[256] The room is a small wainscoted apartment in the second floor,
commanding a pleasant view.
[257] The above inscription is a fac-simile of that upon the glass.
The word _fifth_ in the third line has been erased by Pope for want
of room to complete it properly. It is scratched on a small pane of
red glass, and has been removed to Nuneham Courtney, the seat of the
Harcourt family, on the banks of the Thames, a few miles from
Oxford.
[258] Harrewyns published, in 1684, a series of interesting views of
the house, and some of the apartments, including this domed one. The
series are upon one folio sheet, now very rare.
[259] Rubens was an ardent collector, and lost no chance of increasing
his stores; in the appendix to Carpenter's "Pictorial Notices of
Vandyke" is printed the correspondence between himself and Sir D.
Carleton, offering to exchange some of his own pictures for antiques
in possession of the latter, who was ambassador from England to
Holland, and who collected also for the Earl of Arundel.