A collection of valuable original papers relating to affairs in Church
and State, which had belonged to Archbishop Sheldon, were sold by his
great-nephew, Sir John English Dolben, of Finedon, Northamptonshire, to
the Library for £40 5_s._ They are now bound in six volumes, of which
three are lettered _Sheldon_, and three _Dolben_. Of the first three,
two contain letters from English, Welsh, Scotch and Irish Bishops, and
the contents of the other are miscellaneous; of the second three, one
contains miscellaneous letters and papers commencing at 1585, another
has similar papers from 1626 to 1721, and the third contains
miscellaneous ecclesiastical letters and documents. Some of the letters
are addressed to the Archbishop's secretary, Miles Smyth, Esq. A short
letter from Sir John Dolben to Dr. Bandinel, relating to his disposal of
these papers, dated Oct. 12, 1824, is preserved in Bodl. MS. Addit. ii.
A. 32. He had previously given, in 1822, a fine copy of a quarto Bible
which had belonged to Sheldon, containing (1) the Prayer-Book and
Metrical Psalms, printed at Cambridge in 1638, (2) the Old Test.,
printed by Field at London in 1648, and (3) the New Test., Cambr. 1637.
At the end are some memoranda by the Archbishop of the births, baptisms,
and deaths of members of the Sheldon and Okeover families, and of the
legitimate children of Charles II and the Duke of York. The Library more
than a century before had received benefactions from a member of the
same family of Dolben; Gilbert Dolben, of Finedon, having given some
printed books in 1697, together with a manuscript of Gower. And twenty
vols. of Chamberlaine's _State of Great Britain_ were given by Mr. J. E.
Dolben in 1796. An additional volume of the Sheldon correspondence was
given to the Library in 1840, by Dr. Routh, the President of Magdalen
College. It is a copy-book of business-letters written by the
Archbishop. In a note to Dr. Bandinel which accompanied the gift, and
which is now fixed in vol. i. of Burnet's autograph copy of his _Own
Times_, Dr. Routh says:--
'The President takes the opportunity of sending a volume containing
the first draught of letters sent by Archbp. Sheldon to different
persons, together with a few other contemporary papers. They were
put into the President's hands by the late Sir John English Dolben,
and as the University purchased of that gentleman what were commonly
called the Sheldon Papers, he thinks they cannot be deposited
anywhere more suitably than in the Bodleian Library.'
To the annual catalogue for this year was attached a special list,
filling thirty-two folio pages, of the books (upwards of 1500 in number)
which were bought at the Hague, at the sale of the library collected by
the distinguished Dutch scholars and lawyers, Gerard and John Meerman.
The sale-catalogue is a volume of more than 1200 pages. The books bought
for the Library were chiefly such as supplied deficiencies in foreign
history and law, together with some Greek[310] and Latin MSS., for the
most part patristic and classical. The sum expended was £925. Some rare
Spanish historical books (in which class of literature, thanks to Dr.
Bandinel's care in keeping it steadily in view, the Library is now very
rich) were bought at the sale of Don J. Ant. Conde.
But the chief distinction of this year lies in the acquisition, by
bequest of Mrs. Elizabeth Dennis Denyer (widow of Mr. John Denyer, of
Chelsea, who died in 1806) of a most valuable collection of early
editions of the English Bible, numbering altogether about twenty-five.
To show the rarity and worth of this collection, it will be sufficient
to mention but a few of the volumes which it contains. _Imprimis_,
Coverdale's first edition, 1535[311], and his second edition, 1537;
Cranmer's, in April, 1540 and in 1541, and by Grafton in 1553;
Matthew's, by Becke, in 1551; Tyndale's New Testament, in 1536, and
another of his earliest editions; Hollybush's English and Latin
Testament, 1538, and Erasmus' Testament, 1540. Besides the Biblical
collection, Mrs. Denyer also bequeathed twenty-one English theological
works, nearly all printed before 1600; including a beautiful copy of
Fisher on the Penitential Psalms (by Wynkyn de Worde) and books by
(amongst others) Bale, Bonner, Brightwell, Erasmus, Hooper, Joye, and
Tonstall.
Mr. L. E. Judge, New College (B.A. 1827, M.A. 1830; Chaplain; deceased
1853), succeeded Mr. Roberts, in March, as assistant; but in July of the
next year retired, and was succeeded by Mr. W. Bailey, also of New
College (B.A. 1829).
[310] These, in number thirty-eight, are described in Mr. Coxe's
Catalogue, cols. 724-773. An eighth-century copy of Eusebius'
_Chronicon_ is among the Latin MSS.
[311] Wanting title and map. A title had been supplied by Mrs. Denyer,
who in several instances had supplied deficiencies very successfully in
pen and ink; a perfect facsimile, however, by Mr. J. Harris, which might
pass for the original, were not the minute mark '_Fs. T. H._' seen on
the back of the page, has since been substituted. It is a marvel of
caligraphic skill. Another imperfect copy came to the Library among
Selden's books.