We may well ask, What are some of the uses that can be made _The Library of William Congreve

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In the printed book, line breaks in the Congreve catalogue were shown

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Introduction). The breaks have been restored in this e-text, omitting

the / but retaining any hyphens. Book sizes printed with superscript

"o" have been rendered as 4to, 8vo, 12mo. Other superscripts, including

a few books written as 8^vo, are shown in braces: 8{vo}, 2{3} edn.

Bracketed periods [.] were printed with small subscript brackets. They

occur whenever a catalog entry ends with an abbreviation ("Tom.",

"Vol.", "papr."); the final period was supplied by the editor in most

of these entries. Under the headings of _Forma_, _Editio_, _Theca_

(size, edition, case number), sets of four unspaced dots .... were

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THE LIBRARY OF WILLIAM CONGREVE

[Illustration: First page of Congreve's "Bibliotheca," showing the

partially obliterated entries by the first hand. Reproduced from the

original in the library of the Yorkshire Archaeological Society by

permission of His Grace the Duke of Leeds.]

The Library of

WILLIAM CONGREVE

_By_ JOHN C. HODGES

_University of Tennessee, Knoxville_

[Illustration]

New York

The New York Public Library

1955

Reprinted, with additional illustrations, from the

_Bulletin_ of The New York Public Library of 1954-1955.

Printed at The New York Public Library.

The Library of William Congreve

INTRODUCTION

When William Congreve died in 1729 he left a collection of books which

his old friend and publisher, Jacob Tonson, described (in a letter

preserved at the Bodleian) as "genteel & well chosen." Tonson thought so

well of the collection that he urged his nephew, then his agent in

London, to purchase Congreve's books. But Congreve had willed them to

Henrietta, the young Duchess of Marlborough, who was much concerned with

keeping intact (as she wrote in her will) "all Mr. Congreaves Personal

Estate that he left me" in order to pass it along to her youngest

daughter Mary. This daughter, said by gossip to have been Congreve's

daughter also, married the fourth Duke of Leeds in 1740, and thus

Congreve's books eventually found their way to Hornby Castle, chief seat

of the Leeds family in Yorkshire.

There apparently most of Congreve's books remained until about 1930,

when the eleventh Duke of Leeds sold his English estates and authorized

Sotheby's to auction off "a Selected portion of the Valuable Library at

Hornby Castle." Among the 713 items advertised for sale on June 2, 3,

and 4, 1930, were ten books containing the signature of William

Congreve. These ten, along with a few others that have been discovered

here and there with Congreve's name on the title page, and nine books

published by subscription with Congreve's name in the printed list of

subscribers, made a total of some thirty-odd books known to have been in

Congreve's library. These, we may presume, were but a small part of the

Congreve books which had been incorporated with the Leeds family library

in 1740.

_Finding and Identifying Congreve's Book List and His Books_

Among the voluminous papers of the Leeds family now stored in the

British Museum, the Public Record Office, and several other depositories

in England are at least a half-dozen manuscript lists or catalogues of

Leeds books. In one list from the middle of the eighteenth century

appear a few of the books known to have been in Congreve's library. The

same is true of lists dated 1810 and 1850. But it is impossible to use

any of these to determine exactly which of the books had once been

Congreve's. Fortunately another manuscript list proves to be not a

combination of Congreve and Leeds books but a separate catalogue of

Congreve's private library. This list, herewith printed, was found by

the editor in an English county depository, the Yorkshire Archaeological

Society in the City of Leeds.

Let us see why we may accept this list as Congreve's and not simply

another catalogue of Leeds family books--as the librarian of the Society

had classified it. In the first place, it was found among the Leeds

papers, in one of the sixteen boxes of manuscripts brought away from

Hornby Castle shortly before it was torn down about 1930. Among the same

papers, interestingly enough, is a copy of the marriage settlement (on

the original parchment) whereby Mary Godolphin brought to the Leeds

family the books which she had inherited through her mother from

Congreve. The list was just where a Congreve document might have been

expected. In fact, the list was discovered incidentally while the Leeds

papers were being searched as the most promising place to find Congreve

letters. Not a single letter to or from Congreve was to be found,

perhaps because the gossip to the effect that Mary was the natural

daughter of Congreve had caused the family to destroy or mutilate

documents bearing his name. Congreve's copy of Terence (Number 595 in

the list) is a good illustration. On the title page the signature "Will:

Congreve" was once entirely blotted out by the same ink that wrote

"Leeds" at the side. But the two centuries that have since passed have

caused the Leeds ink to fade and thus show very distinctly the clear,

black signature of the dramatist. As for Congreve's 44-page manuscript

book list, evidently it was too useful to destroy--too valuable a record

of the fine collection acquired by the Leeds family. So the list was

kept, but the identifying title at the head of the list was crossed out

except for its opening word "Bibliotheca." Although the name following

that word is illegible for the average reader, one who knows what to

look for can still trace out "Gul:{mi} Congreve, Armigeri" (see

frontispiece).

We do not, however, need to depend on this reading to prove that the

manuscript lists the books of William Congreve, Esquire. All the proof

needed is to be found in the list itself. The 659 items bear dates

between 1515 and 1728, with fourteen entries for 1728, the last year of

Congreve's life. The list includes every one of the works, and the exact

edition of it, for which Congreve is known to have subscribed, such as

Rowe's translation of Lucan's _Pharsalia_ (1718) and Bononcini's

_Cantate e Duetti_ (1721). Furthermore it includes the identical edition

of each book said by the Sotheby catalogue for the Leeds Sale of 1930 to

bear the signature of Congreve.

But the most convincing proof that the list could have belonged only to

Congreve is provided by three quarto volumes, each with Congreve's

signature on the title page, bound together as one volume. This volume,

as described by the Sotheby catalogue for the Leeds Sale, was made up of

(1) Dryden's _Of Dramatick Poesie_, 1684; (2) Horace's _Art of Poetry_,

made English by the Earl of Roscommon, 1684; and (3) _The Rehearsal_,

1687. In other words, the three separate quartos had been specially

bound together to form a unique volume, one to be found only in

Congreve's library. This same unique volume appears as item Number 406

in the manuscript list, where it is described as one of the

"Miscellanies bound together," consisting of "Dryden's Essay on Dram.

Poetry, Horace's Art of Poetry by ye E. of Roscommon, and the

Rehearsal"--the identical three quartos described in the Sotheby

catalogue.

In June, 1930, while the "Selected" books from the Leeds library were

being sold at Sotheby's in London in a three-day sale (referred to

hereafter as the Leeds Sale), the "remaining contents" of Hornby Castle

were auctioned off by Knight, Frank, and Rutley at old Hornby Castle in

Yorkshire in a seven-day sale (referred to hereafter as the Hornby

Castle Sale). The books, which made only a minor part of the latter

sale, were all auctioned off on the sixth day. These books were

catalogued as Lots 1097 through 1294, with from 2 to 430 books in a

single lot, making a total of about 7,475. Only a very small fraction of

these were mentioned by title in the printed catalogue, and nothing was

said about signatures on title pages. But among those mentioned appear

twenty-one of the exact editions in Congreve's list: Numbers 37, 71,

158, 161, 168, 172, 233, 270, 288, 343, 380, 467, 492, 493, 499, 500,

516, 533, 543, 620, 652. Among the "Selected" books catalogued for the

Leeds Sale appear sixty-one of the exact editions in Congreve's list:

Numbers 4, 10, 42, 55, 76, 79 (or 80), 96, 97, 98, 152, 160, 178, 179,

182, 183, 184, 207, 208, 234, 257, 258, 262, 281, 283, 292, 342, 360,

367, 406, 413, 421, 423, 427, 441, 442, 444, 451, 455, 458, 460, 462,

463, 465, 502, 507, 518, 529, 534, 536, 542, 544, 553, 558, 566, 579,

592, 639, 641, 649, 651, 656.

Since Congreve's books had been incorporated with the Leeds library in

1740, we can understand how eighty-two of the identical editions in the

list could turn up in sales of Leeds books in 1930. Most of the

eighty-two exact editions named (and many of the thousands of unnamed

books) in these sales were probably once Congreve's. The fact that

Sotheby's catalogue mentions the Congreve signature in only ten books

suggests that he usually failed to write his name in his books. Sotheby

lists most of the books for which Congreve is known to have subscribed,

and yet no mention is made of a Congreve signature in any of them. Nor

does any signature appear in the special edition of Rowe's Shakespeare

(Number 544 in the list) now in the Folger Shakespeare Library and

almost certainly once Congreve's.

But other books besides the ten mentioned by Sotheby's were signed by

Congreve. One example is Sotheby's item Number 532 (Congreve's Number

518), which was sold to McLeish and Sons and then to E. S. de Beer,

Esq., before the unmistakable signature of the dramatist was noted.

Another example is Congreve's Number 501, which was in the Hornby Castle

Sale and bears the true signature, "Wm: Congreve." Especially

significant is a letter to the editor dated August 20, 1949, from Her

Grace Katherine, Duchess of the tenth Duke of Leeds, stating that many

years ago she had herself "made a great hunt for any books at Hornby

Castle bearing the signature of Congreve," had found "numbers" of them,

and had made a full catalogue with the aid of "Mr. Charles Whibley, the

writer & bibliophile." Unfortunately this catalogue has been lost. If it

is ever found, it will be an interesting record of autographed Congreve

books held together by one family for nearly two centuries. But the

catalogue could not include all the items on the Congreve list since, as

we have seen, the dramatist evidently owned many books in which he

failed to write his name.

In the twenty-odd books known to have been autographed by the dramatist,

the signature is commonly "Will: Congreve," but the surname is sometimes

preceded by "W," "Wm," "Willm," "Gul," "Gulielmi," or "Gulielmus." One

of Congreve's books (Number 236 in the list) preserved in the Yale

Library uses both "W: Congreve" and "Gulielmus Congreve" in different

signatures. None of the signatures should be accepted as that of the

dramatist until the handwriting is verified, for "William" has long been

a common Christian name in the Congreve family. In 1700 there were

living no fewer than five Congreves bearing this name, all descended

from the same grandfather. One of these was Colonel William Congreve

(1671-1746) of Highgate, a cousin of the dramatist, whose papers have

been confused with those of the dramatist in many sales as well as in

many American libraries. The colonel usually signed "Will:" as did the

dramatist, but the two cousins formed the "W" in strikingly different

ways. The colonel rounded the first upper prong of this letter and

brought the middle prong to only little more than half the height of the

other prongs; the dramatist sharpened the first prong and brought the

middle prong fully up to the height of the others.

Since the present Duke of Leeds reports that he no longer has books

bearing Congreve's signature, we may presume that they were largely, if

not fully, disposed of in the two sales of 1930 and are now widely

scattered. Books with Congreve's signature are preserved at the Yale

Library (Congreve's Numbers 236, 262, 441), at the Library of the

University of Tennessee (Numbers 119, 595), at the Morgan Library

(Number 289), at the Boston Public Library (Number 192), at the

Brotherton Library of the University of Leeds (Number 541), and in the

private libraries of E. S. de Beer, Esq., (Number 518) and the Reverend

J. F. Gerrard (Number 371). The editor of this work will be grateful for

information concerning the location of other volumes bearing the true

signature of William Congreve (1670-1729). Such volumes will be doubly

interesting if annotated in the dramatist's handwriting. Some of the

books were thus annotated, according to Jacob Tonson, in his letter of

27 January 1728/29 (a few days after Congreve's death), to his nephew,

Jacob Tonson, Junior: "His [Congreve's] collection of Books were very

genteel & well chosen. I wish you should think them worth your buying;

I think there are in [these] books several notes of his own or

corrections & everything from him will be very valuable."

_Editing and Printing the Book List_

The manuscript list consists of 659 entries arranged in rough

alphabetical order on forty-four pages in a sort of journal

approximately seven by eleven inches in size. The normal entry gives the

name of the author (for perhaps three-fourths of the entries), the short

title, the format, the place and date of publication, and sometimes the

publisher. And finally, after most of the items appears the "Theca" or

shelf number--one of 33 shelves on which Congreve arranged his books at

his lodgings in Surrey Street, London.

The list is set down in three distinct hands. That no one of these is

Congreve's need not surprise us since Congreve had very defective

eyesight during the last half of his life. An adequate income from

government posts enabled him at this period to employ a secretary,

perhaps the "young Amanuensis" that he speaks of in writing to Pope

about 1726. That was the year, it seems, when the bulk of the list--587

of the 659 items--was made out. The year is indicated by the fact that

this hand enters titles of books published through 1725 but none later.

After each alphabetical group a space is left as if for additions, and

into these spaces a distinctive second hand has made thirty-one entries,

including some as late as 1727 but none later. Then follow forty-one

entries by a third hand, including four for 1727 and fourteen for 1728

but none later. Entries by the third hand are probably for books added

to the library during Congreve's final illness. It is interesting to

note that none of the entries in this last hand are followed by a

"Theca" or shelf location, an omission indicating that by the time these

titles were entered, the library had been moved from the original

quarters in Surrey Street. Perhaps the young Duchess, owner of the books

after Congreve's death, had already moved them to her house in St.

James's--and possibly the hand is that of her secretary.

A small cross is marked before most of the 659 items--before all but

fifty-eight (or thirty-seven, when allowance is made for duplicates).

Perhaps these crosses were used in connection with an inventory taken in

1729 when the books were inherited by the young Duchess of Marlborough,

or in 1740 when the books were incorporated by marriage settlement into

the Leeds library. The thirty-seven items then missing (as indicated by

the lack of a cross in Congreve's list) were Numbers 27, 29, 54, 97,

109, 110, 127, 136, 169, 196, 217, 227, 246, 249, 275, 307, 350, 373,

393, 417, 432, 438, 439, 492, 494, 517, 520, 529, 530, 531, 532, 590,

591, 598, 605, 653, and 658. The two books that had been lent to "Ld.

Hervy" (see Congreve's Number 81) and to the Duchess of Marlborough (see

Number 372) were in place at the time of the inventory, and each was

duly acknowledged by a cross. An additional larger cross surrounded by

four dots appears before eleven items (Numbers 36, 65, 120, 232, 256,

283, 298, 303, 462, 484, and 516) to indicate books sent--so the

librarian says in a marginal note--to the Duchess of Leeds. These larger

crosses could not have been made, of course, before 1740.

Congreve's book list is here edited and printed for the first time.

After the 659 numbers, which are supplied by the editor to facilitate

cross references and indexing, the 659 items of the list are printed

with spelling, capitalization, and punctuation as in the manuscript.

Occasional raised letters, such as the "r" in "Mr." and the "e" in "ye,"

are brought down into the line. The great variety of dots and dashes

used to indicate shortened titles are consistently eliminated.

Underscored words are printed in italics. The line breaks in the

manuscript are indicated by shilling marks (/). In the manuscript many

of the "Theca" numbers have been written over older numbers (indicating,

no doubt, a shifting of the books to different shelves). Most of the

older numbers are illegible, and only the newer, more legible numbers

are printed. The occasional use of brackets in the manuscript (as in

Numbers 120, 121, 157, 166, 167, and 238) makes impractical the

editorial expansion in brackets of such abbreviations as "p" in No. 9

(for "par") and in No. 180 (for "per"). The thirty-one entries by the

second hand and the forty-one by the third hand (Numbers 34, 35, 36, 70,

etc.) are designated by the first line of the annotation.

In the paragraph following each item from the manuscript list, the

editor attempts to give the author's name (with dates of his birth and

death), to fill out the short title somewhat when it seems interesting

or helpful in identification, and to show the place of publication, the

name of the publisher, the year of publication, and the format. The

letters "V" (for "U") and "I" (for "J") are usually given the English

equivalents. Otherwise the short title follows the spelling and

punctuation of the title page of the copy examined (usually a copy in

one of the key libraries), with capitalization for only the first word

of the title and for proper names.

The line immediately below this paragraph is reserved for the number, if

any, in the _Short-Title Catalogue_ (abbreviated "STC" for the period

ending 1640 and "Wing" for the later period) and specialized

bibliographies; and for a short list of libraries in which a copy of the

exact edition may be consulted. Then follows, for some items, a second

paragraph of pertinent editorial comment.

All the items in Congreve's list have been identified, at least

tentatively. There is most uncertainty, perhaps, about Numbers 114, 368,

375, and 412. Besides these, twenty others, though well enough known in

some edition, have not been found in any library in the identical

edition of Congreve's list: Numbers 9, 30, 113, 129, 130, 197, 210, 217,

240, 271, 277, 296, 323, 345, 366, 376, 435, 569, 578, and 637.

Furthermore, Numbers 160, 185, 211, 379, 394, 567, and 647 present

difficulties perhaps due to errors on the part of the person making the

manuscript entry.

It will be noticed that forty or more of the items have not been found

in the format given by the manuscript list. This discrepancy may be

explained, at least in part, by the tendency of the makers of the list

to judge the format merely by size. For example, a large duodecimo

(Number 528) is called an octavo, while many small octavos (Numbers 159,

346, 378, 516, etc.) are called duodecimos. The discrepancies involve

chiefly the smaller volumes. Not a single folio volume is involved.

The finding lists of libraries (where copies of the exact editions in

Congreve's list may be consulted) have been arranged geographically,

including usually one European library and several American libraries

located from New England to the Pacific Coast. The ideal has been to

find a copy in each of seven key libraries: the British Museum (Europe),

Harvard (New England), The New York Public Library, the Folger

Shakespeare Library, and the Library of Congress (Middle Atlantic), the

Newberry Library (Middle West), and the Huntington Library (West). The

editor has checked Congreve's list with the catalogues of the seven key

libraries, except for The New York Public Library and the Newberry

Library, where the checking was done by members of the respective

library staffs.

Occasionally an ideal distribution in the seven libraries is found, as

for Numbers 10, 23, 42, 44, 88, 90, 99, and 100. Whenever an edition is

not available in the key library, an effort has been made to find it in

another library of the region. For books not at the British Museum,

references are made to the Bodleian, the Bibliothèque Nationale, or

other European libraries. Books not at Harvard are most frequently found

at Yale or the Boston Public Library. Those not at the Huntington

Library are frequently at the nearby William Andrews Clark Memorial

Library.

Of the American libraries in the finding lists, exclusive of the key

libraries, the editor has examined practically all editions cited at the

Boston Public Library, the Yale Library, and the Clark Library. Other

American libraries are, for the most part, cited on the authority of the

Union Catalog of the Library of Congress. Of the European libraries,

exclusive of the British Museum, the editor has examined practically all

editions cited at libraries in Paris, Brussels, The Hague, Leiden,

Amsterdam, Florence, Rome, Oxford, and Cambridge, and at the various

legal and medical libraries in London. Other English libraries are cited

on the authority of the National Central Library, London.

In Congreve's list about sixty-two of the 659 entries are cross

references or else duplicate entries. On the other hand, some entries

account for more than a single title. Numbers 405-408, for example,

include a total of twenty-six titles. There are approximately 620

separate titles in the list. Of these 620, about 481 (78 per cent) may

be found in the British Museum, 338 (55 per cent) in the Harvard

Library, 192 (31 per cent) in the Library of Congress, 188 (30 per cent)

in The New York Public Library, 186 (30 per cent) in the Huntington

Library, 184 (30 per cent) in the Newberry Library, and 148 (24 per

cent) in the Folger Shakespeare Library. At the Bodleian may be

consulted about thirty-four titles not in the British Museum; and at the

Bibliothèque Nationale, about thirty-seven titles in neither the British

Museum nor the Bodleian. At Yale there are about sixty-eight titles not

at Harvard; and at the Clark Library, about forty-seven titles not at

the Huntington.

_Using Congreve's Book List_

We may well ask, What are some of the uses that can be made of

Congreve's book list? For one thing, it may be studied as a carefully

selected private library of the period. What authors, what editions,

what subjects are to be found in such a library? Which of Congreve's

contemporaries are represented? Which of the current books seemed

important enough for a fellow writer to buy or to subscribe for in

advance of publication? To what extent did the literature of ancient

Greece, of Rome, of modern Italy, of France, of Spain, of Germany find

its way into a private library in England's Augustan Age? And to what

extent were such books in their original language? One scholar has found

in Congreve's book list the information he needed about certain early

editions of Horace. Another, inquiring into the Italian influence on

England during the eighteenth century, has found a partial answer in the

Italian books and in the books about Italy set down in Congreve's list.

Fortunately the list can be made to give information about the one who

collected and used the books. We know less, perhaps, about Congreve than

about any other equally significant writer of the period; and

consequently, additional information about him is especially important.

We have long known of course, that he made translations from the French,

the Latin, and the Greek and have assumed that he read those languages.

We feel more confident about the extent of his reading when we find a

full fourth of his library in French, nearly a fifth in Latin, and a

goodly number of volumes in Greek. About twenty titles in Italian make

us reasonably sure that he read that language also. And since he had in

Spanish only a Spanish-English dictionary and two Spanish books (for

each of which he had a translation in another language), we may assume

that his knowledge of Spanish must have been slight indeed. His

deficiency in German is strongly suggested by the fact that German is

represented in the list only in translation.

As a translator from the Greek and the Latin Congreve first brought

himself to the attention of Dryden, who pronounced the youthful Congreve

"more capable than any man I know" to translate the whole of Homer.

Congreve never completed that proposed translation, but years later he

was singled out by Pope for the dedication of his Homer. That Congreve's

genuine interest in the classics continued throughout his life is

attested by the constant and carefully chosen additions to his library.

His collection is richest in the works of Cicero, Homer, Horace, and

Virgil, but he owned the collected works of many other classical

authors. The breadth of his interest is shown by the fact that over

sixty Greek and Latin writers are either represented in his library or

referred to in his own writings. The Italian Louis Riccoboni visited

Congreve in 1727 and was surprised to find that a dramatist could be so

scholarly. In Congreve, he said, "Taste [was] joined with great

Learning."[*]

[Footnote: From Riccoboni's _An Historical and Critical Account

of the Theatre in Europe_, p. 175. One of the last books added

to Congreve's library was Riccoboni's _Histoire du Théâtre

Italien_, Paris, [1727]. See Number 314.]

Certain items in the inventory tend to confirm reports that have

hitherto been given little credit. One of these has to do with

Congreve's interest in horses and horseback riding, which seems to be

supported by item Number 277:

The gentleman's jockey, and approved farrier; instructing in the

natures, causes, and cures of all diseases incident to horses. 8vo.

London, 1717.

Many people will find it difficult to associate with Congreve a special

interest in horses, particularly an interest that extended beyond his

youth, as suggested by the late date 1717. Another report that has

seemed even less in keeping with Congreve concerns the impact of

Quakerism on him. Could he have taken a special interest in one of the

Quakers, visited him repeatedly, and could he have seriously considered

adopting the beliefs of the Quakers? The report that he did so has not

been taken seriously. But we must not overlook the fact that Congreve

owned (as item Number 53 in his list) the most important document of

Quakerism, the 574-page analysis and defense by Robert Barclay entitled

_An Apology for the True Christian Divinity as the same is Held Forth,

and Preached, by the People, called in Scorn, Quakers_, London, 1701 (or

1703).

Congreve did not, like his friend Jonathan Swift, lose interest in the

purchase of books during the last third of his life. For Swift's library

we have an inventory made when Swift was about fifty. Another inventory

at his death more than twenty-five years later showed but few additions.

In the case of Congreve, the earliest inventory--the 587 items in the

first hand made out about 1726--came only three years before his death.

But active buying must have continued throughout his life as shown by

the dates in the imprints. The thirty-one entries by the second hand

seem to indicate approximately the purchases for 1727 and the forty-one

entries by the third hand approximately those for 1728. Congreve was

evidently an active purchaser of books from his youth and did not stop

during his last years.

Congreve's list emphasizes collected editions, especially for plays, and

contains very few quartos. When he collected his works in three volumes

in 1710, he apparently destroyed (at least he did not list) the earlier

editions of his plays in quarto. He loved to write such ballads as the

racy "Jack French-Man's Defeat," but he never recognized these by

including them in his book list or in his collected works; nor did he

list his youthful novel _Incognita_ (1691), if indeed he had a copy of

it. Such omissions were later made by men with much greater novels to

their credit. In the sales catalogues listing the books of Defoe and

Fielding, one looks in vain for _Robinson Crusoe_ or _Tom Jones_.

But perhaps most important is the information given by the list about

Congreve's special fields of interest and the fact that the list

provides likely sources for his literary work. Mention should be made of

his fine collection of drama (Greek, Roman, French, and English); of

some one hundred titles of literary criticism; of nearly as many

carefully selected works in biography and history; of a choice

collection of thirty travel books and somewhat smaller lots in medicine,

music, and cookery. Many of the books might be classified under religion

and philosophy. The poets, both English and foreign, are well

represented. And surprisingly enough, there are more than one hundred

items of prose fiction, chiefly French. The influence of this fiction,

if any, on Congreve's own _Incognita_, and the influence of the literary

criticism on his essay _Concerning Humour in Comedy_, are only two of

many studies that might be based on Congreve's book list. Perhaps

someone will use the works on astrology to help account for one of his

humorous characters, old Foresight of _Love for Love_. Since many of the

659 items consist of collected works, the library is actually more

extensive than the number of items might indicate. Jacob Tonson had good

reason for wanting his nephew to buy Congreve's "genteel & well chosen"

library.

_Acknowledgments_

The editor is deeply grateful to the many librarians on both sides of

the Atlantic and to others who have generously assisted in the

preparation of this study. A grant from the American Philosophical

Society in 1949 made possible the search which incidentally turned up

Congreve's manuscript book list, and grants from the Henry E. Huntington

Memorial Library (1951) and the Folger Shakespeare Library (1952)

provided time and rare faculties for the editing.

The staff of the Union Catalog of the Library of Congress has located in

America editions in the book list not already included in the Catalog;

S. P. L. Filon, Esq., of the National Central Library in London, has

helped with English books neither in the British Museum nor in the

libraries at Oxford and Cambridge; and Dr. Stanley Pargellis has very

kindly had Congreve's list checked for all items in the Newberry

Library. The Reserve Division has noted all titles in The New York

Public Library.

To His Grace, the Duke of Leeds, and to the Trustees of the Yorkshire

Archaeological Society the editor is indebted for kind permission to

photostat and publish the list.

Among the many individuals to whom the editor is indebted, special

mention should be made of Miss Isabel Fry and Mr. Lyle Wright, of the

Huntington Library; Mrs. Edna C. Davis, of the William Andrews Clark

Memorial Library; Miss Eleanor E. Goehring, Professor John L. Lievsay

and Professor Alwin Thaler, of the University of Tennessee; and Dr.

Giles E. Dawson, Dr. James G. McManaway, and Dr. Edwin E. Willoughby, of

the Folger Shakespeare Library. Many items in the book list might not

have been identified except for the kindness and the genius of Dr.

Willoughby.

ABBREVIATIONS USED IN THE BOOK LIST

BM The British Museum, London.

BN Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris.

Brooks "A Bibliography of John Oldham," _Proceedings of the

Oxford Bibliographical Society_, v, 1936.

Case _A Bibliography of English Poetical Miscellanies,

1521-1750_, Oxford, 1935.

Clark The William Andrews Clark Memorial Library, Los Angeles,

California.

Folg The Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington, D.C.

Harv The Harvard Library, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Hunt The Henry E. Huntington Memorial Library, San Marino,

California.

LC The Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

Macdonald _John Dryden, a Bibliography of Early Editions and of

Drydeniana_, Oxford, 1939.

NYP The New York Public Library, New York City.

STC _A Short-Title Catalogue of Books Printed in England,

Scotland, & Ireland, and of English Books Printed Abroad,

1475-1640_, Oxford, 1926.

Wing _A Short-Title Catalogue of Books Printed in England,

Scotland, Ireland, Wales, and British America and of

English Books Printed in Other Countries, 1641-1700_,

in Three Volumes, New York, 1945-1951.

Names of libraries not given in full may usually be filled out by the

addition of "Library" or "University Library."

BIBLIOTHECA GUL:{MI} CONGREVE, ARMIGERI

[_Forma._ _Editio._ _Theca_]

1 Athenæi Deipnosophistarum Libri XV.

ex Recensione Casauboni. apd Commelin

[Fol. . . . 1611. 1]

Athenaeus Naucratita (fl. _c._ A.D. 200). Deipnosophistarum libri XV.

Isaacus Casaubonus Graecum textum recensuit, & ex antiquis membranis

supplevit, auxitque. Addita est Jacobi Dalechampii Latina interpretatio,

cum notis. [Heidelberg], in bibliopolio Commeliniano, 1611. fol.

_Edinburgh Univ.; Harv._

The 1611 reprint, now very rare, differs from the first edition of 1597

only in the title page. For Congreve's copy of the Latin translation by

Natale Conti, see No. 33 below.

2 L'Adone, Poema del _Marino_

[Fol. Paris 1623. 1]

Giovanni Battista Marino (1569-1625). L'Adone, poema. . . . Con gli

argomenti del Conte Fortuniano Sanvitale, et l'allegorie di Don Lorenzo

Scoto. In Parigi, presso Oliviero di Virano, 1623. fol.

_BM; Harv._

3 ---- Idem 4 Tom. con Fig.

[24to. Amst.1678. 5]

L'Adone, poema heroico, del c. Marino, con gli argomenti del conte

Sanvitale, e l'allegorie di don Lorenzo Scoto. Aggiuntovi la tavola

delle cose notabili. Di nuova ricorreto, edi figure ornatto. Amsterdam,

stamperia del S. D. Elsevier, et in Parigi si vende appresso Thomaso

Jolly, 1678. 4 vol. 32mo.

_BM; Yale, LC._

4 Ambassadors Travels into Muscovy &c.

[Fol. Lond.1669. 1]

Adam Olearius (1600?-1671). The voyages and travells of the ambassadors

sent by Frederick Duke of Holstein, to the great Duke of Muscovy, and

the King of Persia. . . . Containing a compleat history of Muscovy,

Tartary, Persia. And other adjacent countries. . . . Whereto are added

the travels of John Albert de Mandelslo . . . from Persia, into the

East-Indies. Containing a particular description of Indostan, the

Mogul's empire, the oriental ilands, Japan, China, &c. . . . Faithfully

rendered into English, by John Davies, of Kidwelly. The second edition

corrected. London, for John Starkey, and Thomas Basset, 1669. fol.

Wing O270.

_BM; Harv, NYP, Folg, LC, Newberry._

The first edition of the English translation, 1662, was derived from the

original work in German, 1647. For Congreve's copy of the French

translation of 1666, see No. 616. A copy of the 1669 edition was a part

of item No. 480 in the Leeds Sale, 1930.

5 Aulus Gellius cum Notis _Gronovii_

[4to. Lug.B.1706. 22]

Aulus Gellius (_c._ 123-_c._ 165). Auli Gellii noctium atticarum libri

XX prout supersunt . . . perpetuis notis & emendationibus illustraverunt

Johannes Fredericus et Jacobus Gronovii. Lugduni Batavorum, apud

Cornelium Boutesteyn, & Johannem du Vivié, 1706. 4to.

_BM; Harv, NYP, LC, Chicago._

6 ---- Idem sine Notis

[24to. Amst.1665 5]

Auli Gellii noctes atticæ. Editio nova et prioribus omnibus docti

hominis cura multo castigatior. Amstelodami, apud Danielem Elzevirium,

1665. 12mo.

_BM; Harv, LC._

7 Aristotelis Rhetorica Gr. Lat. p Goulston

[4to. Lond.1619. 22]

Aristotle (384-322 B.C.). Aristotelis de rhetorica seu arte dicendi

libri tres, græcolat. [Ed. Theodorus Goulston.] Londini, typis Eduardi

Griffini, 1619. 4to.

STC 766

_BM; Harv, NYP, Folg, Newberry, Hunt._

8 ---- Poetica p _Alex Paccium_ in Lat.

conversa

[24to. Par.1542. 5]

Aristotelis Poetica, per Alexandrum Paccium . . . in latinum conversa.

[Parisiis] prostant apud Jacobum Bogardum [1542]. 16mo.

_BM; Harv, LC._

Congreve had also the 1692 French translation by Dacier. See No. 198.

9 Aristote Rhetorique p Mr. Cassandre

[4to. Ib.1668. 22]

La rhétorique d'Aristote en françois. Traduction nouvelle. [Par François

Cassandre.] Paris, L. Chamhoudry, 1654. 4to.

Copies of the first quarto (1654) are at BN and Princeton, but no copy

of a 1668 quarto has been located.

10 Art of ye Stage Translated from ye French

2 Vols[.]

[4to. Lond.1684. 27]

Francois Hédelin, Abbé d'Aubignac (1604-1676). The whole art of the

stage. Containing not only the rules of the dramatick art, but many

curious observations about it. Which may be of great use to the authors,

actors, and spectators of plays. London, for the author, and sold by

William Cadman, Rich. Bentley, Sam. Smith, & T. Fox, 1684. 4to.

Wing A4185.

_BM; Harv, NYP, Folg, LC, Newberry, Hunt._

Congreve's copy, with his signature in each volume, was item No. 298 in

the Leeds Sale, 1930. This is a translation of the first French edition,

1657, a copy of which appears as No. 469 below.

11 L'Art de Penser

[12mo. Amst.1697. 24]

Antoine Arnauld (1612-1694) and Pierre Nicole (1625-1695). La logique ou

L'art de penser, contenant outre les regles communes, plusieurs

observations nouvelles, propres à former le jugement. Septiéme edition,

revuë & de nouveau augmentée. A Amsterdam, chez Henri Wetstein, 1697.

12mo.

_Leeds (England), Amsterdam; Cornell._

12 ---- de Faire les Devises

[8vo. Par.1645. 12]

Henry Estienne, Sieur Des Fossez (fl. 1639-1649). L'art de faire des

devises, où il est traicté des hieroglyphiques, symboles, emblemes,

ænygmes, sentences, paraboles, revers de medailles, armes, blasons,

cimiers, chiffres et rebus. Avec un traicté des rencontres ou mots

plaisans. A Paris, chez Jean Paslé, 1645. 8vo.

_BM; Harv, LC._

13 Arthur's (King) Life & Death, wth: ye Knights

of ye Round Table. wants ye Title.

Printed by Wynkyn de Worde

[Fol. Lond 1529. 2]

[La mort darthur. Translated from the French by Sir T. Malory.] Black

Letter. London, Wynkyn de Worde, 1529. fol.

STC 803.

_BM; Michigan (film)._

The only copy reported by STC, in the _BM_, is described as "Imperfect;

wanting the titlepage and first six leaves of the table."

14 Alcimus & Vannoza, a Trag. Hist. of 2 Illustr

Italian Families

[8vo. Ib.1677. 8]

Jean Pierre Camus, Bishop of Belley (1584-1652). A true tragical history

of two illustrious Italian families; couched under the names of Alcimus

and Vannoza. Written in French. . . . Done into English by a person of

quality. London, for William Jacob, 1677. 8vo.

Wing C419.

_BM; Harv, Folg, Newberry, Hunt._

15 Aubrey's Miscellanies

[8vo. Ib.1696. 8]

John Aubrey (1626-1697). Miscellanies. London, for Edward Castle, 1696.

8vo.

Wing A4188.

_BM; Yale, LC, Clark._

16 Atterbury's (Bp) Rights of an Eng. Convocat.

Stated. 2d. Edit.

[8vo. Ib.1701. 14]

Francis Atterbury, Bishop of Rochester (1662-1732). The rights, powers,

and privileges of an English convocation, stated and vindicated. 2nd ed.

London, Tho. Bennet, 1701. 8vo.

_BM; Princeton, Newberry, Hunt._

17 Allexandri ab Alexandro Geniales Dies

[8vo. Hanov.1610. 7]

Alexander ab Alexandro (d. 1523). Genialium dierum libri sex. Hanoviæ,

typis Wechelianis, apud Claudium Marnium & heredes Joan. Aubrii, 1610.

8vo.

_Museum of Antiquities (Leyden); Massachusetts Hist. Soc. (Boston),

Oregon._

18 L'Abbé de Saint-Real Oeuvres 5 Tom.

[12mo. Haye 1722 30]

César Vichard de Saint-Réal (1639-1692). Oeuvres. [Ed. by P. Marchand.]

A La Haye, chez les frères Vaillant & Nicholas Prèvost, 1722. 5 tom.

12mo.