Clavis Homerica, printed at Gouda.
Vossius de Historicis Græcis et Latinis.
Erasmi Adagia.
Bryant’s Ancient Mythology.
Draudii Bibliotheca Classica. Francofurti, 1625.
Pauli Manutii Epistolæ et Præfationes. Venetiis, 1556.
From this cursory survey it appears that the impressions of the Classics
in this Library are neither remarkable for their rarity, nor estimable
for their worth.
Connected with this subject are the Works of Etymology; of which the
following Catalogue will enable any one to form a tolerable notion of the
value of this portion of the Winchester Cathedral Library.
Buxtorf’s Chaldee and Syriac Lexicon; with his Hebrew Lexicon, printed
at Basle in 1651; Scapulæ Lexicon Græcum; Porti Lexicon Ionicum,
Heidelbergæ, 1602; Varro de Linguâ Latinâ; Suidæ Lexicon Kusteri,
Cantabrigiæ, 1705, folio; Ludolphi Lexicon Æthiopicum; Meursii Glossarium
Græco-barbarum; La Crose, Lexicon Ægyptiaco-Latinum; Du Cange, Glossary;
Hickes’ Thesaurus Septentrionalis; Spelman’s Glossary; Cotgrave’s
French and English Dictionary, London, 1632; Lye’s Saxon Dictionary;
Littleton’s Dictionary, 1678; Stephani Thesaurus, Parisiis, 1572;
Calepini Dictionarium Octolingue, 1647; Budæi Commentarius Linguæ Græcæ;
and Hesychii Dictionarium, Basileæ, 1530.
Of Bibliographical Works I found, as I have already mentioned, the old
Bodleian Library Catalogue, to which I may now add the Bibliothèque
Universelle et Choisie, Amsterdam, 1687-1703; the Index Librorum
Prohibitorum, Romæ, 1667; and the Index Expurgatorius, Matriti, 1612;
with Berington’s Literary History of the Middle Ages.
In Works of Science and Natural History this Collection is equally
deficient, for I noticed only Horsley’s valuable edition of Newton’s
Works, in 5 volumes, 4to. London, 1779; Barrow’s Lectiones Geometricæ et
Opticæ, Londini, 1669-70; Maseres Scriptores Logarithmici; Salusbury’s
Mathematical Collections; Chambers’ Dictionary, by Rees, 1786, in 4 vols.
folio; Cartesii Opera Philosophica, Amstelodami, 1650, 2 vols. folio;
Lord Bacon on Natural History; the Novum Organum; Boyle on Experimental
Philosophy, Oxford, 1663; Whitehurst’s Theory of the Earth; Willis’
Anatomical Works; Conradi Gesneri, Historia Animalium; Ruellius de naturâ
Stirpium; Fuchsii de Historiâ Stirpium Commentarii; Morison, Plantarum
Umbelliferarum Distributio; Latham’s Birds, with coloured plates, 10
vols. 4to. Winchester, 1824, in boards; and Bochart, Hierozoicon.
Of learned bodies and their transactions, the only works in this Library
are Sprat’s History of the Royal Society, London, 1667; the Philosophical
Transactions; Histoire de l’Academie, 1699-1754, in 105 volumes, 4to.;
the Acta Eruditorum, Lipsiæ, 1682-1701, 1702-1720, and 1721-1738; and the
Journal des Savans, 1689, in 12 vols. 8vo.
Of miscellaneous Works in Foreign Literature, I noticed Boccaccio,
Decameron, Venetiis, 1638; Gatakeri Adversaria Miscellanea, Londini,
1659; Pici Mirandulæ Opera, Basileæ, 1572; Juliani Imperatoris Opera,
Parisiis, 1630; Rogeri Aschami Epistolæ, Genevæ, 1611; and Gualtheri
Opera, Tiguri, 1595.
In English Literature it remains for me to notice the Works of King James
the First of England, and of his son Charles the First, the latter of the
date of 1662; Walpole’s Royal and Noble Authors; Chaucer’s Works, London,
1787; Spenser’s Works, London, 1679; Milton’s Paradise Lost, 1669; the
Works of the Earl of Surrey, and Sir Thomas Wyatt, edited by Nott, in 2
vols. 4to.; Sir Thomas More’s Works, 1557, folio; Donne’s Poems, 1633;
Herbert’s Country Parson, 1671; Butler’s Hudibras, 1663-4; and the
Memoirs of Bishop James of Calcutta.
But perhaps the most valuable and interesting treasure preserved in this
Library is the original Charter granted by Henry VIII. to the Cathedral
Church of Winchester, written upon vellum, and beautifully illuminated.
[Illustration]
Library of Windsor.
The Library of the Dean and Chapter of Windsor is deposited in a
commodious apartment, within the precincts of the Castle, overlooking the
silver Thames, and the graceful Chapel of Eton.
The Books are arranged in open cases, distinguished by letters of the
Alphabet round the room, which is divided into three compartments, and
is adorned with an old view of Windsor, and an early representation in
profile of our Saviour.
The Catalogue is arranged alphabetically, with an index to the shelves
on which the books are placed, and is entitled “Catalogus Librorum in
Bibliothecâ, S. Georgii Windsoriensi,” in folio, bearing date, 1786.
The book plate inserted in every book, bears round the armorial bearings
of the Dean and Chapter this legend: “Libera Capella Regia Sti̅ Georgii
infra Castrum de Windsor.”
There is a Manuscript Roll of Arms of the time of Bishop Sanderson,
and the Common Prayer Book and Psalms, in the handwriting of the same
prelate, 1578, 8vo.
Among the Typographical Antiquities of this Collection, I noticed the
Image or Mirrour of the World, printed by William Caxton, at Westminster,
in 1480, folio, a copy unfortunately wanting all after the 97th leaf,
which is torn. It measures eleven inches in height by eight inches in
width, and is in old calf binding. I also remarked a fine copy of Boetius
de Consolatione Philosophiæ, printed by Joannes de Westphalia in alma
civitate Lovaniensi, in 1487, folio, measuring eleven inches by eight
inches and a half, in calf binding; and another copy of Boetius, printed
by Iodocus Badius Ascensius in civitate Lugdunensi, 1498, folio, also in
calf. To this I may add a noble copy of the Aldine Plato of 1513, folio,
in calf, which measures eleven inches and three quarters by seven inches
and a half. There is an imperfect copy of Chaucer, in double columns
of black letter; a fine copy of Gower’s Confessio Amantis, printed by
Berthelet at London in 1554, folio; and the Legenda Aurea of 1496, folio.
The Versions of the Sacred Scriptures in this Library, include Walton’s
Polyglott; the Antwerp Polyglott of Plantin; the Bible of 1611; the Doway
Bible of 1609, with the sumptuous edition printed by Nicol, at London,
in 1802, in 9 volumes, 4to.; Biblia Hebraica Vatabli, & Kennicott; and
Grabe’s Septuagint.
There are also several editions of the New Testament, including the Vetus
Testamentum è Codice Alexandrino, and several Books of Common Prayer.
The patristic Works in this Collection, include those of SS. Ambrose,
Athanasius, Augustin, Basil, Chrysostom, Clemens Alexandrinus, Cyprian,
Cyril, Epiphanius, Gregory Nazianzen, Hilary, Jerome, skilled in the
treasures of the three languages of Scripture; Ignatius, Irenæus,
Isidore, Justin Martyr, Origen, and Tertullian.
Among the early Theologians may be found the Works of Anselm, Bellarmine,
Calvin, Cassiodorus, Damascenus, Erasmus, Eusebius, Grotius, Lactantius,
Lanfranc, Libanius, Limborch, Luther, Melancthon, Peter Martyr, Philo
Judæus, Prudentius, Theodoret, Theophilus, Thomas Aquinas, Zanchius, and
Zuinglius.
Among the Works of English Divines, I noticed those of Allix, Atterbury,
Bede, Beveridge, Bingham, Bramhall, Bull, Chillingworth, Clarke, Comber,
Dodwell, Donne, Hammond, Hooker, Heylin, Hoadley, Hooper, Jackson, Jewel,
Laud, Leland, Lightfoot, Lowth, Bishop Newton, Patrick, Pearson, Pococke,
Prideaux, Sherlock, Stapleton, Stillingfleet, Tillotson, Tomline, Usher,
Warburton, and Waterland.
I may here conveniently notice the Commentaries of Nicolas de Lyra;
Calmet’s Dictionary of the Bible; Cotelerii Patres Apostolici; the
Concilia Magna; and the Critici Sacri, with Pole’s Synopsis. Also
Cruden’s Concordance; Derham’s Physico-Theology; Ecton’s Thesaurus; Field
of the Church; Gratiani Decreta; Lyndewode Provinciale, and Wall on
Infant Baptism.
Of Works illustrative of Ecclesiastical History it may suffice to
enumerate the Ecclesiastical Annals of Baronius; Bower’s Lives of the
Popes; Burnet’s History of the Reformation; Cave’s Historiæ Ecclesiasticæ
Scriptores; Collier’s Ecclesiastical History; Cotelerii Ecclesiæ Græcæ
Monumenta; Dugdale’s Monasticon; Dupin’s Ecclesiastical Monuments;
Fox’s Acts and Monuments of the Church; Godwin, Præsules Anglicani;
Echard and Mosheim’s Ecclesiastical History; Platina, Vitæ Pontificum;
Raderi Bavaria Sancta; Reyner, de Apostolatu Benedictinorum in Angliâ;
Spotiswode’s Church of Scotland; Strype’s Annals of the Reformation;
Memorials and Lives; Tornielli Annales Sacri; Tanner’s Notitia Monastica;
and Warton’s Anglia Sacra.
I may here also notice the Bibliotheca Patrum; Bray’s Bibliotheca
Parochialis; Cudworth’s Intellectual System; Derham’s Physico-Theology;
Josephus’ History of the Jews; and Le Long’s Bibliotheca Sacra.
The Historical department of this Library embraces the Universal History,
Ancient and Modern; Alison’s History of Europe; Bayle’s Dictionary;
Carionis Chronicon; Cary’s Chronicle; Coxe’s Historical Works; De Thou,
Historia sui temporis; Eadmer’s Historia Novorum; Hallam’s Middle Ages;
Gibbon’s Decline and Fall; the Collections of Grævius and Gronovius; the
Institutes of Justinian; Ockley’s History of the Saracens; Raleigh’s
History of the World; Ricaut’s History of the Turks; Robertson’s
Historical Works; and Watson’s Philip II.
The Works relating to the History and Antiquities of England, include
Adam’s Index Villaris; Baker’s Chronicle; Barnes’ Edward III.; Battely,
Antiquitates Rutupinæ; Bentham’s Ely; Kippis’ Biographia Britannica;
Borlase’s Cornwall; Burton’s Leicestershire; Camden’s Britannia;
Clarendon’s History of the Rebellion and State Papers; Dodsworth’s
Salisbury Cathedral; Dugdale’s Works; Gibson’s Chronicon Saxonicum;
Gunton’s Peterborough; Guthrie’s and Lingard’s History of England;
Henry’s History of Great Britain; Lhuyd, Archæologia Britannica; Kennet’s
Historical Register; Lyttelton’s Henry II.; Ogilby’s Britannia;
Pitseus de Rebus Anglicis; Plot’s Oxfordshire and Staffordshire; Pote’s
Windsor; Rushworth’s Historical Collections; Speed’s History of Great
Britain; Rymer’s Fœdera; Somner’s Roman Ports and Forts in Kent; Stow’s
London; Tod’s Ashridge; Verstegan’s Restitution of Decayed Intelligence
respecting English Antiquities; Warwick’s Charles I.; Matthæi
Westmonasteriensis Flores Historiarum; Weever’s Funeral Monuments;
Whitelock’s Memorials; and Wood’s Historia Oxoniensis.
I may also record Buchanan’s History of Scotland; the Wellington
Dispatches; Fuller’s Worthies; Southey’s Peninsular War; Tomline’s Life
of Pitt; Wake’s Rex Platonicus; Cox and Ware’s Ireland; and Warrington’s
Wales.
The Voyages and Travels include those of Anson, Barrow, Cook, Dampier,
and Vancouver, Harris’ Collection, Park’s Travels, and those of Bruce; to
which I may add Blome’s Jamaica; Kæmpfer’s Japan; Maurice’s Indostan; and
Sir Robert Wilson’s Campaign in Egypt.
The Classical department of this Collection comprehends various
editions of the Works of Achilles Tatius, Ælian, Ammianus Marcellinus,
Aristophanes, Aristotle, Arrian, Æschylus, Athenæus, Aulus Gellius,
Ausonius, Cæsar, Cicero, Quintus Curtius, Demosthenes, Diodorus Siculus,
Diogenes Laertius, Dio Cassius, Ennius, Epictetus, Euripides, Frontinus,
Herodotus, Herodian, Hesiod, Hippocrates, Homer, Horatius, Juvenal,
Livy, Lucretius, Lucan, Lucian, Macrobius, Pausanias, Petronius Arbiter,
Phalaris, Plautus, Pliny, Polybius, Quintilian, Seneca, Sophocles,
Strabo, Suidas, Tacitus, Terence, Thucydides, Virgil, and Xenophon.
To the above may be added, Stephanus de Urbibus, Photii Bibliotheca;
Fabricii Bibliotheca Græca; and Vegetius de Re Militari.
The Etymological Works include the Etymologicum Magnum; Buxtorf’s
Lexicon; Johnson’s Dictionary; Tooke’s Diversions of Purley; Du
Fresne’s Glossary; Hickes’ Thesaurus; Julii Pollucis Onomasticon; Lye’s
Dictionarium Saxonicum; Parkhurst’s Lexicon; and the Works of Vossius.
The Heraldic Works include Ashmole’s Order of the Garter; Guillim’s
Heraldry; Milles’ Catalogue of Honour; Willement’s Regal Heraldry, and
St. George’s Chapel.
In English Literature these shelves contain the Works of Bacon, Bale,
Bayle, Charles I., Brerewood, Ben Jonson, Samuel Johnson, Sir William
Jones, Spelman, Temple, and Locke; together with Burney’s History of
Music; Blount’s Censura Literaria; Bryant’s Mythology; Boswell’s Johnson;
Clarke’s Life of Nelson; Hartley on Man; Reid on the Intellectual Powers;
Roscoe’s Lorenzo; Smith’s Wealth of Nations; Warton’s History of English
Poetry; Du Bartas, Divine Works and Weeks; and Stanley’s Lives of the
Philosophers.
The miscellaneous Works in this Collection embrace Les Entretiens du
Sage, par Sebastian de Senlis, Paris, 4to.; the Encyclopædia Britannica;
the Archæologia, the Works of Casaubon, Euclid, Hobbes, Petrarch,
Selden, and Tiraboschi; the Bibliothecæ Regiæ Catalogus, and Catalogus
MSS. Angliæ & Hiberniæ, 1697, folio; Fleetwood’s Chronicon Preciosum;
D’Herbelot, Bibliotheque Orientale; Wolfii Bibliotheca Hebræa; Mabillon
de Re Diplomaticâ; Brucker, Historia Critica Philosophiæ; and Petavii
Doctrina Temporum.
The Legal Works include Blackstone’s Commentaries; Spencer de Legibus
Hebræorum; Gibson’s Codex Juris Ecclesiastici & Civilis; and Wilkins’
Leges Anglo-Saxonicæ.
The Works on Natural History, embrace Buffon, Histoire Naturelle; Raii
Historia Plantarum; and Tournefort’s Botany.
In the Musical Library I observed a large Collection of the Works of
Handel, whose solemn strains may frequently be heard pealing through the
lofty aisles of St. George’s Chapel, by the studious occupants of this
convenient chamber.
I may add with great satisfaction that every Dean and Canon of Windsor,
on his presentation, makes a donation of twenty pounds to the fund for
the augmentation of the Capitular Library.
[Illustration]
Library of Worcester.
In the Chapter House of this ancient Cathedral is deposited the Library
belonging to the Dean and Chapter; the books, amounting to nearly six
thousand volumes, being arranged upon open shelves around its ample area
against the walls, while the slender column which supports the roof rises
gracefully in the centre of the whole.
The books are extremely well arranged according to their sizes, with
proper attention to their subject matter, the work of the present
Librarian, Mr. Clarke, with references on their backs to a Catalogue
compiled by Mr. Griffin, and continued by his successors to the present
time.
This Manuscript Catalogue is divided into classes and sections, and bears
the following title; “Catalogus Librorum Impressorum in Bibliothecâ
Collegii Cathedralis Vigorniæ, Cal. Nov. 1780. Curâ J. Griffin
Bibliothecarius,” which is succeeded by a dedication to the then Dean.
At the conclusion of this Catalogue in the second folio volume, is a
supplementary Catalogue, the title whereof runneth thus: “Catalogus
Librorum Musicorum in Ecclesiâ Cathedrali Vigorniæ, 1781. Hunc fecit
vir Reverendus Edvardus Taylor Præcentor ejusdem Ecclesiæ et Musices
peritissimus.”
There is also a copy of the old Bodleian Catalogue interleaved, in 4
volumes, folio, which appears to have been formerly intended to supply
the place of a Catalogue of this Library, from the references and
insertions here and there apparent, but the plan having been found not
only slovenly but inconvenient, it was doubtless abandoned when the
labours of Mr. Griffin were completed. The general aspect of the books
is of that sombre character which old calf, whether English or foreign,
usually gives to the shelves upon which it reposes; but the judicious
addition of lettering pieces to almost every volume has greatly relieved
their sombre tint, and rendered their contents much more accessible to
the stranger. Some volumes however still retain their original vellum
wrappers, and a few are coated in morocco.
The only Manuscript which met my eye was a tattered folio Missal, whose
knobs had been judiciously replaced upon a binding imitating, as nearly
as possible, the original coverture, and on whose fly leaf some modern
hand had written, “Missale Vetus ad usum Sarum eleganter et admodum
descriptum et exornatum.” Probably however there may be in the archives
of so ancient a foundation other manuscripts more worthy of notice than
this.
The oldest printed books I could find were the Biblia Latina Vulgata,
Illuminata, Venetiis, 1478; and the Nuremberg Chronicle, without a title,
in modern calf binding. Let any one who wishes for a particular account
of this remarkable specimen of Koberger’s press, read the sixteen pages
relating to this book in the Spencer Catalogue, and I will only add
that the volume under description retains but little of its pristine
beauty. The earliest Classic Author I noticed was the Juvenal, with the
Commentaries of Calderinus, printed at Rome in 1474. With these three
exceptions the bibliographer will seek in vain for any productions of the
fifteenth century within these walls, without the consolation of finding
any books printed upon vellum.
Of Bibliographical Works however this Library contains a greater number
than usually falls to the lot of similar repositories. I may instance
the Bodleian, Cottonian, and Harleian Catalogues; Fabricii Bibliographia
Antiquaria, and Bibliotheca Græca; Antonii Bibliotheca Hispana, Barberini
Bibliotheca, Romæ, 1681; Lipenii Bibliotheca Philosophica; Juridica &
Medica; Nicolai Toppi, Bibliotheca Neapolitana, 1778; Mich. Hertzii
Bibliotheca Germanica, 1679; “Bibliothecæ Cleri Londinensis in Collegio
Sionensi Catalogus duplici formâ concinnatus, &c. a Guilielmo, Reading,
Bibliothecario, Londini, typis J. Watts, 1724,” folio; Watt’s Bibliotheca
Britannica; Dibdin’s Bibliotheca Spenceriana; Saxii Onomasticon
Literarium; and the Acta Eruditorum Lipsiæ; Berington’s Literary History
of the Middle Ages; Pitseus de Rebus Anglicis; and Maseres Scriptores
Logarithmici; in proof of the accuracy of this assertion.
In Biblical Literature the paucity of the Impressions of the Sacred
text is equally remarkable with the host of obscure commentators, and
multitude of forgotten theologians whose works encumber the shelves of
this ancient Library.
I remarked with satisfaction a copy of Walton’s Polyglott, with
Castell’s Lexicon, respectably clad in old calf, most properly placed on
the same shelves with the Biblia Polyglotta, Montani, Antverpiæ, Plantin,
1572, also in folio. There are also the Biblia Græca LXX. per Grabe,
Oxon. 1707, in 2 vols. folio; and the Biblia Latina Castalionis, Basileæ,
1554.
I also remarked Kennicott’s Hebrew Bible; and the Biblia Germanica;
Martini Lutheri, Francof. 1580; also an English Bible, by Blayney,
printed at Oxford in 1769; and Baskerville’s Bible, printed at Cambridge
in 1763, together with Purver’s Bible; but no early English Impressions
of the Sacred Text.
There was the Novum Testamentum Erasmi, Basileæ, apud Froben, 1538; Nov.
Test. Millii, Oxon. 1707, in 2 vols, folio; and Nov. Test. Wetstenii,
Amst. 1751, in 2 vols, folio, in calf; also Junii Evangelia Gothica et
Anglo-Saxonica, Amst. 1684; Heptateuchus Anglo-Saxonicus per Thwaites,
Oxonii, 1698; the Psalterium Arabicè et Latinè, Romæ, 1619; and Kipling’s
facsimile of the Codex Bezæ, printed at Cambridge in 1793, 2 vols, folio.
I also noticed two early editions of the Common Prayer, the one printed
by Barker at London in 1636, the other published at the same place in
1662; also the Pontificale Romanum, printed at Rome in 1645, folio;
Breviarium ad usum Sarum, Parisiis, 1519-25; Missale ad usum Sarum,
Parisiis, 1555; & Missale Romanum, apud Plantin, Antverpiæ, 1577, folio,
in old red morocco.
Of Commentators I have already intimated that the number is too
large for minute specification. It will suffice therefore to mention
the Critici Sacri; Poli Synopsis; Comestoris Scholastica Historia,
Argentorati, 1503; Canisii Lectiones Antiquæ, in 4 vols. folio; De Rossi
Variæ Lectiones Veteris Testamenti, in 4 vols. 4to.; the well-known
Commentaries of Patrick, Lowth, Arnald, and Whitby; Pearce on the
Evangelists; Pococke on Hosea; and Blayney on Jeremiah.
Proceed we therefore to the Fathers of the Church, who in common with
other early divines, were usually Commentators upon the Scriptures as
well as the teachers of its truth. Here we have the Works of Saints
Athanasius, Eusebius, Isidore, Cyprian, Augustine, Epiphanius, and
St. Jerome, with the writings of Tertullian, Justin Martyr, Clemens
Alexandrinus, Origen, & Lactantius; Philo Judæus, Parisiis, 1552;
Vincentii Speculum Majus; with the Bibliotheca Veterum Patrum, in 15
vols. folio, and 2 volumes of the Supplement; and Dacherii Spicilegium,
in 13 vols. 4to.
Among the earlier Divines of our own country, we may mention the Works
of Bede; Lanfranc Cantuar. Opera, Paris, 1648; and Anselm Cantuar.
Opera Theologica, Colon. 1573; and turning to those abroad may notice
the Works of Luther and Melancthon; Erasmus, Grotius, Vossius, Calvin,
and Bellarmine; and the Bibliotheca Fratrum Polonorum, Irenop. 1656;
with Limborch, Theologia Christiana, Amst. 1695; and returning to the
Divines of our own country, we find the Works of Cuthbert Tonstall, and
of Tyndale, Hooker; of Bishop Jewel, Jackson, Hall, Hammond, Horne,
Stillingfleet, Barrow, Chillingworth, Horsley, Cudworth, Prideaux,
Hoadley, and Conybeare; Waterland, edited by Van Mildert; Bishop
Berkeley’s Works, in 2 vols. 4to.; and those of Warburton, Macknight,
Paley, Wake, Lardner, and Bingham. To which may be added the Hulsean and
Bampton Lectures; and numerous Sermons by various authors.
In Ecclesiastical History, the valuable Annals of Baronius and Tornielli;
the invaluable Acta Sanctorum; Alfordi Annales Ecclesiastici Britanniæ,
in 4 vols. folio; Cressy’s Church History of Brittany; the Ecclesiastical
Histories of Cave, Collier, and Warner; Warton’s Anglia Sacra; Fuller’s
Church History; Du Monstier, Neustria Pia; Inett’s Church History;
Usher’s Annals; and Burnet’s History of the Reformation, occupy a
prominent place.
To these may be added, Neal’s History of the Puritans; Josephus’ History
of the Jews, edited by Hudson, in 2 vols. folio; Magdeburgensis Historia
Ecclesiastica, Basileæ, 1559, in 8 vols. 4to.; Gualteri Chronicon
Chronicorum Eccl. Politicum, in 4 vols. 4to.; the Concilia Generalia,
in 4 vols. folio; Wilkins’ Concilia, in 4 vols. folio; and the Concilia
Maxima, in 15 stout folios, with the Apparatus in 2.
Of General History, the most remarkable features are the Universal
History; Carionis Chronicon; Krantzii Chronicon Suecicum, &c.; Pighii
Annales Romanorum, in 2 vols. folio; Saken, Van Staet Netherlanden, in 4
vols. folio, in old red morocco; Freheri Bohemicarum Rerum Scriptores;
the Asiatic Researches; Kæmpfer’s Japan; Maurice’s Hindostan; Rudbeck’s
Atlantica; Thuani Historia sui temporis; Ralegh’s History of the World;
Heylin’s Cosmography; Roscoe’s Leo X. and History of the Medici;
Robertson’s Foreign Histories; Knolles’ History of the Turks; Shaw’s
Travels; with Chappe d’Auteroche, Voyage en Siberie; and as relates more
particularly to Antiquities, the valuable Collections of Grævius and
Gronovius; with the Supplement of Gruter; and the Works of Montfaucon,
including his Diarium Italicum; together with Aringhi Roma Subterranea;
and Wood’s Antiquities of Balbec and Palmyra.
With reference to those minute yet faithful monuments of former ages,
Coins, I noticed the Numismata of Spanheim; Folkes’s Coins; Ruding’s
Annals of the Coinage; and a most beautiful Copy of the Numismata
Pembrochiana upon large paper, bound in stout old russia, with an elegant
border of gold, the gift of Bishop Johnson to the Library of his own
Cathedral, about the middle of the last century.
As connected with Foreign lands, I may here notice the Voyages of Cook,
Forster, Hawkesworth, and Vancouver; the Collections of Voyages by Harris
and Churchill; to which may be annexed Pinkerton’s Geography; and the
Atlas of Sansom.
The earlier and more obscure portions of English History are admirably
elucidated by the Scriptores Francorum Coetanei collected by Du Chesne;
the Scriptores XV. edited by Gale and Fell; the Scriptores X. collected
by Twysden; the Scriptores post Bedam, edited by Savile; the Histories
of Mathew Paris, of Mathew of Westminster, and of Florence of Worcester;
the Fœdera of Rymer; Eadmeri Historia Novorum; Polydore Vergilii Hist.
Anglicana, &c.; Hemingii Chronicon Wigornense curâ Thomæ Hearne, 2 vols.
8vo.; and Guilielmi Neubrigensis Hist. Angl. Antverpiæ, 1567.
I also noticed Fosbroke’s British Monachism; the Histories of England,
by Rapin and Tindal, Echard and Carte, Henry and Lingard, Brady, Hume,
and Macauley; the Chronycles of Englonde, with the fruyte of tymes,
printed at London in 1528; Baker’s Chronicle; the valuable Works of Stow
and Speed; Birch’s Memoirs of Elizabeth; Asseri Alfredi Annales; Bates’s
Elenchus Motuum; Strype’s Memorials; Dugdale’s Troubles, Baronage, and
Origines Juridiciales; Spelman’s Alfred, Oxford, 1678; May’s History of
the Long Parliament; Brooke’s Heraldry; Thurloe’s State Papers; Kennett’s
Register; Clarendon’s Works; Clanricarde’s Memoirs; Lyttelton’s Henry
II.; Ashmole’s Order of the Garter; Nalson’s Collections; Sandford’s
Genealogical History of the Kings of England; and Coronation of James
II.; to which I may add Boethii Historia Scotorum; Macpherson’s Original
Papers; and Dalrymple’s Memoirs.
The Topography of England is here also illustrated by Camden’s Britannia,
edited by Gough; Twyne, Antiq. Oxon. Apologia; the Histories of
Oxford and Cambridge, published by Ackermann; Ducarel’s Anglo-Norman
Antiquities; Weever’s Funeral Monuments; Wood’s Athenæ et Antiquitates
Oxonienses; Loggan’s Oxonia Illustrata; the Marmora Oxoniensia; Dugdale’s
Monasticon Anglicanum, and History of Warwickshire; King’s Vale Royal
of Cheshire; Borlase’s Cornwall; Thoroton’s Nottinghamshire; Wright’s
Rutland; Nash’s Worcestershire; Atkyns’s Gloucestershire; Leycester’s
Cheshire; Bentham’s Ely; Gunton’s Peterborough; Green’s Worcester;
Thomas’ Worcester Cathedral; Antiquitates Prioratùs de Malvern, Londini,
1725, 8vo.; Kennett’s Parochial Antiquities; Willis’s Cathedrals; Ecton’s
Thesaurus; and Tanner’s Notitia Monastica.
As connected with English History; the Biographia Britannica of Kippis,
new, in calf; the General Biographical Dictionary of Chalmers; the
Memoirs of Evelyn and Pepys, of Walpole and Bishop Hough, who still lives
in marble in the adjacent Cathedral; Tomline’s Life of Pitt; and the
publications of the Record Commission deserve to be here recorded.
And lastly, as illustrative of History, the English Atlas and Pinkerton’s
Geography; Collier’s Historical Dictionary, and Postlewaite’s Dictionary
of Commerce; Mabillon de Rê Diplomaticâ; Anderson’s Diplomata Scotiæ; and
the Itinerary of Antoninus, may be mentioned.
Of works relating to the Laws of England, we find a Year Book of Edward
IV.; Coke’s Institutes; Blackstone’s Commentaries; Gibson’s Codex; Burn’s
Ecclesiastical Law; Lyndewode’s Provinciale; the Statutes at large; and
Selden’s Works.
In Etymology there are in this Collection the following valuable Works,
calculated to render more intelligible the earlier historians of England;
Somner’s Glossary; Hickes’ Thesaurus Septentrionalis; Lye’s Saxon
Dictionary; Skinner’s Etymologicum Anglicanum; Davies’ Celtic Dictionary;
Menage’s Gothic Lexicon; Cotgrave’s French and English Dictionary;
Spelman’s Glossary; as well as others more general in their nature,
such as Stephani Thesaurus; Hoffmanni Lexicon; Suidæ Lexicon, Cantabr.
1705, 3 vols. folio; Buxtorf’s Hebrew Lexicon; D’Herbelot, Bibliotheque
Orientale; Johnson’s English Dictionary; Du Cange, Glossary; and the
labours of the learned Vossius.
Of Classic Authors, though the list of names be copious, yet the editions
contained in this Library are neither remarkable for antiquity nor
covetable for their value. Of Homer, the Prince of Song, there is the
elegant impression of Foulis at Glasgow, the Iliad being on large, and
the Odyssey on small paper. To make amends for this however we have the
four volumes of the Commentaries of Eustathius, printed at Rome in 1550,
and Cowper’s Translation, in 2 vols. 4to. bound in red morocco.
Of Cicero’s Works there are the editions of Basle in 1576, and of London
in 1680, and the Lugduno-Batavian impressions of Cæsar, Tacitus, and
Suetonius, of Virgil, Lucan, and Plautus, as well as Pliny.
I also remarked Du Val’s editions of Aristotle’s Works; Athenæus,
Casauboni, 1657; Xenophontis Opera, Leunclavii; Plutarchi Opera, Francof.
1620; Horatius, Lambini, Francof. 1596; Seneca, Parisiis, 1627; Valerius
Maximus, Mediolani, 1505; Plinius Junior, Venetiis, 1519; Pindar, edited
by West and Welsted; Euripides, by Barnes; Isocrates, by Stephens; and
Arrian, by Gronovius; together with editions of Herodotus, Diodorus
Siculus, Livy, Dio Cassius, Thucydides, Polybius, and Strabo; of
Aristophanes, Ovid, Sophocles, and Terence; of Macrobius, Demosthenes,
Euclid, Plato, and Epictetus; Photii Bibliotheca et Epistolæ, and the
Corpus Poetarum Latinorum of Mattaire.
Of English Literature, the principal features are the Works of Boyle,
Newton, Mede, Bacon, Addison, and Hobbes; Monk’s Life of Bentley;
Robertson’s Works; Antiquitates Middletonianæ, Londini, 1795, 4to.;
Watson’s Philip II.; the Athenian Letters; the Encyclopædia Britannica
and the Quarterly Review; Bedford’s Scripture Chronology; Bryant’s
Heathen Mythology; and Spence’s Polymetis.
Of English Poetry, besides Warton’s admirable History thereof, I found
only Spenser’s Faerie Queen; Gower’s Confessio Amantis, 1509; Urry’s
edition of Chaucer’s Works; and Todd’s Milton.
In Natural History, the only Works which met my eye were Raii Historia
Plantarum; Bocharti Hierozoicon; and the various Works of Aldrovandus.
In Science I can only mention the Scriptores Logarithmici of Maseres,
with a hope that some portion of the fabric fund, hitherto so judiciously
applied to the restoration of the Cathedral of Worcester, may, when
this laudable object has been effected, be so applied as to augment the
literary treasures of the Dean and Chapter, now under the guardianship of
Mr. Clarke.
[Illustration]
Library of York Minster.
The spacious and luminous apartment wherein the valuable Library of
the Dean and Chapter of York is deposited, was formerly the private
Chapel annexed to the Archbishop’s Palace, long since destroyed, and was
restored to its pristine splendour, and appropriated to its present use
by Dean Markham in 1806. The beauty of the west window is only equalled
by the comfort of the interior, warmed by a fire-place, and surrounded by
a light gallery affording access to the upper ranges of books.
“Near the church is a very pretty Gothic Library, the arrangements of
which appeared to me very well contrived. Every book has three numbers on
the back. At the top, that of the shelf, then that of the compartment,
and below, its own number; so that it can be found in a moment. The
numbers are on pretty little labels, and do not at all deform the books.
In one corner is a very light and convenient staircase leading to the
gallery, which runs midway round the room. The alphabetical Catalogue is
arranged as follows: