Oxford, that the visit was paid to the Library, which is the subject of the following well-known anecdote. It is here quoted from the earliest authority in which it is found, viz. Welwood'sMemoirs, Lond. 1700. pp. 105-107:—

'The King being at Oxford during the Civil Wars, went one day to see the Publick Library, where he was show'd among other Books, a Virgil nobly printed and exquisitely bound. The Lord Falkland, to divert the King, would have his Majesty make a trial of his fortune by theSortes Virgilianæ, which everybody knows was an usual kind of augury some ages past. Whereupon the King opening the book, the period which happen'd to come up was that part of Dido's imprecation against Æneas, which Mr. Dryden translates thus:—

"Yet let a race untam'd, and haughty foes,His peaceful entrance with dire arts oppose,Oppress'd with numbers in th' unequal field,His men discourag'd, and himself expell'd,Let him for succour sue from place to place,Torn from his subjects, and his son's embrace.First let him see his friends in battel slain,And their untimely fate lament in vain:And when at length the cruel war shall cease,On hard conditions may he buy his peace.Nor let him then enjoy supreme command,But fall untimely by some hostile hand,And lye unburi'd in the common sand."

(Æneid, iv. 88.)

It is said K. Charles seem'd concerned at this accident, and that the Lord Falkland observing it, would likewise try his ownfortune in the same manner; hoping he might fall upon some passage that could have no relation to his case, and thereby divert the King's thoughts from any impression the other might have upon him. But the place that Falkland stumbled upon was yet more suited to his destiny than the other had been to the King's, being the following expressions of Evander upon the untimely death of his son Pallas, as they are translated by the same hand:—

"O Pallas, thou hast fail'd thy plighted word,To fight with reason, not to tempt the sword.I warned thee, but in vain, for well I knewWhat perils youthful ardor would pursue;That boiling blood would carry thee too far,Young as thou wert in dangers, raw to war.Oh! curst essay of arms, disastrous doom,Prelude of bloody fields and fights to come."

(Æneid, xi. 220.)'

There is no copy of Virgil now in the Library amongst those which it possessed previously to 1642, which is 'exquisitely bound' as well as 'nobly printed;' it is not therefore possible to fix on the particular volume which the King consulted.

A small slip of paper, carefully preserved, is the memorial of an interesting incident connected with the last days in Oxford of the Martyr-King whose history is so indissolubly united with that of the place. Amidst all the darkening anxieties which filled the three or four months preceding the surrender of himself to the Scots, King Charles appears to have snatched some leisure moments for refreshment in quiet reading. His own library was no longer his; but there was one close at hand which could more than supply it. So, to the Librarian Rous, (the friend of Milton, but whose anti-monarchical tendencies, we may be sure, hadalways hitherto been carefully concealed) there came, on Dec. 30, an order, 'To the Keeper of the University Library, or to his deputy,' couched in the following terms: 'Deliver unto the bearer hereof, for the present use of his Majesty, a book intituled,Histoire universelle du Sieur D'Aubigné, and this shall be your warrant;' and the order was one which the Vice-Chancellor had subscribed with his special authorization, 'His Majestyes use is in commaund to us. S. Fell, Vice Can.' But the Librarian had sworn to observe the Statutes which, with no respect of persons, forbad such a removal of a book; and so, on the reception of Fell's order, Rous 'goes to the King; and shews him the Statutes, which being read, the King would not have the booke, nor permit it to be taken out of the Library, saying it was fit that the will and statutes of the pious founder should be religiously observed[104].'

Perhaps a little of the hitherto undeveloped Puritan spirit may have helped to enliven the conscience of the Librarian, who, had he been a Cavalier, might have possibly found something in the exceptional circumstances of the case, to excuse a violation of the rule; but, as the matter stood, it reflects, on the one hand, the highest credit both on Rous's honesty and courage, and shows him to have been fit for the place he held, while, on the other hand, the King's acquiescence in the refusal does equal credit to his good-sense and good-temper. We shall see that this occurrence formed a precedent for a like refusal to the Protector in 1654 by Rous's successor, when Cromwell showed equal good feeling and equal respect for law.

[104]Bp. Barlow's Argument against Lending Books.MS.

'When Oxford was surrendered (24oJunii, 1646) the first thing Generall Fairfax did was to set a good guard of soldiers to preserve the Bodleian Library. 'Tis said there was more hurt donne by the Cavaliers (during their garrison) by way of embezzilling and cutting off chaines of bookes then there was since. He was a lover of learning, and had he not taken this special care, that noble library had been utterly destroyed, for there were ignorant senators enough who would have been contented to have had it so. This I doe assure you from an ocular witnesse, E. W. esq[105].'

[105]Aubrey'sLives; inLetters by Eminent Persons, ii. 346.

John Verneuil, M.A., Sub-librarian, died about the end of September. He was a native of Bordeaux, and came into England as a Protestant refugee shortly before 1608. In that year he entered at Magdalene College, and was incorporated M.A. from his own University of Montauban in 1625. Besides his share in the Appendix to the Catalogue noticed under the year1635, the following small book of a similar kind in English was issued by him:A Nomenclator of such Tracts and Sermons as have beene printed, or translated into English upon any place or booke of Holy Scripture; now to be had in the most famous and publique Library of Sir Thomas Bodley in Oxford. This is the title of the second and enlarged edition, which appeared in 1642 in a small duodecimo volume, printed at Oxford, by Henry Hall. The first edition (which was not entirely confined to books in the Library) was printed under the author's initials by William Turner in 1637. Some books communicated by friends are here cited, which would, says Verneuil, have been accessible in the Bodleian, 'had the Company of Stationers beene as mindfull of their covenant as my selfe have beene zealous for the good of this our Library.' In an interesting undated letter from Sir Richard Napier, Knt. (while apparently an undergraduate of Wadham College, before 1630) to his uncle theRev. Richard Napier, which is preserved in Ashmole MS. 1730, fol. 168, is the following curious passage relating to the facilities for studying in the Library, which were afforded to him by Verneuil:—

'I have made a faire way to goe into the Library privately when I please, and there to sitt from 6 of the clocke in the morneing to 5 at night. I have a private place in the Library to lay those bookes and to write out what I list, without being seene by any, or any comeing to me. I have made the second Keeper of the Library [i.e.Verneuil] my friend and servant, who promised me his key at all tymes to goe in privately, when as otherwise it is not opened above 4 houres a day, and some days not att all, as on Hollidays, and their eves in the afternoone, yett then by his meanes I shall [have] free accesse and recesse at all tymes. He hath pleasured me so farr as to lett me write in his counting house, or his little private study in the great publick library, where I may very privately write, and locke up all safely when I depart thence; he will write for me when I have not the leisure, or will transcribe any thinge I shall desire him, and if it be French translate it, for that is his mother tonge.'

Probably the practice here mentioned of admitting readers by favour into the Library at unstatutable times grew in the course of years to a considerable height, or was found (as might naturally be expected) productive of mischievous consequences, for on Nov. 8, 1722, it was 'ordered by the Curators that no person under any pretence whatsoever be permitted to study in the said Library at any other time than what is prescribed and limited by the Bodleian Statutes.'

Verneuil was succeeded in his office in the Library by Francis Yonge, M.A., of Oriel College.

Milton's gift of hisPoems. See under1620.

At the end of the Readers' Register for 1647-8, 1648-9, is a list of nine volumes 'olim surrepti,' of which five had been replaced byother copies. Entries are made in the same place of some coins which were given in 1648-50. At this period the Library appears to have been well attended by readers; about twelve or fifteen quarto and octavo volumes being daily entered, those of folio size being accessible (as, in regard to a portion of the Library, is still the case) by the readers themselves, and not registered because at that time chained to their shelves. The register for the next years (as well as those which followed, up to the year 1708) appears to be lost, so that it cannot be ascertained whether this daily average continued during the Usurpation; but thus far it seems that Dr. John Allibond's description of the state of the Library as consequent on the Puritan visitation of the University in 1648, is not borne out by facts. For that loyal humourist, in hisRustica Academiæ Oxoniensis nuper reformatæ Descriptio, which is supposed to commemorate the condition of Oxford in Oct. 1648, writes thus of our Library:—

'Conscendo orbis illud decusBodleio fundatore:Sed intus erat nullum pecus,Excepto janitore.Neglectos vidi libros multos,Quod mimime mirandum:Nam inter bardos tot et stultosThere's few could understand 'em.'

'Conscendo orbis illud decusBodleio fundatore:Sed intus erat nullum pecus,Excepto janitore.

Neglectos vidi libros multos,Quod mimime mirandum:Nam inter bardos tot et stultosThere's few could understand 'em.'

'The Jews proffer £600,000 for Paul's, and Oxford Library, and may have them for £200,000 more[106].' They wished to obtain the first for a synagogue, and to do a little commercial business with the second. It is said in Monteith'sHistory of the Troubles(translated by Ogilvie, 1735, p. 473) that the sum they offered was£500,000, but that the Council of War refused to take less than £800,000: probably they afterwards increased this their original bid to £600,000.

Philip, Earl of Pembroke, the Puritan Chancellor of the University, gave a splendidly bound copy of the Paris Polyglott, printed in 1645 in 10 vols.

[106]London News-letter of April 2; printed in Carte'sCollection of Letters, vol. i. p. 275.

John Rous, the Librarian, died in the beginning of April, probably on April 3, as, the Statutes requiring the election of Librarian to take place within three days of a vacancy, it was on the 6th of that month that Thomas Barlow, M.A., Fellow of Queen's College, was unanimously elected to be Rous's successor. At the same time certain orders were read in Convocation which the Curators had made, for the formation by the Librarian of a Catalogue of the coins and other rarities, providing also that they should be regularly visited and verified by the Curators every November[107].

A legacy of £20 from Rous to the Library is entered in the Benefaction Register, under the year 1661, probably because it may not have been actually received until that year.

[107]Reg. 'T. 158-9.' MS. Note by Dr. P. Bliss.

Fifteen MSS., by Spanish authors, were given by Peter Pett, LL.B., Fellow of All Souls' College; and a sacred Turkish vestment of linen (e Mus. 45) on which the whole of the Koran is written in Arabic, by Richard Davydge, an East Indian merchant.

'April last, 1654, my Lord Protector sent his letter to Mr. Vice-Chancellor to borrow a MS. (Joh. de Muris) for the PortugalAmbassador. A copy of the Statute was sent (but not the book), which when his Highness had read, he was satisfy'd, and commended the prudence of the Founder, who had made the place so sacred[108].'

Cromwell's gift of MSS. See under1629.

[108]Barlow's Argument against Lending Books out.

The death of John Selden occurred on Nov. 30[109]. By his will the Library became possessed at once of his collection of Oriental and Greek MSS., together with a few Latin MSS. specially designated, as well as of such of his Talmudical and Rabbinical books as were not already to be found there. It has generally been supposed that no part of his library was received before the year 1659, and that none at all was actually bequeathed by Selden. The account usually given (taken from Burnet's Life of Sir M. Hales, p. 156[110]) is that Selden was so offended with the University for refusing the loan of a MS., except upon a bond for £1000, that he revoked that part of his will which left his library to the Bodleian, and put it entirely at the free disposal of his executors, and that they, when five years had passed, during which the Society of the Inner Temple (to whom it was first offered) hadtaken no steps to provide a building for its reception, conceiving themselves to be executors not of Selden's passion but of his will, sent it in 1659 to its original destination[111]. But it is clear from Selden's will (as printed by Wilkins in hisWorks, vol. i. p. lv.) that the books mentioned above were really bequeathed by him to Oxford; a line or two appears to be somehow omitted, by which the sense of the passage is lost, and in consequence of which the name of the Library does not appear, but there is a general reference to it both in the specification of such Hebrew books as are 'not already in the Library,' and in the mention of the 'saidChancellor, Masters, and Scholars' of the University (although no previous mention of them occurs); while all other books not thus conveyed are left to the disposal of his executors. But a letter from Langbaine to Pococke, written from London only three days after Selden's death, furnishes proof positive; for there the former writes, as executor, that all the Oriental MSS., with such Rabbinical and Talmudical printed books as were not already in the Library, and the Greek MSS. not otherwise disposed of, are left to Oxford[112]. And in the Annual Accounts, under the year 1655, we find the following entries:—

It is clear, therefore, that a portion of Selden's collection came to the Library by his bequest immediately after his death. And the reason why the whole was not bequeathed iscertainly not correctly stated by Burnet, nor even by Wood, who says that he had been informed that it was because the borrowing of certain MSS. had been refused. For the Convocation Register shows that a grace waspassedin Convocation, on Aug. 29, 1654, which sanctioned the giving leave to Selden to have MSS. from the collections of Barocci, Roe, and Digby (these donors having either expressed an opinion, or distinctly stipulated, that the rigour of the Library Statutes should sometimes be relaxed), provided he did not have more than three at a time, and that he gave bond in £100 (not £1000) for the return of each of them within a year[113]. Had these conditions been really the cause of Selden's taking offence, his executors would hardly have stipulated, as they actually did, in their own conditions of gift, that no book from his collection should hereafter be lent to any person upon any condition whatsoever. But there is certainly some obscurity hanging over the matter, which probably may be dispersed by further investigation. The writer of the sketch of the history of the Bodleian prefixed to Bernard'sCat. MSS., after quoting Wood's account, only says, when barely more than forty years had elapsed, that he will not venture to speak rashly about the case of the lending of books; as if it were already forgotten how the facts stood. On the proposal to lend being first mooted, Barlow, the Librarian, drew up a paper on the general question, in which he opposed it both on the grounds of Statute and expediency; the original MS. of which still exists in the Library. Selden was at first mentioned in this paper by name, with distinct reference to his application; but the name was subsequently crossed out wherever it thus occurred, and the subject treated without anypersonal reference[114]. In this paper the Librarian objects to the proposal, firstly, on the ground of precedent, since, though the University had power, with the joint consent of the Chancellor, Heads of Houses, and Convocation, to lend books, yet it hadnever thought fit to do so, except with regard to Lord Pembroke's MSS.; secondly, on the ground that if the rule were once broken, it would be impossible to refuse any person, without incurring great odium, while the gratifying all applicants woulddisperse into private hands the books intended for the public. He then proceeds as follows:—

'3. Suppose 3 bookes at a time be sent to any private man, 'tis true he is furnish'd, but 'tis manifestly to the prejudice of the Publick, the University wanting those books while he has them; so that if any forreigner coming hither from abroad desire to see them, or any at home desire to use them, both are disappointed, to the diminution of the honour of the University, in the one, and the benefit it might have by those books, in the other. And therefore it seems more agreeable to reason and the public good (and the declared will and precept of our prudent and pious Founder[115]) not to lend any books out of the Library; for by not lending, private persons only want the use of those books which are another's, whereas by lending, the University wants the use of those books which are her own. Sure no prudent man can think it fit to gratify particular persons with the publick detriment.

'4. The Library is a magazine which the pious Founder hath fix'd in a publick place for a publick use; and though his charity to private persons is such that he will hinder none (who is justly qualify'd and worthy) to come to it, yet his charity to the publick is such that he would not have it ambulatory, to goe to any private person. And sure 'tis more rational that Mahomet should go to the mountaine, than that the mountaine should come to Mahomet.

'5. Lending of books makes them lyable to many casualties, as, I. absolute losse, either 1.in via, by the carrier's negligence, or violence offer'd him, or, 2.in termino, they may be lost by the person that borrows them; for (presuming the person noble, and carefull for their preservation, yet) his house may be burn'd, or (by robbers) broken open (as Mr. Selden's unhappily was not long since): or, (in case they scape these casualties) they may be spoyl'd in the carriage, as by sad experience we find, for above 60 or 100 leaves of a Greek MS.[116]lent out ofArchiva Pembrochianato Mr. Pat. Younge were irrecoverably defaced. Now what has happen'd heretofore may happen hereafter; and therefore to keep them sacredly (and without any lending) in the Library (according to our good Founder's will and statute) will be the best way for their preservation.'

Barlow adds finally, in the sixth and seventh places, that if all lending were declared unlawful, it would greatly encourage others to give more to the Library when they saw how religiously their gifts would be preserved, and that if no exceptions were made(except, as allowed by Archbp. Laud, for the purpose of printing), no applications would be made, and no one would take it ill if he were denied.

Another reason for Selden's withholding his library in its entirety has, however, been assigned, besides those mentioned above, and this, too, by closely contemporary writers. In July, 1649, the new intruded officers and fellows of Magdalene College found in the Muniment-room in the cloister-tower of the College, a large sum of money in the old coinage calledSpur-royals[117], orRyals, amounting to £1400, the equivalent of which had been left by the Founder as a reserve fund for law expenses, for re-erecting or repairing buildings destroyed by fire, &c., or for other extraordinary charges. This gold had been laid up and counted in Q. Elizabeth's time and had remained untouched since then; consequently, although some of the old members of the College were aware of its existence, to the new-comers it seemed a welcome and unexpected discovery, especially as the College was at the time heavily in debt. They immediately proceeded to divide it among all the members on the Foundation proportionately, not excluding the choristers, (who were at that time undergraduates), the Puritan President, Wilkinson, being alone opposed to such an illegal proceeding, and being with difficulty prevailed upon to accept £100 as his share, which, however, upon his death-bed he charged his executors to repay. The spur-royals were exchanged at the rate of 18s.6d.to 20s.each, and each fellow had 33 of them. But when the fact of this embezzlement of corporate funds became known, the College was called to account by Parliament, and, although they attempted to defend themselves, they individually deemed it wise to refund the greater, or a considerable, part of what had been abstracted.[118]Fuller, whoseChurch Historywas published in the year following Selden's death, after telling this scandalous story, proceeds thus (book ix. p. 234):—'Sure I am, a great antiquarie lately deceased (rich as well in his state as learning) at the hearing hereof quitted all his intention of benefaction to Oxford or any place else, on suspition it would be diverted to other uses, on the same token that he merrily said, I think the best way for a man to perpetuate his memory is to procure the Pope to canonize him for a saint, for then he shall be sure to be remembred in their Calender; whereas otherwise I see all Protestant charity subject to the covetousness of posterity to devour it, and bury the donor thereof in oblivion.' And the name of this 'great antiquarie' was supplied in 1659 by the Puritan writer Henry Hickman, who, as a Demy of Magdalene College, had shared in the spoils. He, in the Appendix to hisJustification of the Fathers and Schoolmen, gives (in answer to a passage in Heylin'sExamen Historicum) a full account of the dividing of the gold, adding, 'which, as is said, did hinder Mr. John Selden from bestowing his library on the University.' And Wood (Hist. and Antiq.by Gutch, ii. 942) says that he had been told that this misappropriation was one reason of Selden's distaste at Oxford. From all this it is clear that Burnet's narrative gives a very inaccurate account of the matter.

It was in the year 1659 that the great mass of Selden's collection was forwarded by his executors. In the accounts for 1660 appear payments to Barlow of £20 'for his paines in procuring Mr. Selden's books,' and of £51 for his expenses thereon. Thebringing the books from London cost about £34, and the providing chains for them £25 10s.[119]Unfortunately, during the interval, many books had been lost which had been borrowed in London, and were never returned. (Life, inWorks, I. lii.) And a part, which somehow was not sent to Oxford, afterwards altogether perished, 'for the fire of the Temple destroyed in one of their chambers eight chests full of the registers of abbeys, and other manuscripts relating to the history of England; tho' most of his law-books are still safe in Lincoln's Inn[120].' Some medical books were bequeathed to the College of Physicians. Some of the original deeds relating to the gift were bought for the Library in 1837 for £1 1s.

About 8000 volumes were, in all, added to the Library by this gift, most of which bear Selden's well-known motto: 'περι παντος την ελευθεριαν.' Amongst them are some which belonged to Ben Jonson, Dr. Donne, and Sir Robert Cotton. The number of miscellaneous foreign works, in several European languages, is noticeable, many of which had been published but a short time before Selden's death. In curious contrast to the character of the greater part of his collection (rich in classics and science, theology and history, law and Hebrew literature) there occurs onevolume (marked 4oC. 32. Art. Seld.) which is priceless in the eyes of the lovers of old English black-letter tracts. It contains twenty-six tracts (most bearing the name of a previous possessor, one Thomas Newton) which are among the rarest of early popular tales and romances. As mere specimens of the collection may be mentioned,Richard Cuer de Lyon,Syr Bevis of Hampton(unique edit.?),Syr Degore,Syr Tryamoure(only two copies known),Syr Eglamoure(unique?),Dan Hew of Leicestre(unique?),Battayle of Egyngecourt(unique?),Mylner of Abyngton(unique?),Wyl Bucke,&c.Among the MSS. is one of Harding'sChronicle(Arch. Seld. B. 10) which appears to have belonged to Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland, from his arms being painted at the end, and which some have supposed was also a presentation copy to Edward IV. A curious map accompanies the description of Scotland (here given in prose, not, as in the printed editions, in verse), in which, next to Sutherland and Caithness, the author, who would have won Dr. Johnson's respect as being 'a good hater,' places 'Styx, the infernal flode,' and 'The palais of Pluto, King of hel,neighbore to Scottz.' This map was engraved for the first time in Gough'sBritish Topography, vol. ii. pl. viii.; the description of it occupies pp. 579-583 in that volume. Another interesting volume is a copy of the LatinArticlesof 1562, printed by Reginald Wolfe in 1563, with the autograph signatures of the members of the Lower House of Convocation (Arch. Seld. A. 76). Fifty-four Greek MSS. are described in Mr. Coxe's Catalogue, vol. i. cols. 583-648.

[109]As Aubrey (Lives, withLetters by Eminent Persons, ii. 532) has preserved a story that Selden on his death-bed refused, through Hobbes' persuasion, to see a clergyman (Mr Johnson) who was coming 'to assoile him,' it is worth while to print the following notice of his death from Rawlinson MS. B. clviii. fol. 75, a volume containing a collection of biographical anecdotes, &c., written in a rather clumsy copyist's hand, about the beginning of the last century: 'Mr. Selden upon his death-bed disclaimed all Hobbisme and the like wicked and Atheisticall opinions, commanded that neither Mr. Hobbs nor Capt. Rossingham should be admitted to him, confessed his sins, and desired absolution, which was given him by Archbp. Usher; but amongst other things he much deplored the loss of his time in studying of things more curious than usefull, and wished that he [had] rather executed the office of a justice of peace than spent his time in that which the world calls learning.'

[110]See also Aubrey'sLives,ut supra, ii. 536.

[111]Nichols (Lit. Anecd.i. 333) gives another and very different story, for which he produces no authority. He says that Selden had actually sent his library to Oxford during his lifetime, but hearing that they had lent out a bookwithout sufficient caution, he sent for it back again.

[112]Twells' Life of Pococke, in Pococke'sTheol. Works, 1740, vol. i. p. 43.

[113]Reg. Conv. T. p. 251. It is added, as an additional reason for the concession, 'porro spes sit virum in rem nostram academicam optime affectum, hanc ei extra ordinem gratiam factam abunde olim compensaturum.'

[114]A copy also exists of this paper made by Hearne with a view to publication, and, as appears from a short preface by him, from a double motive; firstly, to prevent persons taking offence in his own day at refusals; secondly, to afford warning to persons with 'fanatical consciences,' who seem to have thought there was no harm done in carrying books away secretly, provided they returned them again. Unfortunately 'consciences' such as these still exist, and there is reason for quoting, with a present application, the words with which the warm-hearted Hearne concludes: 'Let these men consider seriously how they will answer this before God, and withall assure themselves that if they be found out, they will, besides the punishment like to come upon them hereafter (without an earnest, hearty repentance) be expos'd to all that infamy and disgrace which the Statute enjoyns to be inflicted upon such notorious offenders.' (Misc. MSS. papers relating to the Library.)The first actual theft of a book occurred in 1624. At the Visitation on Nov. 9, the Curators drew up a formal document, publishing and denouncing the deed, and exhorting the unknown doer to a timely repentance. A copy of it is preserved in volume 23 of Bryan Twyne's Collections, in the University Archives (p. 683), and runs as follows:—'Cum in hac visitatione nostra anniversaria Bibliothecæ Bodleianæ, post diligentem et religiosam status ejus pro officii nostri ratione examinationem factam, compertum sit volumen unum (Jod. Nahumus. Conc. in Evangelia Dominicalia. Han. 1604. N. 1. 3[121]) in classe Theologica, catenâ abscissum et sacrilegâ nebulonis alicujus manu surreptum esse; Cumque ex fideli Bibliothecarii relatione (pensatis loci atque temporis circumstantis) constet, non nisi a jurato aliquo facinus hoc detestabile perpetratum esse;—'Nos Curatores, quorum fidei et inspectioni Bibliothecæ cura speciali nomine a Nobilissimo Fundatore concredita est, insolentis facti indignitate moti et perculsi, quamvis liber parabilis, exigui et pretii et usus sit, ne tamen lenti plus quam par est, et frigidi in causa tanti momenti videamur, post maturam deliberationem, programmate affixo, facinus publicandum duximus;—'Impense rogantes omnes et singulos cujuscunque ordinis et loci genuinos Academia alumnos, ut sicubi librum offendant, sive in privatis musæis, sive in bibliopolarum officinis, restituendum curent, unaque operam nobiscum conferant, ut, si fieri possit, hoc propudium hominis, Bibliothecarum pestis et tenebrio sacrilegus, e latibulis suis in lucem extrahatur; denique, odium et indignationem suam contribuant, saltem ut publicæ infamiæ tuba miser experrectus, misericordiam divinam tempestive imploret, conspecta vel Bibliothecæ porta posthæc attonitus resiliat, nec tanti putet libri contemptibilis acquisitionem ut animam pro qua mortuus est Christus ineptissime periclitari sinat.JO. PRIDEAUX, Vice-Canc. et S. Theol. Professor Regius.THO. CLAYTON, Medic. Professor Regius.DANIEL EASTCOT, Procurator Sen.RICARDUS HILL, Procurator Jun.EDOARDUS MEETKERKIUS, Ling. Hebr. Professor Regius.JOHANNES SOUTH, Græcæ Linguæ Prælector Regius.'More serious abstractions, however, than such as these, have lately (i.e.within the last twenty or thirty years) been practised. It has recently been discovered that two extremely rare tracts by Thomas Churchyard, hisEpitaph of Sir P. Sidney, andFeast full of sad Cheere, have been cut out of the volume of tracts in which they were bound up. May it be hoped that Book-lovers, as well as lovers of honesty, will remember this, should unknown copies suddenly come to light? Another book, mentioned byWartonas being in Tanner's collection,The Children of the Chapel Stript and Whipt, is also not forthcoming; but no trace of its actual existence at any time within the walls of the Library has, as yet, been found. As in the course of making a new General Catalogue of the whole library, every separate volume and tract is now conspicuously stamped with the name of itslocale, it is hoped that depredations of this character will be entirely checked.Two instances, however, in which 'consciences' have been sufficiently awakened to make restitution of stolen goods, have occurred within the last twenty years. In 185- (exact year forgotten), on a day on which a Convocation had been held on some exciting subject, which had consequently brought up country voters from all parts, the present writer happened to notice that a small book had been laid in a shelf of folios near the Library door. Taking it up, he found it to be a rare volume of tracts by J. Preston and T. Goodwin, printed at Amsterdam, and bearing a Library reference. On proceeding to restore it to its place, that place was found to be occupied by another book; this, of course, led to further examination, and it was then discovered that the former volume had been missing for so many years, that at last, all hope of its recovery being abandoned, its place had been filled up. The old register-books of readers were then ransacked, and at length an entry was found of the delivery of this book to a reader, who was still living at the time of this Convocation, on Feb. 14, 1807. A quarto volume was also found about the same time thrust in amongst other quartos in a shelf near the door, but the particulars of this case have been forgotten.A third case of recovery, but of a different kind, occurred in 1851. In the year 1789 the Library was visited by Hen. E. G. Paulus, of Jena, afterwards the too-well-known author of theLeben Jesu, who copied from Pococke MS. 32 (a small octavo volume) an Arabic translation of Isaiah made, in Hebrew characters, by R. Saadiah, which he published in the following year, transposed into Arabic characters. Thenceforward the MS. was lost from the Library, although no direct evidence of the manner of its disappearance appears to have been obtained. But after the death of Paulus in the year 1850, a bookseller at Breslau, to whom the volume had in some way been offered, entered into communication with the Librarian, Dr. Bandinel, and the result was that the missing MS. was at length restored,clothed in an entirely different German binding, and with all trace of its original ownership removed, to its right place. The abstraction of this MS. 'by an Oriental professor,' and its recovery, are mentioned, without further particulars, by Dr. Pusey, in his Evidence printed in theUniversity Report upon the Recommendations of the University Commissioners, 1853. p. 171.

The first actual theft of a book occurred in 1624. At the Visitation on Nov. 9, the Curators drew up a formal document, publishing and denouncing the deed, and exhorting the unknown doer to a timely repentance. A copy of it is preserved in volume 23 of Bryan Twyne's Collections, in the University Archives (p. 683), and runs as follows:—

'Cum in hac visitatione nostra anniversaria Bibliothecæ Bodleianæ, post diligentem et religiosam status ejus pro officii nostri ratione examinationem factam, compertum sit volumen unum (Jod. Nahumus. Conc. in Evangelia Dominicalia. Han. 1604. N. 1. 3[121]) in classe Theologica, catenâ abscissum et sacrilegâ nebulonis alicujus manu surreptum esse; Cumque ex fideli Bibliothecarii relatione (pensatis loci atque temporis circumstantis) constet, non nisi a jurato aliquo facinus hoc detestabile perpetratum esse;—

'Nos Curatores, quorum fidei et inspectioni Bibliothecæ cura speciali nomine a Nobilissimo Fundatore concredita est, insolentis facti indignitate moti et perculsi, quamvis liber parabilis, exigui et pretii et usus sit, ne tamen lenti plus quam par est, et frigidi in causa tanti momenti videamur, post maturam deliberationem, programmate affixo, facinus publicandum duximus;—

'Impense rogantes omnes et singulos cujuscunque ordinis et loci genuinos Academia alumnos, ut sicubi librum offendant, sive in privatis musæis, sive in bibliopolarum officinis, restituendum curent, unaque operam nobiscum conferant, ut, si fieri possit, hoc propudium hominis, Bibliothecarum pestis et tenebrio sacrilegus, e latibulis suis in lucem extrahatur; denique, odium et indignationem suam contribuant, saltem ut publicæ infamiæ tuba miser experrectus, misericordiam divinam tempestive imploret, conspecta vel Bibliothecæ porta posthæc attonitus resiliat, nec tanti putet libri contemptibilis acquisitionem ut animam pro qua mortuus est Christus ineptissime periclitari sinat.

More serious abstractions, however, than such as these, have lately (i.e.within the last twenty or thirty years) been practised. It has recently been discovered that two extremely rare tracts by Thomas Churchyard, hisEpitaph of Sir P. Sidney, andFeast full of sad Cheere, have been cut out of the volume of tracts in which they were bound up. May it be hoped that Book-lovers, as well as lovers of honesty, will remember this, should unknown copies suddenly come to light? Another book, mentioned byWartonas being in Tanner's collection,The Children of the Chapel Stript and Whipt, is also not forthcoming; but no trace of its actual existence at any time within the walls of the Library has, as yet, been found. As in the course of making a new General Catalogue of the whole library, every separate volume and tract is now conspicuously stamped with the name of itslocale, it is hoped that depredations of this character will be entirely checked.

Two instances, however, in which 'consciences' have been sufficiently awakened to make restitution of stolen goods, have occurred within the last twenty years. In 185- (exact year forgotten), on a day on which a Convocation had been held on some exciting subject, which had consequently brought up country voters from all parts, the present writer happened to notice that a small book had been laid in a shelf of folios near the Library door. Taking it up, he found it to be a rare volume of tracts by J. Preston and T. Goodwin, printed at Amsterdam, and bearing a Library reference. On proceeding to restore it to its place, that place was found to be occupied by another book; this, of course, led to further examination, and it was then discovered that the former volume had been missing for so many years, that at last, all hope of its recovery being abandoned, its place had been filled up. The old register-books of readers were then ransacked, and at length an entry was found of the delivery of this book to a reader, who was still living at the time of this Convocation, on Feb. 14, 1807. A quarto volume was also found about the same time thrust in amongst other quartos in a shelf near the door, but the particulars of this case have been forgotten.

A third case of recovery, but of a different kind, occurred in 1851. In the year 1789 the Library was visited by Hen. E. G. Paulus, of Jena, afterwards the too-well-known author of theLeben Jesu, who copied from Pococke MS. 32 (a small octavo volume) an Arabic translation of Isaiah made, in Hebrew characters, by R. Saadiah, which he published in the following year, transposed into Arabic characters. Thenceforward the MS. was lost from the Library, although no direct evidence of the manner of its disappearance appears to have been obtained. But after the death of Paulus in the year 1850, a bookseller at Breslau, to whom the volume had in some way been offered, entered into communication with the Librarian, Dr. Bandinel, and the result was that the missing MS. was at length restored,clothed in an entirely different German binding, and with all trace of its original ownership removed, to its right place. The abstraction of this MS. 'by an Oriental professor,' and its recovery, are mentioned, without further particulars, by Dr. Pusey, in his Evidence printed in theUniversity Report upon the Recommendations of the University Commissioners, 1853. p. 171.

[115]Bodley frequently in his letters expresses his positive determination not to allow books to be removed from the Library by any means. He mentions the having connived at first at Sir H. Savile's having a book for a very short space of time, because he was like to become a very great benefactor; but declares that after the making the Statutes neither he nor any one else shall be allowed the same liberty upon any occasion whatsoever. (Reliquiæ Bodl.pp. 176, 264.) And in another letter he says, in reference to a particular application, 'The sending of any book out of the Library may be assented to by no means, neither is it a matter that the University or Vice-Chancellor are to deal in. It cannot stand with my publick resolution with the University, and my denial made to the Bishop of Glocester and the rest of the Interpreters [i.e.the Translators of the Authorized Version of the Bible] in their assembly in Christ Church, who requested the like at my hands for one or two books.' (Ibid.p. 207.) In 1636 the University refused leave to Archbishop Laud to borrow Rob. Hare's MS.Liber Privilegiorum Universitatis(compiled in 1592), when the Archbishop was prosecuting his claim to visit the two Universities as Metropolitan. But the refusal was doubtless rather from jealousy respecting their immunities (as Wood says) than from regard to the rules of the Library (Huber'sEnglish Universities, by F. Newman, vol. ii. p. 45.) However, the book was at last produced before the Council. (Wood'sHist. and Antiq., by Gutch, vol. ii. p. 403.)

[116]'Μυριοβιβλος, num. 131' [Barocci].

[117]These were gold coins, of the value of fifteen shillings, which derived their name from bearing a star on the reverse which resembled the rowel of a spur.

[118]A few of these coins are still preserved in an ancient chest in the same room where they were of old deposited. Here is also carefully preserved a very large and valuable collection of early charters, including all which belonged to the Hospital of St. John Bapt. upon the site of which the College was built, and to several suppressed priories which were annexed to the College, reaching back to the twelfth century. Of these the author of this volume is engaged in preparing a MS. catalogue, for the use of the College.

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