In this year died Nathaniel Crynes, M.A., Fellow of St. John's College
and Superior Bedel of Arts, to which latter office he had been elected
Jan. 26, 1715/16[209]. He bequeathed to the Library all such books out
of his own valuable collection as it did not already possess, the rest
going to his own College. His books in octavo and smaller sizes, with a
few quartos, are still kept distinct, under his own name, and number 968
volumes, many of which are of great rarity. Seven MSS. were presented
by him in 1736. In 1727 he purchased some duplicates from the Library,
for £3 16_s._ 8_d._, and a story, told by Warton in connection with this
purchase, of his fortunately rejecting books which bore the name of
Milton, will be found under the year 1620. There is a biographical
notice of him in J. Haslewood's Introduction to Juliana Barnes' _Boke of
St. Alban's_, Lond. 1810, pp. 86-7. In the Accounts for 1746 occur
special payments to Fr. Wise, and to one Mr. Gerard Bodley, for
cataloguing and arranging Crynes' books.
[209] He left a benefaction to his successor in this office, which now
produces £13 6_s._ 8_d._ yearly.