[1] In vol. 100, small quarto, we find the following memorandum:--
"Mem'dum that Col^l Will Legg and Mr. Arthur Treavor were employed by
his Majes^e K. Ch. to gett for his present use a pamphl^t which his
majestie had then occasion to make use of, & not meeting with it,
they both come to me, having heard that I did employ myself to rake
up all such things from the beginning of that Parliament, and finding
it with me, told me it was for his majestys own use. I told them all
I had were at his maj^y command and service, & withal told them if I
should part with it & loose it--presuming that when his majestie had
done with it, that little account would be made of it, and that if I
should loose it, by that loss a limb of my collection, which I should
be very loath to see, well knowing it would be impossible to supplie
it if it should happen to be lost; with which answer they returned to
his majes^e at Hampton C^t (as I take it) & tould him they had found
the person which had it, & withal how loath he that had it was to
part with it, he much fearing its loss. Whereupon they came to me
again from his maj^e to tell me that upon the word of a king (to use
the king's own expressions) they would safely return it, whereupon
immediately by them I sent it to his majestie. Who having done with
it, & having it with him when he was going towards the Isle of Wight,
let it fall in the _durt_, and then calling for the two persons (who
attended him) delivered it to them with a charge as they would answer
it another day, that they should both speedily & safely return it to
him from whom they had received it, and withal to desire the party to
go on & continue what had begun. Which book, together with his
Maj^ties signification to me, by these worthy and faithful gents, I
received both speedily and safely. My volume hath that mark of honour
which no other volume in my collection hath, & v^y diligently and
carefully I continued the same until that most hapie restoration &
coronation of his most gratious majestie King Charle y^e 2d, whom God
long preserve.
"GEO. THOMASON."
The volume bears the "honours" of its mischance. There are a great
number of stains on the edges of the leaves--some more than an inch
in depth. The accident must have happened on the road in the king's
flight, from the marks of the mud.
[2] In 1676, Dr. Barlow, one of the trustees, writes to the Rev.
George Thomason, who was a Fellow of Queen's College and the eldest
son of the collector, respecting the collection and its value. The
letter is printed in Beloe's "Anecdotes of Literature," vol. ii.
[3] A letter from Dr. Jenkin, who was chaplain to Lord Weymouth, to
Mr. Baker, Dec. 3, 1709:--"There is another rarity then to be sold,
which is proffered to my lord--a Collection of Pamphlets, in number
30,000, bound in 2000 volumes. The collection was begun by Charles
1st in 1640, and continued to 1660. In a printed paper, where I saw
this account, it is said the collectors refused 4000_l._ for
them."--_Masters' Life of Rev. Thomas Baker_, p. 28.
[4] "Phoenix Britannicus,"--"Oldys' Dissertation upon Pamphlets," p.
556. Oldys drew up an account of these pamphlets from "The Memoirs of
the Curious," published in 1701. He says, that the Collection was
made by _Tomlinson, the bookseller_, and the Catalogue by Marmaduke
Foster, the auctioneer; and relates a traditional story, that it is
reported that Charles the First gave ten pounds for reading one of
these pamphlets, at the owner's house in St. Paul's Churchyard. This
collection was not commenced until Nov. 1640, and the king left
London in Jan. 1642; during this time the collection could not be
very numerous, nor would there be that difficulty in seeing a
pamphlet as at the subsequent more distracted period. It is curious
to trace the origin of traditionary tales; they often stand on a
rickety foundation. We find that the king did borrow a pamphlet, but
at a time when he could not hasten to St. Paul's Churchyard to read
it; we may presume that the bookseller did not charge his majesty so
disloyal a price as ten pounds for the perusal of a single pamphlet;
he probably received only the king's approbation of his design, which
doubtless was no slight stimulus to its completion.
[5] A Mr. Sisson, a druggist in Ludgate-street, who died in 1749;
they then became the property of his relative; Miss Sisson, who seems
gladly to have disburdened herself of this domestic grievance in
1761.--_Hollis' Memoirs_, p. 121.