Bristol.
Had these unpretending memorials of the literary treasures of our
Cathedral Churches been written earlier, they might have given some idea
of the loss sustained by that of Bristol in the memorable riots of the
31st of October, 1831.
The Chapter-house, so much admired for the beauty of its Saxon
architecture, was at that time the receptacle of about six or seven
thousand volumes, constituting the Library of the Dean and Chapter.
The lawless ruffians, who fired the adjoining Palace, threw the greater
number of these volumes into the flames, and the Catalogue, of which,
unfortunately, no duplicate was kept, shared a similar fate.
The mob appeared most anxious to destroy the larger volumes, under the
idea that they were Bibles, “but,” added my informant, who visited the
delinquents in prison, “I found many of them reading the sacred volume,
which, in their madness, they would fain have extirpated.”
Other books of this Library were thrown into the river Avon, many into
ditches, and almost all were more or less dirtied and torn, having been
thrown about the streets, and otherwise defaced. Of these, however,
about eleven hundred were recovered from old clothes mops, and dealers
in “Marine stores,” that convenient designation, under which another
person’s property is so frequently misappropriated; and this wreck of the
Library, which is now deposited in the Vestry, must form the subject of
the present notice.
As the Chapter-house was completely cleared of every book before the
populace quitted the place, the volumes which have been recovered all
present the most deplorable signs of the rude treatment they received.
So complete was the work of destruction, that only a calf-bound copy of
Walton’s Polyglott, and a set of Doddridge’s Expositor were preserved
entire; together with a copy of Harris’s Voyages.
So that of all the sets of books which once adorned the Library, single
volumes alone remain to testify that such works as Rapin’s History of
England; Camden’s Britannia; the Commentaries of Patrick, Whitby, and
Nicolas de Lyra; the Works of S. Cyril, Eusebius, Bellarmine, Thomas
Aquinas, Cave, Puffendorf, and Gerard; with Newton’s Prophecies; Calmet’s
Dictionary; Conybeare’s Sermons; Whiston’s Sacred History; Hudson’s
Josephus; Spencer de Legibus Hebræorum; Leydekker de Statu Reipublicæ
Hebræorum; and some tracts against Popery, were once contained within its
walls.
Alas! it is not for the Bibliographer to imitate the genius of Cuvier,
and from the disjointed members of any body to discover what in its
integrity it must have been, and bid those dry bones live. From the
relics of a Library it is not possible to collect what it must have been
in its perfect state; and here we must drop the metaphor, “ex ungue
leonem.”
It may be interesting, however, to enumerate some of those single
volumes which have been recovered from the wreck, and we may begin with
the well-known Breeches Bible, bound in old calf, being that printed
at London by Christopher Barker, in 1599, in 4to. The Bible printed at
Oxford, in 1807, folio; Bacon’s Thesaurus, Butler’s Analogy, Pitt’s
Virgil, Ogilby’s Homer, Cary’s Account of Ancient Time, folio; Corpus
Juris Civilis Gothofredi, folio; Vegetius de Re Militari, Parisiis, 1535,
folio, in a vellum wrapper; Crellii Opera; Livii Opera Parisiis, 1552,
folio; Blackmore’s Prince Arthur, a Poem; and Camden’s Annals.
In closing this necessarily imperfect account of what remains of the
Bristol Cathedral Library, I am happy to say, that the beautiful
Chapter-house was not involved in the ruin of the adjacent Palace, but,
having suffered only trifling injury, has been subsequently restored to
its pristine appearance.
The books will henceforth be deposited in a small room adjoining the
Chapter-house, which is now building for their reception, in the hope
that their number may be increased by some future benefaction or bequest.
It is well known that the Library of the present Dean of Bristol,
Dr. Beke, who has now nearly reached the span of human life, is most
valuable and extensive, and were such a collection to be appropriated
to the Cathedral, then would the Bristol Cathedral Library rise again,
Phœnix-like, from the flames; and the venerable donor of so munificent
a bequest, would, by all true Bibliopolists, be in their flowing cups
freshly “remembered.”
I cannot shut the door of the Bristol Cathedral without noticing,
truncated though it be, the symmetry of its Gothic Architecture, and
feeling more than ordinary sensations of melancholy within its precincts.
For the mailed Barons of Berkeley, who here lie in grim repose, one
has little sympathy; but for the beautiful, the young, cut off in the
springtide of early enjoyment by that insidious and fatal malady,
Consumption, it is for these, whose monuments, thick as leaves in
Val’ombrosa, are strewed around, that the heart of an Englishman must
ever heave the sigh of unavailing regret; nor can the current of his
thoughts find a purer channel than that afforded by Mason’s beautiful
memorial of his “dear departed saint.”
“Take, holy Earth! all that my soul holds dear:
Take that blest gift which Heaven so lately gave:
To Bristol’s fount I bore with trembling care
Her faded form; she bowed to taste the wave,
And died. Does youth, does beauty read the line?
Does sympathetic fear their breasts alarm?
Speak, dead Maria! breathe a strain divine:
E’en from the grave thou shalt have power to charm.
Bid them be chaste, be virtuous like thee;
Bid them in duty’s sphere as meekly move,
And if so fair, from vanity as free,
As firm in friendship, and as fond in love.
Tell them, though ’tis an awful thing to die,
’Twas e’en to thee; yet the dread path once trod,
Heaven lifts its everlasting portals high,
And bids the pure in heart behold their God.”
[Illustration]
Library of Canterbury.
The Library of the Dean and Chapter of Canterbury is kept in a long and
lofty room adjoining the Cloisters, which in olden time was the Chapel
of the Prior. The books are arranged in classes upon open shelves, in
projecting cases, which are distinguished by letters of the alphabet, and
occupy the spaces between the windows; the end of the apartment nearest
the Baptistery, containing the manuscripts in closed cases; and the other
end of the room, having a light gallery, with open shelves above and
below for the reception of printed books.
The Dean and Chapter have it in contemplation to alter this arrangement
entirely, by placing the folios and quartos upon open shelves all round
the room, with a light gallery for the octavos above, and to light the
apartment by a skylight in the roof, instead of the present windows;
and to remove the damp, which at present pervades the Library to a very
injurious extent, by the addition of suitable fire-places.
This alteration, the expense of which is estimated at nearly £1000,
though tending to impair the venerable appearance of this “antique
oratory,” cannot fail to be beneficial to the books, many of which
have been recently rebound by Mr. Gough of London, and some of the
older volumes having been repaired and gilt. The whole collection has a
freshened aspect.
The books are chiefly bound in calf, and are generally in very good
condition, though only warmed occasionally by a stove. From a small fund
possessed by the Dean and Chapter, they are enabled to employ from five
to six hundred a year in the purchase and reparation of books. Their
Library is also continually augmented by the customary donation of each
Prebend upon his installation; and by a gift of forty pounds from the
Archbishop of Canterbury, who once in every four years holds a visitation
in his Cathedral, being sumptuously entertained at the Deanery, and
leaves that sum, according to ancient usage, for the use of the Library.
It is creditable to the Curators of this Library that two Catalogues
of its contents have already been printed, once in 1743, and again in
1802, and that another is in contemplation: so that I trust the Rev.
John Stratton, the present Librarian, upon whom the task devolves ex
officio, will render this new Catalogue more complete than either of its
precursors.
The Catalogue at present in use in the Library is that printed in 1802,
inlaid and interleaved in two volumes quarto, and bound in rough calf.
There is also a register kept, of books borrowed from the Library.
The Catalogue which was printed for the use of the members of the Church
in 1802, is an octavo volume of two hundred and thirty-nine pages,
entitled a “Catalogue of the Books, both Manuscript and Printed, which
are preserved in the Library of Christ Church, Canterbury, 1802.” It is
divided into two parts, of which the first is an alphabetical index of
the books both manuscript and printed, with reference to the shelves upon
which they were placed when the Catalogue was compiled. The second part
contains the Catalogue of the printed books only, being the contents
of the Cases from A I. to LL IV. specifying the titles, imprints, and
dates of each work. But as the present Librarian has entirely changed
the arrangement of the books in these cases, they having been formerly
arranged according to their size, but now according to their subjects,
the utility of this Catalogue, as affording facility of reference,
is entirely gone. The third portion of this Catalogue contains an
enumeration of the manuscripts in the order in which they occur in the
closed cases, A to E, in which they are kept.
I shall be excused for transcribing the introductory remarks to this
Catalogue, since the book itself is solely circulated among the members
of the establishment, and the matter is most pertinent to the subject of
the present notice; so here it is:—
“Of this Library, a Catalogue, as it was called, appeared in 1743; but
it is merely an alphabetical list of printed books only, without any
statements of the place or year in which the books are printed, and
without any guide to the shelves on which they had been placed. The
present Catalogue, by its two-fold arrangement, is intended to inform the
reader of most particulars relating to the books, to point out to him
their situation in the Library, and at the same time to preserve them in
their respective classes.
“The Dean and Chapter, desirous to promote the utility of their Library,
lately caused it to be carefully examined, as well as considerably
enlarged; and in consequence of the examination, several manuscripts
were found concealed under a heap of rubbish in a private closet. These
Manuscripts, having been investigated by some of the members of the
Church, are now deposited, (as the subjects of them required,) partly in
the Chapter-room, and partly in the Library. To the presses in the latter
an addition is thus made of twelve volumes since the publication of a
Catalogue of the Manuscripts in this Library, by a member of the Church,
in 1793. Other Manuscripts also, since that period, have been presented
to the Dean and Chapter. This Library, it may be observed, is rich in
Manuscript materials relating to the Civil and Ecclesiastical History of
the country, and to Saxon literature in general; as the articles under
Records, Registers, and Somner, will evince.”
I may add, that this Library suffered severely from fire in former ages,
and was despoiled of some of its fairest treasures during the Cromwellian
Usurpation. It cannot consequently boast of many tomes of the olden time,
but it contains many valuable and useful works, which will more plainly
appear when we come to analyze its contents. The books are marked by the
armorial bearings of the Dean and Chapter of “Christ Church Canterbury,”
engraved and pasted within the covers. This precaution, however, proved
ineffectual against the carelessness of so many persons to whom books had
been lent some years ago, that the Reverend Guardians of this collection
have of late years exercised draconic vigilance in the preservation of
their literary treasures.
Many indeed of the clergy of Canterbury, who are unusually numerous,
would gladly avail themselves of access to this Library; an indulgence
which methinks might be granted under such regulations as should ensure
the integrity, while extending the usefulness of the collection.
It is matter of great congratulation to the Dean and Chapter, that so
many valuable Manuscripts relating to Saxon literature in general, and
the County of Kent in particular, should be contained within the walls
of this Library. Whoever wishes rightly to estimate the labours of the
indefatigable Somner, should examine this collection, where will be
found two copies of his excellent Dictionarium Saxonico-Latinum, from
one of which, as appears by the signatures of the Compositors, his
valuable work was printed in 1659. The Title, Recommendatory Verses,
Dedication, Preface, List of Subscribers, and Errata, are here carefully
preserved. Here also are kept with equal care, his “Treatise of the
Roman Ports and Forts in Kent,” folio, a work which was published in
1693, his remarks upon the Goodwin Sands, and a life of the Author, by
White Kennet, afterwards Bishop of Peterborough. Somner’s “Discourse
of Portus Iccius, wherein the late conceipts of Chiffletius in his
topographicall discourse thereof are examined and refuted; the judgment
of Cluverius concerning the same port asserted and embraced; and the
true site thereof more clearly ascertained.” This work was translated
into Latin, and published at Oxford, in 1694, by Dr. Edmund Gibson,
afterwards Bishop of London. Somner argues for Boulogne, Chifflet for
Mardyke. His “Littus Saxonicum per Britanniam,” the design of which
treatise was, to overthrow the opinion of Selden in his Mare Clausum,
and to vindicate the opinions of Camden, Cluverius, Merula, and Ortelius,
concerning this shore. His emendation of the Concilium Berghamstedense,
A.D. 697, as given by Spelman, vol. 1, p. 194, exhibiting at one view the
textus Roffensis, ejusdem exemplaris correctio, D. H. Spelmanni versio
et versio nova. A specimen of the attentive correction which Somner was
accustomed to bestow; and of which his manuscript notes in several of the
printed books in this Library afford additional proof. His “observations
upon the Commissary of Canterbury’s Patent,” which Mr. Battely in his
Preface to “the Antiquities of Canterbury,” where a great part of this
discourse is printed, supposes to have been the first fruits of those
labours which Somner devoted to the study of Antiquity. To which I may
add, his “Scholia et Animadversiones in Leges Henrici Primi,” folio. “In
Dni Henrici Spelmanni Eq: Aurat. Glossarium Adversaria; Item, in Watsii
Glossarium; et in eximii viri Gerardi Johannis Vossii de vitiis sermonis
et Tractatum Adversaria.” and his Miscellanies; consisting chiefly of
Letters relating to the affairs of the Cathedral, and the Diocese of
Canterbury; and containing some curious remarks upon the characters,
residences, &c. of many Incumbents in the Diocese.
To the unwearied pen of Somner we are indebted for the transcription of
the following Works.
“Orosius, Saxonicè;” transcriptus è pervetusto Libro illo MS.
Bibl. Cottonianâ, in quo Chronologia Saxonica invenitur exarata.
“Cædmonis Paraphrasis Saxonica.” Transcriptus è pervetusto
Libro MS. in Bibl. Deuvesianâ charactere Saxonico exarato.
“Medicinalis Anglicus Saxonicè.” Transcriptus è pervetusto
Libro MS. in Bibliothecâ Regiâ apud S. Jacobum.
“Pentateuchus et Liber Josuæ Saxonicè.” Folio. Transcriptus è
pervetusto Libro MS. in Bibliothecâ Cottonianâ.
“Statuta Eccl. Christi Cantuar. ab Henrico octavo fundatore.”
“Chartæ Odonis Prioris, Eccl. Chr. Cant. anno 1167.”
“Chronica Gervasii de combustione et reparatione Eccl. Cantuar.
1174.” This Chronicle was published in the Decem Scriptores,
the joint labour of Twysden and Somner, in 1652, and was
translated into English, and published in the Historical
Description of Canterbury Cathedral in 1783.
But, besides the entire transcription of the above-mentioned Works,
which are carefully preserved in this Library, the diligence of Somner
has made copious extracts, which are also kept here:—“Ex Chronicis Will.
Thorne.”—Fol. “Ex Gotcelini libro de translatione S. Augustini Anglor:
Apost: et Sociorum ejus in Bibliothecâ Deuvesianâ.”[3] “Ex Registro
Manuscripto S. Augustini Monast: collect: à Thom: Thaneto.” “Ex veteri
Libro MS. olim Ecclesiæ Christi Cant: modo in Bibliothecâ Comitis
Arundell. cui titulus, ‘Registrum sive Martyrologium Ecclesiæ Christi
Cant:’”—“Ex veteri Libro MS. sc. Registro (ut inscribitur) temporalium
Ecclesiæ et Episcopatus Roffensis abbreviatio, et circa tempora (1319)
Haimonis de Slethe, 46. ejusdem Sedis Episc: (ut opinor) qui in
Episcoporum ibi memoratorum catalogo ultimum locum obtinet.” “Ex libro
Roffensi in 4to.”—& “E pervetusto libro MS. in Bibliothecâ Cottonianâ,
Orosii historiam continente, manu Saxonicâ, cui titulus, ‘Chronica
Saxonica Abingdoniæ ad annum 1066.’” Folio.
If to the above we add some Papers concerning Christ Church Yard,
and an Account of what was laid out on the Church from 1660 to 1662,
together with several Transcripts from ancient records, chronicles,
and registers, relating to Canterbury, Kent, and Saxon literature, we
shall have gathered a very fair idea of the contributions of Somner to
the literature of his country, and be disposed to assign the Cantian
Antiquary a place in the same temple with Dugdale and with Hearne.
I have already mentioned that Manuscripts in this Library relating to the
Cathedral and City of Canterbury are very numerous; so voluminous indeed
that I must request the reader to accept the following account rather as
exemplary than descriptive.
First then, among the Manuscripts relating to the county of Kent, we
have a Table or playne Particular of the whole Shyre; the Customs of
Sandwich and Lydd; some Particulars respecting the Monastery and Town of
Faversham; the Rentals of Godmersham and Chertham; the Rents of Assize
at Marden, and Milton; an Index to the Ledger-book of the Priory of
Dover, &c. De Monasterio et Prioribus S. Martini de Dovor. An Account
of Lands in the Manor of Wingham paying rents, &c. to the Archbishop
of Canterbury; and of the Lands of the Bishoprick of Rochester. To
which I may add the Registrum Monasterii S. Augustini, a large quarto
volume, upon vellum. This curious Manuscript was purchased by the late
Dr. Farmer, formerly a Prebend of Canterbury, at a book-stall in London,
and by him presented to the Cathedral Library, which contains also the
“Registrum Domini Willim̅ Sellyng, Præcentoris, a decimosexto die Aprilis
Anno Dn̅i millesimo quingentesimo vicesimo primo, tempore Thomæ Hampton
abbatis hujus loci, necnon anno regni regis Henrici octavi duo decimo.”
4to. This Manuscript, which is partly on vellum and partly on paper,
was the Register of St. Austin’s Monastery, and is believed to be the
last; the establishment having been dissolved 30 Henr. VIII. Its ancient
Library of course shared the fate of the Monastery, and was dispersed.
Some few, however, of its manuscript volumes were transferred to the
adjacent Cathedral, where are now preserved,
“S. Augustini Sermones de Verbis Domini, cum Indice præfixo,”
folio, inscripti super membranis.
“Evangelium Sancti Matthæi, Latinè, cum largâ expositione
cujusdam Anonymi,” folio, optime conservatum.
“Vetus Logica; Liber de Articulis Fidei; Priscianus de
Constructionibus; Liber de Accentibus; Donati Barbarismus,”
folio, in membranis; and a volume containing
“Correctorium totius Bibliæ Roberti Grosthead Episc: Lincoln.”
“Tabula secundùm ordinem alphabeti, in lib. exemplorum Sacræ
Scripturæ.” “Liber Exemplorum S. Scripturæ Fratris Nicol de
Hanapis;” & “De orbis situ.”
All of which originally formed a part of the library of the Monastery
of St. Augustine, the ruins of which still arrest the attention of the
passing stranger.
Those who feel an interest in what once composed Monastic Libraries, will
rejoice to peruse, in the account-book of some officer of the Monastery,
the “Reparationes circa Libros in Librariâ super Capellam Domini Priori,”
and to be informed that a list of books formerly in this Library is given
by Dart in the Appendix to his History of the Church of Canterbury.
To return from this digression to the Manuscripts relating to the Church,
See, and City of Canterbury; I may enumerate