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 of him 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 his _Poems 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 8^o. 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, entitled _Ramblings in the Elucidation of
the Autograph of Milton_, 4^o. Lond. 1861; and at p. 120 there is a
facsimile in full of Milton's inscription in another volume (4^o. 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 contents of 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's _Poems_, 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 and holidays[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 his _Works_ as
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 clarorum virorum, 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's _Annals_, 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 it _in 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's _Memoirs 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 egregium παραδειγμα
quinque columnarum, nunc primum inventum, secundum formam rusticam, ex
alabastrite singulari artificio confectum.'
[69] One fact to his credit is indeed mentioned by Wood in the _Fasti_,
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 his _Poems_ (numbered C. 2. 21. Art.),
which he gave June 26, 1656. It is printed exactly from the original in
_Reliquiæ Hearn._ ii. 921-3.
[71] See _sub anno_ 1745.
[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's _Titus 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.