Noble's account of the sale of these MSS., after the death of Garter in
1715, is as follows:
"Mr. Bridges of Herefordshire, his executor, obtaining possession
of the heraldic books which Garter had in his house, never
returned them to the College; they were very numerous and
valuable, being some of the original visitations, taken by or
under the authority of the St. Georges. With these also were many
of Camden's books. These original documents were scandalously sold
by Messrs. Wynne and Gregory [sons-in-law of Sir Henry St. George]
to Thomas Percival, Earl of Egmont, a great lover of genealogical
studies, who gave for them 500_l._: they are now possessed by that
nobleman's grandson, John-James, the present Earl of
Egmont."--_Hist. Coll. Arms_, p. 353. 4to. 1804.
This statement has led to the inference, that the _whole_ of St.
George's MSS. were disposed of to Lord Egmont; but the fact is
otherwise, for by far the most valuable portion of them was subsequently
in the hands of Thomas Osborne, the well-known bookseller of Gray's Inn;
who printed a list of them, with an index of the pedigrees, in his
catalogue entitled:
"A Catalogue of several valuable Libraries of Books and MSS. &c.
To which is prefixed a Genealogical Library in above Two hundred
Manuscript Volumes in folio, &c. Collected and augmented by the
late Sir Henry St. George, Knt., Garter King of Arms, and his
ancestors, in the office of Arms, for above these hundred years
past. To begin to be sold, 27 November, 1738."
These MSS. are 216 in number, and many of them are at present in the
British Museum, in the Lansdowne Collection of MSS. Osborne reprinted
this list in his next catalogue for February 1738/9, entitled:
"An Extensive and Curious Catalogue of valuable Books and MSS. in
all Languages, &c., including a very large Collection of Curious
Genealogical Tracts," &c.
After the MSS., which occupy pp. 68-92., is an "Appendix," consisting of
thirty-three pedigree rolls, chiefly on vellum, which also belonged to
St. George.
To conclude with a _Query_, may I ask, if any complete list of Osborne's
Catalogues can be obtained _previous_ to 1756, when the list in
Nichols's _Literary Anecdotes_, vol. iii., begins?
μ.