Novum Testamentum Bezæ, 1588, in 4to.
In the Theological department, this Library contains among much that is
valuable a great deal that is obsolete, a remark that may be extended to
the other ancient collections attached to our Cathedral Establishments.
In the Divinity of the earlier ages we find the Works of several Fathers
of the Church, namely, Athanasii Opera, Basileæ, 1514, folio, and
Parisiis, 1627, in 2 vols. folio; Augustini Opera, Basileæ, 1586, in 5
vols. folio; Basilii Magni Opera omnia, Parisiis, 1638, 3 vols. folio;
Chrysostomi Opera omnia, 1624, in 6 vols. folio, and edited by Savile,
Etonæ, 1612, 8 vols. folio; Eusebii Opera, Basileæ, 1559; the Works of
S.S. Ambrose, Cyprian, Cyril, Epiphanius, Jerome, and Origen, with his
Homilies; Tertulliani Opera, Basileæ apud Joannem Frobenium, 1521,
folio; and the Works of Philo Judæus, Gregory Nazianzen, and Justin
Martyr; Theodoret and Theophylact.
Descending to a later period we have the Works of Calvin and Melancthon,
of Grotius and Erasmus; Usserii Quæstiones de Ecclesiæ Christianæ,
Hanoviæ, 1658; Lutheri Opera omnia Jenæ, 1612, in 4 vols. folio;
Vossii Opera Sacra, Hagæ, Com. 1661; many early Commentators, and some
Controversial pieces by Chamier and Bellarmine.
To these may be added the Critici Sacri, and Pole’s Synopsis; the
Bibliotheca Polonorum Fratrum; Vitringa, Commentarius in Iesaiam; Leigh’s
Critica Sacra, London, 1650; the Commentaries of Nicolas de Lyra; Zanchii
Miscellanea Theologica, 1682; and Thomas Aquinas, Commentarii in Biblia,
Parisiis, 1657, in 3 vols. folio.
I may here also mention the Works of Bishop Andrews, Allix, and Alison;
Chillingworth’s Religion of Protestants; and a very fine copy of the
Works of Bishop Jewel, London, 1565, here most appropriately placed. Also
the Works of Barrow, Bishop Bramhall, Cudworth, Hall, Hammond, Jackson,
Lowth, Lightfoot, Mede, Paley, Stillingfleet, Sherlock, and Waterland.
To which may be added, Jortin’s Discourses; Watson’s Apology; Routh’s
Reliquiæ Sacræ; Archdeacon Daubeny’s Works; Twysden’s Vindication of the
Church of England; Bishop Douglas’s Works; Pearson on the Creed; Hey’s
Theological Lectures; Faber on Pagan Idolatry; and a “System of Divinity
by the Rev. W. Davy in a course of Sermons;” Lustleigh, Devon, printed
by himself, fourteen copies only, 1803, in 25 volumes 8vo. bound in calf.
The corrections of the press being made by pasting in slips of printed
paper between the leaves which require them. This singular and uncommon
performance was presented to the Library by Bishop Burgess.
I may here mention Stackhouse’s History of the Bible; Bochart’s
Geographia Sacra; Hales’ Chronology, in 4 vols. 4to.; and many Tracts
relating to the Popish Controversy.
In Ecclesiastical History this Collection is so fortunate as to contain
the Annals of Baronius, with the Supplement of Tornielli; the Concilia
omnia, Coloniæ, 1538, in 2 vols. folio; and the Concilia Maxima in
15 vols. folio; Spelman’s Concilia; Wharton’s Anglia Sacra; Suiceri
Thesaurus Ecclesiasticus; Bedæ, Historia Ecclesiastica, Colon. Agrip.;
Brandt’s History of the Reformation in the Low Countries; Burnet’s
History of the Reformation; Conibere’s Church History; Cressy’s Church
History of Brittany; Dugdale’s Monasticon Anglicanum; Fuller’s Church
History; Field’s Book of the Church; Fox’s Martyrs; the Martyrologium
Romanum, Antverpiæ, 1613; Harpsfeld, Historia Anglicana Ecclesiastica,
Duaci, 1622; Hooker’s Ecclesiastical Polity; Josephi Opera omnia, Genevæ,
1634, folio; Eusebii Historia Ecclesiastica, 1659; Gilpin’s Lives of the
Reformers; Parker, de Antiquitate Britanniæ Ecclesiæ, Hanoviæ, 1605,
folio; Reformatio Legum Ecclesiasticorum, 1640, 4to. in which no mention
is made of Queen Elizabeth’s reforms; Reyner, de Apostolatum Ordinis
Benedictinorum in Angliâ; Strype’s Memorials; Wordsworth’s Ecclesiastical
Biography; Historiæ Ecclesiasticæ Centuriatores Magdeburgenses; and the
Codex Theodosianus Gothofredi.
Of General History the list is exceedingly meagre, including Orosii
Historia, Martini Chronicon, 1638; Mezeray’s History of France; De la
Valle’s Voyage to Persia, 4to; Pococke’s Historia Arabum; Dousæ, Annales
Metricæ Hollandiæ; Lendener, Tabula Historica, Chronologica, &c.; Grotii
Annales de rebus Belgicis; Wheler’s Greece, 1682; Fuller’s Palestine; and
Pitt’s Atlas.
Of Works relating to the History and Antiquities of England the Catalogue
is much more copious, comprising, Viti de Antiquitate Britanniæ, 1597,
two parts only in calf; Brady’s English History; Baker’s Chronicle,
London, 1643, folio; Daniel’s History of England; Eadmeri Historia
Novorum, edente Selden, London, 1623, folio, in calf; Camden’s Britannia;
Matthæi Paris Historia Anglicana, edente Wats, Londini, 1740, folio;
Matthæi Westmonasteriensis Flores Historiarum; Bates’ Elenchus Motuum;
Clarendon’s Rebellion; Melvil’s Memoirs, 1683; Milles’ Catalogue of
Honour; Wake’s Rex Platonicus, 1663; Waræus de rebus Hibernicis; Wilson’s
Great Britain, 1653; Polydore Vergilii Historia Anglicana; Several Tracts
relating to the time of Charles the First; and the Parliamentary Records
of the Kingdom.
The Topographical Works include, Adam’s Index Villaris; Calthorpe’s
Usages of the City of London; Clarke’s Parochial Topography of the
Hundred of Wanting in the County of Berks, Oxford, 1824, 4to.; Marmora
Oxoniensia, Oxonii, folio; Dodsworth’s Salisbury Cathedral, 1814, 4to.;
and Somner’s Canterbury.
Of Law Books I found only the Corpus Juris Civilis, Lugd. Bat. 1652,
folio; Dalton’s Justice of the Peace; Coke upon Littleton; Coke’s
Institutes; Seldeni Fleta, seu Commentarius Juris Anglicani, 1647;
Blount’s Law Dictionary, 1670; and Selden’s Mare Clausum.
In Etymology this Collection embraces Buxtorf’s Hebrew Lexicon;
Cotgrave’s French Dictionary; Du Cange’s Glossary, 1678, in 3 vols.
folio; Golii Lexicon Arabicum; Hickes’ Thesaurus Septentrionalis;
Stephani Thesaurus, Scapulæ Lexicon; Vossii Etymologicum, Amstelodami,
1662; Wallis’ Grammatica, Oxonii, 1653; and Merceri Thesaurus Linguæ
Sanctæ.
I will now proceed to enumerate the editions of the Classic Authors
contained in this room, that the reader may be enabled to judge for
himself of the value of this portion of the Salisbury Cathedral Library.
Ammianus Marcellinus. Parisiis, 1687.
Apollonius Rhodius, Stephani. Parisiis, 1754.
Apthonii Progymnasmata. Lugd. Bat. 1526.
Aristotelis Opera Basileæ, per Joannem Bebelium, 1531, in 2
vols. folio, half bound.
Archimedes. Basileæ, 1544, folio.
Athenæus. Basileæ, 1535, folio.
Ciceronis Opera omnia, 1654.
Demosthenes. Basileæ, 1532.
Diodorus Siculus. Parisiis, 1644, folio.
Euclid, 1678.
Euripides. Basileæ, 1544.
Herodotus, 1524, folio, in the original binding.
Horatius cum Commentariis. Venetiis, 1495, in the Roman
character, folio.
Hippocratis Opera. Basileæ, 1501.
Lucretius. Francofurti, 1631.
Manilii Astronomicon, 1590.
Plinii Historia Naturalis. Genevæ, 1631.
Plutarchi Opera. Lutet. Paris. 1624, 2 vols. folio.
Photii Bibliotheca, Hœschelii. Rothomagi, 1563.
Photii Epistolæ. Londini, 1651.
Polybius Casauboni, 1610.
Prudentius. Hanoviæ, 1613.
Pindarus Stephani, 1599.
Plautus. Neapoli, 1519.
Quintilianus, 1548.
Quintus Curtius. Parisiis, 1668.
Seneca. Basileæ, 1595.
Suetonius. Basileæ, 1673.
Themistii Opera. Venetiis, 1533.
Theophrastus. Lugd. Bat. 1613.
Vitruvii Architectura. Antverpiæ, 1624.
To the above I may add, Scaligeri Opera, Parisiis, 1610; Draudii
Bibliotheca Classica, 1625, 4to.; Lipsii Opera; Avicennæ Canones Medici,
Venetiis, 1595, in 2 vols. folio; Pauli Æginetæ Medici Opera, Basileæ,
1551, 8vo.; and the Works of Galen and Epictetus.
Of English Literature, the shelves of this Library present us with
Bacon’s Novum Organum; King James’s Works; Isaac Barrow’s Optics and
other Works; Spenser’s Faery Queen, 1611; Cowley’s Works; Brown’s
Pastorals in two parts, with the third in Manuscript, as yet, I believe,
unpublished. The printed portion of this interesting folio tome is dated
at London in 1613. It is bound in calf. Donne’s Letters; Walton’s Lives;
Digges’ Complete Ambassador; Evelyn’s Sylva; Harris’s Works; Moryson’s
Works, 1617, folio; Nott’s edition of Howard and Wyatt’s Poems; and
Symmons’ edition of Milton’s Works.
Of Scientific Works I observed merely Tycho Brahe; and Kepler’s
Astronomy; Raii Historia Plantarum; and Napier on Logarithms.
And lastly of Bibliographical Works I noticed only Clavel’s General
Catalogue of English Books; the old Catalogue of the Bodleian Library;
and the Catalogus Librorum in Bibliothecâ Sionensi, 1650, folio.
Here are also many volumes which belonged to Izaak Walton, the father of
Anglers, and were probably presented to this Library by his son Canon
Walton. Twenty of the volumes bear his autograph, a list of which may be
seen in Nicolas’s Life of Walton, App. p. clv.
The reader will not have failed to perceive the absence of works printed
during the eighteenth century from this Library, and he may attribute the
circumstance to the long interval during which this ancient Cathedral was
suffered to remain in the most neglected state.
From this it has been rescued by the proper feeling of the existing
Dean and Chapter, aided by the unremitting exertions of their present
Librarian.
Many volumes, however, still remain buried in dust, and when the cobwebs
of the last century have been brushed away, some works may probably be
found not undeserving of notice.
[Illustration]
Library of Wells.
The Library of the Dean and Chapter of Wells is kept in a very dry and
sufficiently commodious apartment over that side of the cloisters which
immediately adjoins the Cathedral. For many years it was very much
neglected; and the office of Librarian remained in abeyance for the last
fifty years, when it was recently revived in the person of Mr. Aldrit,
the Master of the Collegiate Chapter Grammar School.
The books consisting of about 5000 volumes are arranged upon open shelves
in projecting cases, with ample desks below each for the convenience of
students. The chains they once wore are now thrown aside, though the
rings whereby they were attached still remain upon many of the volumes.
It cannot be denied that where the preservation of the binding is of any
consequence, these manacles must do mischief; and when a Collection is
kept under proper regulation, this injurious mode of protection may very
well be dispensed with.
There is only one Catalogue in manuscript of this Library, written
apparently about a century ago, in which the books are enumerated in
alphabetical order, with a tolerably particular description of each book,
and though the dates, imprints, and sizes of books are most unpardonably
omitted, occasionally the contents of such Collections as Wharton’s
Anglia Sacra are specified separately. This Catalogue is contained in
two folio volumes, in vellum covers, with this common title: Catalogus
Librorum in Bibliothecâ Wellensi.
The additions made to the Library since this Catalogue was written are
neither numerous nor important, consisting chiefly of the ponderous
volumes issued under the authority of the Record Commission. But a new
Catalogue is now preparing by Mr. Aldrit, who has recently cleansed all
the books from the accumulated dust of the last half century.
The first volumes which attracted my attention were a very fine set of
Walton’s Polyglott Bible, with the Republican Preface, ruled with red
lines, and bound in blue morocco, full charged with gilt tooling on
the back, and bearing this superscription, “E dono Thomæ Hole, Eccl.
Wellensis Cancellarii et Canonici.” The rings, by which the chains were
formerly fastened, remain attached to these portly volumes.
Beside these stood Castell’s Lexicon in calf, and the Biblia Polyglotta
Philippica per Ariam Montanum, in 8 volumes, folio, bound in calf; and
of the other impressions of the sacred volume I noticed the Biblia
Hebraica Wolfii, and per Joannem Leusden; Buxtorf’s Hebrew Bible, in a
vellum cover; the Septuagint Version issued under the authority of Pope
Sixtus V. and that printed at London, juxta exemplar Vaticanum, in 1543,
4to., together with that edited by Grabe in 4 volumes, folio, printed
at Oxford in 1720. Biblia Latina Vulgata, Parisiis, 1545 and 1552, both
in 4to.; the English Bible, London, by J. Bill, 1633, folio, with the
Common Prayer of 1569, uniform in red morocco; Evangelia Gothica et
Anglo-Saxonica; Novum Testamentum Græcum et Latinum Erasmi, Basil. 1539,
and Græcum Millii, Oxon. 2 vols. folio, and Græcum Cantabrigiæ, 1632;
Nov. Test. Hebr. Arab. et Syriac.; the Holie Bible, printed at Doway in
1609, in 2 vols. 4to; the New Testament, Antwerp, 1600, 4to.; to which
I may add the impressions of the Common Prayer, in English, of 1552 and
1669; and in Welch and in Scotch, with the Processionale ad usum Ecclesiæ
Sarum.
Works of Divinity form a large portion of this Library; the most
important of which are the Works of S. Ambrose, S. Anselm, S. Athanasius,
Thomas Aquinas, Atterbury, Allix, Allen, Andrewes, Abbot, S. Basil,
Barrow, Beveridge, Bingham, Bossuet, Boyle, Bramhall, Burnet, Martin
Bucer, Edmund Campion, Samuel Clarke, S. Cyril, 6 vols. folio; S.
Cyprian, edited by Fell; Erasmus, Duns Scotus, Grotius, Fleetwood,
Geddes, Gregory Nazianzen, Hooper, 1757; S. Hilary, Horne, Hammond, in
4 vols. folio; Irenæus, Lightfoot, Lactantius, Lowth, Patrick, Mede,
Melancthon, Newton, Origen, Paley, Philo Judæus, Prideaux, Sancroft,
Sherlock, Spanheim, South, Stillingfleet, Jeremy Taylor, Tillotson,
with his Life by Birch; Tertullian, and Tennison. I also remarked the
Commentaries of Abarbanal, Alexandri Alensis Universæ Theologiæ Summa,
in 4 tom. folio; Augustini Opera, per Erasmum, in 10 vols. folio;
Bellarmini Disputationum de Controversiis fidei Christianæ, tom. iv.
folio; Bochart’s Geographia Sacra, and Hierozoicon; Bulli Opera, per
Grabe; Bythneri Lyra Prophetica; Butler’s Analogy; Calvin’s Institutions;
Casaubon’s Annotations and Commentaries; Chillingworth’s Religion of
Protestants; Chrysostomi Opera, per Savile, 8 vols. folio; and in 13
vols. folio, in old calf; Clementis Alexandrini Opera, Gr. & Lat. per
Heinsium et Sylburgium; Comber on the Liturgy; Newman’s and various other
Concordances; Calmet’s Dictionary of the Bible, in dark old calf; Critici
Sacri per Cornelium Bezam, in 9 vols. folio; Pole’s Synopsis; Jewel’s
Apology; Davenant, Prælectiones Theologicæ; Doleman’s Conversions,
Book the Third; Epiphanii Opera, per Petavium, 2 vols. folio; Farmer
on the Demoniacs of the New Testament; Southey’s Book of the Church;
Eusebii Hist. Ecclesiastica; Præparatio et Demonstratio Evangelica;
Jortin’s Sermons; Boyle’s Lecture Sermons, 3 vols. folio, in calf; Hey’s
Theological Lectures, 4 vols. 8vo. Justini Martyris Opera, Gr. & Lat.
Sylburgii; Justiniani Institutiones, curâ Harris; Kett on the Prophecies;
Bishop Ken’s Sermons and Tracts, with his Life; Lardner’s Testimonies
and other Works; Leslie’s Theological Works, in 2 vols. folio; Leland
on Deism and the Christian Revelation; Leigh’s Critica Sacra; Lloyd’s
Church Government; Sanderson’s Sermons, and other Works; Bartholomæi de
Saxoferrato Commentarii; Scott’s Christian Life and Sermons; Simon, Hist.
Crit. Vet. Test.; Sleidan, Commentarii de statu Religionis et Reipublicæ;
Bibliotheca Patrum, a fine set in calf; Calasio Concordantiæ Hebreæ, 4
vols. folio, in calf; Newcome’s Harmony and Minor Prophets; Tostati Opera
Theologica, Venetiis, 1596, 13 vols. folio; Petavii Opera Theologica,
Parisiis, 1550, 5 vols. folio, in old calf; Chamieri Controversiæ;
Petri Martyris Loci Communes; Pearson on the Creed; Hooper’s Works, in
old calf, gilt; Joannis Damasceni Opera, 2 vols. folio, in old calf;
Clerici Comm. in Hagiographa, et Prophetas, &c.; Vitringæ Comm. in
Iesaiam; Gale’s Court of the Gentiles; Bishop Kidder on the Pentateuch;
Pococke on Malachi, Micah, Joel, and Hosea, 4 vols. folio, old calf;
Cotelerii Patres Apostolici, curâ Joannis Clerici, Amstelod, 1724, 2
vols. folio, in calf; Petavii de doctrinâ temporum, Antverpiæ, 1703, in
3 vols. folio, in calf; Usher’s Annales Vet. Test. and other Tracts;
Twysden’s Vindication of the Church of England from Schism, &c.; Wall
on Infant Baptism; Warner’s Illustrations of Common Prayer; Warburton’s
Divine Legation, 1765, 5 vols.; Zanchii Miscellanea Theologica; Suiceri
Thesaurus Ecclesiasticus; and Hodius de Bibliorum Textibus, 4 vols. folio.
Of Ecclesiastical History, the principal Works which I noticed were the
Constitutiones Legatinæ; Regionis Anglicanæ; Scripture Atlas, 1812;
Othonis et Othoboni, cum annotationibus Joannis de Athona; Cave’s Lives
of the Primitive Fathers; Baronii Annalium tomus primus, et Martyrologium
Romanum, cum ejusdem Annalibus in Epitomen redactis, per Spondanum,
1639; Bedæ Historia Ecclesiastica; Bower’s History of the Popes; Usser
de Antiq. Eccl. Britt. with his Life by Parr and Smith; Burnet’s
Reformation; Concilia Generalia Ecclesiæ Catholicæ; Quick’s Synodicon in
Galliâ Reformatâ; Sacrosancta Concilia per Labbe et Cossard, in 17 vols.
folio, in old calf; Ecton’s Thesaurus; Fox’s Martyrs, in 3 vols. folio;
Godwin’s English Bishops; Gothofredi Comment. in Codicem Theodosianum,
in 4 vols. folio; Historia Ecclesiastica, per Magdeburgenses; Hooker’s
Ecclesiastical Polity; Howell’s Synopsis Canonum, in 2 vols. folio;
Jenning’s Jewish Antiquities; Josephus’ History of the Jews, translated
by Lodge; Josephus Havercampi, 2 vols. folio, and Hudsoni, 1720, in 2
vols. folio; Basnage, History of the Jews; Spencer de Legibus Hebræorum;
Jortin’s Ecclesiastical History; Corpus Juris Canonici, Paris, 1618;
Codex Justiniani; Lyndewode’s Provinciale seu Constitutiones Angliæ;
Annales Ordinis Benedictin. per Mabillon, Parisiis, 1703, 5 vols. folio,
in French calf; Strype’s Memorials, Lives, and Annals; Tornielli Annales;
Wharton’s Anglia Sacra; Wilkins’ Concilia Magnæ Britannicæ, in 4 vols.
folio; and Saliani Annal. Eccles. V. T. Paris. 1641, folio.
It will be seen from the foregoing enumeration, however brief, that a
very large portion of this Library is theological; indeed no less than
thirteen pages of the Catalogue are occupied by Tracts on the Popish
Controversy, four by the subject of Toleration, and three by that of
Transubstantiation. There are also many other Tracts relating to the
Reformation and the Revolution, and also to the Quakers.
This Collection also contains the Alcoranus Muhammedis, Arabicè, 1694,
and Sale’s Koran.
Of General History I noticed but few works, the chief of which were
Alstedii Thesaurus Chronologiæ; Baudrand, Lexicon Geographicum; Davila’s
Civil Wars of France; Dodwell’s Dissertations; D’Anville’s Geography,
1812; the Collections of Grævius, in old calf; Corpus Juris Civilis
Gothofredi; Lipsii Politicorum Libri VI.; Mezeray’s History of France;
Heylin’s Cosmography; Howell’s History of the World, in old calf;
Pococke’s Description of the East, 2 vols. folio; Potter’s Greece;
Puffendorf’s Law of Nations; Robertson’s America, and Charles V.;
Roscoe’s Lorenzo di Medici; Rycaut’s History of the Turks and of the
Ottoman Empire; Scaliger de Emendatione Temporum; & Chronicon, Amstel.
1758, fol. calf; Simpson’s Chronicon Catholicon; Thuani Historia sui
temporis, folio; the Universal History, in 21 vols. 8vo.; Wheler’s
Greece; Shaw and Pococke’s Travels; Foster’s, Cook’s, and Hawkesworth’s
Voyages; Browne’s Travels in Hungary and Germany; Park’s Travels;
Wilson’s Pelew Islands; Webb’s Historical Essay upon China; Ximenes,
Archiep. Tolet. Historia Arabum. Lugd. Bat. 1625; Zosimus, Historia
Novorum, libri duo; and Gillies’ Greece.
Of English History and Antiquities, the list is rather more copious,
as the following selection will testify: Adam’s Index Villaris; Rerum
Anglicarum Scriptores Decem à Twysden; and the first volume only of
Gale and Fell’s Collection; Bates’ Elenchus Motuum; Commentarii de
Rebellione Anglica, 1640-85, per R. Manilium, Eq. Aurat.; Sir Robert
Atkyns’s Historical Tracts; Baker’s Chronicle, folio; Chandler’s Life
of Bishop Beckington; Bentham’s Ely; Boswell’s Johnson; Brady’s English
History, and Introduction to the same; Britannia Rediviva; Epicedia
Acad. Oxon. in obitum Henrici ducis Gloucestrensis; Notitia Academiæ
Oxoniensis; Buchanan, Historia Scotorum; Camden’s Britannia, the first
edition as well as that by Gibson; Somner’s Canterbury; Charlton’s
Chorea Gigantum, 1663; Webb’s Vindication of Stonehenge restored; Inigo
Jones’s Stonehenge; Clarendon’s Rebellion, 3 vols. folio; Daniel’s
History of England; Drayton’s Polyolbion; Davies’ Celtic Researches;
Dugdale’s Baronage; Origines Judiciales, Summons; Catalogue of the
Lord Chancellors, and Troubles, Warwickshire, edited by Thomas, with
an Epitome of his Monasticon Anglicanum, edited by Stevens; Aikin’s
Elizabeth and James I.; Rymer’s Fœdera, a fine set of the original
edition in old calf; Gibson’s Codex, and Chronicon Saxonicum; Guillim’s
Heraldry; Kennett’s Parochial Antiquities; Langhorne, Elenchus
Antiquitatum Albionensium; Heylin’s Life of Laud; Lyttelton’s Henry II.;
Loggan, Oxonia et Cantabrigia Illustrata; Mackenzie’s Royal Line of
Scotland; Cox’s Memoirs of Marlborough, in 6 vols. 8vo. with the Atlas
in 4to.; Matthæi Paris Historia Anglicana; Matthæi Westmonasteriensis
Flores Historiarum; Milton’s Defensio pro Populo Anglicano; Musgrave,
Antiquitates Britanno-Belgicæ præcipuè Romanæ, 4 vols. 8vo.; the Harleian
Miscellany, 8vo. in calf; Lord Herbert’s Life of Henry VIII.; Holinshed’s
Chronicle, with Vowell’s Continuation; Hume’s History of England;
Hutchin’s Dorset, the first edition; Journals of the Lords and Commons;
Records, and Population Returns; Maitland’s London; Nalson’s Collections;
Guil. Neubrigensis de Rebus Anglicanis; Plott’s Oxfordshire; Prynne’s
Concordia Discors; Rushworth’s Historical Collections; Rerum nuper in
Scotiâ Gestarum Historia, 1641; Viscount Tarbet’s Acts of Scotland, from
1685 to 1702, 4 vols. with many other Tracts relating to the History
of the Scottish Nation and Church; Spotswode’s Church of Scotland;
Sheringham, Disceptatio de Gentis Anglorum origine; Spelman’s Concilia,
and Life of Alfred, with the Reliquiæ Spelmannianæ by Gibson; State
Trials, by Cobbett, 11 vols. 8vo.; the Statutes at large; Cromwell’s
Memoirs of Oliver Cromwell, 2 vols. 8vo.; Madox, Baronia Anglica, Firma
Burgi, Formulare Anglicanum, and History of the Exchequer; Scriptores
post Bedam, edente Savile; Tanner’s Notitia Monastica; Sir Wm. Temple’s
Memoirs; Speed’s History of Great Britain; Polydore Vergil; Urbinas,
Archidiaconus Wellensis, Historia Anglicana, Libris XXVII. with his
other Works; Verstegan’s Restitution of Decayed Intelligence relative to
English Antiquities; Cox’s Memoirs of Walpole; Walton’s Lives of Hooker
and Sanderson; Whitelocke’s Memorials; Vita Guil. de Wickham Episc.
Winton; Wood’s Athenæ, et Antiquitates Oxonienses; Maittaire, Marmora
Oxoniensia, Londini, 1732, folio, in calf; and Francisci Wise, Nummorum
Antiq. Bodl. Catalogus; to which may be added a Genealogical Chart of the
House of Stuart, 1779, which hangs upon the wall of this Library.
Of Law Books, the chief appeared to be Blackstone’s Commentaries; Coke’s
Reports in Law French; Dalton’s Country Justice; Durandi Speculum Juris;
Coke upon Littleton; Fitzherbert, Natura Brevium; Blackstone’s Magna
Charta, Oxford, 1759; Bracton de Legibus Angliæ, Londini, per Ricardum
Tottel, 1569, folio; and Robinson’s Admiralty Cases, 1806, &c. 6 vols.
8vo. with the Statutes at large.
Of Etymology, this Collection comprehends Baxter’s Account of Llhuyd’s
Archæologia; Du Cange, Glossary; Buxtorf’s Hebrew Lexicon; Cole’s
English Dictionary; Cooper’s Thesaurus; Cotgrave’s French and English
Dictionary; Harris’ Hermes; Hickes’ Thesaurus Septentrionalis, cum
Wanleii Hist. Lit. Septentr. Oxon. 1705, 2 vols. folio; Giggeus,
Thesaurus Arabicus; Golii Lexicon Arabicum; Hoffmanni Lexicon Universale;
Junii Glossarium Gothicum, Dordraci, 1665, and his Etymologicum
Anglicanum, 1743, folio; Llhuyd’s Archæologia; Scapulæ et Schrevelii
Lexica; Skinner’s Etymologicum Linguæ Anglicanæ; Somneri Dictionarium
Saxonico-Latino-Anglicanum, and his Glossary; Spelman’s Glossary;
Stephani Thesaurus, in 4 vols. folio; Suidæ Lexicon, Kusteri, Cantabr. in
3 vols. folio; Vossius, Etymol. Ling. Lat. to which may be added several
Greek, Latin, Italian, French, and English Dictionaries not requiring
particular specification.
I now come to the great Authors of Antiquity, and shall be as concise as
possible in my account of them, begging “the thorough-bred Bibliomaniac”
to imagine the pleasure I felt in discovering a beautiful copy of
the Aldine Aristotle, the first edition of the Works of that great
philosopher in his own tongue, as sound and immaculate as when it first
issued from the press at Venice. The five volumes have been rebound in
the dark calf of the preceding century, with red lettering pieces; and
within four of them is pasted the well known autograph of the celebrated
Erasmus, “Sum Erasmi Roterodami,” from which we may reasonably conclude
that this very set of books once appertained to that eminent scholar: a
supposition which is strengthened by the circumstance of the donor of
this Work having written in the third volume, immediately beneath the
autograph just quoted, the following commemorative distich:
“Hæc ego dona dedi Wellensi Bibliothecæ
Turnerus nomen cui gulielmus erat.”
the altitude of these volumes is rather more than twelve inches, by eight
inches and a quarter. “The ruler-carrying Bibliomaniacs” will thank me
for being thus particular.
The other editions of the Classics being of lesser note, the names
of the authors shall be succinctly given in alphabetical order: Æneas
Tacticus Gr. Casauboni; Alciati Paradox. Lib. VI.; Athenagoras, Historia
Augustæ Scriptores VI.; Aristophanes; Cæsar, Delphini, Catullus,
Cicero, Lambini, Geneva, 1624, 4 vols. folio; Dares, Phrygius et Dictys
Cretensis; Demosthenes, Dionysius Halicarnass. Ælius Lampridius Rom. Imp.
Hist.; Hierocles Facetiæ & Versus Aurei; Herodiani lib. VIII. per Angelum
Politianum; Homer, by Barnes; Horace, by Bond; Isocrates Stephani, 1604;
Juvenalis Farnabii; Livius Gelenii et Thomæ Hearne; Longinus, Manilii
Astronomicon; Macrobius Pontani; Martialis Raderi; Photius, Bibliotheca
Hœschelii, Rothomagi, 1563, et ejusdem Epistolæ per Ricardum Montacutium,
1651, folio, in a vellum wrapper; Plinii Hist. Nat. Dalecampii; Plautus
Lambini; Philostrati Opera Omnia, Lipsiæ, 1709, folio, in calf; Poetæ
Minores Græci; Julii Pollucis Onomasticon; Polybius Casauboni; Procopius
Hœschelii; Propertius; Quintilianus Gibsoni; Seneca Lipsii; Ælias,
Spartianus; Strabo Casauboni; Suetonius Casauboni; Tacitus Lipsii;
Tibullus, &c. Opera Cantabr., Theophrastus, Virgil, Minellii & Cantabr.
1701; & Baskerville’s edition; Flavii Vopisci Rom. Imp. & H. Boxhornii,
to which I may add the Cambridge editions of Horace, Catullus, Tibullus,
Propertius, Terence, & Virgil, 1701, 4to.; and Didymus in Homerum,
accurante Schrevelio, Amstelod. ap. Elzevir, 4to.
Here I may also mention Lloyd, Dictionarium Histor. Geograph. et Poeticum
à Stephano, Oxonii, 1671, folio; Allwood’s Literary Antiquities of
Greece, London, 1779, 4to.; Middleton’s Cicero, Melmoth’s Pliny; Gesneri
Bibliothecæ Epitome per Simlerum, Plutarch’s Lives, by North; Spence’s
Polymetis; Salmasii Exercitationes Plinianæ; Ovid’s Metamorphoses, by
Banier, illustrated by Picart, Amsterdam, 1732, folio, in old russia;
Vossius de Historicis Græcis et Latinis.
Of Bibliography indeed, the Works I found here are so few, that I am
almost ashamed to record merely the Acta Eruditorum, Lipsiæ, 1682;
Blount’s Censura Literaria; Cave’s Scriptor. Eccles. Hist. Literar.; Du
Pin’s Ecclesiastical Writers; Hyde’s Catalogue of the Bodleian Library;
Nicolson’s Historical Library; Catalogus Libror. MSS. Angl. et Hibern.
Oxonii, 1697; and “a Catalogue of such unlawful books as were found in
the study of John Stowe of London, 1568.”
It only remains for me to notice such miscellaneous works as met my eye,
in roving about the antique gallery in which they are deposited. To begin
with the most obsolete, I may mention Petrus de Albano Heptameron, seu
Elementa Magica; Agrippa de occultâ Philosophiâ; Blome’s Gentleman’s
Recreation; Thomæ Mori Opera Latina; Johnstoni Historia Naturalis de
Quadrupedibus, &c. 2 vols. folio; Jovii Illustrium Virorum Vitæ, in 2
vols. folio; Joannis Sarisburiensis Polycraticus et Metalogicus, and the
Theory of the Earth, by Woodward and Burnet; Thomæ Willis, M. D. Opera
Omnia, 2 vols. folio; and Wiseman’s Chirurgical Treatises.
In English Literature I remarked Chaucer’s Works, by Urry; Bacon’s Works,
1730, &c. in 4 vols. 4to.; Blacklock’s Poems; Beattie on Truth; Sir
Thomas Browne’s Works; Sir Robert Cotton’s Works; Chambers’ Dictionary;
Cowley’s Works; Evelyn on Medals; Grew’s Anatomy of Plants; Butler’s
Hudibras, edited by Grey; Locke’s Works; Maundrell’s Journey; Milton’s
Poems, edited by Newton; Harrington’s Oceana; Herbert’s Steps to the
Temple; Humboldt’s Works, 8vo. calf; Orrery’s Letters; the Philosophical
Transactions, in 4 volumes; Prior’s Poems; Pope’s Works, by Warburton,
in 9 vols. 8vo.; some Tracts by Selden; Algernon Sydney’s Discourse
concerning Government; Smollett’s Travels; Spenser’s Faery Queen;
Stewart’s Political Economy; the Asiatic Researches, 12 vols. 8vo. very
neatly bound in calf; Pennant’s British Zoology; Sullivan’s View of
Nature, 6 vols. 8vo.; and Hartley on Man.
I may add what is very deserving of imitation in other places, that a
tabular index of the contents of each case is hung at the end thereof,
the books being specified exactly in the order in which they are placed
on the shelves: a method which affords great facilities both to the
casual visitor and the professed students.
The books are generally in excellent preservation, and chiefly in the
sombre calf of the two last centuries, with some in vellum covers. And
there is very properly a small book for the names of books borrowed from
the Library, to be entered by those who have occasion for them.
Of the manuscripts formerly attached to this foundation I have made no
mention, because they have chiefly perished through the united agency of
time and neglect.
I may however cite, as an exception, an ancient Vulgate Bible, presented
to the Cathedral by one of its Bishops, and add that a Chinese Manuscript
is also extant, though the curiosity of strangers has greatly impaired
both its integrity and appearance.
[Illustration]
Library of the Dean and Chapter of Westminster.
This ancient and extensive Collection of Books is preserved in a room
over the cloisters adjoining the time-honoured fabric of Westminster
Abbey.
The true lover of the typographic art must here feel the full influence
of the “Religio Loci,” recollecting that within these sacred precincts,
William Caxton erected his Press, and bestowed on benighted England
the benefits of the Art of Printing. It may be remarked that the only
specimen of our earliest printer here preserved is a single leaf inserted
at the end of Pynson’s Dives and Pauper, 1493, whose authenticity has
been thus attested, “This appears to be a leaf from Caxton’s Chronicle,
1480. T. F. Dibdin.”
But to give the general reader some idea of the locale of this Library,
I must borrow the descriptive pages of a transatlantic pen. “There
are certain half-dreaming moods of mind, in which we naturally steal
away from noise, and glare, and seek some quiet haunt, where we may
indulge our reveries, and build our air-castles undisturbed. ‘In such a
mood,’ says Washington Irving,[59] ‘I was loitering about the old gray
cloisters of Westminster Abbey, enjoying that luxury of wandering thought
which we are apt to dignify by the name of reflection; when suddenly an
irruption of madcap boys from Westminster School, playing at foot-ball,
broke in upon the monastic stillness of the place, making the vaulted
passages, and mouldering tombs echo with their merriments. I sought
to take refuge from their noise by penetrating still deeper into the
solitudes of the pile, and applied to one of the vergers for admission
to the Library. He conducted me through a portal rich with the crumbling
sculpture of former ages, which opened upon a gloomy passage leading to
the Chapter House, and the chamber in which Doomsday Book is deposited.
Just within the passage is a small door on the left. To this the verger
applied a key; it was double locked, and opened with some difficulty as
if seldom used. We now ascended a dark narrow staircase, and passing
through a second door, entered the library.
“‘I found myself in a lofty antique hall, the roof supported by massive
joists of old English oak. It was soberly lighted by a row of gothic
windows at a considerable height from the floor, and which apparently
opened upon the roofs of the cloisters. An ancient picture of some
reverend dignitary of the Church in his robes hung over the fire place.
Around the hall, and in a small gallery were the books, arranged in
carved oaken cases. They consisted principally of old polemical writers,
and were much more worn by time than use. In the centre of the library
was a solitary table, with two or three books on it, an inkstand without
ink, and a few pens parched by long disuse. The place seemed fitted for
quiet study and profound meditation. It was buried deep among the massive
walls of the abbey, and shut up from the tumult of the world. I could
only hear now and then the shouts of the school boys faintly swelling
from the cloisters, and the sound of a bell tolling for prayers, that
echoed soberly along the roofs of the abbey. By degrees the shouts of
merriment grew fainter and fainter, and at length died away. The bell
ceased to toll, and a profound silence reigned through the dusky hall.’”
I will not follow the lively American in his day dream among the dusty
tomes, inasmuch as it is somewhat “lengthy,” and not sufficiently
entertaining to warrant its transcription.
I must here, too, venture a protest against the ungrateful sentiment of
our author, who “could not but consider the library a kind of literary
catacomb, where authors, like mummies, are piously entombed, and left to
blacken and moulder in dusty oblivion.”
Dropping the pencil of Geoffrey Crayon, I proceed with great satisfaction
to examine the venerable remains enshrined within the “literary catacomb”
of Westminster Abbey.
The Library of the Dean and Chapter of Westminster at present consists of
eleven thousand volumes, but was formerly much more extensive, as many
works, which appear in the old Catalogue, and are not found in the new,
lamentably attests.
The old Catalogue of this Collection, arranged in alphabetical order,
with titles, places, and dates, and with references to the shelves,
bears the following title: “Catalogus Librorum in hac Bibliothecâ
Westmonasteriensi. Octob. 22mo. 1726,” folio. It is bound in vellum, and
has the armorial bearings of the Deanery stamped upon the cover. The new
Catalogue was compiled by Dr. Dakin, the precentor, and contains the
titles, places, dates, and sizes of the books, with reference to the
shelves on which they are placed, very carefully arranged in alphabetical
order, and clearly written by Mr. Marquet, in a large folio volume,
secured by clasps. For this labour, completed in the year 1798, the Dean
and Chapter, with a most commendable zeal for the preservation of their
treasures of ancient learning, paid the sum of one hundred pounds.
The Library was originally deposited in one of the chapels, within
the Abbey, but was removed to its present situation by the celebrated
Williams, Archbishop of York, in the time of James the First.
Within the deep recesses of this venerable pile, “where all the air a
solemn stillness holds,” the mind is naturally inclined to religious
contemplation, and turns instinctively to the Book of Life.
Here too the Bibliographer may point with satisfaction to a very fine
sound copy of the famous Complutensian Polyglott, 1515, in 6 volumes,
folio, which though slightly stained, retains its original binding of
stamped calf, and nearly its pristine dimensions, measuring fifteen and a
quarter by ten and a half inches.
Meet companions of the first Polyglott Bible are,
The Biblia Polyglotta, Montani. Antverpiæ, apud Plantin, 1572,
in 8 vols. folio, &
The Biblia Polyglotta, Waltoni. Londini, 1657, in 6 vols.
folio, accompanied by the indispensable adjunct of Castell’s
Lexicon, in 2 similar volumes.
To these may be added,
The Biblia Sacra Quadrilingue, Wolderi. Hamburgi, 1596, folio.
Biblia Hebraica et Latina, Munsteri. Basileæ, 1546, in 2
volumes, folio.
Biblia Hebraica, Leusdenii. Amstelod. 1667, folio.
Biblia Hebraica, Houbigantii. Paris. 1753, 4 vols. folio.
Biblia Hebraica, Stephani. Paris. 1565, 7 vols. 24to.
Biblia Hebraica, Kennicottii. Oxonii, 1776, 2 vols. folio.
The Bomberg Hebrew Bible, printed at Venice, but without date,
in 3 volumes, folio; and another Impression of the Scriptures
in the Hebrew tongue, in 10 volumes, folio.
This Library also contains,
The first edition of the Scripture, in the Greek language,
being the Biblia Græca, Venetiis, in ædibus Aldi, 1518, folio.