Novum Testamentum Græcum: Erasmi, Stephani, Scaligeri,
Casauboni, Millii, Wetstein, Grabe, Tremellii, Theodori Bezæ.
Novum Testamentum è Codice Alexandrino curâ Woide. Londini,
1786, 4to.
Evangelia Gothica, Junii, Dordraci, 1665, 4to.
To which may be added various editions of the Psalter in Latin, Syriac,
and Saxon.
From these, we pass by easy gradations, to the theological department of
the Library.
Among the Fathers of the Church, we find S. Ambrose, S. Athanasius, S.
Augustine, S. Basilius, Chrysostom, S. Cyprian, Cyril, S. Ignatius,
Epiphanius, Episcopius, Eusebius, Fulgentius, Gregory Nazianzenus,
Neocæsariensis, and Nyssenus, S. Jerome, Hilary, Hospinianus, Irenæus,
S. Isidore, Peter and Justin Martyr, Lactantius, Nicephorus, S. Origen,
Philo Judæus, Polycarp, Tertullian, Theodoret, Theophylact, represented
by their Works in this Library.
Of English Divines, this Collection embraces the Works of Allen, Allix,
Andrews, Atterbury, Bancroft, Barrow, Bennet, Baxter, Beveridge,
Bramhall, Bull, Calamy, Chillingworth, Claggett, Samuel Clarke, Comber,
Cosin, Cranmer, Davenant, Goodman, Hall, Hammond, Hoadley, Hody, Hooper,
Jackson, Lardner, Leslie, Lightfoot, Lowth, Mede, Bishop Morley,
Montague, Nelson, Nye, Norris, Pierce, Pococke, Prideaux, Archbishop
Sharpe, Sanderson, Sherlock, Stillingfleet, Jeremy Taylor, Tenison,
Tillotson, Toland, Waterland, Watson, Wake, Whitby, White, Whitgift, and
Wilkins.
To these names may be added Bingham’s Antiquities of the Christian
Church; Calmet’s Dictionary of the Bible; Cave’s Primitive Christianity;
Cudworth’s Intellectual System; Derham’s Physico-Theology; Dodwell’s
Theological Dissertations; Fell on St. Paul’s Epistles; Henrici VIII.
Assertio Septem adversus M. Lutherum, 1562, 8vo.; Field of the Church;
Seven Sermons on the VII. Penitential Psalms, by Fisher, Bishop of
Rochester; Nicolas Fuller’s Theological Miscellanies; Gastrell’s
Christian Institutes; Hey’s Lectures on Divinity; Hackett’s Sermons;
Hooker’s Ecclesiastical Polity; Wake’s Genuine Epistles of the
Apostolical Fathers; Jones on the Trinity; Jewell’s Works, 1609, folio;
Kidder on the Pentateuch; Latimer’s Sermons; Muggleton’s Writings against
the Quakers; Ostervald’s Arguments in French; Pearson on the Creed, and
his Posthumous Works; Twysden’s Vindication of the Church of England;
Wheatley on the Common Prayer; Wall on Infant Baptism; and Usser’s Annals.
The Foreign Works on Divinity, which are found upon these shelves, are
far more numerous than important. It may suffice therefore to mention
the Works of Thomas Aquinas and Theodore Beza; Petri Blesensis Opera
Omnia; the Works of Bochart and Bossuet; Buxtorf and Calvin; Chamieri
Controversiæ; Dallæus’ Theological Works; Durandi Rationale Divinorum
Officiorum; the Works of John Gerson; and of Desiderius Erasmus;
Cotelerii Patres Apostolici; Grabe’s Spicilegium Veterum Patrum; the
Works of Popes Gregory I. II. and IX.; Howell’s Synopsis Canonum;
Limborch, Theologia Christiana; the Works of Lanfranc, Luther, and
Melancthon; Methodii Opera; Riveti Opera Theologica; Saurin’s Sermons;
Sirmondi Opus Patrum et Opera reliquaria; Socini Opera; Spencer de
legibus Hebræorum; Suiceri Thesaurus Ecclesiasticus; Vitringa in Jesaiam;
Zanchii Opera Theologica; and the Bibliotheca Veterum Patrum, cum
Auctario.
Of Commentators the number is considerable, including those of Patrick,
Whitby, &c.; Bythneri Lyra Prophetica, and Pyle’s Paraphrase.
Of Confessions there are also divers forms.
Of Concordances there are several in Latin, Greek, Hebrew, and English,
of which it may be enough to mention that of Downame; and Schmidii
Concordantia Novi Testamenti Græcè, Wittebergæ, 1638, folio.
Canons and Decretals, including those of Gratian’s Synods of the Catholic
Church; Tracts relating to the Liturgy, Church Discipline, and to the
Dissenters, and Jesuits, occupy a considerable space upon these shelves.
Among the Works of Devotion I noticed several Offices of the Virgin, a
small volume of Hours, printed by Robert Wyer, in 12mo.; and the Horæ ad
usum Ecclesiæ Sarum, 1524, 4to.; a large folio, Graduale Romanum, with
Musical Notes, lying in a very tattered condition upon the table; several
Breviaries and Missals, with the Pontificale Romanum, but none of early
date; the Book of Prayer for Scotland, 1637; the Directory for the Public
Worship of God, London, 1644, 4to.; and English Prayer Books, of 1566,
1577, 1608, 1679, and other years.
There are also books of Homilies and Sermons by Seed, Secker, and others
of minor reputation, including a very curious volume of “Sermones
discipuli de tempore et de Sanctis, Argentorati, 1495,” folio, in which
the following remarkable entry has been made by an ancient hand:—“Orate
charitativè pro ai̅ma Ths Tyndalle qui dedit hunc librum co̅ventui de
Grenewych fra̅ minoru̅ de Obsu̅anciæ die professionis sui filii fri̅s
Willm̅i. Anno dni. 1508.”
In this Collection, the Critici Sacri; the Bibliotheca Polonorum fratrum;
the Bibliotheca Sacra of Le Long; Leigh’s Critica Sacra; Pole’s Synopsis;
Du Pin’s Bibliotheque des Auteurs Ecclesiastique; Trithemii Catalogus
Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum and Nicolas de Lyra, Commentarii in Bibliâ,
Lugd. Bat. 1629, in six volumes folio, bring up the rear of the heavy
division of the theological array, we have just passed under review.
Turning our attention to Ecclesiastical History we find a voluminous
mass of Councils; the Concilia Generalia compiled by Labbe, Cossartius,
Delaland, and Baluzius; the Concilia Magnæ Britanniæ by Wilkins
and Spelman; the famous Council of Trent; Lyndwode’s Provinciale;
Constitutiones Legatinæ Angliæ, Paris, 1504, folio; Baronii et Saliani
Annales Ecclesiastici; and Tornielli Annales Sacri.
Independently of many tracts relating to Ecclesiastical affairs, this
Library contains within its walls the Acta Sanctorum of the Bollandists
in 53 volumes, folio; the Martyrologium Romanum of Baronius; Codex
Theodosianus; Collier’s Ecclesiastical History; Cotelerii Ecclesiæ Græcæ
Monumenta; Eusebii Historia Ecclesiastica; Echard’s Ecclesiastical
History; Geddes’ Church History of Malabar; Haymonis Historia
Ecclesiastica per Maderum, Helmstadii, 1671, 4to.; Centuriatores
Magdeburgenses; Neustria Pia Rothomagi, 1663, folio; Platina, Vitæ
Pontificum; Rycaut on the Greek Churches; Gallia Christiana Roberti
Claudii; and Sleidan’s History of the Reformation, translated by Bohun;
with Lloyd, Potter, and Reynolds on Church Government.
Of Works more immediately relating to the Church History of England, I
may here notice the well-known Work of Thomas Fuller; Barwick’s Life of
Dean Barwick; Bacon’s Liber Regis; Bede’s Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis
Anglorum; the Legend of St. Cuthbert, 1663, 12mo.; The Life of John
Egerton, Bishop of Durham, 1798; Davies on the Church of Durham, London,
1672; Godwyn’s Præsules Anglicani, and his Catalogue of Bishops; Gough’s
Ecclesiæ Anglicanæ Threnodia, 1661, 8vo.; Harpsfeld, Historia Anglicana
Ecclesiastica, Duaci, 1621, folio; Heylin’s History of the Reformation in
England; Knox’s Church of Scotland; Nichols, Defensio Ecclesiæ Anglicanæ;
Parker, de Antiquitate Ecclesiæ Britannicæ, 1605, folio; Parr’s Life of
Usher; Sanderus de Schismate Anglicano; Spotswode’s Church History of
Scotland; Usserii Britannicæ Ecclesiæ Antiquitates; Wharton’s Anglia
Sacra; Dugdale’s Monasticon Anglicanum; and Tanner’s Notitia Monastica,
London, 1744, folio.
The familiar names of the two last-mentioned Works, lead us to the
consideration of English Topography and Antiquities, in which department
we meet with Battely’s Antiquitates Rutupinæ, the Britannia Romana, of
the learned Horsley, printed at London in 1732, folio; Adam’s Index
Villaris; Camden’s Britannia; Charleton’s Stonehenge, London, 1663,
4to.; Isaacke’s Exeter, London, 1677, 8vo.; Kilburne’s Survey of Kent,
London, 1659, 8vo.; Lambarde’s Perambulation of Kent, London 1596, 4to.;
Lysons’ Environs of London; Peck’s Stamford; Pennant’s London; Plot’s
Natural Histories of Oxfordshire and Staffordshire; Somner’s Canterbury,
and his account of the Roman Ports and Forts in Kent; Spelman’s Villare
Anglicanum; Stow’s London; Thoresby’s Leeds; Verstegan’s Restitution
of Decayed Intelligence relating to English Antiquities; and Weever’s
Funeral Monuments, London, 1631, folio.
Of County Histories, I noticed only Burton’s Leicestershire; Dugdale’s
Warwickshire; Morant’s Essex; Thoroton’s Nottinghamshire; and Wright’s
Rutland.
Of Works illustrative of the adjacent Cathedral, we find the original
edition of Dugdale’s Account of St. Paul’s Cathedral, together with “An
Historical, Descriptive, and Critical Account of the Cathedral Church of
St. Paul, London, by John Gwilt, Architect: Read at the Architects’ and
Artists’ Club, March 4, 1823, and ordered to be printed by the Committee.
Not Published. 8vo.” Of this volume, the gift of Richard Harris Barham,
5th of April, 1827, to the Chapter Library, only 25 copies were printed.
It has a few illustrative plates.
Of Historical Works relating to Great Britain, this Collection embraces
the Rerum Anglicanarum Scriptores XV. à Gale and Fell; Camdeni Anglica,
Normannica, &c. à veteribus scripta; Matthæi Westmonasteriensis Flores
Historiarum, Francofurti, 1601, folio; Rerum Anglicanarum Scriptores post
Bedam; Matthæi Paris, Historia Anglicana, edente Wats, Londini, 1640,
folio, bound in three volumes; Polydori Vergilii Historia Anglicana,
Duaci, 1603, folio; and Gibson’s Saxon Chronicle.
It also contains Ponticus Virunnius Historia Britonum, 1587, and Brady’s
History of England; Burnet’s valuable labours; Bates’ Elenchus Motuum
nuperorum in Angliâ; Asser’s Life of Alfred the Great; Camden’s Annales
Rerum Anglicanarum, with his Remains concerning Britain, and his Memoirs
of Elizabeth; Chamberlayne’s Notitia Magnæ Britanniæ, 1729; Heath’s
Chronicle of the Civil Wars; Danyel’s History of England; Dugdale’s
Summons; Eadmeri Historia Novorum, edited by the learned Selden; Gulielmi
Neubrigensis Historia Anglicanà, Antverpià, 1567, 8vo. and Lugd. Bat.
1587, folio; Medulla Historiæ Anglicanæ, Londini, 1694, 8vo.; Fuller’s
Worthies of England; Galfredi Monumetensis De Gestis Regum Britanniæ,
Lugd. Bat. 1587, folio; Gildas de excidio et conquestu Britanniæ, Lugd.
1587, et Oxonii, 1691; Godwyn’s Annales Rerum Anglicanarum Henrico VIII.
Edvardo VI. et Mariâ regnantibus; Herbert’s Life of Henry VIII. folio;
History of the Rebellion, London, 1647, 8vo.; Historia Anglicana, 1653,
folio; Holland’s Heroologia Anglica, London, 1620, folio; Langhorne’s
Chronicon Regum Angliæ, Londini, 1679, 8vo. and his Elenchus Antiquitatum
Albionensium, 1675, 8vo. with his Introduction to the History of
England, 1676, 8vo.; Leland’s Genethliacon Edvardi VI. 1543; Leslæus de
Successionis Jure Regum Anglicanorum in causâ Mariæ Scotorum Reginæ,
Rheims, 1580, 4to.; Gulielmus Malmsburiensis de gestis Regum Anglorum,
Londini, 1596, folio; Sir Roger Manley’s History of the Rebellions from
1640 to 1685, London, 1691, 8vo.; Nalson’s Historical Collections;
Nevyllus de furoribus Norfolcensium, Ketto duce, 1575; Parker, de rebus
sui temporis, Londini, 1726, 8vo.; Skynner’s Elenchi Motuum in Angliâ
Pars tertia; Smith, de Republicâ Anglorum; Speed’s History of Great
Britain; Spelman’s Life of Alfred, and his Reliquiæ; Stow’s Annals
by Howes; Apologiâ pro Twyne Antiquitatæ Academiæ, Oxoniensis, 1608;
Whitelocke’s Memorials, and the Historia Numismatis Oxoniensis with
the Athenæ Oxonienses of Anthony à Wood, a name dear to every lover of
Britain’s Worthies. To the above may be added the Records of the kingdom
published by the Parliamentary Commission, and the Population Returns;
various Political and Polemical Tracts, too unimportant to deserve
minute specification, are found on these shelves, which also bear Waræi
Scriptores Hibernicani et Rerum Hibernicarum Annales; Cartè’s Life of
Ormonde; as well as Lloyd’s History of Wales, edited by Powel, London,
1584, 4to.; Boethius’s Historia Scotorum, Parisiis, 1575, folio; and
Falle’s Jersey, London, 1694, 12mo.
Of Works relating to the Laws of England, so intimately interwoven with
its History, we find, Coke’s Institutes; Fortescue de laudibus legum
Angliæ; Glanville, de legibus Angliæ, 1673; and Sir George Mackenzie
on the Law of Scotland. To which may be added Gothofredi Corpus Juris
Civilis; Heineccii Jur. Civile, & Justiniani Institutiones.
Of English Historical Writers, the Catalogues compiled by Bale, and Pits,
and Nicolson’s English Historical Library, are found in this collection.
I may here also notice as introductory to the larger department of
Foreign History, the well-known Works of Puffendorf & Du Fresnoy;
Whear’s Method of reading History, and Rawlinson on the Study of
History; Beughem, Bibliotheca Historica; Bayle’s Dictionary; and Moreri,
Dictionnaire Historique.
Of the Historical Works themselves, I noticed the body of Byzantine
Historians, collected by Labbe and Du Fresne; Freheri Rerum Bohemicarum
et Germanicarum Scriptores; and his Theatrum Virorum clarorum;
Froissart’s Chronicle, Lyons, 1559; Guicciardini, Historia Italiæ;
Heliodorus, Æthiopicorum Historia; the Nuremberg Chronicle of 1497,
folio; Hermoldus, Chronicon Sclavorum; Chronicon Freculphi, Heidelbergæ,
1597, 8vo.; the Chronicon Orientale Beccense, & Paschale, Helvici
Theatrum Historicum et Chronologicum; Eutychii Annales, edited by
Selden and Pococke; Meibomei et Reuberi Scriptores Rerum Germanicarum;
Godefredi Annales; Jovii Elogia Virorum illustrium; Olaus Magnus,
Historia Gentium Septentrionalium; Mariana de Rebus Hispanicis, Francof.
1603, folio; Ludolphi Historia Æthiopica; Mariani Scoti Chronicon;
Naucleri Chronicon Universale; Pistorii Historicorum Corpus Polonorum;
Robinsoni Annales Mundi; Sigismundi Rerum Muscovitarum Commentarii; Saxo
Grammaticus Historia Danica, Basileæ, 1534, & Soræ, 1644, folio; and his
Commentarii Regnorum Aquilonum, Lug. Bat. 1622, 12mo.; the Historical
Works of Reineccius and Sigonius; Thuani Historia sui temporis; Flavii
Vopisci Romanorum Imperatorum Historia; Rerum Sicularum Scriptores;
Zonaræ Annales & Zosimi Historia à Leunclavio edita; Historia Francorum,
Francof. 1596; the Effigies Regum Francorum, 1622, 4to.; Josephus,
Hudsoni & Basnage, History of the Jews.
Among the helps to History may be mentioned, Cluvierii Geographia;
Ortelii Geographia; Hudsoni Geographiæ Veteris Scriptores Minores,
Oxonii, 1698-1703; Marsham’s Chronological Works; Petavii Opera
Chronologica; Heylin’s Cosmography; and Tournefort, Voyage de Levant.
Of Heraldry, which has with the strictest propriety been styled the
key of History, this Library contains, Gore’s Catalogus Auctorum de re
Heraldicâ, Oxonii, 1674, 4to.; Milles’ Nobilitas Politica et Civilis,
Londini, 1608, folio; Philipot’s Heraldry, 1672; and Selden’s Titles of
Honour, London, 1631, folio.
The study of Antiquities, whereby so many dark passages of History have
been elucidated for the benefit of posterity, follows naturally in this
place. Among the Works of this description we find Dempster and Kennet’s
Antiquities of Rome; Fleetwood’s Sylloge Antiquarum Inscriptionum;
Major’s Ruins of Pæstum, London, 1768, folio; Gorlæi Dactyliotheca; De
Wild’s Numismata Antiqua; Grævius, Thesaurus Antiquitatum Romanorum;
Gronovii Thesaurus Antiquitatum Græcarum; Gruteri Thesaurus Criticus;
Mabillon, Musæum Italicum, &c.; Montfaucon, Diarium Italicum, &
Palæographia Græca; Prideaux, Marmora Oxoniensia; & Selden, Marmora
Arundeliana.
The mention of these enduring monuments of the bravest, the wisest, and
the politest nation of the ancient world, recalls the mind to Classical
Literature, the dread of our earliest, and the delight of our maturer
years.
Within the walls of this Library repose the Works of Ælian, Æschines,
Appian, & Apuleius; Antoninus Gatakeri, with Dacier’s Translation;
and the Works of Apollonius Rhodius; Aristides, Aristophanes, Arrian,
Ausonius, Athenagoras, Athenæus & Aristenætus. Here too is the Æschylus
of Stanley and the Anacreon of Barnes.
Here also are Spanheim’s editions of Callimachus; the Works of
Quintus Curtius; Demosthenes; Dictys Cretensis; & Diogenes Laertius;
Aristotelis Opera Sylburgi, with many of his separate Pieces; Diodorus
Siculus, 1604, folio; Dio Cassius, Reimari; Dionysius Halicarnassensis,
Francofurti, 1586, and Oxonii, 1704, folio; Dionysius Periegetes, by
Hill, Lond. 1658; & Ennii Fragmenta, Lugd. Bat. 1620, 4to.; Ciceronis
Opera, Lambini, et Davisii, with various detached pieces of his Works;
Claudianus Barthii; Epictetus Uptoni; Euripides, by Barnes; Euclid, by
Barrow; and the Noctes of Aulus Gellius; with the Works of Herodian,
Herodotus, Hesiod, Hippocrates, and Galen, form integral parts of this
collection.
Here also are Homerus Didymi, Amstelodami, 1656; and by Barnes,
Cantabrigiæ, 1711; Homeri Ilias, Clarkei; Eustathius in Homerum, Basileæ,
1560, folio, 4 vols.; Hierocles, Casauboni; Horatius, Delphini, et
Bentleii, with the Translation of Francis; Isocrates, Wolfii; Justinus,
Oxonii, 1674, 8vo.; Libanii Orationes; Livius, Freinsheimii; Lucanus,
Oudendorpii; Lucanus, Hemsterhusii; Lycophron, Potteri; Lysias, Taylori;
Manilius, Scaligeri; Ammianus Marcellinus, Gronovii; Menander, Clerici,
1709, 8vo.; Pomponius Mela, Gronovii; Cornelius Nepos, Delphini; &
Orapollinis Hieroglyphica, Merceri; Persius, Casauboni; Phocylides,
Cantabrigiæ, 1652, 8vo.; Platonis Opera, Serrani, folio; Plauti Comœdiæ,
Lambini; Plotinus, Ficini; Plutarchus, Rualdi, with Bryant’s edition of
Plutarch’s Lives; Plinius, Harduini, in 3 volumes, folio; Julii Pollucis
Onomasticon, Hemsterhusii; Polybius, Casauboni; Pythagoræ Aurea Carmina;
Sallustius, Delphini; Seneca, Farnabii; Sidonius, Apollinaris, Sirmondi;
Solinus, Salmasii; Statius, Barthii; Stobæus, Grotii; Tacitus, Gronovii;
Terentius, Delphini; Thucydides, Dukeri; Virgilius, Burmanni; and
Xenophon, Hutchinsoni; form no inconsiderable features in this department
of the Library.
If to these we add different editions of the Works of Iamblichus,
Juvenal, Rutilius Lupus, Macrobius, Martial, Musæus; Mythographi Latini
per Munckerum; the Works of Nicander, Orpheus, Ovid, Velleius Paterculus,
Pausanias, Petronius Arbiter, Pliny the Younger; Pindar, Priscian,
Procopius, and Prudentius; of Eutropius, and the Historiæ Augustæ
Scriptores; Ptolemy, Quintilian, Silius Italicus, Sophocles, Ælius
Spartianus, Suetonius, Strabo, Æneas Sylvius, Achilles Tatius, Symmachi
Epistolæ; Theocritus’ Idylls; the Characters of Theophrastus; Vegetius de
rê militari; Zenobius, Epitome Proverbiorum Tarrhæi, &c. Haganoæ, 1535,
8vo.; and the Poëtæ Græci Veteres heroici et minores, we must confess
that Classic lore occupies an important position within these walls,
albeit the earliest editions of these great authors of antiquity may be
there sought for in vain.
Etymology, whereby the stores of ancient literature are opened, next
invites our attention to the Lexica of Hederic and Scapula in Greek;
Stephani Thesaurus Linguæ Græcæ; Cooper’s Thesaurus Linguæ Latinæ; and
Buxtorf’s Hebrew Lexicon; Suidæ Lexicon Kusteri, in 3 volumes folio;
Hesychii Lexicon Græcum; Du Fresne’s Glossary; Etymologicon Magnum,
Sylburgii; Martinii Lexicon; Parkhurst’s Lexicon to the New Testament;
Phavorini Lexicon Græcum; Skinner, Etymologicum Linguæ Anglicanæ;
Benson’s Lexicon Anglo-Saxonicum, Oxonii, 1701, 8vo.; and Littleton’s
Dictionary, 1678, 4to. make up the complement of this useful division.
I may here also notice some Philological Tracts by Vossius, Robortellus,
Scaliger, Labbe, and Casaubon; Wolfii Curæ Philologicæ et Criticæ;
Putschii Auctores Grammatici, 4to.; Gatakeri Adversaria; Salmasii
Exercitationes Plinianæ; and Perotti Cornucopia.
In English Literature, I noticed upon the shelves of this Library
Burton’s Anatomy of Melancholy; the Works of the Royal Martyr, with
the Life of Charles I. and the ‘Εικων Βασιλικη;’ Sir Dudley Carleton’s
Letters; Chaucer’s Works, 1561, folio; Cowley’s Works; Cudworth’s
Intellectual System; Drayton’s Polyolbion; Doddridge’s Life of Colonel
Gardiner; Dryden’s Absalom and Achitophel, 1682, 4to.; Gower’s
Confessio Amantis, 1554, folio; Hales’ Remains; Hervey’s Meditations;
Langbaine’s English Dramatic Poets; Locke on the Human Understanding;
Milton’s Controversial Pieces; Matthew Parker’s Works and Life; Upton’s
Observations on Shakespeare; Waller’s Poems; Walton’s Lives; and Sir
Philip Warwick’s Discourse of Government.
Of Scientific Works, this Collection cannot boast of more than Stanley’s
History of Philosophy; Sprat’s History of the Royal Society; Maseres’
Scriptores Logarithmici; Whiston’s Prælectiones Astronomicæ; Gerarde’s
Herbal, 1636, folio; Raii Historia Plantarum; Grew’s Rarities of Gresham
College; a few volumes of the Philosophical Transactions; Watts’ Logick;
and Winman de Arte Natandi, Lugd. Bat. 1638, 12mo. may be noted here.
Of Bibliographical Works, this Library embraces Antonio, Bibliotheca
Hispana, Vetus et Nova, folio; D’Herbelôt, Bibliothèque Orientale,
4to.; Clavel’s Catalogue of English Books from 1666 to 1674, London,
1775; Catalogus Manuscriptorum Angliæ et Hiberniæ, Oxonii, 1697, folio;
Catalogue of English Writers on the Old and New Testament, London, 1668;
Catalogus Librorum, R. Smith, Londini, 1682, 4to.; Spencer, Catalogus
universalis Librorum in Bibliothecâ Collegii Sionii apud Londinensis,
Londini, 1601, folio; Bibliothecæ Cleri Londinensis in Collegio Sionensi
Catalogus à Gulielmo Reading, Londini, 1724, folio; Catalogus Bibliothecæ
Publicæ Lugduni Batavorum; Catalogus Bibliothecæ Academiæ Lipsiensis;
Catalogus Bibliothecæ Ducis Norfolciæ, 1681, 4to.; Catalogus Bibliothecæ
Thuanæ; Catalogus Bibliothecæ Barberinæ; Catalogus Bibliothecæ Cottonianæ
à Smith; Catalogus Librorum venales apud Elzeveros; Cave’s Catalogus
Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum; Draudii Bibliotheca Classica; Du Pin,
Bibliotheca Historica; Fabricii Bibliotheca Græca, Latina, & Mediæ et
Infimæ Ætatis, with his Bibliotheca Ecclesiastica, and Bibliographia
Antiquaria; Hallervordii Bibliotheca Curiosa; Index Librorum
Expurgatorum; Mabillon de Rê Diplomaticâ; Morhof, Polyhistor Literarius,
&c.; Naudæi Bibliographia Politica; Photii Bibliotheca curâ Hœschelii;
Scott, Catalogus Librorum ex variis Europæ partibus advectorum, London,
1674, 4to.; Toppi, Bibliotheca Napoletana, Neap. 1678, folio; and the
Bibliothecæ Regiæ, Georgii III. Catalogus, with the Supplementary volume
of Maps and Prints, 6 vols. folio, the gift of George IV.
Of general literature, the Works contained in this Collection are not
important. I may here enumerate however a copy of Joannis Sarisburiensis
Polycraticus, Lugd. Bat. 1595; the Koran; the Work of Agapetus; Epistolæ
Variorum Auctorum; Hobbes’ Opera Philosophica; Fenelon, Télémaque;
Voltaire, Henriade; the Works of Grotius and Heinsius, of Julian the
Apostate, Thomas Magister, Thomas à Kempis, Meursius, Meibomius, and
Muretus; the Works of Petrarch and Machiavelli; Picus of Mirandula,
edited by Pierce; of Moliere, Porphyry, Rabelais, Ruinart, & Rufinus;
Photii Epistolæ Montacutii; Relandi Palestina illustrata; Annales
Rabbinorum, et de Religione Muhammetensi; Stapletoni Opera; Synesii
Opera; Maximus Tyrius, Dissertationes, Davisii; and Boethius, de
Consolatione Philosophiæ, 1656.
But if the curiosity of the reader extend to the productions of such
names as Albertus Magnus, Alyaco, Lucas Holstenius, Hottingerus Launovis,
Maimonides, Jonas Shlichlingius, and Fridericus Schererzius, Duns Scotus,
Suarez, Stuchius, Paulus Vindingius, and Ludovicus Vives, Granville
Sharp, or Seth Ward, and Eustratius, Zialowski; together with numerous
other obscure writers of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries; for all
these he may be safely referred to the Manuscript Catalogue preserved
in the Library, a thick folio volume, very carefully compiled, and
containing a very sufficient and correct enumeration of all the books
contained in the Library, in regular alphabetical order, with reference
to the shelves on which they stand.
Each volume of this Collection has the book plate of the Chapter pasted
within its cover. This engraving, in the form of an ecclesiastical seal,
represents St. Paul seated, with a glory around his head, having in his
right hand a sword, and in his left the sacred volume. The following
motto encircles the whole—“Liber Ecclesiæ Cathedralis Sancti Pauli.”
[Illustration]
Library of Manchester.
The See of Manchester having been created during the compilation of these
Notes would naturally occasion me to notice any Library which might
have existed in connection with that establishment. There is however
no Library attached to the Collegiate Church, now the Cathedral of
Manchester. There were a few books sold about twenty or five and twenty
years ago by the Churchwardens of that time, which consisted chiefly of
Divinity; Jewel’s Apology; Hooker’s Works; Fox’s Book of Martyrs, &c.;
many of them in a dilapidated state, and very few perfect among them.
They appear to have been books placed in the Church for the use of the
congregation at large, rather than a Capitular Library.
It is probable that Humphrey Chetham, when he founded his Hospital,
in what was formerly the College or Capitular buildings belonging to
the Collegiate Church of Manchester, intended the Library which he
established there to supply the deficiency of a Chapter Library. This
Collection is remarkable as the most easily accessible in the United
Kingdom. Any person, however humble in station, or homely in appearance,
whencesoever he may come, has a right to demand a sight of any book
in the Library. This rare facility of access has not been without its
abuses, since some volumes have been mutilated, and in severe weather, as
in the National Gallery of London, many persons come and ask for a book
of light reading for the sake of a warm and comfortable apartment.
A well arranged Catalogue of this Collection under the title of
Bibliotheca Chethamensis seu Bibliothecæ Publicæ Mancuniensis ab Humph.
Chetham Arm. fundatæ Catalogus, was edited by John Radcliffe in 1791, in
2 vols. 8vo. to which a third volume edited by William Parr Gresswell was
added in 1826, with a copious index to the whole Collection.
[Illustration]
Library of Norwich.
The Library of the Dean and Chapter of Norwich is deposited in the small
yet commodious apartment which adjoins one of the Prebendal houses in the
close, and is placed under the care of the Rev. W. F. Drake, one of the
minor Canons of the Cathedral.
The collection comprises three thousand volumes, labelled and arranged
upon open shelves, which are briefly enumerated in alphabetical order, in
a privately printed octavo volume, entitled “The Catalogue of the Norwich
Cathedral Library, 1819,” London, printed by G. Auld, Greville Street,
pp. 120, chiefly compiled by its present Curator.
The books principally relate to Divinity, English History, and Classical
Literature, and are chiefly of recent donation, the greater portion of
the existing Collection having been presented to the Library by Frank
Sayers, _M. D._ It is pleasant also to notice the judicious additions of
standard Theological and Historical Works, by purchase from time to time
as the funds of the establishment permit.
Among the desirable additions to the ancient foundation, I remarked
the Works of Strype and Bull, with other valuable productions of the
Collegiate Press at Oxford.
The Publications issued under authority of the Record Commission are here
seen in long and increasing array, for by a liberal and comprehensive
policy, a copy of these public Records is deposited in every Cathedral
Library of Great Britain.
Among the more ancient volumes, the typographical antiquary will seek
in vain for any vestige of a Caxton, or of early English printers; but
he may recognize with pleasure, Boetii viri celeberrimi de Consolatione
Philosophiæ liber cum optimo commento beati Thome, which hath the
following colophon:—
“Libri quinque de consolatione phie̅ Boetii Rhomani consulis ac oratoris
splendidissimi una cum commentaria editione per me Jacobum de Breda
in Daventria diligenter elaborati finiunt anno gratiæ Millesimo,
quadragintesimo, nonagesimo primo, die sabbati ante Judica.”
Then follows a new title page, at the top of which is,
Boetii de disciplina scholarium cum notabili commento.